Manufacturing Technology

Wallwork Group has reported that its Nadcap approval has now been extended to cover both its aluminium and magnesium heat treatment processes. This makes it one of a small number of UK heat treatment companies able to process aluminium to aerospace industry standards, as well as heat treat magnesium.

Wallwork processes complex components from satellite and aircraft parts through to motorsport and sports cycle equipment. Parts processed vary from fabrications and castings to small pressed metal parts. Within its high-tech furnaces, Wallwork can heat treat loads of up to two cubic metres in each process cycle.

Ian Lacey, business development manager for aluminium and magnesium heat treatment at Wallwork Group, explained: “Since diversifying into this field two years ago we have steadily grown market share, increased capacity and expanded our knowledge and experience. We have core customers in demanding fields, such as aerospace, who rely on our ability to develop suitable heat treatments to meet their precise needs, and then deliver consistently high-quality standards supported by expert technical services.”

The furnace model used by Wallwork has integral quench facilities to give a transfer time of just ten seconds or less from furnace to quench. Depending on the treatment specification, components may be air cooled, hot or cold water quenched or polymer quenched. In addition, components can be subjected to post quench freezing to prevent age hardening.

The Wallwork Nadcap approval falls within the Merit Programme whereby successive audits with no or low non-compliances, automatically extends the interval for full audits to two years. In addition to Nadcap approvals, the company also has prime approval from MOOG and is seeking specific approvals from other aerospace primes.