Bodycote, the thermal processing services provider, is investing significantly in new specialty stainless steel processes (S3P) facilities. In response to exponentially growing customer demand, the company’s S3P subdivision recently opened a new Greenfield facility in France and completed another round of expansion in its Ohio, North America site. Further to the company’s expansion programme, another Greenfield plant in the centre of Germany will open in 2016.
Stainless steel applications present specific technical challenges. Bodycote’s S3P technologies are proven solutions dedicated to the treatment of stainless steel, nickel-based and cobalt chromium alloys (including martensitic and precipitation hardened stainless steel materials) to improve resistance against surface wear such as galling, cavitation erosion and abrasive wear. Many surface treatments, when applied to stainless steel, will negatively affect the metal’s inherent corrosion resistance. Uniquely, Bodycote’s S3P process imparts increased mechanical and wear properties without adversely affecting corrosion resistance, presenting engineering benefits for industries such as medical /pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical engineering.
