Speciality metals ready for take-off!

AMETEK SMP was formed in 2015 and, for the first time, all six businesses – Superior Tube, Fine Tubes, Reading Alloys, Hamilton Precision Metals, AMETEK Wallingford and AMETEK Eighty Four – exhibited under one banner at the recently held Paris Airshow.

AMETEK SMP says its ability to cover so many aspects of the aerospace industry’s quality requirements have generated high interest from important potential clients and OEMs.

Its wide range of speciality metal products include: Master alloys used for controlling chemistry in the melting of titanium and super alloys; Metal powder coatings providing thermal, abrasion, and corrosion resistance; Metal powders for both plasma and high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) applications; Precision tubing for fuel lines, actuation and instrumentation; High-pressure tubes for hydraulic and pneumatic control systems up to 5,000psi; Metal strip for diaphragms in aerospace sensor applications; Nickel-based strip alloys for aerospace battery applications, heat exchangers and bellows; Brazing foils for engine components; Shaped wire for throttles, push-pull mechanisms, fuel shutoffs and fasteners.

In the words of Mike Cullum, international sales manager SMP for Europe, Asia and Middle East: “What particularly impressed visitors to the AMETEK SMP stand was the range of products and technical expertise on offer and display from all the SMP businesses. It was also a pleasure to meet with one of our key customers, Safran, in Paris.”

Adds company aerospace tube product manager, Andy Millett: “AMETEK SMP is a key tier 1 and tier 2 supplier to civil, military and space programmes and holds extensive approvals from the major airframe manufacturers and engine primes. We work directly with the major OEMs such as Boeing, Airbus, Safran, and GE. We also work with their direct suppliers and distributors.”

Needless to say, product quality is at the heart of AMETEK SMP’s business ethos. For example, Superior Tube and Fine Tubes have Nadcap certifications for heat treatment, non-destructive testing and welding and Fine Tubes recently acquired Nadcap approval for chemical processing. Reading Alloys has Nadcap approval for its laboratory as well as GE S400 and Pratt & Whitney LCS approval.

This validated capability to manufacture for highly critical applications is reflected in the projects that the companies work for. This includes the supply of high precision tubing for the F-35 family of stealth multirole fighters developed by Lockheed Martin provided by Superior Tube. In addition, AMETEK SMP support both the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 programmes. It also manufactures vital speciality metal products for landing gear customers, such as Liebherr and Safran Landing Systems.

“The establishment of AMETEK Specialty Metal Products represents the creation of a new force within the aerospace industry,” Cullum explains. “By combining the expertise of six businesses – all of which have a long record of developing specialist products for situations where failure is not an option - AMETEK SMP has an unrivalled, added value service offering.”

The companies within AMETEK SMP include Superior Tube and its UK-based sister company, Fine Tubes. Both have a long history of manufacturing precision tubes for a wide range of applications in which performance is critical; Reading Alloys, a supplier of more than 60 standard alloy formulations in a wide range of sizes as well as tailored products to individual customer requirements; Hamilton Precision Metals, a custom re-roller of precision metal strip and foil, including titanium, nickel and nickel-based alloys, stainless steel and super alloys; AMETEK Wallingford, a pioneer in speciality metal products with more than 50 years of experience in advanced metallurgical materials; AMETEK Eighty Four, a global leader in the design, development and production of water-atomised powders and roll-bonded clad metal products since 1970.

www.ametekmetals.com