Quarter Century Club

Russ & Cella Kirchner announce retirement at High Performance Alloys. Since inception in 1984, Russ Kirchner Jr. has led this company to the beat of his own drum. After 25 years as President, and 18 years of service with Union Carbide/Cabot STELLITE Division, Russ announced this as his last year at the helm. Numerous patents, countless problems solved, navigating through good times and bad – he still enjoys his work. Many changes occurred since the company began business in the middle of a down turn. Started out as a distributor of sawed bars and plate capabilities, all while expanding product lines. In the late 80s, we ventured into the manufacturing of materials; by producing plate, sheet, bars and forgings. These materials now find regular usage in critical applications in aerospace, defense and chemical processing. Cella has been the ever present Matriarch, controlling the finances and ensuring steady growth. Cella served the company as the primary owner since 1993, keeping ever vigilant eyes on the inventory. Beginning the New Year with only plans to fill their free time, Russ and Cella Kirchner are retiring. Both will still be active board members in this small woman owned company. They are also our first employees in the Quarter Century Club, with a few others not too far behind.

NITRONIC 60 Chloride Resistance

As detailed in http://www.hpalloy.com/alloys/brochures/Nitronic60book.pdf, the chloride pitting resistance is quite good for a low Moly grade. The Engineer that designed the grade indicates this is due in part to the Silicon acting like Molybdenum. With about 4% Silicon, the material performs very well in SCC compared to 316SS, which actually has a Moly requirement. If you are using, or interested in using NITRONIC 60 for Oil & Gas, please drop us a line.

LME will list cobalt and molybdenum

LME will list cobalt and molybdenum: "The London Metal Exchange will list cobalt metal from ValeInco in Canada"

High Strength Stainless Steels

While some austenitic stainless steels require cold working to achieve higher yield strengths, such as 304 and 316 condition B (Cond. B) - NITRONIC grades have great strength in the annealed condition. NITRONIC 60 and 50 have around 50 to 60 KSI yield strength - about twice that of annealed 304 & 316 SS.

While 304 and 316 are subject to transforming Austenite into Ferrite through cold working, NITRONIC 60 and 50 remain Austenitic. What this means is that through cold working, 304 and 316 can transform from non-magnetic or slightly magnetic, to slightly to moderately magnetic. Many applications this is not a hindrance, but there are applications where the magnetism can present problems.

Important to note - Austenitic grades are known for their crystalline structure, which is face centered cubic (FCC). FCC structures are a close pack grouping of elements, which is favored for corrosion resistance. Martensitic and Ferritic grades are known to contain body centered cubic (BCC) structures. BCC structures are most notably used for their strength, but generally will lack the corrosion resistance offered by a FCC structure.

While we offer to produce larger sizes of Condition B 304 and 316 (generally over 1.5" Dia), as well as strain hardened level 2 strengths - our primary concentration is supplying NITRONIC 60 & 50. We supply these grades in strengths Level 1 through Level 5, insizes from small rod to as large as 4" Diameter. Usage varies from drill collars to bushings and fasteners. Shafts, spindles and solid rod rigging. Small and large quantities are welcome - we may already have the size you need.

For more information on NITRONIC 60, see our overview on N60, or see the hisgh strength properties on the N60HS page.

For more information on NITRONIC 50, see our overview on N50, or see the hisgh strength properties on the N50HS page.

Forging stainless, nickel and cobalt grades of superalloys

Open die forgings have been produced in our Tipton operations in NITRONIC 50, NITRONIC 60, C-276, INCONEL 718, HAYNES 625, HASTELLOY B, Cobalt 6B and many more grades. Upsets, flats, rectangular and round bars. From small pieces to bars up to 12 feet long. Stainless ingot of N50 / XM-19 and Duplex 255 arriving any day.

See our forging page for more information.

Plate and Sheet Stocklist

Plate and Sheet stock available, see list of items here.
This means more inventory availability for alloys NITRONICs 30 / 50 / 60, MONEL 400, INCONEL 601 and 625, 718 and HX sheet & plate. This in addition to our $4M inventory of bar sheet and plate - which adds up to a lot of stock in Nickel and Cobalt products.

Call today for more details : 800-472-5569,
or internationally +1-765-945-8230
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