In the May issue of MFN, WHEELABRATOR ALLEVARD (WA) presented its vision and philosophy in the field of shot blasting. Regular surveys carried out by WA have identified the main concerns of customers and have enabled WA to provide appropriate structures, products and solutions. They believe in understanding what a customer needs and what makes them choose a particular supplier. These surveys show that customers require a supplier who produces a quality product on time, a supplier who will help reduce production costs, develop their processes and train their personnel, and who will answer questions concerning blasting that are encountered on a regular basis.
In this issue, a deeper insight into WA’s expertise and their innovative approach to service and support is given. It will be explained how their customer-oriented solutions have provided a tangible advantage for customers.

Tailor-made Industrial Tests

The first WA Test Centre was created in 1971 in Le Cheylas, France, with the aim of testing products and methods to establish the best possible process for customers. There are now three successful Test Centres – in addition to Le Cheylas, there is one in Japan and another in the Czech Republic. There are also plans to create one in Brazil in the near future. WA’s Test Centres are designed to reproduce real industrial workshop conditions. The majority of tests are carried out in the presence of customers.
There are all types of shot blasting machines, allowing simulations to be made of any type of blasting operation. The settings can be varied at all levels of the process – whether operating mix quality, abrasive flow or projection speed, angle and distance. On completion of the tests, a technical report is written and, if necessary, residual stress is evaluated in the part after peening by methods such as X-ray diffraction. The best parameters can be defined for an existing shot peening installation or the specifications for a new installation can be determined before any investment is made by the customer.
WA collaborates closely with the principal blasting machine manufacturers throughout the world who do not hesitate to visit WA with customers to avail themselves of WA expertise and WA Test Centres to produce specifications.
Customers are, of course, always seeking to improve their shot blasting performance and to this end, WA provides comparison charts to help in the use and performance of different products. An added advantage of the Test Centres is that customers can validate the studies performed by WA without changing their production schedule.

WA has performed more than 5400 tests and the resulting database provides a sophisticated benchmark for all industrial situations that require shot blasting. The results of these studies are shared with their customers so that they can benefit directly. On-site tests can also be carried out by a specialised team.
 
Shot Peening Studies

Other studies of a more theoretical nature are performed regularly, of which the most recent were in the field of shot peening (figure 1). One such study concentrated on the effects of dual speed peening (V1 and V2) to show the fatigue limit of 54Si CrV6 steel. This one demonstrates the effects of varying the projection speeds for a steel shot of diameter 1400 µm.

For example:
If V1 = 69 m/s and V2 = 69 m/s,  the fatigue limit = 997 Mpa (V1 and V2 applied with the same blasting time)
If V1= 69 m/s and V2 = 33 m/s, the fatigue limit = 1056 MPa.
This study was performed using shot of different dimensions.

A comparative shot peening study (figure 2) has also been carried out on peened gears comparing effects of Delta Shot of 300 µm at 900 HV1 and cut wire of 0.3 640 G3. The results were obtained using identical blasting parameters.

Sophisticated Tools For Quality Control And Comparative Tests

For a long time, WA has been interested in the measurement, evaluation and evolution of steel abrasive quality. The company develops tools to help achieve this, one of the most interesting of which is the WAAT. 
This tool facilitates understanding of the behaviour of all blasting media currently available. It enables measurement of their intrinsic quality according to the various blasting parameters, such as projection speed (140 m/s max) and type of target (steel, iron, etc.). It automatically provides results such as the lifetime of the media expressed as g/tonne projected.
WA also provide a complete solution for the measurement of shot peening intensity. WA Pack® is a control tool that consists of an electronic gauge to measure the ALMEN arc height. WA also offers special strips to measure the coverage. The gauge can be connected to a PC to download the readings, which can then be used by specially designed software.
One possibility of this software is the plotting of saturation curves. As a result of the high precision (µm), customers also use WA Pack ® to measure paint thickness (dry films).
A further tool developed by WA is the WARCS. This tool is a rotation control system to check helical spring behaviour during blasting operations. It measures the number of rotations and, as a result, the spring exposure.

Training – To Stay In Front

In addition to these tests and development, training sessions are also offered at the Test Centres, because continuous training of all personnel is essential for shot blasting processes to be carried out correctly with the best quality and lowest costs.
WA training modules allow personalized training objectives to be met. Training is available in air blasting, wheel blasting and shot peening. Customized training sessions can also be given on a customer’s site for a group of employees. Follow-up of customers’ teams is provided to ensure constant good results, including machine operation and maintenance, quality control, cost control, process management.
WA also collaborate with other training establishments to give training courses to meet market needs.

Cost Control – WA Expertise

WA can send a team of experts to visit your production lines – to resolve your problems, to recommend improvements or to perform an audit. Customers appreciate this face-to-face approach and the opportunity to study the problems in situ.
As in all industries, controlling rising costs is a top priority for WA’s customers. WA offer expert help to ensure the best service and products at the most reasonable price. The costs are separated into the separate areas of abrasive, energy, spare parts, waste, labour, equipment upkeep and general costs. Technical solutions are evaluated in terms of results but also in terms of costs. To help evaluate costs, WA has developed software that specifically calculates the financial impact of each solution considered. It compares the current cost with forecast costs using new parameters. See figure 3.

Blasting costs can be calculated per m2 of surface treated, per kg/tonne of parts treated or per part. The results so far have been impressive, for example:

20% cost reduction in car brake pads (foundry)
32% cost reduction in steel wire (descaling)
17% cost reduction in surface preparation for metallic drums
14% cost reduction in gears shotpeening 
8% cost reduction in car suspension parts (shot peening)

An Innovator In The Field Of Blasting

Innovation is at the heart of WA’s policy as they have demonstrated by the production of Sablacier, HPG, Stanium and Delta Shot and dedicated tools to measure the quality of shot blasting. Innovation often involves exceeding customer expectations and to achieve this, WA have developed extensive services for their customers.
WA make strenuous and continuous efforts to meet customer requirements. They value customers’ expertise and are open to all ideas, whatever their origin, in order to continue development in shot blasting products, processes and solutions.
Product quality is extremely important, but WA also ensure that the quality stays the same from one delivery to the next.  WA now have 13 production plants and can provide the same high quality steel abrasive anywhere in the world. All WA production plants are ISO 9001 certified and the majority meet ISO 14001 standards.

WA – Dedicated To Serving Their Customers
 
WA collaborate with and supply a wide variety of industries such as aeronautics, automobile, metal construction, ship and railway construction. Nowadays, the increasing demands in these fields make it extremely important to provide the most appropriate products and solutions and to continue to give customers added value. Wheelabrator Allevard  achieves this without a doubt!

Wheelabrator Allevard is an international company with offices across the world.
Telephone Contacts:
Asia: +86.21.64 68 6677-227
USA: +1.540.586 0 856-119
South America: +55.11.5574 7272 ext 218
Europe: +33.4.76769292.60
E-mail: waeuro@wheelabrator.com
www.bestofblasting.com
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