ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | SEPTEMBER 2026 6 METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS armored steel joints while minimizing residual stress. A neutron diffraction instrument at HFIR called the high intensity diffractometer for residual stress analysis (HIDRA) helped the scientists measure residual stress within their samples to see if FSW could substitute for conventional welding. HIDRA specializes in spatial mapping and is optimized to determine residual stress in materials. During testing, the instruments measure specific 3D sections inside the material known as gauge volumes, regions of the sample averaged in the mapping. The team is now working to develop models and the data collected at HIDRA will then be used to validate those models. Researchers will then return to HFIR with samples created by conventional welding techniques to compare with ones made using FSW. ornl.gov, osu.edu. NEW REFRACTORY HIGHENTROPY ALLOY Using a new method that employs lower temperatures, researchers at Monash University, Melbourne, developed an alloy that is twice as strong as steel and three times as strong as aluminum, with a compressive yield strength of more than 2 gigapascals. This first-ever large refractory highentropy alloy (RHEA) is composed of titanium, hafnium, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Due to a slower heating process at a lower temperature than the conventional alloy production process, the atoms of these elements organized themselves into a strongly connected structure comprising three distinct components with nanocrystals in different periodic arrangements. With this unique process, atoms can self-organize into defect-free structures in a bulk metallic material rather than a thin coating or microscopic sample, explains researcher Jian-Feng Nie. Beyond this one RHEA, the work could help pave the way for more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective alloy production as well as the development of materials with specific capabilities enhanced to far greater degrees than before. “For more than a century, advances in alloys have come from altering the chemical composition and processing, guided largely by empirical trial and error. This research suggests we can actually engineer how atoms organize themselves, creating opportunities to develop materials with capabilities that were previously out of reach,” says researcher Yiannis Ventikos. monash.edu. NEUTRONS HELP BUILD BETTER ARMOR Researchers from The Ohio State University are studying residual stress caused by friction stir welding (FSW) using equipment at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to explore strengthening armor steel welds. The team’s results will help fine-tune welding parameters to create a roadmap for engineering better armor systems. The scientists brought their research to ORNL’s high flux isotope reactor (HFIR) because of the facility’s neutron-production capabilities. Using FSW, they explored how to make better-performing The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded Missouri S&T’s Regional Innovation and Technology Hub $38 million to help rebuild America’s domestic critical minerals supply chain. Once built, a new test bed will house pilot-scale equipment for mineral processing, materials recycling, and hydrometallurgical methods. mst.edu. Axel Johnson Inc., New York, acquired Fort Wayne Metals Research Products LLC, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1970, Fort Wayne Metals manufactures precision materials used in medical devices and other critical applications. fwmetals.com. BRIEFS Engineers developed an alloy that is significantly stronger than steel. Courtesy of Viktor Forgas/Unsplash. Setup of a weld using an argon delivery system coupled with the tool. Courtesy of The Ohio State University.
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