Women in engineering profile: Lesley D. Frame
June 9, 2016 Source: ASM International
This new profile series introduces leading materials scientists from around the world who happen to be females. Here we speak with Lesley D. Frame, Director of Product Development for Thermatool Corp.
Continue readingBodycote sponsors Periodic Table of Fictional Metals
June 8, 2016 Source:
Bodycote, Macclesfield, England, has produced the Periodic Table of Fictional Metals, elements that have appeared in classical myths, books, films, comic books, and computer games for many years, as creative people invented metals with mythical or magical qualities.
Bodycote has a long history of working with real metals to increase their performance and meet customer requirements. Sometimes, though, in the myriad worlds of fiction, real metals just don't do what the author needs.
Popular culture has given us an extensive list of metals and alloys with fantastical qualities. In addition to Marvel Comics, whose ‘vibranium' and ‘adamantium' are probably some of the best known due to recent cinematic releases, fictional metals have appeared in popular science fiction movies such Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who; TV shows such as Game of Thrones and the X Files; literature such as The Lord of The Rings; and video games such as the popular Minecraft franchise.
For example, the Bodycote table reveals that Greek mythology introduced adamantine (Adt), a strong hard metal that made a "sickle or sword used by the hero Perseus to decapitate the Gorgon Medusa while she slept."
Rearden Metal (Rem) was invented by Hank Rearden, the protagonist in Atlas Shrugged. "This greenish-blue metal is lighter and stronger than steel. The first product made from the metal was a bracelet, then railway tracks for the Rio Norte Line."
Explore all these fascinating materials and many more in the interactive Periodic Table of Fictional Metals.
http://www.bodycote.com/fictional-metals
Bodycote, Macclesfield, England, has produced the Periodic Table of Fictional Metals, elements that have appeared in classical myths, books, films, comic books, and computer games for many years, as creative people invented metals with mythical or magical qualities.
Continue readingNitrex announces Nitriding Symposium for November
June 7, 2016 Source:
Nitrex Metal Inc., Quebec, Canada, announces its fourth Nitriding Symposium, dedicated exclusively to controlled nitriding and nitrocarburizing presentations by academic researchers and industry professionals. Held at the MGM Grand hotel n Las Vegas, November 17-18, the symposium is sponsored by United Process Controls, West Chester, Ohio.
The Nitriding Symposium is a triennial event for metallurgists, engineers, plant supervisors, and manufacturing managers who deal with nitriding/nitrocarburizing in their manufacturing environment. It provides a bridge between academics, researchers, and the industry.
We invite key academics, providers, and end-users of nitriding and nitrocarburizing from all over the world to present new developments and different technologies that are available, or that are being explored, along with the topics below:
• Nitriding/Nitrocarburizing technologies & new advances
• Applications & case studies
• Nitriding stainless steels
• Wear, fatigue and corrosion resistance
• Distortion control
• Equipment developments
• Process controls
• Atmosphere sensors
• Plant integration and automation
• Simulation software
The call for abstract is now open, and will be until August 26. Participants are invited to submit an abstract online at http://www.nitriding.info/register-now/speaker/.
More event details are available at www.nitriding.info.
Nitrex Metal Inc., Quebec, Canada, announces its fourth Nitriding Symposium, dedicated exclusively to controlled nitriding and nitrocarburizing presentations by academic researchers and industry professionals.
Continue readingAl-Ce-Mg alloys enable easier casting, higher temperatures for engine parts
Source: ASM International
Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partners Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Eck Industries announce that they have developed aluminum-cerium alloys that are lower in cost, easier to cast, and more resistant to high temperatures than existing products.
Continue readingASB Industries celebrates 70 years with Cold Spray reference book
June 6, 2016 Source:
ASB Industries Inc., Barberton, Ohio, is celebrating 70 years in business by producing High Pressure Cold Spray: Principles and Applications, a practical and useful, comprehensive and technically advanced in-depth look at the high-pressure cold spray process. ASB Industries Vice President of Marketing and Sales Charles Kay and Metallurgist and Director of R&D Dr. Jegan Karthikeyan co-edited the book, which will be published by ASM International.
The book is written for a wide audience across the whole spectrum of cold spray technology users, from scientists and engineers to those who utilize cold-spray-coated parts, components, and equipment in their daily operations. It was authored by a group of cold spray experts from around the world, including Mr. Kay and Dr. Karthikeyan.
High Pressure Cold Spray addresses the growing need for an authoritative source of information on this relatively new and rapidly-advancing technology, which is a growing subject of interest and study at universities, research centers, and in many high tech industries across the globe. The tome offers information on the foundational elements of the cold spray process and the technology involved, as well as an in-depth look at the many applications for cold spray coatings in various industries, with illustrative case studies by those actively involved in the cold spray field.
For seven decades, ASB Industries has been dedicated to the advancement of surfacing technology. The company has developed a number of proprietary coating materials and unique coating processes that are customizable to the challenge at hand, be it improving the wear or corrosion resistance of metal parts, returning damaged or worn components to their original dimensions, or reducing friction between parts for better overall equipment performance.
ASB Industries Inc., Barberton, Ohio, is celebrating 70 years in business by producing High Pressure Cold Spray: Principles and Applications, a practical and useful, comprehensive and technically advanced in-depth look at the high-pressure cold spray process.
Continue readingNanolaminated MoAlB coating resists corrosion at high temperatures
Source:
Drexel University, Philadelphia, announces that a research team from Drexel, Linkoping University in Sweden, and Imperial College London, has produced a nanolaminated molybdenum-aluminum-boride coating that resists corrosion at high temperatures. To make the MoAlB coating, Prof. Michel Barsoum and his team combined a molybdenum-boron lattice with a double layer of aluminum to produce a material that is durable enough to resist oxidation at extremely high temperatures. The key to this performance is the material's nanolaminated structure, which consists of alternating layers of molybdenum boride and aluminum.
Using techniques gleaned from MAX Phase and MXene fabrication techniques developed by Prof. Barsoum, the research group developed a method for making corrosion-resistant layered boride. Upon testing, the group also found that the material retains its high conductivity to elevated temperatures. Its melting point has yet to be determined, but preliminary results have shown it to be greater than 2550°F. Prof. Barsoum speculates that because of these promising results, his team's work has now laid the foundation for the development of ultrahigh melting point borides that are also oxidation resistant.
According to Prof. Barsoum, "Resistance to oxidation is possible because of the presence of aluminum in layers between molybdenum and boron layers. When heated to high temperatures in air, the aluminum atoms selectively diffuse to the surface and react with oxygen — forming a surface aluminum oxide protective layer that slows down further oxidation considerably."
Drexel University, Philadelphia, announces that a research team from Drexel, Linkoping University in Sweden, and Imperial College London, has produced a nanolaminated molybdenum-aluminum-boride coating that resists corrosion at high temperatures.
Continue readingThe world loses Karl A. Gschneidner
Source:
Ames Laboratory Senior metallurgist Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., known around the world as Mr. Rare Earth, passed away April 27 at the age of 85. A Fellow of ASM International, Dr. Gschneidner began work on his Ph.D. at Iowa State University in 1955 and hired on as an Ames Laboratory graduate researcher in metallurgy. After receiving his doctorate from Iowa State in 1957, Dr. Gschneidner took a job in the Chemistry and Metallurgy Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory, and was promoted to section leader in 1961.
An opening at Iowa State and Ames Laboratory gave him the chance to return to Ames in 1963. He formally retired from the Laboratory in January after a distinguished 60-year career that was dedicated to the study of rare-earth metals.
He was a Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, a Senior Metallurgist at the Ames Laboratory, and the Chief Scientist of the Critical Materials Institute. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and earned a lengthy list of awards for his research.
A prolific writer, he published more than 544 articles in scientific journals and more than 170 chapters in books and conference proceedings. As testament of the quality of his research, his published works have been cited an astonishing 19,013 times – an average of 328 citations per year over his career.
"Our work on the giant magnetocaloric effect of gadolinium-silicon-germanium has been cited more than 2100 times," Prof. Gschneidner said at the time of his retirement, "so you could say we really hit the jackpot with that one. Finding something new or unexpected is what makes it worthwhile," he added. "It's kind of like hitting a great drive in golf; it keeps you coming back."
"Karl has been an inspiration and a mentor to so many of us at Ames Laboratory and around the world," said Ames Laboratory Director Adam Schwartz. "As a researcher, I read many of Karl's papers as they related to my own work, and when the Critical Materials Energy Innovation Team first came together during the proposal process, I had my first opportunity to work directly with him. His incredible knowledge of rare earth science was astonishing, but what is more remarkable was his willingness to help everyone around him do their best. We will miss Karl."
It was his renown as "Mr. Rare Earth" that led to the establishment of the Critical Materials Institute, a U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hub located at the Ames Laboratory. He testified before a Congressional committee about the need for such a research center and later served as the first chief scientist for CMI.
This information is from the www.ameslab.gov website.
Ames Laboratory Senior metallurgist Karl A. Gschneidner Jr., known around the world as Mr. Rare Earth, passed away April 27 at the age of 85.
Continue readingOne Minute Mentor: Alpha-Prime Inhibits Toughness in Ferritic Stainless Steels
June 3, 2016 Source:
The graph shows how alpha-prime formation reduces toughness in ferritic stainless steels. The worst toughness-inhibiting effects come from interstitial elements in grain boundaries: oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. Stabilizing removes the interstitial carbon and nitrogen, along with oxygen and sulfur, from solution. This does not produce a major softening, however, because the precipitate itself has a hardening effect.
Because stabilized alloys are ferritic at all temperatures, there is no automatic grain-refining transformation as exists in carbon steel. If grains grow large from annealing at high temperatures or welding, then the transition temperature increases. Section size also has an effect. Stabilized ferritic stainless steels are seldom used in thicknesses of over several millimeters because of decreasing toughness.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels ⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Heat Treating of Ferritic Stainless Steels ⇒ Properties
The graph shows how alpha-prime formation reduces toughness in ferritic stainless steels.
Continue readingIMS Welcomes the Failure Analysis Society
June 2, 2016 Source:
Hello IMS Members,
On behalf of the International Metallographic Society and its board of directors, I would like to welcome the new ASM affiliate, the Failure Analysis Society. The society is dedicated to advancing the important role failure analysis plays in the materials science industry. The new affiliate society emerged from an existing ASM committee that has offered failure analysis programming and content for more than 15 years. Currently, FAS has approximately 2500 members.
FAS will continue to provide collaboration, networking, and educational opportunities for materials science professionals. It will also continue to have its own technical programming at the annual Materials Science & Technology conference, and will continue to publish its own journal, the Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention. In addition, an online database of failure analysis case studies will be available in the future.
Metallographic evaluation, interpretation, and expertise are an integral tool to the world of failure analysis. There is a common bond between our two affiliate societies. Our members should welcome to the opportunity to collaborate with this new ASM affiliate society.
FAS is the sixth affiliate society launched by ASM, joining the Heat Treating Society, Thermal Spray Society, International Metallographic Society, Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society, and the International Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies.
The FAS membership fee is $25 annually and also requires a membership to ASM International.
Sincerely,
Daniel P. Dennies, Ph.D., P.E., FASM
Director, International Metallographic Society
Director, Failure Analysis Society
On behalf of the International Metallographic Society and its board of directors, I would like to welcome the new ASM affiliate, the Failure Analysis Society.
Continue readingRare earth elements extracted from coal ash
June 1, 2016 Source:
Duke University, Durham, N.C., reports that its researchers used a common industrial extraction technique based on nitric acid to extract rare earth elements from coal ash that contains amounts ranging from 337 to 591 ppm, depending on location. They discovered that "roasting" the coal ash with an alkali agent before dissolving it with nitric acid enabled a significant improvement in extraction efficiency. Neodymium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, and erbium were extracted from the burned coal.
The researchers took coal ash samples from power plants located mostly in the American Midwest that burn coal sourced from all over the country, including the three largest sources: the Appalachian Mountains, southern and western Illinois, and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. The content of rare earth elements was then tested with hydrofluoric acid, which is much stronger and more efficient than industrial methods, but is too hazardous to use on a large scale.
"The Department of Energy is investing $20 million into research on extraction technologies for coal wastes, and literally billions of dollars worth of rare earth elements are contained in our nation's coal ash," says Associate Prof. Heileen Hsu-Kim. "If a program were to move forward, they'd clearly want to pick the coal ash with the highest amount of extractable rare earth elements, and our work is the first comprehensive study to begin surveying the options."
The study, published online on May 26 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, showed that coal from the Appalachian Mountains contains the most rare earth elements. However, if extraction technologies were cheap enough, rare earth elements could be extracted from other sources as well.
Duke University, Durham, N.C., reports that its researchers have extracted rare earth elements from coal ash that contains amounts ranging from 337 to 591 ppm, depending on location.
Continue reading