Larry Seal tilts his head, squints, and reaches way back into his memory — 35 years. Seal, who currently consults for Wah Chang and retired from his role as the company’s Aerospace Machine Shop Supervisor in 2001, remembers the early days; back when he was a young technician, fresh out of the Welding Technology program at the Oregon Technical Institute, working on projects that were bigger than his imagination.

It never quite dawned on him just how important his job at Wah Chang was until June 20, 1969. That afternoon, as Seal watched the Apollo 11 descend to the moon’s surface buffeted by the thrusts of a massive (W)C-103 engine skirt that he helped manufacture, he realized the true gravity of the moment.

“During descent and landing, I was choked with excitement, concern, and pride in our country and Wah Chang,” says Seal. “The importance of Wah Chang C-103 and our few days of work inspecting the skirts became very obvious when the Lunar Lander was making its decent. I am very thankful that, as a part of the thousands of people involved in the space program, we were able to do our jobs successfully.”

Wah Chang’s role in the space program stretches back to 1958 when the company produced niobium-zirconium alloy tubes for an aircraft propulsion program.

In 1961, Wah Chang, realizing the need for its metals in rocket nozzle applications, began producing tungsten products and development of production techniques for silver infiltrated tungsten.

By the time the Apollo 11 was being designed and built, the company had in-depth experience manufacturing high temperature metals for government programs. In fact, Wah Chang’s alloys were also used for smaller nozzle extensions to help guide spacecraft, such as Apollo 7. According to Seal, Wah Chang employees were working 10-12 hour shifts six and seven days a week on national defense orders.

“When a smaller order for C-103 (niobium alloy) sheet was received for the space program, most employees thought it was interesting but not as critical as the defense orders,” remembers Seal. But the company kept going the extra mile to help out.

“A few weeks after Wah Chang delivered the C-103 sheet, we began receiving questions on the fabrication requirements,” he says, and when the skirt subcontractor experienced welding problems, Seal was sent to assist. ”The subcontractor was trying to weld C-103 with stainless steel welding techniques,” he recalls.

Eventually, “four engine skirts were produced and sent to Wah Chang, where we x-rayed and performed dye penetrant testing on these first skirts,” according to Seal. “We always wondered if these initial skirts flew in space or were used for test engines.” Now he knows for certain that Wah Chang’s metal went to the moon.

In fact, Wah Chang’s C-103 was used in both the Command and Lunar Module rocket engine skirt extensions. These extensions are the visible portions of the main rocket engines on both modules.

The alloy was hand picked by NASA and associated engineers because of its strength at high temperatures; the ability to withstand 10,500 pounds of thrust and temperatures of 2,700 degrees.

Materials Consultant Clyde Forney, who worked on the program while a salesman at Wah Chang, remembers the project well. “The skirt needed to fold up to meet the order criteria,” recalls Forney. “It was felt because of the rough moon surface and the appearance of a dusty loose surface, that the legs of the module could sink in approximately 28 inches. To accommodate the buckling and collapse of the engine extension skirt, we designed it from three thickness of C-103.” NASA calculated that the 29,500-lb. module would strike the surface of the moon fairly hard after descending at a speed of roughly 10 feet per second. According to Forney, the buckling and collapse went through testing with flying colors.

Not so during the most important test. Though the descent engine nozzle worked as designed, the landing wasn’t without a small hitch. “The in-joke at Wah Chang, was how over-engineered the skirt was: Because the moon surface was hard, the legs did not sink into the surface,” says Forney. “Thereby the steps that should have been just right with up to a 28-inch depression into the surface, were so high that the astronauts needed to jump down onto the moon surface,” chuckles Forney.

Today, we can look back on the Apollo mission with amazement... and just a little inside humor. On the 35-year anniversary, the stories surrounding the mission and the accomplishment itself still captivate us.

Apollo 11 was not only a giant step for mankind, but a leap for technology. “The lunar landing inspired confidence in using C-103 rocket engines coated with silicide,” states Seal. “Hundreds of engines have been produced for various space applications in the years since.”

According to Ron Graham, Wah Chang’s Director of Technology and Quality, “We are at the forefront of developing and manufacturing new lightweight, high temperature alloys for demanding aerospace applications. These include niobium and tantalum-based metals as well as advanced titanium alloys and titanium aluminide foils.” Applications range from turbine compressor disks, structural, lightweight honeycomb for aircraft engine exhaust nozzles, and attitude control thrusters for the space shuttle to engine skirts for the second stage of the Delta II rocket. “We are proud of our ability to produce material that meets the most demanding applications and flies on the most exciting missions,” says Graham.

It’s a heritage that Wah Chang plans to continue building on, working with NASA and others to produce moon-tested alloys and develop new generations of products, whether the application is rocket nozzles for launching satellites to orbit the earth or propelling humankind on its next voyage into space.

For more information about Wah Chang’s niobium, tungsten, titanium, and other unique products, visit the “mother ship” at www.alleghenytechnologies.com.

Golf has always been a passion for Don Parr, inventor of the soon to be released Iolar Z (for zirconium) Putter. It’s as intertwined with his life as his surname is with the game. The native Texan has been golfing for over 50 years. “My dad was an avid golfer and got me started when I was 10 or 12,” he says. “Fortunately, dad was a member of a couple of nice golf clubs, so I was able to play pretty much all I wanted and when I was in college, I became a pretty good golfer.”

According to Parr, his current handicap varies around the mid teens. “My scores suffer from my practice of experimenting with different clubs and shots when I play,” he says. The “right hander” has even taken to chipping left-handed... with the backs of his putters.

Parr is always tinkering with things, and the zirconium putter is his latest innovation. “The development of my putter concepts came from a confluence of things,” he says. “I have always favored an upright heavy putter and have, as a result, been an excellent putter.

“Then came the popular practice among the pros to swing from the shoulders without wrist action. This is a stroke that promotes consistency. That led to the development of the long putters (belly and chest length) and the idea of the pendulum stroke with the grip end of the putter fixed to a point on the player’s body.

“My concept was a design that promoted the wristless stroke and achieved the advantages of the long putters in a traditional length. The result is a very upright lie of 11 to 14 degrees from vertical, and a very heavy head weight of about 400 grams,” says Parr.

“What drove me to design a game improvement putter for others was seeing otherwise good golfers struggle with what I considered the easiest part of the game,” he continues. “I have taken great satisfaction from the fact that my friends, equipped with one of my putters, now feel as I do — putting is pretty damn simple. I also take note of the fact that in the pro ranks, putting is usually the deciding factor in winning tournaments or placing high in the money rankings. Parr’s first designs were made of titanium (Ti), but because of its low density, the heads were aesthetically too large. “Also, Ti is very hard compared to steel, the typical putter material,” he observes. “My next designs were in stainless steel and worked out well; however the heads were quite small.”

“I set out to find a material that had a density somewhere between Ti and stainless that was not susceptible to rust or corrosion.” That led him to explore the Internet, where he discovered zirconium and Steve Sparkowich, Wah Chang’s Corrosion Laboratory Manager. Sparkowich answered Parr’s questions about zirconium and provided him with contacts in Wah Chang’s Sales and Marketing groups who helped get the project underway.

Parr is a quick learner. He discovered that zirconium, with a density of 6.5 g/cc, fits nicely between titanium at 4.5 and steel at 7.8. “Another advantage of zirconium is its relative softness,” he says. “It has a very nice feel when stroking a ball. It is also a handsome material. As far as I know there is no other zirconium putter on the market.”

Iolar is currently looking for professional golfers to experiment with the Z putter. “Each putter I put on the market will conform to USGA equipment rules,” says Parr. “The Z has been informally approved and is now at the USGA for formal approval. I am well versed in the USGA Rules and their interpretation, and my clubs are designed to conform.”

Currently, the IOLAR No. 4 stainless putter is available to the public through Neiman Marcus and Horchow online. Custom orders can be requested through the IOLAR web site, www.iolargolf.com.

“Regarding the Z putter, we are manufacturing the club in January or February, with the first 10 going to Wah Chang,” says Parr. The Z will be available on Iolar’s web site and through other outlets by March, according to Parr. The retail price will be in the neighborhood of $400.

So, what lies ahead for the inventive Texan? “I have a number of design ideas to work on next year,” he says. “These include additional putters as well as special purpose irons. I will have to fit this in when I can.” You can be sure he’ll find the time. “What drives me is the challenge and satisfaction in creating something for the game I have enjoyed for so many years.” That’s good news for golfers. For those whose handicaps leave something to be desired, Parr’s innovations might just prove a stroke of brilliance.

At the recent Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technology (SMST 2004), ideas for new applications flowed through the exhibition like molten metal poured from a tundish. Applications for shape memory metal was the hottest topic at the Baden Baden, Germany event, with ideas ranging from parts for wristwatches to new medical devices.

NiTiNOL, a shape memory and superelastic nickel-titanium alloy developed by the U.S. Navy in 1959 and made by ATI Wah Chang, is just now beginning to realize its potential.

Traditional applications for these alloys include biocompatible, self-expanding stents, catheter wire, dental files, and superelastic cell phone antennas that bounce back to shape, even under the stress of a teenager.

These applications are possible because of NiTiNOL’s unique mechanical properties. It all revolves around the alloy’s crystalline structure, which is sensitive to external stress and temperature. NiTiNOL can either be produced in superelastic or shape-memory forms.

According to one medical device manufacturer, the mechanism responsible for both superelasticity and shape memory is a solid-state phase transformation, scientifically called thermoelastic martensitic transformation. Simply put, when produced to provide the shape memory effect, NiTiNOL can be deformed, hold its new shape, then revert back to its original shape when heated above its transitional temperature (usually between -50¾C - 166¾C). When produced for superelasticity, the alloy is capable of absorbing strain energy and releasing it as the applied strain is removed. In this case, a superelastic, spring-back effect occurs without changing temperatures of NiTiNOL. (For a deeper, more technical explanation, visit www.nitinol.com.)

Wah Chang has been active in this dynamic product line since the early 1990s. It has not been an easy effort as NiTiNOL is a challenging material to produce. The barriers to entry for a new manufacturer are significant, since compositions need to be precise (within a couple of hundredths of a percent) and contaminants need to be eliminated.

Over the last decade, Wah Chang’s product engineers have developed processes and improved melting and manufacturing techniques, making the company a very competitive player in the market. Andy Nichols, Director of Marketing at Wah Chang, points to the company’s many advantages, including a breadth of product line, precision bar and wire manufacturing, and the low-carbon-signature alloys it produces using proprietary advanced melting practices.

The company’s timing couldn’t have been better. According to one industry source, “There is a tremendous opportunity in stents and other vessel strengtheners.” He predicts that, within five years, the percentage of stents based on NiTiNOL could jump to 25% of the market. In 2003, 735,653 stents were sold worldwide, most in the United States. With densely populated foreign markets like China just emerging, the potential for growth is huge.

And stents represent just one application for the alloy within the greater medical devices market. NiTiNOL is also used for bone anchors that expand with body heat and hold sutures in place, graft support systems, filters, baskets, and various other devices for interventional procedures.

Outside the medical device market, a manufacturer is using shape memory metal to power miniature linear motors for consumer electronics, with hopes of supplying solutions to manufacturers of disk drives, printers, DVD players, and even toys. NiTiNOL is also used for less glamorous but useful industrial and aerospace applications, such as smart fasteners and shape memory couplings that join tube ends without the added expense and permanence of welding (see accompanying photo). On the market fringes, there is even a clothing designer in Florence, Italy using shape memory wire in the fabric of nylon shirts. Body heat returns the NiTiNOL wire to its original shape within the fabric, keeping the garment wrinkle-free.

Like a nickel-titanium stent, the market for shape memory alloys appears to be expanding with the heat of innovation applied by creative design engineers, scientists, and business people. Wah Chang continues to contribute to this success story, improving its methods of production and searching for new applications for this amazing specialty material that increasingly is shaping our world.

For more information regarding Wah Chang’s NiTiNOL product line, contact by email at custserv@wahchang.com or by phone at 541-967-6977.

*Unilok is a registered trademark of Intrinsic Devices.

ATI Wah Chang is teaming with other Allegheny Technologies companies to exhibit the corporation’s breadth of metal products at two noteworthy trade shows in early 2005.

February 16 - 17, Allegheny Technologies companies Wah Chang and Allvac, will showcase their alloys for medical applications at Medical Device Technology ’05 in Birmingham, UK. Wah Chang and Allvac supply materials for this important industry, ranging from alloys for hip, knee, and other implants to wire for bone anchors, pins, and other medical devices. ATI will be at Stand 242. For more information about the MDT show, visit www.mdtevents.com.

February 27 - March 3, Allegheny Technologies companies Wah Chang, Allvac, and Allegheny Ludlum will display their wide range of innovative metal products and services at the Waste Management ’05 Symposium. ATI’s materials solutions range from stainless steels for pollution control to nickel alloys for waste treatment service to hafnium, titanium, and zirconium for containment and storage of spent fuel. ATI’s Total Nuclear Solutions crew will be on hand to answer questions at Booths 359 and 361 (adjoining space). For more information about the WM Symposium, now in its 31st year, visit www.wmsym.org.

We look forward to seeing you at these and other events in 2005. Please visit us online at www.alleghenytechnologies.com for more information about our products and services.

Wah Chang is pleased to announce that Mr. Eugene Liening will be a Keynote Speaker for its Fifth International Corrosion Solutions® Conference, offering his unique perspectives on the Chemical Processing Industries in a presentation September 12, 2005. The conference, which covers a variety of corrosion, materials, engineering, and testing topics, will take place in Sunriver, Oregon from September 10-15, 2005.

Liening, the Global Materials Engineering Discipline Team Leader at Dow Chemical, will discuss the chemical industry’s direction and what it means for the technology experts who provide the industry with product and sales support.

In his address, Liening draws parallels between the chemical industry and other industries that matured in western nations and were then forced to deal with global competition. He says that the automobile, athletic shoe and computer industries have all been where the chemical industry is going.

“Western chemical companies not only find themselves over-built in their home geographies, but they also face significant cost disadvantages compared to younger companies in rapidly developing regions of the world,” explains Liening. “Global competition in chemicals will keep cost-control pressures high even in a recovering economy.”

Additionally, he says, markets and raw materials are forcing change in where chemicals are manufactured. Manufacturing will increasingly move from North America and Europe to Asia and the Middle East, drawn by the growing markets and lower-cost raw materials, respectively. Joint ventures with companies native to these regions will be a common means to swap manufacturing technology for access to markets and raw materials.

What does this mean to those who will be attending the conference? It has significant implications according to Liening. “With manufacturing moving to regions of the world that are remote from most technology support personnel, those in the chemical industry must plan how they want to support those locations in the future,” he says.

Liening will discuss technology support models for the future, the pros and cons of them, and the challenges of making the transition from the current model to the one that will be necessary. For example, in the near term, how does one cope with the differences in time zones and cultures? In the long term, can communications technology save western technology support jobs? What are the implications for the standard of living to which western technology experts have become accustomed?

Gene Liening graduated with B.S and M.S. degrees in metallurgical engineering from The Ohio State University. He has supported Dow Chemical’s manufacturing operations for 30 years by consulting in a wide variety of materials engineering technical areas. In the 1990s he led the effort to create global Dow Materials Engineering standards. He is a Senior Materials Engineering Associate and leads Dow’s Global Materials Engineering Discipline Team. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan, and a NACE International Certified Corrosion Specialist.

Liening is a past Chairman of NACE International Unit Committees T-3L and T-14D and served as an instructor at NACE International short courses. He has been Dow’s representative to the Materials Technology Institute (MTI) since 1984, serving as the MTI Technical Advisory Council Chairman, as a member of the Board of Directors, and as Chairman of the Board. He served on the External Advisory Committee for the Materials Science and Engineering Department of The Ohio State University from 1995 to 2001 and has numerous publications on a variety of topics dealing with the application of materials engineering technology to chemical processing.

Robert Houser has joined Wah Chang’s Commercial Titanium and Medical Sales Group as a Senior Sales Representative. Mr. Houser joined Wah Chang in 2000 as a Project Engineer and brings over nine years of engineering and sales experience to the department, along with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Oregon State University. His sales responsibilities include medical and armor sales along with other titanium products such as ATI-425 and Tiadyne 3510.

“I am excited about this position because of the diverse marketing areas that cover medical, armor, marine, sports and jewelry industries, to name a few,” he says. “I am looking forward to applying my engineering knowledge and taking advantage of Wah Chang’s position as a world competitor to further develop these markets.” Mr. Houser can be reached at 541-812-7012 or at robert.houser@wahchang.com.

Rory Bausch is joining the Wah Chang sales staff as Sales Technician/ Customer Service Representative. Ms. Bausch has been with Wah Chang since 2000 and has held positions in Safety and Accounting. Her new position’s responsibilities include providing Order Management support for the Nuclear, CPI and Chemical Sales Groups as well as providing administrative support for the sales department. In addition to her other duties, she is also playing an active role in the implementation of Wah Chang’s Customer Relationship Management project.

“Rory’s experience in Safety and Accounting has been a bonus for the sales department,” says Sue Mose, Customer Service Supervisor, Wah Chang. “It has allowed her to immediately jump in and become a major contributor to our department.”

Ms. Bausch is working towards her Bachelors Degree in Business Management.

She can be reached at 541-967-6977 or at rory.bausch@wahchang.com.

Jensen Lee recently joined the Wah Chang sales department and is responsible for the product lines that include alloy additions, chemicals, by-products, powder, conversion and recycle. Prior to joining Wah Chang, Mr. Lee worked in the telecommunication, information technology and financial service industries with companies such as AT&T, IBM and Fiserv, focusing on solution selling, consultative services and customer relationships.

Mr. Lee has worked with customers in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific and holds a BS degree from National Taiwan University and a MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for me to work in an environment where development in people, process and technology is a top priority of the company,” says Mr. Lee. “Wah Chang products have direct impact on our daily lives and as new applications are being developed continuously, the company is in an excellent position to excel in the global marketplace.” Mr. Lee can be reached at 541.967.6958 or by email at jensen.lee@wahchang.com.

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LYNN DAVIS
President

PARRY WALBORN
Vice President — Commercial

ANDY NICHOLS
Director of Marketing

GARY KNEISEL
Director of Sales

KIRK RICHARDSON
Editor

BETH GILLETTE
Assistant Editor

Copyright ©2005 Wah Chang. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this newsletter by any means, in whole or in part, without written permission is prohibited by law. Outlook is published quarterly by Wah Chang. The newsletter contains information on reactive and refractory metals, including hafnium, niobium, titanium, vanadium and zirconium, as well as chemicals. The properties listed herein are average values based on laboratory and field test data from a number of sources. They are indicative only of the results obtained in such tests and should not be considered as guaranteed maximums or minimums. The starburst logo and Wah Chang are registered trademarks of ATI Properties, Inc.

ATI Wah Chang
(headquarters)
P.O. Box 460
Albany, Oregon 97321
T 541.926.4211
F 541.967.6990
www.wahchang.com
www.corrosionsolutions.com
www.wahchanglabs.com

Sales/Tech Support
T 541.967.6977
F 541.967.6994
custserv@wahchang.com

CPI Service Center — US
T 541.917.6739
F 541.924.6882
ellen.baumgartner@wahchang.com

CPI Products
T 541.967.6906

Nuclear-Grade Alloys
T 541.967.6914

Ti, V, and Nb Products
T 541.967.6977

ATI Allvac
PO Box 5030
Monroe North, Carolina 28111-5030
T 704.289.4511
www.allvac.com

ATI Allegheny Ludlum
500 Six PPG Place
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
T 800.258.3586
www.alleghenyludlum.com