Inspection/Quality Control

Towanda Metadyne strictly monitors the quality of all material used in its manufacturing processes. This includes the initial raw material as well as all subsequent material and processes used, to finish a part. This is made Quality Control possible with the use of Towanda Metadyne's comprehensive in-house laboratories and certified raw material suppliers. Within Towanda Metadyne's facility, we have three laboratories; two Chemical/Particle Analytical Laboratories and one Production Tungsten Carbide Laboratory. Basic metallographic and physical properties analyses are done in our Production Tungsten Carbide Lab using standard testing equipments. Advanced chemical/elemental analyses as well as particle properties analyses are conducted in our newly expanded analytical labs. Processes and equipments available include:

Chemical/Particle Analytical Laboratory:

Atomic Absorption Spectroscope: Elemental analysis of major tungsten carbide elements up to ppm (part per million) level.
Particle Size Analyzer: Analyze particle size and particle size distribution.
Surface Area Analyzer: Analyze surface area of powder. Pore size distribution analysis.
Leco Carbon Analyzer: Analyze carbon content and free carbon in parts. Also analyze oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES): Quantitative elemental analysis of all tungsten carbide elements, including all trace elements, up to ppb (parts per billion) level.
Coercivity and Mass Spectrometer: Analyze cobalt content, grain size and eta phase.
Other general lab equipments, such as analytical balance, ultrasonic cleaner and stirrer/hotplate, are also equipped.

Production Tungsten Carbide Laboratory:

Microstructure and Porosity: We use a newly added 5 Mega-pixel digital camera along with a Unitron Versamet® 3 optical microscope (up to 1,000X) to analyze the microstructural features, such as grain size and eta phase, of sintered parts. The porosity measurement is done according to ASTM B-276.
Magnetic saturation: Analyze cobalt content and grain size.
Rockwell Hardness: Analyze hardness of sintered parts.
Density and bulk density
Hall Flow rate

A custom-made lab furnace built with temperature settings that match those of production furnaces has been developed and is utilized for use-testing of new tooling and new powder formulas. Along with the lab furnace, a lab attritor mill has also been developed to aid in the development of new powder formulations.