As announced in our last blog post, today we want to talk to the person who helped develop the newest member of our HeBoSint® STRONG LINE.
Hello Dominik, nice that you found time to talk to us today about the development of a new boron nitride material. Could you tell us a little more about yourself and your role?
Dominik Zug:
Hello, thank you for letting me talk to you about the new material today. My name is Dominik Zug and I have been working at Henze BNP for 6 years as a senior development engineer.
How did the idea of developing our own materials come about and how long did it take?
Dominik Zug:
It grew over several years thanks to Henze's many years of experience and customer relationships. In recent years, it has become apparent that there are applications for which the properties of existing boron nitride materials are not sufficient. The real starting signal for material development was in 2017 when we tackled both material development and the development of an adequate manufacturing process as part of a ZIM project funded by the BMWK.
What challenges are there with such a development? Who is involved? Did you manage it alone? What do you remember in particular?
Dominik Zug:
With such a project, you always have to deal with conflicting goals. The identification of an economical development process that leads to the best possible quality is just one example. Of course, there are also conflicting goals regarding the technical operation. The compression behavior of the material, which usually competes with its subsequent thermal resistance, can be mentioned as an example. The most efficient processing possible must also be achieved, which is naturally higher, especially with soft, low-density materials. I think the examples illustrate quite well that such challenges can only be solved in a team. Active support from external development partners such as Fraunhofer IKTS in Dresden or from internal departments such as production planning, product management or calculation plays a crucial role.
So what is special about the new material? Does this already work with the hot press? Are you proud?
Dominik Zug:
I think the material shows quite well what our focus is at Henze. The material was developed together with a pilot customer; the goal being to achieve optimal wear behavior in contact with metallic casts. Further analysis also shows that, with the selected combination of materials, we achieve a very high electrical insulation capacity, which is achieved primarily for relatively high strengths compared to pure boron nitride qualities. Of course, we also had to manage a learning curve with the integration of the hot pressing technology, which was new to us. However, it can now be said that we have our process under control thanks to our motivated and technology-friendly employees in production. Looking back, you can certainly be proud if you, as part of a team, can reach such a milestone in the company's history. A look into the future however, is comparatively more interesting.
When will the new material be available? What does the future hold? Can you reveal anything?
Dominik Zug:
The material is available as of now. It is difficult to predict what the future holds. Nevertheless, we are of course focusing on other materials that can provide a solution to one or two problems faced by our customers and potential customers. We expect that we can derive formulas based on the SL-N 300 that can also offer advantages in the area of metallic casting. Furthermore, adjustments regarding the mechanical wear resistance or thermal shock resistance are conceivable here.
Why did you choose this material in particular? What benefit does it offer users compared to other materials?
Dominik Zug:
Given the conflicting objectives presented, we expect that our material offers the best possible solution. This means that we have found a good balance in order to be able to offer the customer a component that can be processed efficiently and precisely, has good mechanical wear behavior and can do this even at high temperatures and under additional chemical stress, for example from metallic castings. In direct comparison to other materials, a lower degree of contamination of the melted material can be presumed. The comparatively high strength and high electrical insulation capacity also allow an increased service life.
For which applications do you see this material?
Dominik Zug:
In view of the advantages and added value described above, the material is ideally suited for casting technology such as various remelting processes, thin strip casting or also in parts in horizontal continuous casting. An increase in service life can also be expected in coating systems in which our components are implemented as electrical insulation components that have optimal separation properties with respect to the coating material. For the fields that are not visible, we are already looking forward to Ceramitec in Munich. Interesting conversations and ideas will certainly develop at the trade fair, which are usually triggered by existing customer-specific problems.
