Sandvik scientists rewarded for development of materials suited to extreme temperature applications
May 10, 2017
Thomas Lewin, Bo Jönsson, Roger Berglund and Krister Wickman
The development of materials that can cope with extreme temperatures led to the award of the ‘Wilhelm Haglund Medal to the Product Developer of the Year’ in 2017 to Roger Berglund, Bo Jönsson, Thomas Lewin and Krister Wickman from Sandvik Materials Technology. The medal was presented in conjunction with Sandvik’s 2017 Annual General Meeting.
“There are many people at Sandvik who invest much energy in developing new solutions to make our customers more successful based on their needs, and we are highly honoured to receive the prestigious Wilhelm Haglund Medal for our efforts,” stated Bo Jönsson.
The team developed two materials, Kanthal® APM and Kanthal APMT™, which the company says has resulted in a paradigm shift in thermal technology and the development of a number of new products and applications.
Conventional materials can have excellent oxidisation resistance, but a relatively low high-temperature strength, which limits applications in designs with low mechanical load. By using a Powder Metallurgy process, the team discovered a method to add billions of small particles to the metal, which dramatically increases the strength at high temperatures. The combination of characteristics in the new material is therefore said to be completely unique and revolutionary.
“The material enables substantially increased productivity for customers, at the same time as helping to dramatically reduce energy consumption. It also reduces maintenance costs and contributes to enhanced safety and a better environment,” added Jönsson.
“Products manufactured from Kanthal® APM and Kanthal APMT™ have been highly successful and we can see fantastic future business opportunities in demanding applications. Constantly developing innovative products and solutions is a prerequisite for our success,” stated Björn Rosengren, President and CEO for Sandvik.
