Transformation Techniques

CNC Machining
The latest CNC grinding, CNC milling and CNC turning equipment is used to machine targets according to customer requirements, paying close attention to tolerances and surface finish.

Extrusion
A hot-working process by which a block of metal is reduced in cross section by forcing it through a die orifice under high pressure. Heraeus uses this manufacturing process to produce a variety of hollow metal and alloy tubes.

Forging
Heraeus takes advantage of the fact, that forging refines the grain and improves the physical properties of the target material. During the forging process the metal is heated and shaped by plastic deformation when applying compressive force (power hammer or a press). Forging is used to produce semi-finished parts followed by machining operations or other hot forming process steps (rolling).

Rolling
During the rolling process the deformation caused by a pair of two in opposite directions rotating metal rolls leads to a reduction in the cross-sectional area of a metal billet. Heraeus uses 2-high or 4-high rolling mills, hot rolling (exceeding the recrystallisation temperature) or cold rolling (room temperature) to carefully control the amount of deformation and the resulting physical properties of the target.

Saw Cutting
Besides wire saw and water jet cutting, Heraeus uses band saws or circular saws to cut ceramic or metal target blanks from plates, ingots or tubes. Special care is taken to avoid overheating the cut area not to effect the grain structure and to recover the cutting chips for further recycling processes.

Wire Saw
High cost materials like ITO, require a cutting process with minimal kerf loss, no or minimal final grinding, high accuracy, wide range of sizes/thicknesses and high productivity. Wire saw cutting offers these advantages. A wire saw uses a single thin metal wire wrapped around wire guides to create multiple parallel wires through which the material is fed together with an abrasive slurry to produce a single or multiple cuts.

Water Jet
An abrasive cutting process that produces part shapes by using a high pressure stream of water containing abrasive particles. Parts are free of any distortion, since no heat is generated during water jet cutting. High cutting accuracy is achieved without frayed edges or burrs and the good edge quality usually eliminates the need for secondary finishing operations.