QuesTek Innovations LLC has announced that it received the 2021 ASM International Engineering Materials Achievement Award for the design and commercialization of Ferrium C64, a novel high-performance carburizable steel enabling more durable, lighter weight transmission gears with increased power density. QuesTek will officially accept the award in 2022 at ASM’s IMAT annual meeting in New Orleans. 

“This puts us in the rarified company of previous award winners like the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, NASA Glenn Research Center, IBM Systems and Technology Group, GE Aviation, and Northrop Grumman Corporation, among others,” said Jason Sebastian, QuesTek president. “We’re grateful for the recognition by ASM.”

The Ferrium C64 story began in 2005 in response to a problem that the U.S. Navy couldn’t solve: how to enhance the performance and safety of its helicopters. QuesTek responded with the answer: a high-strength steel that provided gearbox longevity, increased power-to-weight ratio, and a reduction in production, operation and support costs. Ferrium C64’s unique properties--high surface hardness, quench hardenability, high strength and toughness, long fatigue life, and high temperature resistance--next attracted the attention of the U.S. Army. 

QuesTek, through the Army’s Future Advanced Rotorcraft Drive System (FARDS) program, was awarded a subcontract from Bell Helicopter to jointly evaluate the applications of C64 in an effort to improve the performance and affordability of current aircraft drive systems. QuesTek has also demonstrated C64 in powder bed additive manufacturing, where initial results show similar properties to forged bar.

“As a leading provider of Aerospace and Defense gear material solutions, Carpenter Technology has seen significant interest and adoption of Ferrium C64,” said Marshall Akins, Carpenter’s Vice President of Aerospace and Defense. “Due to its excellent core and fatigue strength, as well as its high case hardness and temperature resistance, C64 is a cutting-edge solution enabling step-changes in the performance of key applications. We expect Ferrium C64 to play a major role in our specialty steel portfolio for decades to come.”

“This stellar achievement sets an example for future alloy development across a range of materials and applications,” added Sebastian. “The impacts of Ferrium C64 are significant from enhanced safety to increased fuel-efficiency.”

This award was given to the cross-functional team at QuesTek for their direct contributions to the design, qualification and commercialization of C64 steel: Jason Sebastian, Chris Kern, Jeff Grabowski, Kerem Taskin, Tom Kozmel and Greg Olson.