82 Year Old Inventor Continues to Invent New Products

June 17, 2010 - PRLog -- After 6 years of research and development, KVA Stainless has come up with a cost-effective patented weld processing technology that eliminates the difficulties associated with welding martensitic stainless steel and results in a product that is stronger, lighter and less expensive than other alternative alloys such as Precipitation Hardenable Steels, Titanium, High Strength Steels (HSS), Chrome Moly Steels, Austenitic Stainlesses, and Mild Steel.

Recognizing the need for low-cost, high strength structural tubing, KVA Stainless founder, Ed McCrink, and his development staff brought decades of metallurgical and thermal processing experience to invent and patent new exciting technologies.

Until recently, welding of martensitic stainless steel has been impossible because it will cold-crack in the heat-affected zone under mechanical straining and forming.  For this reason, martensitic stainless has long been considered the most difficult of the five stainless steel families to weld.

“KVA Stainless is working with several of the larger automotive manufacturers and we have also produced bicycle and wheelchair frames, which have been very well received in the marketplace,” says KVA’s vice-president of sales, Douglas Gore.  

“With this technology, high strength structural components and parts can now be created using martensitic stainless steel and used in a variety of applications, with significant performance and cost benefits.  Several of our other patents and trade secret technologies allow us to produce stamped automotive parts with weight savings up to 50% while increasing overall strength by 17%,” Gore says.

KVA Stainless’ seam-welded tubing can replace seamless martensitic and expensive austenitic stainless steel tubing, exotic titanium alloy tubing or specialty ultra high strength steel tubes (welded or seamless).   KVA’s processed martensitic tubing exhibits a more uniform weld metal microstructure than conventionally-processed seam-welded tubing.  After a simple air quench and temper heat-treatment, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) transforms into the same microstructure as the base metal, now exceeding strengths of 200 ksi.  

Those parts include suspension components, from control arms to sub-frames, chassis frame rails, and vehicle accessories such as tow hooks and running boards.
KVA STAINLESS technology can benefit any market segment where component weight, strength and corrosion resistance are critical issues, providing a superior alternative to conventional materials.  Ideal applications include:
•   Automotive components and structures
•   Aviation components and structures
•   Gas and oil production pipelines
•   Petrochemical and process piping
•   Agricultural equipment
•   Earth-moving equipment
•   Train/rail cars and equipment
•   Heat-exchangers
•   Medical devices and wheelchairs
•   Action sporting goods – golf, baseball, bicycles

Companies looking for performance advantages such as weight savings, durability, toughness, fatigue performance, corrosion resistance, cost reduction and increased strength should contact KVA Stainless.

For more information, please contact:
Douglas  Gore
KVA Stainless
124 S. Market Place, Suite 200
Escondido, CA 92029
www.kvastainless.com

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KVA Stainless is an engineering and research company that also manufactures seam welded tubing. KVA has spent years developing and patenting it’s technologies around air hardenable martensitic stainless steels and other hardenable ferrous alloys.