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Planting plastic
Kenny McCabe, a horticulture research
associate and graduate student at Iowa
State University, Ames, and James
Schrader, an assistant scientist in horticul-
ture, are part of a five-year study of the pro-
duction and performance of different kinds
of bioplastic pots. The study is supported
by a $1.94 million grant from the U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture and led by William
Graves, professor of horticulture and asso-
ciate dean of the graduate college. The
team operates within the Center for Crops Utilization Research and is hoping to build a
Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (CB²) with grant money from the National Sci-
ence Foundation. The proposed center has three major goals: to improve the basic under-
standing of the processing and properties of bioplastics; to provide reliable data about
bioplastics for industry; and to support large-scale manufacture and use of biorenewable
plastics. The team’s long-term goal is to increase the bioplastics market share by at least
20%. For more information: Kenny McCabe, 515/294-2751, ,
.
Self-healing metal
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, researchers found that under cer-
tain conditions, putting a cracked piece of metal under tension has the reverse effect, caus-
ing the crack to close and its edges to fuse together. The reason lies in how grain boundaries
interact with cracks in the crystalline microstructure of a metal—in this case nickel, which
is the basis for superalloys used in
extreme environments, such as in
deep-sea oil wells. By creating a
computer model of that mi-
crostructure and studying its re-
sponse to various conditions,
researchers found that there is a
mechanism that can, at least in
principle, close cracks under any
applied stress.
Self-healing occurs only across a
certain kind of boundary—one that
extends partway into a grain, but not
all the way through it. This creates a
type of defect known as a disclina-
tion. These defects have intense stress fields, which can be so strong that they actually re-
verse what an applied load would do. The work was funded by the BP-MIT Materials and
Corrosion Center. For more information: Michael Demkowicz, 617/324-6563,
, .
Bent glass dance floor for atoms
A research team led by David Muller, professor of applied and engineering physics and
co-director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, Ithaca, N.Y., and the
University of Ulm, Germany, used an electron microscope to bend, deform, and melt a one-
molecule-thick glass. These are all things that happen just before glass shatters, and for the
first time, the researchers directly imaged such deformations and the resulting “dance” of
rearranging atoms in silica glass.
“No one has ever been able to see how the atoms in a glass rearrange when you push on
news
industry
briefs
Pershing Gold Corp., Lakewood,
Colo., initiated the metallurgical
studies needed for mine planning
and permitting activities at Relief
Canyon. The company selected
McClelland Labs Inc., Sparks,
Nev., to conduct a series of
metallurgical tests designed to
determine the best crush size and
agglomeration method, with the
objective of increasing gold
recovery and determining waste
rock characterization. To support
this study, Pershing recently drilled
five large-diameter diamond core
holes located in the north and
south pits to provide representative
samples for the tests.
Approximately 1380 ft of core will
be sent to the McClelland facility
where it will be split, crushed,
sampled, and subjected to
metallurgical analysis.
,
.
The University of Washington’s
Applied Physics Laboratory,
Seattle, teamed up with
OceanGate Inc., Everett, Wash., to
build an innovative five-person
submarine that would travel to
almost 2 miles below the ocean’s
surface. The submarine, named
Cyclops, has a carbon-fiber hull
that can take passengers to 9842
ft. The Boeing Co. worked with
OceanGate and UW on initial
design analysis of the 7-in.-thick
pressure vessel. The design uses a
strategy where each strip of
carbon fiber and resin is precisely
placed to ensure that there will be
no gaps or weak points. The
battery will be a lithium-polymer
design that will also make the sub
lighter and able to dive longer and
faster than traditional subs.
,
,
.
METALS POLYMERS CERAMICS
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES • JANUARY 2014 6
Iowa State’s Kenny McCabe studies plant
performance in pots made from bioplastics.
Novelis, Atlanta, completed a two-year, $400 million
expansion program in Seoul, South Korea. The
expansion of its Yeongju and Ulsan plants increases the
company’s production capacity in the region by more
than 50% to approximately one million metric tons of
aluminum sheet per year. The expansion includes a hot
rolling finishing mill, cold rolling mill, pusher furnace,
high-speed slitter and annealing furnaces, in addition
to the previously commissioned fully-integrated
recycling center at Yeongju. The demand for aluminum
in the Asian automotive market is expected to exceed
the 25% compound annual growth rate projected
globally over the next five years, as more automobile
manufacturers move to build lighter, more fuel-efficient
vehicles.