Tresa Pollock named Principal Editor for Metallurgical and Materials Transactions
January 19, 2016 Source: ASM International
ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, announces that the new principal editor of the Metallurgical and Materials Transactions (Met Trans) family of journals will be Dr. Tresa M. Pollock, an internationally recognized leader in the science and technology of advanced structural alloys.
Continue readingWinners of Head Health Challenge III announced
December 18, 2015 Source:
The National Football League (NFL), Under Armour, General Electric , and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), recently announced the five winners of Head Health Challenge III, an open innovation competition to support the discovery, design, and development of advanced materials that better absorb or dissipate impact. The new materials have the potential to improve the performance of protective gear, playing surfaces, and equipment for athletes, members of the military, and others.
Each of the winners will receive $250,000 to advance their work in developing state-of-the-art materials. A panel of leading experts in the field of materials science selected these five winners from 125 entries because they met the challenge's technical criteria to maximize energy absorption and minimize momentum transfer. One overall Head Health Challenge III winner will be selected from the five awardees to receive a $500,000 grand prize.
The Challenge III award winners are:
The finalists will work with the HHC III partners to optimize their materials over the coming year.
The Challenge III judges were:
Head Health Challenge III, part of the larger Head Health Initiative, a four-year, $60 million collaboration between GE and the NFL, is one of three open innovation challenges to invest up to $20 million in research and technology development to better understand, identify and protect against brain injury. Challenge I focused on discovering imaging and methods for diagnosis and prognosis of mild traumatic brain injuries, and in July 2015, six grand prize winners were awarded $500,000 to further their revolutionary research. Challenge II focused on new technologies to monitor, identify and protect against mild traumatic brain injury, and in December 2015, three grand prize winners were announced. The winners could receive up to $1 million over the next year to continue to advance their innovations.
The Head Health Challenge III collaboration helps implement a pledge by NIST and the Department of Commerce to invest resources to accelerate the development of materials that can protect against concussions, made at the White House's Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit in May 2014.
The National Football League (NFL), Under Armour, General Electric , and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), recently announced the five winners of Head Health Challenge III, an open innovation competition to support the discovery, design, and development of advanced materials that better absorb or dissipate impact.
Continue readingMetal powders are potential replacement for fossil fuels
December 17, 2015 Source:
Can you imagine a future where your car is fueled by iron powder instead of gasoline? Metal powders, produced using clean primary energy sources, could provide a more viable long-term replacement for fossil fuels than other widely discussed alternatives, such as hydrogen, biofuels or batteries, according to a study researchers at McGill University, Canada.
"Technologies to generate clean electricity—primarily solar and wind power—are being developed rapidly; but we can't use that electricity for many of the things that oil and gas are used for today, such as transportation and global energy trade," says Professor Jeffrey Bergthorson.
"Biofuels can be part of the solution, but won't be able to satisfy all the demand; hydrogen requires big, heavy fuel tanks and is explosive, and batteries are too bulky and don't store enough energy for many applications," says Bergthorson. "Using metal powders as recyclable fuels that store clean primary energy for later use is a very promising alternative solution."
Novel concept
The research includes other McGill researchers and a European Space Agency scientist in the Netherlands, lays out a novel concept for using tiny metal particles—similar in size to fine flour or icing sugar—to power external-combustion engines.
Unlike the internal-combustion engines used in gasoline-powered cars, external-combustion engines use heat from an outside source to drive an engine. External-combustion engines, modern versions of the coal-fired steam locomotives that drove the industrial era, are widely used to generate power from nuclear, coal or biomass fuels in power stations.
The idea of burning metal powders is nothing new – they've been used for centuries in fireworks, for instance. Since the mid-20th century, they've also been used in rocket propellants, such as the space shuttle's solid-fuel booster rockets. But relatively little research has been done in recent decades on the properties of metal flames, and the potential for metal powders to be used as a recyclable fuel in a wide range of applications has been largely overlooked by scientists.
Recyclable after combustion
The idea put forward by the McGill team takes advantage of an important property of metal powders: when burned, they react with air to form stable, nontoxic solid-oxide products that can be collected relatively easily for recycling – unlike the CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels that escape into the atmosphere.
Using a custom-built burner, the team demonstrated that a flame can be stabilized in a flow of tiny metal particles suspended in air. Flames from metal powders "appear quite similar" to those produced by burning hydrocarbon fuels, according to researchers. "The energy and power densities of the proposed metal-fueled heat engines are predicted to be close to current fossil-fueled internal combustion engines, making them an attractive technology for a future low-carbon society."
Iron could be the primary candidate for this purpose. Millions of tons of iron powders are already produced annually for the metallurgy, chemical and electronic industries. And iron is readily recyclable with well-established technologies, and some novel techniques can avoid the carbon dioxide emissions associated with traditional iron production using coal.
Next step: building a prototype
While laboratory work at McGill and elsewhere has shown that the use of metal fuels with heat engines is technically feasible, no one has yet demonstrated the idea in practice. The next step toward turning the lab findings into usable technology, therefore, will be "to build a prototype burner and couple it to a heat engine," Bergthorson says. "Developing metal recycling processes that don't involve CO2 emissions is also critical."
David Jarvis, head of strategic and emerging technologies at the European Space Agency, adds: "We are very interested in this technology because it opens the door to new propulsion systems that can be used in space and on earth. The shift away from fossil fuels for vehicle propulsion is a clear trend for the future. While not perfected and commercialized today, the use of low-cost metallic fuels, like iron powder, is a worthy alternative to petrol and diesel fuels. If we can demonstrate, for the first time, an iron-fueled engine with almost zero CO2 emissions, we believe this would then trigger even more innovation and cost reduction in the near future."
Research on metal combustion at McGill has been funded over the past 20 years by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Department of National Defence, the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, Martec Ltd. (Halifax, NS), and the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design.
Image caption — Stabilized flames of different metal powders burning with air, compared to a methane-air flame.
Can you imagine a future where your car is fueled by iron powder instead of gasoline?
Continue readingWhite House Energy Summit focuses on advancing technology safety and low-cost energy
November 12, 2015 Source:
Speaking at the White House Summit on Nuclear Energy on November 6, physicist Christina Back of General Atomics (GA), San Diego, highlighted the urgency of developing next-generation fast-gas reactors with new materials to enhance safety and ensure energy security.
As GA's Director of Nuclear Technologies and Materials, Back specializes in developing new heat-resistant ceramics to enable delivery of cost-competitive clean energy with unprecedented safety via the innovative gas-cooled reactor, the Energy Multiplier Module or EM2.
She participated as one of five expert panelists at a forum spotlighting the Obama Administration's commitment to advanced nuclear energy and maintaining U.S. technology leadership in the industry. Back emphasized during her remarks that nuclear energy is the dominant energy source that is sustainable, compatible with 21st century power grids and free of greenhouse gases.
Panelists featured nuclear energy industry leaders including John Kotek, Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy in the Department of Energy. The invited audience included leaders in academia, government, labor, environmental organizations, the nuclear industry, non-governmental organizations, think tanks and the investment community.
The panel focused on innovations in nuclear energy, with Back explaining that the design of EM2 draws on GA's 60 years of experience in designing and building safe reactors and aims to solve four big challenges: safety, waste, economics, and nonproliferation.
"Nuclear energy is important for the security of our country," says Back, noting that to turn new technology innovation into clean-energy reality, "We need investment and support from the DOE and Congress and the nation to understand what the challenges are, but also to understand what the huge payoff and benefits are for our country."
EM2 is a gas-cooled fast reactor designed to deliver low-cost nuclear energy by using a high-efficiency system, a "convert-and-burn" fuel cycle able to produce 265 megawatts-electric, in a compact modular design. It incorporates industry-leading safety and nonproliferation features and can run on nuclear waste.
The White House Summit on Nuclear Energy was billed by officials as a forum for highlighting the Administration's commitment to nuclear energy as a clean energy solution and "for maintaining U.S. leadership in nuclear energy to realize economic competitiveness, national security and nonproliferation objectives."
GA continues to be a leader in fission and fusion focused on a wide range of energy solutions. The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by GA for the U.S. Department of Energy, is the largest magnetic fusion device in the nation and one of the largest in the world. GA is also a leading manufacturer of precision technology for inertial confinement fusion.
Image caption — EM2 waste-to-energy fast-gas reactor being developed by General Atomics with unprecedented safety innovations.
Speaking at the White House Summit on Nuclear Energy physicist Christina Back of General Atomics highlighted the urgency of developing next-generation fast-gas reactors with new materials to enhance safety and ensure energy security.
Continue readingNomination deadline for the 2016 Class of Fellows is fast approaching
November 5, 2015 Source:
The honor of Fellow of the Society was established to provide recognition to members for distinguished contributions in the field of materials science and engineering, and to develop a broadly based forum for technical and professional leaders to serve as advisors to the Society.
If you are interested in nominating someone for this prestigious award, please contact Christine Hoover, for a unique nomination link. This link will be exclusive to you, as the nominator, and will provide you the ability to work through the nomination at different times to add content and attachments until you submit the final nomination.
Please refer to our website to view the rules and lists of past recipients. The deadline for submission is November 30.
The honor of Fellow of the Society was established to provide recognition to members for distinguished contributions in the field of materials science and engineering, and to develop a broadly based forum for technical and professional leaders to serve as advisors to the Society. The deadline for submission is November 30.
Continue readingASM Handbooks Online now includes Volume 5B: Protective Organic Coatings
October 29, 2015 Source:
ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, recently released ASM Handbooks Online, which features the addition of ASM Handbook, Volume 5B: Protective Organic Coatings. This all new volume addresses a need for comprehensive information on organic coatings, including coating materials, surface preparation, application processes, industrial uses, and coating evaluation and analysis methods. It is an essential reference for industrial coating users, specifiers, and contractors. Industry respected authors and reviewers make this latest entry to ASM's handbook series the authoritative source for industrial coating information worldwide. See below for content included.
COATING MATERIALS:
SURFACE PREPARATION AND COATING APPLICATION:
INDUSTRIAL USES:
COATING ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION:
ASM Handbooks Online is the industry's best known and most comprehensive source of information on ferrous and nonferrous metals and materials technology. Features the complete content of 34 ASM Handbook volumes, ASM Handbook supplements, and ASM Desk Editions—more than 25,000 pages of articles, illustrations, tables, graphs, specifications, and practical examples, providing peer-reviewed, trusted information in every area of materials specialization.
Quick and advanced search features enable users to search across the complete ASM Handbook collection in seconds. Additionally, a Contents Tree provides users with an intuitive way to browse and drill down to specific handbook volumes, articles, and sections of interest. The database provides aspiring and practicing engineers with instant, anytime access to the most trusted and comprehensive materials information resource available.
"ASM Handbooks are unique and valuable resources for the engineering community," says Scott D. Henry, ASM Director of Content and Knowledge Based Solutions. "They are written and edited by volunteers, assisted by ASM staff, to provide practical, in-depth technical information that is not readily available from other sources. This latest update to ASM Handbooks Online adds a wealth of information on organic coatings to the series."
For more information, or to schedule a customized demonstration via WebEx for your organization, please contact Denise Sirochman at 440.338.5409.
ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, recently released ASM Handbooks Online, which features the addition of ASM Handbook, Volume 5B: Protective Organic Coatings.
Continue readingNew welding technique welds “unweldable” metals
Source:
Engineers at The Ohio State University, Columbus, developed a new welding technique that consumes 80% less energy than a common welding technique, yet creates bonds that are 50% stronger. The new technique could have a huge impact on the auto industry, which is poised to offer new cars which combine traditional heavy steel parts with lighter, alternative metals to reduce vehicle weight.
Despite recent advances in materials design, alternative metals still pose a challenge to manufacturers in practice. Many are considered unweldable by traditional means, in part because high heat and re-solidification weaken them, said Glenn Daehn, professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State, who helped develop the new technique.
"Materials have gotten stronger, but welds haven't. We can design metals with intricate microstructures, but we destroy the microstructure when we weld," he says. "With our method, materials are shaped and bonded together at the same time, and they actually get stronger." Daehn explained the new process in a keynote address at the Materials Science & Technology 2015 meeting recently in Columbus.
In a common technique called resistance spot welding, manufacturers pass a high electrical current through pieces of metal, so that the metals' natural electrical resistance generates heat that partially melts them together and forms a weld. The drawbacks: generating high currents consumes a lot of energy, and the melted portions of metal are never as strong afterward as they were before.
Over the last decade, Daehn and his team have been trying to find ways around those problems. They've amassed more than half a dozen patents on a system called vaporized foil actuator (VFA) welding. In VFA, a high-voltage capacitor bank creates a very short electrical pulse inside a thin piece of aluminum foil. Within microseconds (millionths of a second), the foil vaporizes, and a burst of hot gas pushes two pieces of metal together at speeds approaching thousands of miles per hour.
The pieces do not melt, so there is no seam of weakened metal between them. Instead, the impact directly bonds the atoms of one metal to atoms of the other. Seen under a high-powered microscope, the bond is actually quite beautiful, and often features delicate curlicues in spots where veins of both materials extend outward and wrap around each other. The technique uses less energy because the electrical pulse is so short, and because the energy required to vaporize the foil is less than what would be required to melt the metal parts.
So far, the engineers have successfully bonded different combinations of copper, aluminum, magnesium, iron, nickel and titanium. They have created strong bonds between commercial steel and aluminum alloys—a feat which is impossible normally. Also, high-strength steel and aluminum join together with weld regions that are stronger than the base metals.
The technique is powerful enough to shape metal parts at the same time it welds them together, saving manufacturers a step. Daehn and his team now want to join with manufacturers to further develop the technology, which will be licensed through Ohio State's Technology Commercialization Office.
This project is funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation (NSF), and was one of the first to participate in I-Corps@Ohio, a new collaboration modeled after and approved by NSF's successful I-Corps commercialization program. Ohio is the first to have a statewide collaboration that is based on the NSF model, yet fully funded by the state. The program is funded and supported by the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
The Materials Science & Engineering annual meeting is organized by the American Ceramic Society, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, ASM International, and the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.
Image caption — Microscope view of steel (top) welded to aluminum alloy (bottom) using a new technique developed at The Ohio State University. Courtesy of Glenn Daehn/OSU.
Engineers at The Ohio State University developed a new welding technique that consumes 80% less energy than a common welding technique, yet creates bonds that are 50% stronger—creating a huge impact on the auto industry.
Continue readingASM International elects new president, vice president, treasurer, and trustees
October 15, 2015 Source: ASM International
ASM International, Materials Park, Ohio, elected Jon D. Tirpak, PE, FASM, as ASM’s 2015-2016 Board of Trustees President.
Continue readingThe lightest metal ever (with video)
Source:
The Boeing Co., Seattle, released a video showcasing the lightest metal structure ever, called Microlattice—"the world's lightest material."
Sophia Yang, a research scientist at HRL Laboratories, Malibu, Calif., who worked with Boeing on the creation of the material, says the metal is 99.99% air. She compares the material to bone, which has a rigid outside and mostly hollow inside, creating an open-cellular structure, which means it's remarkably strong and light. The structure is composed of a network of super thin, hollow struts. The struts are around 100 μm in diameter and have walls just 100 nm thick. It's this design that makes Microlattice 10 times lighter than Styrofoam. However, despite it being extremely light, it is also tremendously strong.
Yang also highlights the material's ability to absorb high levels of impact. Using the "egg challenge" as an example, she says: "You need to drop an egg from 25 stories and protect that egg ... What we can do is design the microlattice to absorb the force that the egg feels. So instead of having an egg that's wrapped in three feet of bubble wrap, now you have a much smaller package that your egg can sit in."
The material has been made primarily for use in in aerospace engineering. Engineers intend to use the microlattice for plane interiors in places such as side panels, overhead cabins, or walkway areas. This would dramatically reduce the weight of the aircraft, making it more fuel-efficient and cheaper to run.
Microlattice was first announced in 2011 when a nickel-phosphorous alloy prototype was developed in collaboration between University of California, Caltech, and HRL Laboratories—the Boeing-owned lab that built the first laser in 1960. As the video explains, this development has many possibilities, ranging from use in aerospace, high-performance vehicles, as well as shock absorption and vibration insulation.
The Boeing Co., Seattle, released a video showcasing the lightest metal structure ever, called Microlattice—”the world’s lightest material.”
Continue readingLIFT co-locates at Detroit headquarters
October 8, 2015 Source:
Lawrence E. Brown, executive director of LIFT—Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, welcomed the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) as the two organizations confirmed that IACMI will open a scale-up facility at LIFT's headquarters in Detroit.
The facility will support production-scale composite materials development focused on vehicle lightweighting in collaboration with automotive companies. IACMI and LIFT are both part of President Barack Obama's National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) initiative.
The composites scale-up facility will be run by Michigan State University, which leads IACMI's vehicle technology area in Detroit. LIFT is located at a previously abandoned and distressed facility in Corktown, the oldest neighborhood in Detroit. The 100,000 ft2 facility has been extensively renovated by LIFT through collaborative efforts with Michigan Economic Development Corp., The New Economy Initiative, and Mayor Mike Duggan's office.
"Taking weight out of vehicles will require different approaches; we are focused on metals and IACMI is focused on composites," says Brown. "But we are both working toward the same goal with many of the same industry partners, so it only makes sense for us to be physically together. All of the national institutes are based on collaborations, and we expect this one to be particularly strong."
At a recent event in Detroit, Vice President Joe Biden echoed Brown's lightweighting charge, saying, "Lightweighting is critical to our future. We want to own the 21st century in innovation, and composites are a big part of that goal. That's why this administration is making a $40 million investment in the Composites Institute (IACMI) co-locating in a facility in Detroit."
Michigan has more than 300 industrial technical centers related to automotive technology and conducts more than 70% of U.S. automotive research and development. "IACMI's technology areas are strategically located in America's manufacturing heartland to serve industry needs," says Craig Blue, IACMI's CEO. "Co-locating with LIFT in the Motor City reinforces our commitment to collaboration through partnerships that enhance the entire automotive ecosystem."
Both IACMI and LIFT are identifying applications for lighter materials in next generation vehicles, IACMI via advanced composites and LIFT via lightweight metals. Locating in the same facility provides a unique opportunity for collaboration between NNMI institutes and the transportation industry, which have identified the need of lightweight materials to meet goals for fuel efficiency, safety, and performance.
Support of this co-location is evidenced by numerous federal, state, industry, and local commitments to the city of Detroit and this shared facility. Approximately $12 million in Federal funding will come to Detroit for cost-shared development projects; the state of Michigan has committed $15 million for equipment and staffing; industrial support is valued at $18 million; and the city of Detroit is supporting IACMI's efforts to establish the vehicle scale-up facility.
Several hundred new jobs in the industrial sector are expected as a result of the commercialization successes facilitated by this pilot-scale facility managed by IACMI.
Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) will open a scale-up facility at LIFT.
Continue reading