Facilities

Melting Equipment

Three primary induction melters are available for our work with steels and cast irons. The 550-lb furnace, currently being commissioned, is dedicated to larger pilot-scale castings. The 200-lb furnace, compatible with our dip testing frames, enables research on shell growth, flux-metal interaction, refractory-metal interaction, and studies involving DRI. The 100-lb furnace is ideal for smaller lab-scale studies. The 550-lb and 200-lb furnaces can be equipped with MgO or alumina crucibles, while the 100-lb furnace uses MgO crucibles. All melting is conducted under argon cover.

For non-ferrous applications, we use a 60-lb induction furnace with a clay-graphite crucible. This furnace is primarily used for aluminum melting but is also suitable for Cu and Ni-based alloys.

For materials or studies more sensitive to atmospheric interaction, we have a small vacuum induction furnace that can melt 5 kg of material in alumina crucibles. We are also in the process of securing a 500-lb vacuum induction melter to expand our capabilities.

Mold Making Equipment

Some of our equipment includes:

· A large green sand muller with silica sand, bentonite clay, and some sea coal. Two jolt-squeeze stands are also available for optimal mold packing.

· A Tinker-Omega sand mixer with a phenolic-bonded resin system and silica sand for air set molds of higher complexity compared to the green sand process.

· The Exone S-Print sand printer, which uses quartz sand and a two-part furan resin system. This allows for CAD-designed and 3D printed molds with high complexity.

To support these mold making techniques, our lab conducts tests for tensile and compressive force, permeability, compatibility, moisture and hardness. We also have some investment mold-making capabilities.

Chemistry Equipment

Our facility uses optical emission spectrometry (OES) for compositional analysis. We are also equipped with a LECO CS600 and LECO TS500 for use measuring carbon, sulfur, total oxygen and nitrogen with combustion technique. These instruments are currently being upgraded to newer models, which will have the capability to measure hydrogen content in the materials.

Heat Treatment Equipment

Some of our equipment and capabilities include:

· Electric box, silicon carbide, and air recirculating furnaces

· Two salt pots that both can switch to different temperature range salts.

· A temperature-controlled quench tank that supports both still and agitated water quenching.

Rolling Equipment

A fully instrumented lab-scale rolling mill for acquiring temperature, force, and strain measurements is available on site. It can be used for both cold and hot rolling.

Construction of a pilot scale rolling mill is near completion. This mill will accommodate plate widths up to 12 inches and will have a reheat furnace of corresponding size.

Microscopy Equipment

Some of our equipment and capabilities include:

· Both epoxy and Bakelite mounting of samples.

· Manual and auto polishing equipment.

· A range of traditional optical microscopes for examining etched and unetched samples of various metals are available.

· An ASPEX scanning electron microscope (SEM) that enables backscattered analysis and automated feature analysis on mounted specimens. This allows for manual point and area chemical analysis using EDS.

· A Tescan SEM that provides backscattered and secondary electron analysis for both mounted and unmounted samples. This device offers elemental point scans, line scans, and mapping through its EDS detector. This setup supports multi-phase automated feature analysis for quantifying and characterizing inclusion populations in a sample.

· A high-temperature, laser-scanning confocal microscope. This device allows for sample observation at high temperatures under an inert argon atmosphere using a laser for imaging. With two stages, it facilitates tensile testing up to 1,200 degrees Celsius and static analysis of liquid or solid samples up to 1,650 degrees Celsius.

Thermal Characterization Equipment

A variety of thermal and thermo-mechanical testing equipment is used for our studies, including:

· The Gleeble, which allows for higher temperature deformation studies on cylindrical samples for topics such as recrystallization.

· A quenching tempering deformation dilatometer. This allows for studies up to 1,200 degrees Celsius where the samples can be quenched at controlled cooling rates using helium or liquid nitrogen. This equipment can be used for studies on dynamic or static recrystallization, grain growth, and phase transformations. It can also be used to develop CCT curves.

· A temperature-controlled quench tank that supports both still and agitated water quenching.

· Our Jominy testing setup, which allows researchers to study the effect of cooling rates.

Mechanical Testing Equipment

Some of our equipment and capabilities include:

· Multiple load frames outfitted with diverse setups for temperature and atmosphere control on traditional and sub-scales.

· An internally-developed small bench-size setup for testing the hot ductility of samples.

· Chilled or room temperature Charpy testing.

· Split-Hopkinson pressure bar tests, also known as Kolsky bar tests