Excessive laser, MIT’s idea to create metals ten times more resistant

The Metal Forming It involves a really complex chemical and physical process that depends on many factors that, at times, even the most experienced scientists get away with. In both Spain and the rest of the world, the most commonly used methods such as casting, machining or rolling affect sizes and shapes Crystal grains finally make up the coin.

[El material que reduce el daño en los accidentes de tráfico: absorbe y libera energía del golpe]

But technology is advancing and with it materials engineering is seeing how to apply the latest innovations to this branch of industry. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have succeeded in determining exactly what happens when this happens Mineral crystal grains are formed during the deformation process by a laser with a scale of a few nanometers.

This new line of research, along with new research findings, could potentially improve forms of treatment. some who get Create materials with better properties – such as hardness and durability – and more consistency. The research was promoted by the US Department of Energy and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

I’m looking for the formula

New discoveries, MIT noted, were made possible by a New image analysis technology From which it is possible to know the structure of crystal grains. Several professors from the institute, some former scientists and former students of the center worked on the project.

“In the process of manufacturing a metal that is given a certain structure, this will determine its properties. [una vez esté] In service,” Christopher Shaw, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commented. The smaller the grain size, the stronger the metal producedThis is why new manufacturing techniques involve making them as accurate as possible.

For a long time, metallurgists have been Application of empirically developed methods to reduce volume From the grain of a solid piece of metal. Techniques that sometimes follow the same patterns that have been following for hundreds or thousands of years, and consist in applying different types of tension to the piece.

One of these basic methods is recrystallization, which consists of heating and deforming the metal in order to form new crystal cores, taking advantage of the natural defects of the original piece. “You go from a messy soup of flaws to new nucleated crystals. And because it is a fresh nucleus, it starts out very small,” Schuh himself explains.

[Crean un material imposible de cortar, incluso con las mejores sierras]

An important part of the new MIT technology involves knowing what happens on a microscopic scale when this type of technology is applied. Others, more advanced, achieve the same result “Several times by volume faster”.

“We use a laser to shoot metal particles at supersonic speed. To say this happened in the blink of an eye would be an incredible understatement, because you can make thousands of those in the blink of an eye,” says Shuh.

This laser-based system shoots 10 micrometer particles at the surface. “You can shoot these particles out one by one and measure how fast and how intense they are,” he says. By changing the speed and using highly advanced microscopy equipment, they were able to See how the structure evolved in the nanometer range.

The result, MIT noted, was the discovery of what Schuh defined as a “new method” of grain formation. This new method has been called “Recrystallization with the help of nanoparticle coupling”. The scientists realized that the higher the rate of these effects, the more the process would produce, resulting in smaller and smaller granules.

Hyperberg

In the experiment, MIT scientists chose to use copper. They have applied a superficial “bombing” of particles at high speed with a laser, and the conclusions are that they can Increase the strength of the metal about 10 times.

“This is not a simple change of real estate,” Schuh says. That is, this result is not really something unknown because it follows the same principle as the hardening of hammer blows for normal forging. “This is a kind of hyper-encirclement phenomenon.”.

The new results provide enough information about the degree of deformation required, how quickly that deformation occurs, and what temperatures should be used to achieve the maximum effect on any metal. Can be applied directly and immediately to produce metals in the real world.

You may also like…

Follow the topics that interest you