AT&F Blog

AT&F Advanced Metals Completes 1000th National Board Certified Vessel

AT&F Advanced Metals, located in Orrville, Ohio, has completed its 1000th vessel certified by the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors (NBBI). AT&F Advanced Metals is a division of the world class steel fabricating enterprise, AT&F, specializing in corrosion resistant materials for a variety of industries. A specialty fabricating shop with a dedication to high quality, AT&F Advanced Metals manufactures for some of the most physically demanding markets in the world today.

From the Floor: Turbine Compressor Segments

AT&F manufactures for some of the most physically demanding markets. Inside a gas turbine engine, pressure and heat are built in a compressor to achieve maximum efficiency. The efficiency of the engine relies on the quality of the compressor; the more heat and pressure the compressor can handle, the more efficient the engine will be. AT&F has taken on the manufacture of segments of these compressors. Crimped, rolled, and burned from one piece of A36 carbon steel, the six-inch cylinder was then cut in half and blasted in our blasting room.

From the Floor - Rolled Tanker Cylinders

AT&F is big in the maritime industry. Shipbuilding is a process marked by compliance to established standards. So when AT&F was approached to form hawse pipes for the anchor system on heavy tanker ships, we put our expertise to work. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standardizes the engineering of various grades of steel for shipbuilding, and the hawse pipes are no exception. The ABS-A carbon steel was cut, rolled, and tested to the specifications of the customer, but before shipping the parts out, an inspector from ABS visited our facility and spent two days verifying that every job had been done in accordance with ABS standards. After careful inspection the pieces were stamped, approved and sent off to the customer.

From the Floor - Heavy Cylinder Processing

When it comes to thick plate rolling, AT&F has you covered. If you've been following the blog, you'll remember a while ago when we posted photos of thick wall cylinder rolling. This is another one in the set of cylinders being prepared to ship to the customer to assemble a huge pressure vessel to produce low-calorie sweetener. This cylinder is unique because it is mostly comprised of standard carbon steel with a 1/4″ thick layer of 304 Stainless Steel cladding. Due to weight, the customer chose to ship the large cylinders one at a time and weld them in the field.

Fourth-Generation Company is Strong as Steel

AT&F is pleased to be featured as the Wire-Net Member Profile feature.

Heavy Equipment Investment at AT&F Wisconsin

AT&F, a global leader in the steel fabricating industry, is investing in new cutting technology to be installed in its Wisconsin facility. The new high definition plasma cutting machine boasts an innovative five-axis bevel head, capable of cutting up to 2 inches (50mm) thick. It has the latest in CNC controls and supporting software resulting in superior small diameter hole cutting accuracy. The ability to cut contour bevels creates opportunities for design-related enhancements to weldments and other fabricated structures.

From the Floor - Nuclear Walkway

Pictured below is a finished nuclear walkway ready to be shipped to the customer. This walkway will be pushed by hand into place over the reactors. The unit is 100% fabricated from Titanium grade 2 to tight tolerances and designed to be lightweight, high strength and corrosion resistant. We have fabricated multiple walkways and other components for the nuclear industry over the years. Because of our long history in the nuclear industry and decades of working with titanium and other corrosion resistant metals, our AT&F Advanced Metals facility is the go-to source for fabrications such as this unique walkway. AT&F Advanced Metals is set up to work exclusively with specialty metals such as Titanium and is ready to take on your next corrosion resistant project.

From the Floor - Bridge Girder Fabrication Part 3 - Galvanization

This is the third part in a series of posts about fabrication work that we do for the bridge industry including long forming and welding. In Part 1 we showed a photo of the formed bridge girder and in Part 2 we showed the same girder after it had studs welded onto it. The photo below shows the girder during the galvanization process which is performed to inhibit rust on the component.

From the Floor - Bridge Girder Fabrication Part 2 - Welding

In our last post about short span bridge girders we showed some photos of the tub girders after we formed them in our long single ram press. In another process, we weld studs onto the bridge girders as shown in the photo below.

From the Floor – Thick Wall Cylinder Rolling

When customers face big challenges they search for a supplier of big ideas and big solutions. AT&F recently rolled nearly 9” thick flat plates into cylinders for just such a customer. The pressure vessel shell segments are a combination of 1/4" thick 304 Stainless Steel plate and 8 ½” thick carbon steel backer plate fused by the explosion cladding process. AT&F used the largest plate roll in North America to roll the thick flat plate into cylinder segments in just a few hours at its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.