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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7
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RECORD-BREAKING MAGNET
PULLS ELEMENTS INTO VIEW
A magnet 10 years in the making
smashed the record to become the
strongest in the world for nuclear mag-
netic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
Developed at the National High Mag-
netic Field Laboratory based at Florida
State University, Tallahassee, the 33-ton
series connected hybrid (SCH) magnet
reached its full field of 36 T, more than
40% stronger than the previous world
record NMR and more than 50% more
powerful than the highest field high-res-
olution NMR magnet. The SCH’s field is
not only high tesla, but high quality,
remaining constant over both time and
space.
Existing NMR magnets are only
strong enough to locate a handful of ele-
ments, notably hydrogen, carbon, and
nitrogen. With the SCH, zinc, copper,
aluminum, nickel, and gadolinium—of
interest for battery and other materials
research—will now be observable, as
will oxygen, a prize for biologists. The
RIGIDITY’S ROLE IN HOW
MATERIALS CRACK UP
Researchers discovered a correla-
tion between the rigidity of a material
and its failure behavior, allowing scien-
tists to tune the former to improve the
latter. Through a series of experiments
and computer simulations, the team
from the University of Chicago, New
The University at Buffalo, N.Y., re-
ceived a $2.9 million National Science
Foundation grant to develop a data-
base laboratory open to the scientific
community that collects, interprets,
and learns frommassive amounts of
information. The lab will conduct large-
scale materials modeling and simula-
tion using an untapped collection of
visual data. buffalo.edu.
BRIEFS
The Airworthiness Assurance Center, operated by Sandia National Laborato-
ries, Albuquerque, N.M., for the Federal Aviation Administration, developed the
first course to train inspectors in the airline and aircraft manufacturing industries
in nondestructive inspection (NDI) techniques for solid-laminate composite
materials. The Composite NDI Training Class provides an overview of composite
materials, in-depth knowledge of NDI techniques, and hands-on training.
For more information: 505.284.2200 or email .
Plastic honeycomb lattice, pulledapart inanexperiment studyinghowmaterial rigidity
affects theway things break. Courtesy of SidneyNagel, et al.
York University, and Leiden University,
the Netherlands, found that in a rigid
system—for instance, window glass—
bonds are tightly packed and break in
clean, narrow, relatively straight cracks.
In a system with low rigidity, however,
there are fewer bonds and they tear at
seemingly random points throughout
the material, eventually connecting
in an irregular pattern and resulting in
failure. The team also found that as a
material is made more flexible, its fail-
ure zone becomes wider, offering the
equivalent of a close-up view of the
break behavior. “Reducing the rigidity
of a material is, in a sense, like holding
a magnifying glass that allows you to
zoom in on the width of a crack, which is
generally microscopic but can become
as big as the sample size,” explains
Leiden physicist Vincenzo Vitelli. The
discoveries open the door to a system-
atic theory that could allow researchers
to more accurately predict material fail-
ure and control cracking.
TESTING | CHARACTERIZATION
The National MagLab’s 33-ton, 36-tesla
SCHmagnet. Courtesy of Florida State
University.
A new database laboratory will help re-
searchers commercialize newmaterials
such as graphene. Courtesy of Universi-
ty at Buffalo.