New alloy developed for precision and industrial bearings

December 10, 2015
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Puris LLC, Bruceton Mills, W. Va., recently signed a limited (partially) exclusive, term license agreement with NASA's Glenn Research Center, Cleveland to produce a high-performance alloy enhanced with hafnium 60NiTi(Hf) that will be marketed under the brand name SM-103TM. The alloy demonstrates lower residual stress than other 60NiTi alloys, resulting in improved response to heat treatment and easier processing. The alloy delivers both wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties, traditionally considered to be mutually exclusive, in addition to favorable load-bearing properties. These attributes make it well suited to industrial bearing and precision bearing applications.

"Puris anticipates strong demand for SM-103 for industrial bearings in such applications as wind turbines, turbochargers, aircraft engines, gears, and valves," says Puris CEO Craig Kirsch. "We also expect it to find a market in precision bearings for timepieces, machine spindles and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, among others. But the most exciting opportunity for us will be the new applications where the alloy's properties offer to enhance performance and endurance."

A NASA test report on SM-100 ("Resilient and Corrosion-Proof Rolling Element Bearings Made From Superelastic Ni-Ti Alloys for Aerospace Mechanism Applications") states, "The combination of high hardness, moderate elastic modulus, large recoverable strain, low density, and intrinsic corrosion immunity provide a path to bearings largely impervious to shock load damage. It is anticipated that bearings and components made from alloys with such attributes can alleviate many problems encountered in advanced aerospace applications."

Enhancing energy-efficiency with novel coating technology

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A research effort led by the University of Colorado Boulder to develop an inexpensive, "do-it-yourself" coating to retrofit energy-inefficient windows in residential and commercial buildings has been given a $4 million boost over three years by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The funding will be used to develop a paintable, infrared-reflective coating to drastically reduce cooling costs for structures and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing solar heat gains, according to CU-Boulder assistant professor Garret Miyake. Miyake is the principal investigator on the award, which also involves the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Calif., and Materia Inc., Pasadena.

Widespread national use of the new window coating promises to reduce the consumption of electricity used for cooling by 35 billion kW, saving a projected $4 billion annually, says Miyake. The improved energy efficiency would decrease U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 26 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 120 million cars from the road.

"Our goal is to provide an inexpensive product across a broad marketplace to improve energy inefficient windows and create significant savings for consumers," Miyake said. "We see this as an exciting opportunity to make a positive impact in the field of energy efficiency."

The $4 million award is part of $125 million in grants awarded by the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) for 41 cutting-edge energy technologies. Collaborators on the CU-Boulder-led effort include Caltech team leader Professor Robert Grubbs, a 2005 Nobel laureate, as well as researchers Raymond Weitekamp, Stephen Selkowitz and Arman Shehabi, who lead the team at LBNL.

The coating consists of a unique class of polymers that self-assemble into a photonic crystal structure that simultaneously reflects heat and is transparent to visible light, Miyake said. An economic analysis by the team indicates that windows could be retrofitted for about $1.50 per square foot.

While infrared-reflective coatings are commercially available and have demonstrated significant energy savings, there are high up-front costs that can deter many potential customers, said Miyake. Such coatings generally need to be incorporated during manufacturing or installed by professionals. "We will be able to provide an inexpensive paint that can be directly applied to windows by consumers to minimize solar heat transport and improve the energy efficiency of virtually all window types," he says.

ARPA-E grants are designed to fund projects that display innovative technologies and show promise for commercial use but are too early for private sector investment, according to the DOE. The 41 funded projects—viewed as promising avenues in the hunt for viable ways to combat climate change, enhance security and solve pressing global energy challenges—come from 21 states and encompass 10 technical categories spanning transportation, electricity generation and delivery, and energy efficiency.

Spray Tips: Detonation Gun

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In detonation gun spraying, an explosive mixture of fuel, oxygen, and powder is introduced into a long tube/barrel and is ignited by a spark plug. The resulting detonation-pressure wave heats and accelerates the entrained powder particles, which travel down the water-cooled barrel toward the substrate. Nitrogen is used to purge the barrel between detonations.

The cycle of purging, injection, and detonation is repeated at a frequency of 3 to >10 Hz, producing packets of spray material that deposit as overlapping circles of coating material. Detonation spray processes are hotter and yield longer particle dwell times than conventional flame spray.

The frequency and noise levels (145+ dBA) associated with detonation spraying require that they be confined to acoustical enclosures. High particle velocities, greater than 800 m/s (2625 ft/s), are generated. These high particle velocities have been shown to improve particle deformation and increase particle/coating bonding, eliminating much of the porosity typically found in conventional flame-sprayed coatings.

Volume 5A, Thermal Spray Technology -> Thermal Spray Processes and Coatings -> Thermal Spray Processes 

Journal of Thermal Spray Technology Announces Editorial Transition

December 4, 2015
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After 12 years of serving as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology (JTST), Dr. Christian Moreau, FASM, TS HoF, has transferred his responsibilities to Dr. Armelle Vardelle, FASM, announced Dr. Robert C. Tucker, Jr., FASM, TS HoF, chair of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology Committee.

Dr. Vardelle has been Lead Editor of JTST since 2013, and prior to that was an associate editor of the journal from 2006 through 2012. She will be succeeded as Lead Editor by Dr. André McDonald.

Dr. Moreau became JTST editor in 2004, and led the journal through a period of extraordinary growth, in which the journal increased from a quarterly to six issues a year in 2007, then to eight issues in 2013. Building on the strong foundation laid by JTST Founding Editor Chris Berndt, FASM, TS HoF, Dr. Moreau enlarged the editorial staff to its current complement of five associate editors by identifying individuals who were both well-qualified technically and representative of the international readership of the journal. Furthermore, he created the position of "Lead Editor" to focus on special topical and event-related issues of the journal.

Throughout Dr. Moreau's term as editor, the journal has continued to grow in number of submissions, quality, and articles published. Working closely with former JTST Committee chair Jockel Heberlein and Chris Berndt, Dr. Moreau brought into reality an annual special double issue containing invited and expanded papers originating from the International Thermal Spray Conference. He also led the journal through its transition into the publishing partnership with Springer, which has greatly increased the visibility and accessibility of the journal throughout the world.

A professor at Concordia University (Canada Research Chair, Thermal Spray and Surface Engineering), Dr. Moreau will continue to offer the journal the benefit of his experience by remaining involved as a member of the JTST Committee.

"On behalf of the ASM staff who have worked with Christian on JTST, I thank him for his unceasing insight and dedication," said Mary Anne Fleming, senior content developer of Journals at ASM International. "He has skillfully led the journal for the past 12 years, and now has ensured its future success by identifying a capable and qualified successor. We are delighted that Armelle has agreed to step into the editor position."

Armelle Vardelle (D.Sc. 1987; Ph.D. 1979, M.Sc. 1975, B.Sc. 1973) is professor, University of Limoges, France. She is Co-Chair of the Department of Materials (Surface Treatments and Environment) at the Engineering School of the University of Limoges (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Limoges, ENSIL). She holds the title of Distinguished Professor and is involved in research in the laboratory of Sciences of Ceramics and Surface Treatment Processes, UMR-CNRS in the European Ceramic Center.

Dr. Vardelle's current research interests are thermal spray and thermal plasma processes, modeling of plasma processes and torch operation, transport and chemical rate phenomena at high-temperature, thermal-sprayed coatings, and green manufacturing. Her teaching interests include thermal spraying, surface engineering, thermal sciences, transport phenomena in surface engineering processes, materials properties, industrial ecology, and lif cycle analysis.

She has authored or coauthored more than 111 peer-reviewed scientific journal publications, 141 publications in International and National Conference Proceedings, and seven book chapters. She has presented 42 invited lectures at international conferences and 11 invited seminars at foreign universities. She has been a member of the Editorial Board of Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing since 2009. She became a Fellow of the International Plasma Chemistry Society in 2015 and a Fellow of ASM International in 2012.

As newly-appointed editor-in-chief of JTST, Dr. Vardelle joins Dr. Tucker is announcing that Dr. André McDonald, University of Alberta, has been named Lead Editor of the journal. Dr. McDonald is chair of the ASM Thermal Spray Society Training Committee, Lead Editor of the 2015 International Thermal Spray Conference Proceedings, and has served as a guest co-editor of the journal.

Currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Dr. McDonald received his BSME from the City College of New York (CCNY) in 2001, where he was the DuPont Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Graduate and won the Peggy Benline, Eliza Ford, and ALCOA awards. He was granted his MSME from that same institution in 2002. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 2007, followed by a short post-doctoral fellowship at the Industrial Materials Institute - National Research Council Canada (IMI-NRC) in Boucherville, Québec.

Dr. McDonald's current research includes the development of flame-sprayed coatings to provide wear and erosion resistance and to provide heating and structural health monitoring to polymer-based airfoil structures. In the area of cold-spraying, he has been working to develop a variety of metal matrix composite coatings with alumina or tungsten carbide as the reinforcing particle material.

Since 2006, his work has resulted in 33 peer-reviewed journal articles, 39 conference articles, a textbook on the practical design of thermo-fluids systems, an industrial manual for thermal spraying for the oil and gas industry, 26 industrial reports, and several awards including the International Thermal Spray Conference and Exposition Best Paper Award, the Harold C. Simmons Best Paper Award from ILASS-Americas, the Composites Conference Best in Track Technical Paper Award for Manufacturing, and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta's Early Accomplishment Award. Since becoming a professor, Dr. McDonald has trained 50 students, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, in the areas of thermal spraying and/or heat transfer.

Leco opens European tech center in Berlin

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Leco Corp., St. Joseph, Mich., has established a new European Application and Technology Center in Berlin, with close to 25 Leco analytical instruments available for hands-on customer demonstrations and application work. This new facility is fully equipped with the latest Leco analytical technology in its applications lab, having close to 25 Leco instruments available for hands-on customer demonstrations and application work.

The facility will operate as the central hub for European subsidiaries, enabling Leco to bring the newest, cutting-edge technologies and support to customers all around Europe. It will be responsible for managing the Leco European business efforts and relationships while working to establish future growth. The location was chosen due its ideal position in Europe, where it is easily accessible from surrounding countries.

www.leco.com