New complete brazing concept from H?gan?s

Brazing powder has long been a minor product area for H?gan?s, a global producer of iron and metal powders. But with a new production plant inaugurated, an application centre for testing and prototyping now operational, and an expanding product portfolio, H?gan?s is launching a complete brazing offer comprising both paste and expertise.

High-temperature brazing has been widely adopted by component makers in the automotive industry and beyond because of its high strength and resistance to corrosion and oxidation. And ever-tougher environmental regulations will only increase demand for brazing using nickel-based or stainless steel filler metals.

Now H?gan?s is expanding its offer in the brazing area by developing a complete brazing concept. “We have expanded our palette of products from the raw material to full project support,” says Michael Rehnig, Managing Director of H?gan?s Germany.

Powder, paste, and application expertise

H?gan?s has been manufacturing brazing powders on a small scale since the 1980s. But it was with the acquisition of the nickel-based brazing paste business from Innobraze in 2011 that the company committed itself to the brazing business and started to develop a complete brazing concept

Owe M?rs, Manager Alloy Development at H?gan?s, says: “We took the product and production know-how and the market knowledge we acquired, and then added our own expertise and experience. We are bringing the combined knowledge of powder, paste, and application to the market to help our customers set up the most efficient brazing operation.”

“There are several crucial factors for the end result in brazing, including the braze alloy, paste properties, application technology and brazing methods. H?gan?s is able to provide products and know-how for each of these steps and to evaluate the best solution for the customer at its PoP Centre in Sweden. What we have developed is a large and unique toolbox including all the application methods and expertise in them, plus the possibility to support the customer with samples,” says Rehnig. “We are capable of running small series or a ramp-up for screen printing, roller coating or dispensing.”

Purpose-built for paste

A key part of the new brazing concept is a purpose-built, modern brazing paste production facility situated adjacent to H?gan?s existing metal powder plant in Ath, Belgium, which started shipping paste to customers in Q4 2013. “The facility has been designed to meet future requirements, but already now we have an annual capacity of several hundreds of tonnes of paste,” says General Manager Vincent Rasneur. This is a state-of-the-art facility both from an equipment and an environmental point of view.

As brazing is used extensively in automotive applications, H?gan?s employs experts with extensive industry experience. “We have a systematic approach that is very automotive industry-like and follows customer development processes,” says Cyril Fontaine, Manager Sales and Market Development Brazing, who himself has an automotive background.

Support from idea to SO

One of H?gan?s biggest customer projects in brazing involves supplying a complete range of products and consultancy services for the brazing of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) coolers. “We provide the paste, the know-how for the machinery for applying the paste to the components, we do all the trials, and we will support the customer’s prototype build untiNike Shox Deliver