French steel maker Ugitech has expanded its portfolio of stainless steel with ferromagnetic properties that are used in sensors and actuators. A member of Swiss Steel Group, Ugitech produces a wide range of ferritic and martensitic steels with variations from liquid metal to magnetic rod.
Its ferritic materials are particularly suitable for electromagnetic actuators due to their soft magnetic properties, says the company. They differ in terms of their relative magnetic permeability and resistance to pitting corrosion.
The sulphurized grades, for example, UGI 4106 when non-magnetically annealed or IMRE when magnetically annealed exhibit a better corrosion resistance than the classical grade UGI 4105SI used in many applications. Staying in the family of sulphurized steel grades, when magnetic permeability of the reference grade UGI 4105SI is not high enough, the company recommends its UGIPERM 12FM which enhances relative magnetic permeability for electromagnetic actuators from µr = 1600 to µr = 1800.
Ferromagnetic material is often used in the automotive industry, food industry, electricity sector and industrial processes to enable the functionality of solenoid valves, electric pumps, injectors, dis-connectors and electromagnets based on the magnetizability of the steel used. Depending on the application, materials with high corrosion resistance, great mechanical strength or special magnetic properties are required as well as other characteristics such as electrical resistance and machinability as well as weldability.
The ferromagnetic material is available as a round bar, hexagonal steel or profile bar with different dimensions and can be processed to ground or drawn. To maintain quality, Ugitech continuously tests the steel grades. For example, type A direct current permeameters and coercimeters are used to determine the magnetic behavior of materials under static and dynamic conditions.
Based in Ugine, France, Ugitech manufactures stainless steel long products including billets, bar stock, wire rod, and drawn wire produced in its own steel mill and processing plants. With close to 10,000 employees, Swiss Steel Group is a leading global manufacturer of alloyed engineering steels. For more info, see www.ugitech.com and www.swisssteel-group.com.
