According to the ASTM, additive manufacturing is a process used to assemble materials from 3D models, usually layer by layer and in opposition to substractive manufacturing, such as machining and cutting.
Additive manufacturing allows to build parts with less loss of material while also limiting the number of production steps. Additive manufactured parts do not need to be machined from a bulk block, there is no riser to be removed and it is not necessary to shape multiple preforms to obtain the final product. Usually, a final machining is necessary to obtain the desired surface finish.
Welding is a process by which metal parts are assembled by heating and melting surfaces in contact to produce a seam having properties similar to the base material. The choice of filler material and process parameters will have a significant impact on the resulting properties.
CMQ is particularly active in the development of automated and robotic processes and in the development advanced alloy welding.
Foundry is one of the metal forming processes which consists in casting a metal or a liquid alloy in a mold to reproduce, after cooling, a given part. The techniques employed depend on the molten alloy, the dimensions, characteristics and quantities of parts to be produced. CMQ has at its disposal resistance, induction and plasma melting installations as well as low pressure casting, die casting, sand casting, investment casting and permanent gravity casting installations. Finally, CMQ uses the advantages of thermodynamic solidification modeling in order to optimize casting systems.
Heat treatment of metals is a group of industrial processes used to modify the physical, mechanical and sometimes chemical properties of metals. Heat treatment involves the use of heating and/or cooling, normally at elevated temperatures, to achieve the desired result. CMQ has heat treatment equipment for steels, aluminum and advanced alloys.
CMQ’s corrosion assessment includes various equipment to support companies through their product durability concerns. As per the company needs, our team will follow international testing standards or develop new and innovative testing methods to likely simulate the real-life environment in which the material or equipment will perform and to monitor corrosion processes in real time. This in order to help our industrial partners to reduce future risk or damages to their assets.
CMQ can develop a test for your needs. For example, intergranular corrosion refers to the material degradation for which the corrosive attack progress along the grain boundaries of a metal after exposure to a corrosive environment. We utilize different chemicals and test conditions to evaluate a range of metallic materials for intergranular corrosion (e.g ASTM A262, ASTM G110 and ASTM G67).
Thermal spray is a process family that is used to spray molten metals, ceramics or composites (cermets) to build a coating on a target component. Each thermal spray process is characterized by its heat source (flame, plasma, arc) used to melt the spray material as well as by the coating quality and its productivity. Usually, thermal spray coatings are applied on large component that would be hard to protect otherwise or to spray incompatible materials like ceramics on metals. The main coating applications are wear resistant coatings as well as environmental barriers (thermal or corrosion protection). Another application is part repair, where the low heat input to the component can be very advantageous compared to welding repair procedures.
Powder metallurgy is an economical near net shape process that allows the production of a large number of parts. The powders can be produced by different atomization, milling and chemical processes. They are then consolidated by pressing and sintering. CMQ stands out for its alloy development capabilities for powder metallurgy and also for additive manufacturing and thermal spraying.
