Aerospace alloy increases productivity

Citation

(2001), "Aerospace alloy increases productivity", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 73 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2001.12773aab.003

Aerospace alloy increases productivity

Aerospace alloy increases productivity

Keywords: Carpenter Technology, Stainless steel

A Pennsylvania company has composed an upgraded version of the 15 chromium-5 nickel stainless steel used extensively in aerospace applications and for a wide range of industrial components.

Carpenter Technology Corp. in Reading said it developed Project 7000 15Cr-5Ni stainless to be more easily machined than its predecessor, and thus open opportunities to reduce part-making cycle times and costs for aircraft structural components, including rod end bearings, landing gear structure, and engine parts such as brackets.

Project 7000 is vacuum melted, chemically balanced, and processed to optimise its machinability in the solution-annealed as well as age-hardened conditions. According to Carpenter, metalworking plants that served as beta sites were able to increase their parts productivity by as much as 145 per cent using Project 7000 stainless steel, depending on the heat treated condition of the material. Carpenter obtained improvements in machinability ranging from 3.5 to 10 times when machining the alloy in its own R&D screw machine facility in Reading.

In addition to being more easily machined, the Project 7000 alloy can be formed by cold working or forged to about 2,000°F, and held at that temperature for one hour, according to a recommended schedule.