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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 | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7
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METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS
Michael Chandross, le , and Nicolas Argibay use computer
simulation and an ultrahigh vacuum tribometer for friction and
wear testing. Courtesy of Randy Montoya.
A new standard is forthcoming
from
ASTM International,
West
Conshohocken, Pa.—E3061, Test
Method for Analysis of Aluminum
and Aluminum Alloys by Induc-
tively Coupled Plasma Atomic
Emission Spectrometry (Perfor-
mance Based Method). Developed
by ASTM’s committee on analyt-
ical chemistry for metals, ores,
and related materials (E01), E3061
offers a performance-based meth-
od that also provides established
preparation and analysis tech-
niques.
astm.org.
Nucor Corp.,
Charlotte, N.C., will
invest $85 million to upgrade the
rolling mill at its steel bar mill in
Marion, Ohio.
Nucor Steel Marion
Inc.
is Ohio’s largest manufacturer
of rebar and signpost, capable
of producing over 400,000 tons
annually.
nucor.com.
In a multiyear agreement,
Toyota North America
named
Arconic,
New York, as the sole aluminum
sheet supplier for the Lexus RX, a luxury SUV that
debuted last year featuring aluminum exterior
panels. Arconic will supply the sheet from its plants
in Davenport, Iowa, and Danville, Ill., and estimates
that its automotive sheet revenue could grow to
$1.3 billion in 2018.
toyota.com, arconic.com.
BRIEFS
MAKING CONTACT WITH A
NEW PREDICTIVE MODEL
Scientists at Sandia National Lab-
oratories, Albuquerque, N.M., devel-
oped a new predictive model for metal
on metal friction be-
havior based on ma-
terials properties. Their
research demonstrates
thatmicrostructural sta-
bility
governs
fric-
tion behavior, giving
engineers a much more
precise approach to
material characteriza-
tion, selection, and de-
sign. “You go from just
having to say, ‘The
material’s behavior will
be this because wemea-
sured it in those con-
ditions’ to saying, ‘I can
tell you what conditions
you can run in and get the behavior
you want,’” explains materials scientist
Nicolas Argibay. Until now, engineers
applied rules of thumb for different
conditions along with the conventional
wisdom that harder materials create
less friction.
The new model could revolution-
ize design of electrical contacts, includ-
ing those used in electric cars and wind
turbines. Researchers are developing
a prototype for a copper-against-cop-
per alloy rotary electrical contact for
wind turbines, revisiting an approach
that was not workable before the new
predictive model was discovered. Ulti-
mately, the model may allow the elec-
trical contacts industry to turn to high-
er-performance direct current devices
instead of the alternating current devic-
es now in use.
sandia.gov.
IT’S JUST A PHASE
An international team of research-
ers discovered a hidden amorphous
phase in a class of metallic glass. Led
by researchers from City University of
Hong Kong, the team examined palla-
dium-nickel-phosphorus metallic glass
during heating. Reportedly for the first
time ever, the scientists simultaneously
assessed changes in structure—by mea-
suring small-angle neutron scattering
and heat absorption—using differential
scanning calorimetry.
“We were able to directly correlate
changes in the structure of the material
with the energy required for that struc-
ture to change,” explains Elliot Gilbert,
instrument scientist at the Australian
Center for Neutron Scattering, where
the experiment took place. Other labs
provided high-resolution microscopy
images, electron diffraction patterns,
and synchrotron x-ray measurements,
which showed a rearrangement of
atomic clusters with temperature.
Unlike most metals, which have
atoms packed into regular arrays, me-
tallic glass is composed of atoms in a
disordered arrangement that has long
interested scientists because it imparts
valuable properties, such as hardness,
corrosion resistance, and formability.
The discovery could allow re-
searchers to induce this amorphous
phase in metallic glass, tuning the
properties of the material to better
suit different purposes. Metallic glass is