Sunday, November 6, 2011

MagnaTech Approved to Receive Government Contracts

MagnaTech has just received the good news that their audit has been completed successfully. MagnaTech is now awaiting issuance of a Phase II SBIR contract from the Navy to continue development of their patent pending process for carburizing or nitriding of martensitic stainless steel surfaces to improve protection of hook points from abrasion, while maintaining toughness and excellent corrosion resistance in sea water. When issued, the contract will be for a two-year program to scale up the present processes to produce furnace loads of carburized or nitrided hook points. In addition to the martensitic stainless steels, MagnaTech will also explore extending the present processes to include the carburizing or nitriding of low alloy steels currently designed for this purpose. Within the second year of the contract, MagnaTech will transfer the optimum conditions to surface harden actual hook points. MagnaTech will also, with the assistance of Bud Labs, Rochester, New York, construct a test rig to test the carburized or nitrided surfaces under simulated test conditions.
In addition to the major project about to be initiated, MagnaTech continues to grow a market for the magnetic testing of materials that are being designed by other companies to improve the magnetic performance of materials slated for new designs, in particular small fractional motors and fast nickel irons for applications such as solenoids.