June 2006

A hard act to follow: EPMA seeks new technical guru

Technical Director Peter Brewin leaves the EPMA next spring and now the organisation is looking for a replacement...

The European Powder Metallurgy Association is seeking a replacement for its Technical Director, Peter Brewin. He retires from the EPMA next April after seven years in the job.

The key, high profile role involves the management of European and industry-funded research projects, monitoring and responding to European legislation and providing secretariat support for EPMA Working and Sectoral Groups.
The new Technical Director will probably be a qualified engineer with experience of the major PM producing sectors and have held a senior management position within the European PM community. He or she will have a proven record management of technical projects and direct experience of EU activities. Tyhe new TD will be based near a major European airport and will expect to make regular visits to the EPMA secretariat in Shrewsbury, UK.
Speaking about the role of Technical Director, Peter Brewin said that its strongest rationale is the ever-growing volume of legislation in the areas of health and environment.

"Such legislation is not only the result of green lobbying, but also pressure from large retail and automotive OEMs that their products can be shown to come from suppliers who conform to safe practice. EPMA initiatives on the forthcoming European REACH Regulation have been well advertised. The Global Powder Metal Database (GPMD) is the first major technical project jointly funded by the three major international PM trade associations. Until this was launched in 2004 the PM industry had not been able to offer end users the basic property data already available from competing technologies. The EPMA's long involvement in Die Compaction Modelling reflects the potential of this tool for the design of more complex compaction tooling. Ultimately this can link with the GPMD.

"It is clear that Trade Associations are here to stay, key industry-wide activities such as conferences, exhibitions, promotion, standards, customer education, and pre-competitive research receive strong member support. The Technical Director, as a key member of the EPMA's management team, has an active role to play in all of these areas."

Peter Brewin has had close links with the PM industry for most of his working life. After qualifying in engineering at Cambridge, he spent six years in the chemical industry, in both research and line management. In the late 1960s a number of projects were started in both UK and Sweden looking into the use of PM to produce high-alloy steels (stainless and high speed [HSS] ). In one of these, it was targeted to develop a PM route to the higher alloy HSS compositions in bar form, using water-atomised powders capable of being compacted at room temperature. The plan , generated by British engineer Richard Dain, was to extrude these to final size after withdrawing hot ingots directly from a sintering furnace.

In anticipation of technical success the company name Powdrex (from Powder extrusion) was chosen. In Peter's research at Imperial College London it quickly became clear that the material was highly "hot short" and incapable of withstanding the high tensile stresses generated during hot working. In other tests materials sintered in vacuo without hot work exhibited similar cutting properties to conventional HSS, the significance of which only became clear later. The latter process was patented worldwide and speculative finance raised through the offices of London stockbroker Rowe Rudd.

It was decided to accelerate commercialisation by installing a pilot plant capable of producing substantial quantities. This demonstrated that production quantities could only be produced from HSS powders that had been vacuum reduced to low oxygen contents. Developing this process into tonnage production turned out to be the key to competitive edge for Powdrex. Small samples of these unique powders were found to be ideal ingredients in valve seat inserts (vsi) produced by controlled-atmosphere sintering. Although the Powdrex process was originally developed for cutting tool markets, vsi soon grew into the major market for Powdrex powders. Since its purchase in July 2000 Powdrex has been an important member of the Coldstream Division of Höganäs.

Peter took over as Powdrex Managing Director in 1978, and left in 1995 to start his own consultancy business. In 1988 as President, Peter was involved in closing the British Powder Metal Federation on the decision of its largest members - GKN and Manganese Bronze - that their future lay in Europe rather than in UK. It was logical to support the brainchild of Dr Ivor Jenkins and others that resulted in the formation in 1989 of a European Powder Metallurgy Association, and Peter became a founder member of council. In its early years EPMA finances were greatly assisted as EPMA founder members agreed to pay a full year's subscription in advance of the appointment of its first Executive Director, Bernard Williams, then owner of Metal Powder Report.

Also in its early years, EPMA activities were carried out by enthusiastic individuals from within the membership. As time elapsed and business became busier, it became increasingly difficult to find such individuals, and activities had to be contracted out to external consultants. On the retirement of Bernard in 2000 it was decided to divide the Executive Director's role into two parts, and to create the new role of EPMA Technical Director with responsibility for working groups, industry sectoral groups and projects. This upgrade in EPMA costs was considerably assisted by funding from Brussels for two Thematic Networks, Modnet and Dienet, both of which projects were co-ordinated by the EPMA. On the expiry of this funding in early 2005 the question faced by the EPMA council was whether the Association could meet the total costs of the role full time from membership income. In Nov 2005 council decided that the benefits to members justified continuing the role on a full time basis.

"It is clear that Trade Associations are here to stay," said Peter. Key industry-wide activities such as conferences, exhibitions, promotion, standards, customer education, and pre-competitive research receive strong member support, and could hardly be carried through without the Association. The EPMA has come a long way since its incorporation in 1989. Its mission is clear and, correctly managed, the EPMA will continue to be a key player in European PM.

Interested would-be candidates can get further details from Peter (pb@epma.com) or the EPMA's Executive Director, Jonathan Wroe (jw@epma.com)

Ecka launches into nanotechnology

German non-ferrous powder producer Ecka Granules has launched into nanotech with the acquisition of Dutch nanotechnology bv based in Weert in The Netherlands. It now operates as Ecka Granules Nanotechnology bv.
The commercial driver for Ecka in making the acquisition seems to be the Sil-shield programme developed and produced by the former owners that opens new markets in the world-wide electronics industry. The variety of silvered particles - glass, copper, aluminium nickel plastic and carbonyl iron among them - are mainly used for electromagnetic shielding purposes as required in mobile phones, cash registers, base stations and computers.

However, other metals can be applied onto almost any carrier; platinum and palladium for catalytic purposes; nickel or gold for shielding purposes where silver cannot be used; copper for anti-fouling applications and tin, zinc and chrome.

Although silvered beads are currently mostly used for shielding purposes there is a broad range of potential applications. These include decoration, reflective purposes in safety clothing and road markings; silver applied to filters as bactericidal layers; in fuel cells as radiation barriers, and as thermal conductors.

"This new product fits well with Ecka's product mix, such as fine and ultra-fine copper powders," said a spokesman. "On top of that, we can now offer nanocoatings - organic coatings no more than one molecule thick that can modify the characteristics of powders. Among the effects achieved so far are higher conductivity, lower viscosity and improvements in adhesion."

Fully dense - but hollow

The Los Angeles Auto Show was the venue for the world premiere of Volkswagen's latest concept vehicle. The two-seat, three-wheel GX3 is a radical departure from the ordinary. This crossover between sports car and motorcycle promises a unique driving experience and lots of head turning.

Down to the smallest detail, nothing about the GX3 is ordinary. Typifying the design goals is the stainless steel gear lever knob that Volkswagen calls its "centre jewel." According to Volkswagen North America's chief designer, Derek Jenkins, show attendees were intrigued by the gear lever knob and were asking: "How did you do that?" which is exactly what VW Design Center team wanted. The answer to the question is Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) from Munich-based rapid prototyping experts EOS.

The design team wanted something extraordinary, so it set out to put a modern twist on the VW Golf GTI's golf ball-shaped gear lever knob. Leveraging modern technology, the designers conceived of a hollow, lightweight appearance that retained the design form of the GTI gear lever knob. To support the interior cockpit design, VW also wanted a metallic finish that matched the trim and accents.

VW's GX3 concept vehicle blends the driving excitement of a sports car and motorcycle. The 17-4 stainless steel gear lever knob was made on an EOSINT M 270 system. Delivered with a shot peened finish, Volkswagen turned the gear lever knob on a lathe and tapped a hole for a set screw. The reason for turning the gear lever knob was, in part, that VW wanted a machined finish that matched the appearance of the other metallic cockpit components. Jenkins said, "I was amazed at how well it machined. It was fully dense with the properties of billet material."