4 MPR May/June 20114 MPR May/June 2011 0026-0657/11 ©2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

news

Japan earthquake – effects on PMThe Japan Powder Metallurgy Association (JPMA) reported in March that the Japanese powder metallurgy industry “suffered great damage” as a result of the recent devastating earthquake.

The Association’s website goes on to say: “We cannot get the damage situation now. But our PM industry and Japan [will] revive by all means.”

While there were no casu-alties among employees, the Epson Atmix Corporation plant was affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and the Iwaki Diecast Co Ltd plant suffered earthquake damage.

The JPMA says that both plants are working “full steam” to restore produc-tion, with the help of JPMA members if necessary.

Later, Plansee reported that its production site in Esashi, Japan, is now back in full operation.

The company says that, after the earthquake, there was only minor property damage at the plant. After only a few days break in production, Plansee Japan is supplying its Asian custom-ers according to schedule.

Plansee also mentioned that because its main raw materials, molybdenum and tungsten, are obtained exclu-sively from Western sources, radioactive contamination of the products can be ruled out.

Some time later, there was news from the ITRI that a team of nuclear special-ists from Ukraine could help Japanese engineers stabilise the Fukushima nuclear power plant through the use of tin powder.

The Ukrainian group was involved in clearing the after-math of the nuclear break-down at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine twenty five years ago.

The Ukrainian plan, which involves the use of ‘chipped tin’ suggests that to bring the heat processes in the Fukushima-1 reactors under control, it is necessary to ensure a normal cooling mode in the spent fuel pools by pumping water (sea water as a last resort) into them, then changing the type of reactor fuel coolant needs, replacing the water with low-melting and chemically neutral metal, such as tin, which will pull heat away from the fuel rods (molten or dam-aged) towards the inner walls of the reactor, while continu-ing to use sea water to cool down its outer walls. The tin ‘lake’ inside the reactor will then reduce the discharge of heavy fission products and bring ionizing radiation levels down. The chipped tin could be pumped in through steam communications under pressure using cylin-ders with helium or argon.

The Japanese earthquake on 11th March 2011, affected the PM industry.

GKN Driveline expands Chinese productionGKN Driveline says that it plans to keep on expanding production and introducing new automotive technology in China.

GKN Driveline expects vehicle production in China to reach 15 million units by 2014 so to keep pace with customer demand, its pro-duction capacity for CVJ (con-stant velocity joint) systems and AWD (all-wheel-drive) systems in China also will grow by more than 50% in the next four years.

Manufacture in China of the company’s propshafts for AWD vehicles is also expected to nearly double from 400,000 in 2010 to 800,000 in 2014. Moreover, the number of GKN Driveline employees in China also is expected to climb by 50% over a five-year period. During this time, GKN Driveline plans to introduce

electric-vehicle technology and produce new, low-cost systems for China’s small-car market as well.

In 2011, GKN is opening its 12th production facility in China – a 14,556 m2 plant in Changchun with capacity to build one million side-shafts a year. Employment at the new facility is expected to reach 250 by the end of the year, and a 10,000 m2, phase-two expansion of the plant will increase its capac-ity to 2.5-million sideshafts within the next five years.

“Our success in China parallels the rapid growth of this country’s auto indus-try,” said Marc Vuarchex, managing director for GKN Driveline’s Asia Pacific region. “Interest in our CVJ Systems, AWD Systems, Trans Axle Solutions and eDrive Systems technologies has never been stronger.”

ESC invests in new equipmentEngineered Sintered Components (ESC) is invest-ing US$9 million in a 20,000 sq ft addition to their second on-site facility and in new equipment.

The investment is part of a bid to gain new business in the manufacturing of powder metal components for the automotive industry and forms part of Sumitomo Electric Sintered Alloys’ glo-bal strategy to grow in the North American market. ESC is a joint venture between Sumitomo Electric and Eaton Corporation.

ESC has a current employ-

ment of 375 and plans a staff-ing increase of 25 within the first six months of the expan-sion project. Completion of the project is scheduled for late October 2011.

ESC will also receive US$142,000 in tax grant incentives over five years.

“We look forward to this expansion in supporting our overall goal to manufacture highly engineered compo-nents while placing a high value on our employees, their families, and our com-munity,” said Ryu Goto, pres-ident of Sumitomo Electric Sintered Alloys.