Argon and Nitrogen to Meet Your Hot Isostatic Pressing Requirements
Supporting HIP: Hot Isostatic Pressing
Eliminate Porosity in Parts
Linde has a gas management concept ready and waiting for customers who want to build or optimize their HIP facilities. With additive manufacturing becoming increasingly important for the industry, so is the post-processing step known as Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). When metal workpieces are cast, sintered, or 3D printed, this often results in a certain porosity of the produced components. They lack the density needed for highly stressed applications like aerospace structural parts, medical implants, or automotive engine parts. The density issue can be resolved with hot isostatic pressing optimization.
How Does the Hot Isostatic Pressing Process Work?
HIP takes the parts being worked on and treats them under high isostatic pressure and temperatures up to 3600○ Fahrenheit, depending on the material being used. The pressure is applied with an inert gas like argon or nitrogen. Under these conditions of heat and pressure, the density of the material increases and pores or defects disappear. This improves the mechanical properties and fatigue performance of manufactured parts.
Atmosphere Control is Key to HIP Success!
Atmosphere control is a key success factor in hot isostatic pressing (HIP). During pressing, chemical reactions must be avoided as these could compromise the mechanical properties, fatigue performance and/or service life of the high-performance components being treated. An inert atmosphere using high-purity argon or nitrogen is thus essential to avoid these reactions.
Linde has the additive manufacturing experience, engineering capabilities and product portfolio to help customers and OEMs meet today’s inerting challenges in HIP treatment processes. Our offering starts with an upfront analysis of your current operations to establish the most appropriate inerting system, whether that be based on nitrogen or argon. In the case of argon, this step includes process consulting to explore how you can maximize cost efficiencies by reusing your argon gas.
After reviewing your process, Linde will work with you to customize the supply system to meet your individual pressure, volume, flow and footprint needs, following the highest safety standards every step of the way. Our one-stop service spans the design, provisioning and installation of the entire gas supply system using best-in-class and proprietary equipment that includes tanks, pumps, vaporizers, buffers, pressure boosting equipment, gas analyzers and a gas manifold. We also supply and install the control equipment to manage your HIP process along with the argon reuse capabilities (if applicable).
At Linde, safety is a core value, which means we always act in a way that prevents harm to people, the environment, and the communities in which we operate. In HIP treatment operations, the highest safety standards are possible thanks to our expertise in high-pressure installations. Our application engineers will work with you to make sure you understand the risks and safety precautions of your HIP operation and recommend improvements that can help you optimize gas use and improve product quality safely.
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