ACCIAIERIE VALBRUNA SPA

Valbruna, founded in 1925, is a private company with 2.500 employees and an annual output of 200.000 tons of specialty steels. Today, Valbruna, with three production plants in Vicenza, Bolzano and Fort Wayne , IN (USA), is a leader in the production of Stainless Steels, High Nickel & Titanium Alloys Long products, available in ingots, blooms & billets, reinforcing bars, wire rod, wire, round, hexagon, flat, square and angl

The continuous increase of air traffic and the need to transport people and goods with more and more capable aircraft, powered by more efficient motors, with low carbon consumption and little environmental impact, presents a growing challenge for producers of metallic materials. Jet engines, in particular, are one of the most hostile operating environments: high temperatures, corrosive fluids, centrifugal forces, friction, high pressures and cycle fatigue. Even the structural components such as those of the airframe, the landing gear, or the fasteners (rivets) must fulfil very serious tasks: they must offer the greatest performance in environments subject to great fluctuations of temperature and extended cycle fatigue while guaranteeing absolute reliability, operational safety and efficiency.

For this reason it is necessary to use metallic materials with high performance adapted to the different applications listed below:

Nickel alloys, Iron & Nickel based superalloys capable of combining great resistance to high temperature and surface stability (i.e. resistance to corrosion and oxidation) used, for example, for components such as the riveting or discs, vanes, rings, valves, shells, shafts and others parts that make up the jet engines and in particular of the “hot” part of the motor, i.e. the turbine.

Titanium alloys capable of exhibiting a specific weight vs. mechanical resistance ratio superior to any other metallic material, in addition to an excellent resistance to corrosion. Particularly rigorous chemical specifications and microstructures make such materials adapted to a great variety of aerospace applications: structural components, hydraulic components and the “cold” part of the jet engine (compressor), as well as fastenings (rivets) and missile components.

Special steels such as alloyed steel with high resistance or stainless steels, melted in air or re-melted with a consumable electrode exhibit, in addition to good corrosion resistance, the advantageous qualities of mechanical resistance and tenacity. In particular, the ample choice of stainless steel (austenitic, martensitic and precipitation hardening) guarantees a versatility capable of including a wide range of aerospace components including structural, motor and fixing components.