Motoring Blog

Never heard of Hastelloy? Well, it is the trademark name of Haynes International, Inc, for a series of high-strength, nickel based, corrosion resistant alloys.  Hastelloys are commonly used by the chemical processing industries and have many applications.

The Hastelloy trademark is applied as the prefix name to about twenty two different metal alloys loosely grouped by the metallurgical industry under the material term “superalloys” or “high performance alloys”. These ”superalloys” are totally resistant to pitting, stress-corrosion cracking and to oxidizing atmospheres up to 1900 °F.

The predominant element in all the alloys is the transition metal nickel. Other alloying ingredients are added to nickel in each trademark designation subcategory and include varying percentages of the elements: molybdenum,carbon, chromium, iron,cobalt, copper,titanium, manganese, zirconium, aluminum and tungsten.

So you can already guess that this product is of great use in the motoring world. Hastelloy X, for instance, is a nickel-chromium-iron-molybdenum alloy which possesses a combination of oxidation resistance and high temperature strength. It is widely used in gas turbine engines for combustion zone components such as transition ducts, combustor cans, spray bars, flame holders and also in afterburners, tailpipes and cabin heaters. It also has wide use in industrial furnace applications, its unusual resistance to oxidizing, reducing and neutral atmospheres makes it an ideal material in these types of extreme environments.

Hastelloy is generally available in cast and wrought forms. Sometimes it can even be found as a powder metallurgy(PM) product. Conventional PM processing of Hastelloy X includes press and sinter that results in compacts that are limited to simple geometric shapes such as cylinders, which are not fully dense. Additional processing, like hot isostatic pressing (HIP),  can achieve nearly 100 percent theoretical density.

Hastelloy machining has penetrated a number of industries, such as: medical, fluid and gas handling, military, electronic, measurement producing fittings, adapters, connectors, housings, stems, outlets, inlets, pins, manifolds, sleeves, nuts, screws and studs.  This technology allows for stronger, more resistant, components and is sure to be an advantageous one in the motoring world, helping to drive performance to new frontiers.

Generally a lathe is a machine tool which spins a block of material to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece. An object is created that has symmetry with an axis of rotation.

Today we have CNC lathes that are rapidly replacing older lathes due to their ease of setting up and operation. They are designed to use modern carbide tooling and processes. A part can be designed by the computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) process and the corresponding file is then uploaded to the lathe. After being set and trialled the lathe continues to turn out parts under the occasional supervision of an operator. The machine is controlled electronically by a computer menu style interface. The program may be modified and displayed at the machine together with a simulated view of the process.

The setter or operator should be skilled in the whole process. However, the knowledge base is broader compared to the older production machines. Before, intimate knowledge of each machine was considered essential. Now these machines are often set and operated by the same person.

The design of a CNC lathe has greatly changed, though some of the main principles and parts have remained unchanged. The turret holds the tools and indexes them as needed. The machines are generally totally enclosed according to occupational health and safety issues.

For work requiring accuracy a Swiss-style lathe is used. This lathe holds the workpiece with a collet and a guide bushing. The collet sits behind the guide bushing and the tools sit in front of the guide bushing holding stationary on the Z axis. To cut lengthwise along the part, the tools will move in and the material itself will move back and forth along the Z axis. As a result the work is done on the material near the guide bushing. This is ideal for working on slender workpieces as the part is held firmly with little chance of deflection or vibration.

A combination lathe (also known as 3-in-1 machine) performs drilling or milling operations into the design. These machines have a milling column rising up above the lathe bed, and they utilize the carriage and topslide as the X and Y axes for the milling column. These machines are capable of high accuracy and may also be found in small, non-machine oriented businesses.

Mini and macro lathes are small versions of an engine lathe. They have swings of 3″ and 7″ diameters. Because of their small sizes they are affordable for the home workshop or MRO shop.

Lathes have always performed a great role in the history of machinery but nothing can be compared with today’s developed and functional lathes.

If the nature of your work relies on different types of vehicles, like underwater applications, aerospace vehicles, machines to work with gas and oil or for other industrial purposes, you should know which parts will make those applications more productive and long-lasting.

I’ve recently been blogging about pressure transducer types and different applications, so hopefully that information could be useful for you.

A pressure transducer is a device that converts one type of energy or any physical attribute to another one. The purposes of those transformations may be various, like for measurement or information transfer. There are many types of transducers, but they are mostly electrical, electronic, electro-mechanical, electromagnetic, photonic or photovoltaic.

The term pressure transducer is generally used in two senses. The first one is used to mean a sensor, which detects a parameter in one form and transmits it in another. The transmitted signal can be mainly electrical or digital. On the other hand, a transducer is also an audio loudspeaker, which converts electrical voltage variations representing music or speech, to mechanical con vibration. In other words, it vibrates air molecules to create sound.

Transducers include common items such as microphones, thermometers, antennas, pressure sensors and others. For instance, a microphone converts sound waves that hit its diaphragm into a similar electrical signal that can be transmitted over wires. A pressure sensor turns the physical force applied on the sensing apparatus into an analog reading. I’ll write more about pressure sensors in another post.

In general, if you think that pressure transducers are just some sort of technical device, you’re partly right. But if you’re more attentive, you’ll find them everywhere in your everyday life. You may even need them for, let’s imagine, your submarine motor, assuming you have one!

A pressure sensor measures the pressure, generally gas or liquid pressure. Pressure is the expression of the force which may be required to stop a fluid from expanding. A pressure sensor detects a signal coming from an imposed pressure. The signal is typically electrical, but it may also be optical, visual and auditory.

Pressure sensors are used to control and monitor a lot of everyday applications. As their usage is so widespread, there are several companies that manufacture them. According to some estimates there may be over 50 technologies and at least 300 companies making them.

According to Paine Electronics, pressure sensors must have the following features:

• High operating temperature ranges.
• Repeatability - Transducer output for a given input condition should be the same each time the conditions are applied under pressure and during extreme temperature cycling.
• Stability - Transducer output should not change under constant pressure and temperature cycles.
• Mechanical Shock and Vibration - The transducer should see only minimal error during long-term operation.
• Resistance to corrosive environment of gases and liquids.

There are some pressure sensors designed to measure in a dynamic mode, capturing very high-speed changes in pressure. For instance, this kind of sensor could be used in measuring combustion pressure in an engine cylinder or in a gas turbine. There are also pressure sensors, mainly used in speed cameras, which function in a binary manner. That is to say, when pressure is applied to a pressure sensor, the sensor acts to complete or break an electrical circuit. These types of sensors are also known as pressure switches.

If your work is somehow connected with underwater vehicles, your tasks may also require the use of a current transmitter. Make sure that you are choosing the most qualified products from reliable services, because if you are thrifty when making your purchasing decision, you’ll probably have to spend much more to repair the damage that can incur.