Meet Our Metals: Nickel-Based Alloys

Forging nickel-based alloys is an important part of Anderson Shumaker’s operations. Our skilled team knows their metals inside and out. But, not everyone is familiar with the many materials we forge. Each metal has its own unique properties and attributes. Therefore, not all metals are appropriate for all products. A few weeks back we discussed titanium. Today we’ll take a look at nickel-based alloys (exotic alloys), which are extremely popular open die forging choices.

What are Nickel-Based Alloys?

Nickel-based alloys use nickel as their balancing metal. These metals can be alloyed with iron, molybdenum, and chromium. Because they are on the high end of the corrosion scale, these grades exhibit high resistance properties and perform well under severe conditions. Nickel-based alloys have high wearability, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and acid resistance. Therefore, these metals are important for components that must withstand harsh environments. They are often in situations where temperatures exceed 1000 degrees. For example, nickel-based alloys are found in aerospace, power generation, oil & gas, and chemical industries applications. Furthermore, they are ideal materials as valves, pumps, pipes, turbines, processing equipment, and marine assemblies.

Forging Nickel-Based Alloys

Nickel-based forgings require extensive experience to produce, but thankfully, Anderson Shumaker has the right workforce to produce these grades as the highest quality open die forgings and rolled rings. Due to their chemical compositions, nickel-based alloys tend to be expensive and often require long lead material times. However, Anderson Shumaker stocks the most popular high temperature grades and inconels for quick and cost-effective forging. If we don’t have it in stock, we can obtain it for our customers.