Large-scale manufacturing of nickel aluminide transfer rolls for steel austenitizing furnaces

This paper describes the first large-scale manufacturing of nickel aluminide IC-221M into roll bodies for the production of steel hardening furnace. One hundred and ten roll bodies were produced at Duraloy Technologies using the conventional foundry practice. Since it was the first manufacturing of this magnitude, foundry personnel were given special training with the melting of IC-221M by the Exo-Melt(TM) process and hands-on training with the welding process. Large-scale manufacturing produced 220 automated welds between nickel aluminide and H-Series trunnions, which is the largest number of welds ever produced in an intermetallic alloy. The manufacturing process for 110 rolls was completed in nearly four months and the rolls have been operating successfully in the production furnace for six months. Use of the Exo-Melt(TM) process for melting, automatic welding process, and successful completion of this project opens the opportunity for broader application of nickel aluminide rolls for steel hardening furnaces. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.