New technique will open power sector doors – Forgemasters
SHEFFIELD Forgemasters is hoping a new way of casting steel will help it capitalise on the power sector.
The company has spent 12 months perfecting the technique that allows it to create a 160 tonne hollow ingot which reduces the costs associated with forging tubular shapes from solid steel.
Dr Jesus Talamentes-Silva, head of the firm’s research and development facility, said: “This process is an exciting development for Forgemasters and aims to reduce many of the costs and processes involved in manufacturing some of the critical forgings required by the power generation industry.
“We are in the early stages of refining the process of casting a hollow ingot, but the results so far are extremely promising with the first ingot now cast and stripped from the mould.
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“We have other stages to go through before we can say that the process has been fully trialled, including destructive testing, to examine the material properties and structural characteristics of the ingot.”
Hollow ingots will allow Forgemasters to produce cylindrical forgings, which are used for components including transition cones used in civil nuclear power steam generators and waste casks for spent nuclear fuel.
