Between May and December 2023, Nutec Bickley will manufacture and install five completely new furnaces for a U.S. manufacturer of high-quality alloy-steel and carbon-steel closed-die forgings. On-site work will be completed by Nutec Bickley one furnace at a time so that no more than one furnace will be out of operation in any given month to help the forging company keep its production schedules on track. The contract involves five lift-up furnaces: two for tempering and three for austenitizing. Each furnace will be fitted with a comprehensively modernized combustion system, control systems, complete fiber flues, and an exhaust and pressure control system. Operational temperature ranges will be 900-1950°F (480-1065°C) for the austenitizing furnaces and 840-1600°F (450-1065°C) for the tempering furnaces.
Premier Forge Group, a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, acquired California Amforge Corp. Located in Azusa, Calif., Amforge manufactures closed-die, upset and rolled-ring forgings for the aerospace, defense and oil-and-gas industries. The company supplies critical components for both fixed and rotary wing aircraft and engines in military and civil applications. Located in Portland, Ind., and Lebanon, Ky., Premier Forge provides high-value, complex forgings for OEMs in a range of markets. The company’s capabilities include comprehensive forging processes complemented by in-house design and engineering, product machining and heat-treating services.
Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm, acquired Firth Rixson Forgings Ltd. from Arconic. Going forward, the business will operate as part of Forged Solutions Group, which was formed in November 2019 by Arlington Capital as its aerospace forging platform. Located in Sheffield, United Kingdom, Firth Rixson provides complex closed-die forgings and forged discs and proprietary forward-and-backward extrusion-produced shafts and cylinders primarily for OEM and Tier 1 aerospace and defense engine customers.
Ellwood Texas Forge Navasota (ETFN) made its first production shipment of 15-5PH flap-track forgings for the 737 program to the Boeing Portland (Oregon) fabrication facility.
Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic shipped a 1,000-kW induction billet heating system to LC Manufacturing of Lake City, Mich., a supplier of closed-die hot forgings.
Graphite die lubricants had dominated forging applications for centuries. Changing industry needs and the drive toward safer, cleaner shops drove the development of synthetic lubricants.
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) extended and expanded its long-term supply agreements (LTA) for closed-die forgings and mill products with a major jet-engine OEM.
