AMETEK Specialty Metal Products employs a wrought powder metallurgical process to manufacture custom gauge and width strip materials used as the outside sheathing of flux cored wire and metal cored welding wire.
Advantages
Our high purity process allows production of wire sheathing materials with significant advantages for flux cored welding wire producers, compared to a conventional casting process. These include:
- Very high ductility
- Tight and repeatable chemistry control
- Availability of unique and custom chemistries
- High purity material for improved tool and die life
- Corrosion, wear and high temperature resistant
- Short lead times and small batch sizes
Find a consolidated listing of our metal sheathing materials in our
Weld Wire Sheathing Brochure.
Chemistry Control
We tightly control the chemistry of the incoming raw materials to ensure that trace elements are kept to a very low level. Our wrought powder metallurgy process allows chemistry flexibility in small batch sizes for custom or developmental work.
Wrought Powder Metallurgy Process
The processing of these materials begins with the consolidation of powder through a roll compaction process and followed by a controlled atmosphere sintering. Further reduction of the material is performed solely under cold working temperatures to reduce the introduction of non-metallic inclusions and annealing is performed under controlled atmospheres.
The purity of the material ensures low levels of non-metallic inclusions including oxides. This condition improves tool and die life during processing of the flux core welding wire.
Ductile Cobalt Based Sheathing
Cobalt based alloys are used in many
hardfacing applications and requires a wire sheathing material with high ductility to allow for an efficient wire production process. We offer
Ductile Cobalt strip alloys with elongations over 80%. This is achieved through Iron and Nickel additions sufficient to maintain a face centered cubic structure; a more ductile structure than Cobalt’s normal HCP arrangement.
Recent advances in chemistry and processing have allowed us to develop grades of Low Iron Ductile Cobalt sheath for applications requiring minimal Iron content. The Iron content in the strip can be reduced to between 3.5% and 4.7% depending on requested ductility. Finished flux cored wire with Iron content below 3% can be achieved using this Cobalt Iron sheathing alloy.
| DUCTILE HIGH PURITY COBALT STRIP, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, ANNEALED |
|
580 Alloy |
591 Alloy |
595 Alloy |
595G Alloy |
| Cobalt (Co) |
80.0% |
91.0% |
94.0% |
95.0% |
| Iron (Fe) |
5.0% |
5.0% |
6.0% |
5.0% |
| Nickel (Ni) |
15.0% |
4.0% |
0.0% |
Trace |
| Tensile Strength (ksi) |
80 ksi
(552 MPa) |
78 ksi
(537 MPa) |
80 ksi
(552 MPa) |
75 ksi
(517 MPa) |
| Yield Strength (ksi) |
20 ksi
(138 MPa) |
30 ksi
(207 MPa) |
35 ksi
(241 MPa) |
22 ksi
(152 MPa) |
| Elongation |
50% |
75% |
75% |
40% |
| Hardness |
145 VHN |
125 VHN |
125 VHN |
150 VHN |
High Purity Nickel Based Sheathing
Our
Pure Nickel Strip product can be engineered to specific customer requirements. Flux core welding wire applications include end-uses in
corrosive and high temperature environments.
Nickel-Chrome Based Sheathing
The high purity process lends itself well to production of ductile Nickel-Chrome alloys with high Chrome percentages. We currently offer standard grades for metal sheath specifications of 10%, 20%, 30% and 35% Chrome with a Nickel balance. Silicon can also be added to the product to promote de-oxidation during the welding process. Applications include
steam boilers and associated piping.
| HIGH PURITY NICKEL AND NICKEL CHROME STRIP, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, ANNEALED |
|
899 Alloy |
8020 Alloy |
7030 Alloy |
6535 Alloy |
| Nickel (Ni) |
99.8% |
80.0% |
70.0% |
64.0% |
| Chrome (Cr) |
<0.05% |
20.0% |
30.0% |
34.5% |
| Silicon (Si) |
0.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
1.50% |
| Tensile Strength (ksi) |
56.6 ksi
(390 MPa) |
85 ksi
(586 MPa) |
90 ksi
(620 MPa) |
95 ksi
(655 MPa) |
| Yield Strength (ksi) |
19.6 ksi
(135 MPa) |
330 ksi
(207 MPa) |
35 ksi
(241 MPa) |
45 ksi
(310 MPa) |
| Elongation |
40% |
35% |
45% |
50% |
| Hardness |
100 VHN |
150 VHN |
145 VHN |
160 VHN |
Other chemistries available (90Ni10Cr 65Ni35Cr) as well as Silicon additions.
Nickel-Iron Based Sheathing
Nickel-Iron based products are available in standard grades of 42%, 48% and 55% Nickel with Iron as the balance. However, our chemistry flexibility allows us to customize the chemical content to match your specific requirements.
| HIGH PURITY NICKEL IRON STRIP, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, ANNEALED |
|
936 Alloy |
942 Alloy |
946 Alloy |
948 Alloy |
952 Alloy |
| Nickel (Ni) |
36% |
42% |
46% |
48% |
51% |
| Manganese (Mn) |
0.20% |
0.20% |
0.20% |
0.20% |
0.20% |
Iron (Fe)
|
Balance |
Balance |
Balance |
Balance |
Balance |
| Tensile Strength (ksi) |
65.0 ksi (450 MPa) |
68.0 ksi (470 MPa) |
70.0 ksi (480 MPa) |
72.0 ksi (495 MPa) |
74.0 ksi (510 MPa) |
| Yield Strength (ksi) |
37.7 ksi (260 MPa) |
36.2 ksi (250 MPa) |
36.0 ksi (245 MPa) |
34.0 ksi (235 MPa) |
32.0 ksi (220 MPa) |
| Elongation |
30% |
35% |
35% |
35% |
35% |
| Hardness |
145 VHN |
145 VHN |
145 VHN |
145 VHN |
145 VHN |
All datasheet values are nominal except where noted.
Other Grades
AMETEK Specialty Metal Products is committed to producing the finest products for the weld wire industry for the production of the best flux core wire. Our processing is adaptable to many alloy combinations. Please contact us with any special requests.
Packaging Capabilities
Product can be supplied in either pancake coils or traverse wound reels of up to 700 lbs. The traverse wound reels contain no finish gauge welds allowing continuous operations.