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Member Views of Materials News |
Perspectives on the Most Significant Established Materials Technology Stories of 2009
Posted on: 12/8/2009 12:00:00 AM... ‘Tis the season when various media outlets are highlighting what they believe are the top news stories of 2009. Materials Technology@TMS decided to join their ranks this year, but with a pronounced materials science and engineering twist. We also wanted to offer the perspectives of those on the front lines of the profession, rather than simply summarizing what “made the news” over the past 12 months. For this reason, we asked members who are involved with pertinent TMS committees to comment on what they believe the most important news was in 2009 related to established materials technologies. What follows are their responses. (Please note that the opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors and not of their places of employment or TMS).
JOY HINES FORSMARK
Technical Expert, Light Cast Metals
Ford Motor Company, Research and Innovation Center
TMS Board of Directors/Chair, Materials Processing & Manufacturing Division Council
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Joy Hines Forsmark
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In my opinion, one of the most important developments in materials science is the concept of Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME). ICME is an enabler for the development of new materials and the understanding of performance in existing materials. With ICME, materials engineers can take a more systematic approach to materials development and component design. We can incorporate the manufacturing history in part performance in the virtual world and develop far more accurate simulations than ever before. This is key because we can now do a lot of the upfront design optimization on the computer prior to building the physical prototypes. This saves money and improves lead times, while also improving quality.
For More Information:
Access TMS Digital Resource Center on Integrated Computational Materials Engineering.
TMS HIGH TEMPERATURE ALLOYS COMMITTEE
(Group Response)
The introduction of gamma TiAl turbine blades into the low pressure turbine of a production aerospace gas turbine engine, the GEnx, was, in the committee’s view, the most significant development related to high temperature alloys in the past year. The blades have now been officially certified and are in production. This technology enables substantial total engine weight reductions for improved aircraft performance and efficiency.
TiAl technology has taken 30 years to mature to a commercial application, with extensive efforts of engine companies, government, private research laboratories, universities, and the material/component supplier chain across the world. Such is the gestation period for actual application of a radical new class of alloys. However, many engineering paradigms had to be revised for designers to successfully utilize the mechanical properties of this class of alloys. This development not only offers significant weight savings for these large, rotating components, but can also allow reduced weight in disks and other rotor and support components, significantly reducing total engine weight and improving aircraft performance and efficiency. It also prepares the way for other future applications of intermetallic alloys in gas turbine engines.
For More Information:
“Next-Generation High Temperature Materials” will be the technical emphasis in the January 2010 issue of JOM
JIANN-YANG (JIM) HWANG
Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Director, Institute of Materials Processing
Michigan Technological University
Chair, Pyrometallurgy Committee
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Jiann-Yang (Jim) Hwang
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The most significant development related to materials extraction and processing is in the area of unconventional heating, such as microwave and other electromagnetic heating methods. Microwave heating had been investigated heavily in the ceramics area in the 1990's. Improvements in the capability and cost to build high-power microwave equipment, such as the 75 to 100 KW magnetron, as well as the need for low carbon technology, have generated more interest in developing microwave technologies for metallurgical applications. At an international symposium held in Chongqing, China, this year, many new developments in microwave on minerals and materials were reported, including applications in iron- and steel-making, extraction and production of vanadium, copper, gold, titanium, and manganese materials. This is clearly a new trend for metallurgical research.
I expect to see a lot more microwave research papers on materials extraction published in 2010 and beyond. Pilot plants will be built. Commercial plants will follow. High power microwave equipment will be more common and cost much less, following the same trend as the household microwave, which cost thousands of dollars per kilowatt to operate in the 1940's and is now less than ten dollars per kilowatt today. Carbon reduction will be the fundamental driver to change the pyrometallurgical process from conventional combustion-based technologies to the new microwave-based technologies. Many unextractable or difficult-to-extract ores will become extractable with the new technologies and environmental impacts from metallurgical treatments will be greatly reduced.
For More Information:
Access “Recovery of Iron and Zinc from Electric Arc Furnace Dust Using a Microwave Processing Method,” to be presented at the TMS 2010 Annual Meeting, February 14–18, 2010, in Seattle, Washington.
ELLEN CERRETA
MST-8, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Chair, Mechanical Behavior of Materials Committee
Membership and Student Development Director, TMS Board of Directors
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Ellen Cerreta
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Based on numerous talks I have attended and conversations that I have had over the last year, I feel that, in 2009, I began to witness the implementation of a new approach to materials research. It is the notion that, for the success of future applications, particularly within the energy arena, we must transition our approach to materials research. Traditionally, we observe and exploit properties of materials. However, to answer modern problems, the materials science community must begin to enhance its ability to predict and control material behavior based upon fundamental understanding of properties. This idea has actually influenced materials science in a significant way in recent years.
I select this as a significant development within materials science because, not only do I see it shaping calls for proposals, but I also see it, on a daily basis, influencing both large- and small-scale experiments to meet the needs of examining physics necessary to advance predictive capabilities. Clearly, because such an approach is not realized within a year, this will be a paradigm that will likely have influence on the way in which many institutions consider, interrogate, and model materials behavior for the future.
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