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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 | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 1 1 findings underscore how important uninterrupted anticorrosion treatment is for the aging water systems that serve millions of American homes. umich.edu . USING NEUTRONS TO EXPLORE RUNNING ENGINES In a novel experiment, research- ers used neutrons to investigate the performance of a new aluminum alloy in a gasoline-powered engine—while the engine was running. A team from the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Lab- oratory (ORNL), Tenn., worked with industry partners to perform the test, which looked at whether the high-per- formance alloy held up under the heat and stress of an internal combustion engine. The feat was a first for the Spall- ation Neutron Source, says Ke An, lead instrument scientist for the facility’s Vulcan instrument. The unique properties of neutrons allow them to penetrate materials in a nondestructive fashion, revealing fun- damental details about a material’s atomic structure. Vulcan uses neutrons especially given that the neutrons had to travel through an entire engine structure before being observed by our detectors to supply information on the cylinder head at work,” says Rios. “We hope what we are learning through this experiment can be applied to many other materials in a wide range of appli- cations.” ornl.gov. From le, researchers Orlando Rios, Ke An, and Lt. Eric Stromme used neutrons to probe a running engine at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source. to measure strain and stress on large industrial samples, which made it ideal for evaluating a cylinder head cast from an aluminum-cerium alloy ORNL devel- oped in partnership with Eck Industries. “Our aluminum-cerium composition shows exceptional stability at tempera- tures above 500°C, which is unheard of for aluminum alloys,” says ORNL mate- rials scientist Orlando Rios. Aided by colleagues at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facil- ity and the National Transportation Research Center, the team cast the Al-Ce cylinder head using 3D-printed sand molds and retrofitted the com- ponent to a prototype engine designed specifically for Vulcan. Over the three- day experiment—with the engine stopping and restarting via a remote ignition from Vulcan’s control room— neutron diffraction allowed researchers to witness the high-temperature stabil- ity of Al-Ce during the engine’s operat- ing regime. “The entire team was impressed by the quality of the data from Vulcan,