INCERTEC

What is NADCAP accreditation? NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) is a global program that sets the standards for aerospace engineering, defense and related industries.

What Does it Take to be NADCAP Certified?

There is a very detailed process that goes into NADCAP certification, including establishing an approved quality management system (QMS), passing a stringent on-site audit and a review of that audit by special process experts.

Why Is NADCAP So Important?

NADCAP is critical for manufacturers, as it allows them to quickly know that services like heat treating, painting and coating adhere to the exacting industry standards of quality, reliability and consistency. NADCAP also shows that a service provider can help streamline the overall manufacturing process, since they have proven their ability to maintain compliance with high quality standards while working quickly and efficiently.

What Is The Difference Between NADCAP, AS9100, and ISO 9001?

Generally speaking, specificity. ISO 9001 is the broadest of the three certifications, ensuring that your QMS meets the global standards for performance, customer satisfaction and commitment to quality. AS9100 is built on the ISO 9001 standard, but adds specific standards and requirements for the aerospace industry and is produced by the International Aerospace Quality Group. NADCAP is even more specific, applying to individual services like heat treatment, painting, coating, chemical processing, and many others.

INCERTEC’s NADCAP Accreditations

INCERTEC is proud to offer a number of NADCP accredited services for our partners in the aerospace and defense industries. These include our overall accreditation for our Aerospace Quality System, as well as our painting, chemical processing and non-destructive testing services.

NADCAP Accredited Painting Services

Polyurethane painting improves durability, UV resistance and general flexibility for metal parts that are used outdoors or are subjected to harsh working conditions. Our polyurethane painting services meet many NADCAP mil-spec standards of excellence and performance including:

• MIL–P–85582
• MIL–P–53022
• MIL–P–23377
• MIL–PRF–85582
• MIL–PRF–85285
• MIL–PRF–23377
• MIL–DTL–53039
• MIL–C–85285
• MIL–C–53039

NADCAP Chemical Processing

INCERTEC’s chemical processing NADCAP certification includes our plating, anodizing and heat treatment services.

NADCAP Non-Destructive Testing

There are a wide range of NADCAP certified non-destructive testing services that we can provide for all kinds of parts, including:

• Advanced material analysis
• Eddy current testing
• Magnetic induction
• X-Ray analysis

These tests, along with our other testing services, helps ensure that critical parts have the strength, durability and resilience to hold up in the harsh environments that are common in the aerospace and defense sectors.

NADCAP Aerospace Quality System

This accreditation ensures that our overall system of procedures and processes meet the necessary regulatory, reliability and safety standards of the aerospace industry.

Explore INCERTEC’s NADCAP-Accredited Services

Get the high-quality, NADCAP-certified services your parts need by working with INCERTEC. Start by checking out all of our NADCAP services or reach out to us for additional information about our NADCAP certifications.

INCERTEC has been featured in Hometown News, a local publication for Volusia County, Florida, as one of three companies moving to the town of Edgewater. This relocation of INCERTEC’s Florida location, formerly Synergy Metal Finishing of Titusville, is set to put INCERTEC in close proximity to the Space Coast and Daytona Beach, enhancing the ability to serve aerospace and defense clients. Read more about the relocation, future expansion and more.

Read the Article

We are proud to announce that INCERTEC has acquired Metal-Tek, Inc., a trusted name in the heat treating industry for nearly 50 years. Now operating as Metal-Tek, LLC, the company will continue to serve OEMs across aerospace, military and defense, medical devices, automotive and industrial markets — now strengthened by INCERTEC’s resources, certifications and customer support.

George Fuglsang, Metal-Tek’s long-standing leader, will remain on staff for a minimum of one year to ensure a seamless transition and continuity for clients.

Explore Our New Services

This acquisition strengthens INCERTEC’s position in the Midwest heat treating market and adds several highly specialized capabilities to our portfolio. As a result, INCERTEC now offers the following:

• Induction Hardening services — precision heat treatment that increases surface strength and fatigue resistance
• Metal Straightening services — post-heat treat straightening to restore dimensional accuracy and geometry
• Material Testing services — comprehensive metallurgical and non-destructive material testing to verify compliance and performance

Ready to take advantage of these new capabilities? Request a Quote or contact our team to discuss your project.

What Changes for Metal-Tek, Inc. Clients?

For Metal-Tek’s valued clients, very little will change. Our priority is to keep service levels consistent while introducing additional benefits.

• Staffing: All Metal-Tek employees remain in place, including George Fuglsang, who will support the transition
• Facility: The same Minnesota facility continues operations under the INCERTEC umbrella
• Phone Numbers: No changes — you may continue calling your usual contacts
• Email Addresses: Over the coming weeks, emails will transition to the incertec.com domain. During the transition, all existing Metal-Tek emails will remain functional
• Invoicing: Invoices will now be managed at INCERTEC corporate headquarters — 500 73rd Ave N.E., Ste 123, Fridley, MN 55432

Common Client Questions

Will my current projects be affected?

No. All projects in progress will continue without interruption, handled by the same Metal-Tek staff you already know.

Do I need to change how I submit RFQs or orders?

RFQs should now be directed to [email protected], but all existing channels will remain open during the transition.

Who do I contact for invoices or technical questions?

• Production Planning: George Fuglsang ([email protected]) & Steve Broden ([email protected])
• RFQs: [email protected]
• Invoicing/Accounts: Gina Johnson ([email protected])
• Technical/Sales/NDA/W-9: Ryan Miller & George Fuglsang ([email protected])

Reach Out With More Questions About the Acquisition

We understand that change brings questions, and we’re here to provide answers.

Call us at (763) 347-2444 or contact us online with your questions about the INCERTEC acquisition of Metal-Tek, Inc.

With this acquisition, you can count on the same trusted service you’ve always received from Metal-Tek, Inc., now paired with INCERTEC’s broader capabilities, certifications, and support.

INCERTEC has been featured in a recent Products Finishing article focusing on their growth in Florida’s aerospace market. Learn how expansion into heat treatment and liquid painting services have helped INCERTEC quickly become one of the main players in the Sunshine State’s aerospace and defense industries.

Read the Article

Gas fan quenching is the process of introducing a gas into a vacuum furnace in order to quickly and reliably cool the heat-treated parts at a controlled rate. The types of gases that can be used in this process include:

• Argon
• Helium
• Hydrogen
• Nitrogen

Sometimes, these gases are used in combination to quench parts. At INCERTEC, we use nitrogen for all of our gas quenching. There are other quenching mediums available, including oil and water, so be sure you have a thorough understanding of each method before choosing the quench that is best for your components. Need some help deciding on the best quenching process for your parts? Reach out to the experts at INCERTEC for trusted insight and proven solutions.

What Is Gas Fan Quenching?

Gas fan quenching is the process of cooling heated parts by introducing a gas into a vacuum furnace chamber after parts have undergone heat treatment. Doing this in a controlled way allows parts to be quickly and uniformly cooled without removing them from the chamber.

What Are the Three Types of Quenching?

There are three methods for quenching: oil, water and gas. Oil and water quenching can be less uniform than gas, making it more likely for the parts to be distorted during quenching. Both of these methods also require disposal of the water or oil, which adds time, effort and cost to the process. At INCERTEC we only vacuum quench with nitrogen gas, as it offers the greatest range of benefits and is versatile enough to work with all kinds of parts.

Benefits of Gas Fan Quenching

Quenching parts with nitrogen gas has many benefits — overall, the process is quick, efficient and cost-effective without sacrificing the quality of the results. Specifically, vacuum gas quenching provides uniform cooling, a bright and clean surface finish, minimizes quench cracking and is an environmentally friendly process, especially when compared to other quenching methods. The process is ideally suited for both alloys and ferrous metals, including various types of steel.

Uniform Cooling

By cooling parts evenly and uniformly, gas quenching reduces the possibility of cracking or distortions. This means the parts will keep the properties of their heat treatment and are less likely to fail during use, making the gas quenching process a good fit for parts like gears, bearings and similar automotive components that need to be as strong and structurally sound as possible to extend their service life.

Cleaner Surface Finish

Gas leaves no residue or scale behind after quenching, unlike liquid quenching mediums. This means that once parts are quenched, they have a bright, smooth surface that needs no further post treatment, making it ideal for parts that require precision — like turbines in the aerospace industry.

Environmental and Safety Considerations

Gas quenching is an environmentally friendly quenching option that does not require harmful chemicals or liquids. Nitrogen is not a harmful gas and produces no problem side effects. INCERTEC is proud to be RoHS compliant and gas quenching plays a big role in that certification.

Stress relieving and normalizing, two heat treating processes, can be used to improve the quality and reduce the imperfections in iron and steel parts. Stress relieving heat treatment will reduce, or relieve, the internal stresses of parts after fabrication by heating parts to a temperature below their critical point and cooled slowly. After being welded, formed or cut, stress relieving reduces the chances of parts cracking, warping or distorting during use.

Normalizing is also used to improve parts, but by heating them beyond their critical point and allowing them to cool. This will improve the grain structure of the metal and increase its toughness and strength.

Some commonly relieved and normalized parts include:

Stress Relieved

• Dies
• Gears
• Jigs
• Molds
• Shafts
• Spindles

Normalized

• Axles
• Connecting rods
• Crankshafts
• Fasteners
• Gears
• Pressure vessel components

Ready to get started with INCERTEC’s stress relief or normalizing heat treatment services? Contact us today to request a quote or get more information.

Equipment Used in Stress Relieving Heat Treatment

There are two types of stress relieving: vacuum and air. While both will relieve internal stress they are slightly different in practice. Air stress relieving uses open air to cool the parts after they are heated. This method is cost-effective and fairly efficient. Vacuum stress relieving uses the vacuum furnace to cool the parts after they are heated. The lack of atmosphere helps keep the parts scale-free, so they won’t need to be washed after the process.

Benefits of Stress Relieving Heat Treatment and Normalizing

There are many benefits of both stress relieving and normalizing, let’s break them down here:
Stress Relieving

• Increased fatigue resistance
• Minimized risk of distortion and cracking
• Improved dimensional stability
• Better machinability
• Extended service life

Normalizing

• Improved hardness and strength
• Increased toughness
• Controlled dimensional changes
• Better ductility
• Minimized risk of distortion and cracking
• Extended service life

These processes are well suited for parts that will be used in a wide range of industries, including the automotive, manufacturing and construction industries.

Best Metals for Stress Relieving and Normalizing

The materials that respond the best to both stress relieving and normalizing are iron and all kinds of steels. These materials gain the most from the dimensional stability imparted by these processes.

Vacuum tempering is a heat treatment process that is used after an initial hardening process. Parts are placed in vacuum chamber, reheated and cooled based on specific parameters to achieve the following results:

• Enhance toughness
• Prevent corrosion
• Achieve the desired hardness
• Reduce brittleness
• Avoid discoloration
• Achieve a bright and scale-free finish

Many parts made of various materials can be improved by vacuum tempering, including critical components used in the firearms, automotive and aerospace industries.

Want to speak with one of our experts about vacuum tempering? Contact us today!

Equipment Used in Vacuum Tempering

Vacuum tempering uses a sealed vacuum furnace chamber to create a no- or low-pressure environment. Air and other gases are removed to create an inert environment to ensure the parts are not contaminated. The vacuum chamber can be heated to a range of temperatures based on the needs of the material being tempered.

Steps in the Vacuum Tempering Process

Depending on the parts and materials being tempered, INCERTEC can alter the heat and time the entire process takes. However, there are some constants, such as the use of the vacuum chamber to keep the parts free of contaminants and in a stable environment. The rest of the process generally follows these steps:

1. The parts completely finish the vacuum hardening process
2. Parts are racked to avoid distortion and are put into the vacuum chamber
3. The atmosphere is removed from the chamber
4. The chamber is brought up to the required temperature based on the materials being tempered
5. The parts are slowly cooled before being removed from the chamber

Best Metals for Vacuum Tempering

Vacuum tempering has many benefits, including being an eco-friendly, efficient and fast solution for parts that require the benefits of the process. Tempering is also compatible with many different types of metals, including:

• PH steels such as 13-8, 15-5 and 17-4
• Stainless steel
• Tool steels
• Copper
• And more!

Vacuum annealing is a heat treatment process that uses a controlled vacuum environment and heat to alter the properties of metal components. The process is capable of providing a number of desirable results, including:

• Achieving the desired hardness to make them easier to work and shape
• Relieving stress to improve longevity and overall performance
• Preventing distortion and scaling
• Ensuring there are no decarburized areas, preserving carbon content
• Avoiding both intergranular and surface oxidation
• Leaving the parts with a clean, shiny surface that will not need washing after the annealing process

Vacuum annealing is suitable for a variety of materials, including stainless steels, titanium alloys, and tool steels.

Want to speak with an expert about vacuum annealing? Reach out to us today!

Equipment Used in Vacuum Annealing

The vacuum chamber used in the annealing process is a controlled environment where air and other gasses are removed to create a sterile space. These chambers can reach high temperatures and create and maintain a low-pressure or complete vacuum environment to ensure the annealed parts aren’t contaminated and have minimal defects. Inert gas is often used to quench the parts at a fixed rate to produce the necessary final results.

Steps in the Vacuum Annealing Process

At INCERTEC, annealing follows a fairly straightforward process. It always requires a vacuum furnace chamber that can heat to the required temperature and create an environment that is free of contaminants, with minimal or zero pressure. The steps include:

1. Clean the parts of all surface contaminants, such as machining coolants and oils
2. Correctly rack parts — outside of the furnace — to prevent accidental distortion during the process
3. Load racks with the parts in the vacuum furnace chamber
4. Engage the chamber to remove the atmosphere, creating the vacuum
5. Heat and quench parts to in accordance with customer specifications
6. Introduce inert gas at the end of the cycle to slowly cool the parts — this keeps them bright and contaminant-free

Best Metals for Vacuum Annealing

Many metals respond well to the annealing process. Some of the most common that we deal with are:

• Brass
• Copper
• Kovar
• Inconel
• PH steel
• Stainless steel
• Titanium
• Tool steels

Parts made of these materials that go through the annealing process have higher ductility and stability, allowing them to be worked again after the process. This enhances the reliability and overall precision when these materials are used in their end form, making them invaluable to many vital industries. Annealed metals are often found in engine and suspension parts in the automotive industry, aircraft frames and landing gears in the aerospace industry, semiconductors in the electronics industry and internal devices such as pacemakers in the medical industry.

Vacuum hardening is a heat treatment process for metal components that uses a controlled vacuum or partial pressure, high heat and rapid quenching to improve strength, durability, surface brightness and cleanliness, stability and a variety of other properties. This process is exceptionally suited for metals including tool steel, stainless steel and titanium and is one of the quicker and most cost-effective heat treatment methods available.

Want to speak with one of our experts about vacuum hardening? Reach out today!

Equipment Used in the Vacuum Hardening Process

First and most importantly, vacuum hardening requires a vacuum furnace. A vacuum furnace is capable of reaching temperatures as high as 1,300 °C and creating and holding a low pressure or complete vacuum environment to prevent oxidation and contamination of the parts. Vacuum hardening often uses inert gases like nitrogen to quench the parts at a fixed rate based on the desired results. In addition to hardening, the equipment and conditions can be used for high-quality heat treatment processes like annealing, brazing, and sintering to produce parts with superior purity and minimal defects.

Vacuum Hardening Steps

During the process, the metal that’s being hardened is brought to temperature inside the furnace as it heats up, minimizing the potential stress that can be introduced when there is a large temperature difference. Depending on the metal and needed results, the parts will be held at temperature for a predetermined amount of time. Quenching is the final part of the process, which is most commonly done by introducing nitrogen or another inert gas to cool the parts. Quenching time is variable, depending on the desired results.

Every step of the vacuum hardening process is designed to prevent distortion, oxidation, scaling, decarburization, and other surface imperfections, resulting in improved wear resistance, stability, hardness, surface brightness and overall performance.

Best Metals for Vacuum Hardening

There are a number of good material candidates for this type of heat treatment, including:

• Tool steels
• 300 and 400 series stainless steels
• Titanium
• Alloys including 15-5, 17-4 and 17-7

Parts made from these materials and subjected to vacuum hardening are valued for their performance and reliability in a number of critical industries. For instance, parts hardened this way can be used for engines and turbines for the aerospace industry, various dies and cutting tools in tool manufacturing, precision instruments in the medical industry and transmission components and other parts that require tight tolerances in the automotive industry.

What is Anodizing Dye?

Dyes used in the metal anodizing process are used to imbue the substrate of the parts with a range of available colors. Different hues can be created by altering the concentration of the dye, based on the specific needs of the part being anodized. The eventual application of the part will influence the ideal type of dyes and anodized colors available.

Want to talk to one of our anodizing experts? Reach out to us today!

Types of Anodizing Dyes

There are both organic and inorganic dye options available for anodizing. Organic dyes are generally made from acids or mordents, while inorganic dyes are derived from inorganic salts from various metals like tin, nickel or cobalt sulfide. Both are widely used, the choice between the two options usually comes down to the anodized part’s eventual function.

Applications of Anodizing Dyes

Parts that are anodized and dyed are used in a wide range of industries and applications such as:

• Aerospace
• Firearms
• Marine
• Medical
• Military & Defense

Choosing the Right Dye

Factors to Consider

The ideal anodizing dye choice is determined by a number of factors, such as the environment that the parts will be used in, desired color, lightfastness and overall compatibility. For instance, it is recommended that parts that are exposed to regular UV light or harsh environments should be colored with inorganic dyes since they offer better resistance, lightfastness and stability in these conditions. On the other hand, if the brightness or a wider range of color options are more of a concern, organic dyes are more suitable.

INCERTEC offers a variety of anodizing dye colors, including:

• Black
• Blue
• Gold/Yellow
• Gray
• Green
• Olive Drab Green
• Orange
• Red
• Violet

Environmental Considerations

The anodized dyeing process is growing in popularity in part because it is an eco-friendly option for coloring parts while also improving their core characteristics. Anodizing dyes are low-toxicity and comply with environmental regulations, producing no hazardous waste throughout the process.

Preparation for Anodizing Dye

Cleaning and Pre-treatment

Before parts can be anodized and dyed, they must first be cleaned thoroughly. Degreasing removes any dirt or particulate on the surface, acid etching then creates a surface that is more conducive to the anodizing process and then a thorough rinse ensures that the surface of the metal is as clean as possible going into the next steps.

Masking and Racking

If the entire surface of the part is not going to be anodized, the masking step is used to cover and protect those areas. Masking allows for aesthetic flexibility and customization during the anodizing process, while also allowing specific areas to retain properties like conductivity after the anodizing is complete.

Racking serves a vital function in both the anodizing and dyeing steps. Racks hold the part or parts securely in place throughout the entire process, while also being the electrical current pathway during anodizing. There are a number of racking techniques that can be used depending on the material and overall requirements of the parts being anodized.

What Materials Can Be Anodized and Dyed?

Nonferrous metals — and their alloys — can be anodized. Aluminum is the most commonly anodized material, but titanium and magnesium are also viable options.