- 2011 Grand Prize
- Lock Hardware Appliance
- Cost-Saving U-Shaped Slot Geometry
- ASCO HI-IMPAC Heat Treated Copper Steel
A Grand Prize in the Hardware/Appliance Category of the 2011 Powder Metallurgy Design Excellence Awards Competition was presented to ASCO Sintering Co. for a PM copper–steel outer hub exit spindle used in electronic door locks.
The part connects a standard lock and an exit device. When activated through a code or electronic card reader, the spindle rotates to the standard lock assembly. The Powder Metallurgy (PM) spindle is made to a near fully dense 7.7 g/cm3 density and has a 95,000 psi ultimate tensile strength, 8 percent elongation, and 90 HRB hardness.
The PM process allowed 95% materials utilization as opposed to machining a wrought blank which yields a materials utilization figure of only 45%. PM also provided a 90% energy savings.
