Nadcap approval for Wallwork aluminium and magnesium heat treatment

Metal improvement specialist, Wallwork Group, report that their Nadcap approval has now been extended to cover both their aluminium and magnesium heat treatment processes. The company is one of a small number of UK heat treatment companies able to process aluminium to aerospace industry standards. There are even fewer companies that have the rare ability to heat treat magnesium.

The company processes complex components from satellite and aircraft parts through to motorsport and sports cycle equipment. Parts processed vary from fabrications and castings to small pressed-metal parts. Within their high-tech furnaces, Wallwork can heat treat loads of up to two cubic metres in each process cycle.

Ian Lacey, business development manager for aluminium and magnesium heat treatment explained, “Since diversifying into this field two years ago we have steadily grown market share, increased capacity and expanded our knowledge and experience. We have core customers in demanding fields, such as aerospace for example, who rely on our ability to develop suitable heat treatments to meet their precise needs and then deliver consistently high quality standards supported by expert technical services.”

The furnace model used by Wallwork has integral quench facilities to give a transfer time of just ten seconds or less from furnace to quench. Depending on the treatment specification, components maybe air cooled, hot or cold water quenched or polymer quenched. In addition, components can be subjected to post quench freezing to prevent age hardening.

The Wallwork Nadcap approvals fall within the Merit Programme whereby successive audits with no or low non-compliances, automatically extends the interval for full audits to two years. In addition to Nadcap approvals, the company also has prime approval from Moog and is seeking specific approvals from other aerospace primes.

Wallwork laboratories provide a range of post treatment testing services including hardness, conductivity and mechanical testing. A nationwide collection and delivery service, using company owned dedicated vehicles, enables a typical 24 to 72 hour turnaround on commercial work and 7-10 day return on aerospace work where more extensive post-treatment quality assurance is required.