Monday, April 6, 2009 - Volume 2
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Good Afternoon
Our second edition of Shaping and Finishing News centers around new capabilities and technologies at American Trim. Our business believes in the idea that in today's competitive environment, the difference between a good and great company rests in its ability to innovate. 
In The News
Steve Hatkevich, our director of research and development, is scheduled to present at PMA's 1st Annual Technical Conference in Cleveland on Monday, April 27.
The conference is centered on advancing methods in current and future metal forming technologies. Hatkevich will be presenting information discovered through our research into electromagnetic forming.
The title of his presentation is Electromagnetic Forming: Enhancing and Expanding Traditional Metal Forming Technology. Learn more about electromagnetic forming
Conference Information:
April 26-28, 2009
Holiday Inn Hotel Cleveland South
Independence, Ohio
A Devotion to Innovation
American Trim's innovation strategies are featured in the April 2009 edition of Metal Forming magazine. The article entitled, A Devotion to Innovation, features much of the research and development that has occurred at American Trim in the recent years. These new and enhanced capabilities keep American Trim in the forefront of the industrial community as a sustainable and respected manufacturing company.
Read Metal Forming's Article
Customer Links
Keep updated with recent news
Quality Contacts and Documents
Design Assistance
Contact Us
1005 West Grand Ave
Lima, OH 45801
phone: (419) 228-1145
web site:amtrim.com
email: Newsletter Questions
Metal Finish Development
New Optical Collection
Select any image to see our finish matrix
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Solving Corrosion Problems with EC²
In 2007 we opened an Alodine® EC²™ coating line in our facility in Cullman, Alabama. EC² is a corrosion, abrasion, and wear resistant coating that is applied to aluminum and titanium substrates. This coating was developed by the Henkel Corporation which has also brought such great industrial products as Loctite®, Teroson, and Bonderite® to the market. In the last year and a half we have worked with several companies that experience problems with corrosion in their industry. Through this work, we have been able to develop a white paper that explores how EC² can help solve, not only corrosion problems, but a variety of manufacturing issues.
 Our White Paper documents how EC² can:
- Improve corrosion and wear resistance- coating recently surpassed salt spray test of 7500 hours
- Accomplish better paint adhesion
- Achieve more uniform coating thickness
- Eliminate coating layers and process steps
- Increase air and fluid flow based on the ability to incorporate new manufacturing methods and materials that are now possible because of the Alodine® EC²™ process.
To download a copy of the white paper select the checkbox for Alodine® EC²™ White Paper under Other Information. After reading how the electroceramic coating has helped a variety of industries to solve their corrosion or performance issues, you can get more information by attending a free webinar on Wednesday, April 29.
Register for Webinar
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High Velocity Metal Forming (HVMF)
HVMF is a method of forming metals under a high strain rate by accelerating a work piece into a form die at speeds approaching 300 meters per second. Traditional metal forming is done at low strain rates with impact work being done at less than 1 meter per second. As part of grant from the State of Ohio, American Trim, The Ohio State University, and General Motors have been exploring HVMF as a process to construct fuel cells for replacement of the internal combustion engine for automotive applications.
 Currently, there are prohibitive issues limiting the manufacturing feasibility and use of fuel cells for automotive applications. One limiting factor is the ability to form exotic metal alloys into the required shapes. The HVMF process allows these materials to be formed while the material is in its hyperplasic state allowing for complex shapes to be achieved. The second issue is the need to address the volume and economic constraints of the automotive industry. HVMF allows for volume and costing targets to be achieved through reduction in processing steps and more efficient use of manufacturing floor space.
Read more or Contact Chris Highfield for more information
Design News
Metal Finishes-600 Patterns and Still Going Strong
American Trim's Finish Development Group has been researching finishing development capabilities and trends. The finish development research is advancing our design capabilities and offering our customers a wide range of metal patterns.
The patterns developed are based on current trends and nature's beauty. Trends in patterns are constantly evolving. You can see this when looking at the changing design of home furniture, home decor, and clothing fashion. Our metal designs based on these popular patterns bring together soft patterns using hard materials. While trends are based on popular design, nature's constant beauty can also be seen in our patterns. Nature's inspiration has brought about the development of such patterns as stone, animal skin, and rainfall. You can see some of the over 600 patterns on our metal finishing matrix.
To produce these patterns we are mechanically manipulating metal to develop an image or pattern. Design patterns fall into two categories: technical and organic. Technical patterns are linear and contain an easily repeatable pattern. While organic patterns are larger, more complex designs that develops into an image. Organic patterns are popular in architecture whereas technical patterns are commonly found in smaller applications such as automobile trim.
"Our challenge in Finish Development is to take a flat substrate and manipulate its plain rigid appearance and transform it into an element of visual interest. We do this by incorporating brand defining pattern work and color together creating a layered effect. The layering of elements utilizes the substrates reflective properties to create depth within the finish design," explains Audra Keiber, our lead finish developer.
A new technique is currently being explored using optical effects to form a pattern. The designs are created by manipulating and layering repeating geometric elements to build visually interesting patterns or visual effects in the substrate. All three of the optic patterns in the series are made from the same basic shape.
View Metal Finishing Matrix |
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1005 West Grand Avenue Lima, OH 45801
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