Press Releases
UP Scientech Completes Initial Testing of Abakan’s CermaClad Wear-Plates
April 13, 2015
MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Apr 13, 2015) - Abakan Inc. (OTCQB: ABKI) ("Abakan"), an emerging leader in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, today announced that its partner in Asia, one of the largest international wear-plate manufacturers, UP Scientech Materials Corp. (“UP Scientech”) (TWSE: 2068), has completed initial testing of CermaClad wear-resistant clad plates. The outstanding metallurgical and mechanical properties of CermaClad wear-resistant clad plates, coupled with UP Scientech’s sales and marketing channels in 35 countries, is expected to accelerate market adoption and drive growth for Abakan’s CermaClad wear-resistant clad plate products.
Wear plates are designed to provide wear performance in extreme industrial service environments. Wear (Abrasion) resistant plates are used in many applications where friction between two parts or materials creates degradation, especially in the cement, power, and mining industries. Roller, separators, liners, nozzles, and chutes in the cement industry; crushers, elbows, pipes in the power industry; buckets, screens, hoppers, dozers, screen, blades, chutes in the mining industry are very common applications for wear-plates. In these and other applications, it is estimated that several million square meters of wear-plates are used annually.
“We have been actively collaborating with Abakan on the development, testing, and qualification of wear-resistant clad plates. During this time, Abakan has successfully demonstrated the cladding of chrome carbide, tungsten carbide, and structurally amorphous materials (SAM) on flat plates. We have completed our testing of CermaClad wear-resistant clad plates and the results have been fantastic. Our testing has shown that wear-plates with SAM cladding exhibited over 1,100 Vickers* hardness which is approximately 50% harder than conventional chrome carbide weld overlay, at 750 Vickers hardness. What that means to the cladding industry is significantly longer life for wear-plates. Our next step will be to make pilot runs of the clad plate production to quantify the overall cost benefit to our customers. We eagerly look forward to introducing CermaClad wear-plates to our customers in Asia, and other countries in which we have a presence,” said Mr. Kevin Chen, VP Operations, UP Scientech.
“We are currently cladding 1 square foot flat plates, and are in the process of designing an assembly that can clad 1 square meter plates. Our goal is to clad plates up to 6 square meters. We expect to complete the development and qualification of wear-resistant clad plates and to be in a position to commence sales shortly thereafter,” stated Abakan CEO, Mr. Robert Miller.
* VICKERS HARDNESS TEST - an indentation hardness test for metals in which a 136-degree diamond pyramid is pressed into the surface of the metal being tested by a load of 5 to 120 kilograms.
About UP Scientech
UP Scientech is known as the most competitive company in the world for wear resistant compound steel plate manufacturing and is the largest manufacturer of compound steel plate in the world with more than 250,000 square meters of annual production. The performance of components hardfaced by UP Scientech’s KSW process (Kurimoto Super Welding) have resulted in significant cost savings and longer work cycles when compared to replacement with a new cast or forged component. UP Scientech has an extensive commercial network through which it has achieved a global footprint with sales in more than 35 countries.
About Abakan Inc.
Abakan develops, manufactures, and markets advanced nanocomposite materials, innovative fabricated metal products and highly engineered metal composites for applications in the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, aerospace and defense, energy, infrastructure and processing industries. Abakan’s technology portfolio currently includes high-speed, large-area metal cladding technology; long-life nanocomposite anti-corrosion and wear coating materials. Abakan's products have demonstrated longer life, higher productivity and extremely high strength-to-weight ratios compared to competing technologies. The Abakan group of companies has been honored by The Wall Street Journal as the #1 Manufacturing Innovation across the globe, by Pipeline Industries Guild as the Top Subsea Pipeline Technology, by Forbes as the #1 Most Promising Material Science Company in the United States, by American Metals Market with the Steel Excellence Award, by Inc. 500 as one of the Fastest Growing Manufacturing Company in the U.S., and has received numerous other trade, industry and technology awards including five R&D 100 Awards and a Technology Innovation Award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Over $50 million has been invested in product development and testing by federal agencies, national labs and our companies in order to deliver products that offer improved performance over the current state of art. Abakan has successfully introduced its PComP™ W for metal asset protection and life extension in the oil and gas and mining industries, and is currently focusing on the scale-up and commercialization of its highly disruptive metal cladding products for the oil and gas, oil sands, and mining industries. Abakan currently operates from multiple locations in United States, and intends to expand global operations in Canada, South-east Asia, Mexico and South America.
Forward-Looking Statements
A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including technological obsolescence, market acceptance of future products, competitive market conditions, and the sufficiency of capital resources. The actual results Abakan may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Abakan encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on Form 10-K,Form 10-Q and 8-K. Abakan’s public filings may be viewed at www.sec.gov.
Abakan Inc.
Robert Miller, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 786-206-5368
Email: [email protected]
www.abakaninc.com
Investor Relations
Surety Financial Group, LLC
Phone: 410-833-0078
www.suretyfingroup.com