Wallwork Group is establishing a ‘state of the art’ Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) Centre at its site in Bury, North Manchester, following a £10 million investment. Housed in a new 2,500m² facility, the first of its new HIPs is expected to be fully operational in September 2023. The company also has sites in Cambridge, Birmingham and Newcastle.

Quintus Technologies, a global leader in high-pressure technology, is currently completing the installation of the first of Wallwork’s HIPs. Quintus has over 2,000 systems working worldwide in industries including aerospace, energy, medical implants, space, automotive, additive manufacturing, castings and food processing.

Wallwork director Simeon Collins said: “As the UK’s premier independent heat treatment, vacuum brazing and advanced ultra-hard coatings company, this is a significant expansion of Wallwork’s thermal processing services and is part of a commitment to invest £20 million over the next five years. It cements our position as the UK’s ‘one-stop-shop’ for component manufacturers. All secondary processes are easily accessible on this site or another Wallwork site and are backed by our national pickup/delivery transport fleet.”

Wallwork director James Bailey and HIP business manager David Loughlin are heading up the new Wallwork HIP Centre, along with Andy Day in sales. Mr Loughlin joins the company to take on the new role and brings with him extensive experience in running an HIP facility in Europe, and an understanding of customer expectations on high service, competitive pricing and quality.

Extremely efficient
He said: “The demand for HIP is growing quickly, in part driven by the leaps forward in additive manufacturing (AM) technology. HIP is extremely efficient at removing the porosity from AM parts made from metal powders – this densification process is often the only way for AM builds to fulfil their safety-critical potential.

“With the Quintus URC system to reduce cycle times and high-pressure capability, we are set to meet customer demand and expectations in these developing areas. Compared to the USA and Europe, the UK has been lagging behind in HIP capacity. This investment, and those planned by Wallwork, will go a long way to rectify that. In addition to Wallwork’s focus on quality, service and value added, I am looking forward to developing some new relationships for the company.”

Mr Bailey added: “The Quintus Technologies’ HIP operates at pressures from 40 to 207 MPa (5,800 to 30,000psi) and temperatures up to 1,250°C. The new unit being installed has the latest technology capable of rapid cooling and also the ability to increase cycle pressures to aid with new engineering advances particularly to AM. This requires some major engineering and civil works, hence the high investment we need to make to enter this growing market.

“The ability to improve material fatigue properties, ductility, structural integrity and fracture toughness applies to AM, castings, forgings and subtractive engineered components. Parts with complex geometries can also be processed to near-net shape, saving customers additional machining steps and therefore cost.”

Simeon Collins concluded: “Beginning the design phase for the first of our HIPs during the Covid-19 pandemic presented many unforeseen challenges for Wallwork and the team at Quintus Technologies. This has forged a solid working relationship and gives us great confidence in their support for the technology going forward as we continue to invest.

“As the Bury site is already the largest single-site UK heat-treating facility with an aerospace scope covering nine Nadcap check sheets, we expect to be adding new certifications and approvals for HIP as quickly as possible. We also have a dedicated online customer portal in development that will aid load scheduling.”