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ATI

Project Description

Client: ATI
Location: Richland, Washington
Project Size: 38,250 sq. ft.
Architect: Fisher Construction Group
Facility Type: Electronic Beam Hearth Furnace

Doubling Capacity of Richland Operations to

Meet Demands of Aerospace, Defense and Industrial Markets

ATI is a $3.8 billion global producer for aerospace and defense markets that require the highest quality performance materials. Their current Richland Operations is one of the world’s largest electron beam (EB) cold hearth furnace creating titanium ingots. When it was time to double its capacity to meet the increased demand for titanium and titanium alloy products, they turned to Fisher Construction Group for the highly unique and complex project that would add a second EB furnace, as well as Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR).

The EB melt specializes in melting titanium and titanium alloys under a mechanically driven vacuum. Electron beams create intense energy that liquefies the materials layer by layer. The melt flows into the refining hearth, and the finished product is a rectangular or round ingot produced to the client’s exact specifications. Ingots can range from 13’ to 17’ long and weight anywhere from 17,500 to 44,000 lbs.

Due to many OEM applications requiring premium quality—a two-melt process—to improve forgeability, ATI added the state-of-the-art asset of a VAR to improve overall process flow and largely increase capabilities.
After the Fisher AE team spent countless meeting hours on equipment, process piping, and model coordination to ensure everything lined up properly and fit within the pits and building structure, it was time for the Fisher civil team to get to work.

To create an environment for the intensely hot chemistry to take place, Fisher’s civil team excavated two large pits; 12’W x 83’L x 35’D under the EB and 22’W x 60’L x 20’D under the VAR. Due to the intensity of the vacuum, blast protection measures were put in place with extensive rebar and up to 16” thick walls.

Fisher finished out the project enclosing the pits with a pre-engineered metal building. Fisher roofing self-performing not only the standing seam roofing installation, but the PBR panel siding, as well.