Research Facilities

The experimental and computer facilities in the department of metallurgical and materials engineering and other departments on the CSM campus are available for the research programs of the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center. A full list of the department’s equipment can be found on the George S. Ansell Department of Metallurgical and Materials website. Facilities of particular interest include:

Mechanical Testing

  • 4 MTS Computer-Controlled, Servo-Hydraulic Uniaxial Testing Units
  • MTS Screw-driven Uniaxial Testing Frame
  • Instron Screw-driven Uniaxial Testing frame (with high temperature-control arm)
  • 4- and 3- Point Bend Fixture (ambient and high temp)
  • Instrumented Impact Tester and Numerous Other Impact Testers
  • Bending under tension
  • Two Charpy Tinius Olson testers

High Strain Rate Testing Station

  • MTS 810 high rate servo-hydraulic system
  • 500 kN capacity frame with a 50 kN capacity actuator
  • 50 kN capacity Kistler piezoelectric load washer

Fatigue Testing

  • Four Crouse-type flexural fatigue testing machines for bending fatigue testing
    • Constant deflection amplitude fixed cantilever bending
    • Budd VSP-150
    • Donation from General Motors Corporation
  • Rolling Contact Fatigue
    • Four Modified Federal-Mogul ball-rod rolling contact fatigue tester
    • 5 test bearings with a 12.7 mm diameter
    • Motor rotation speed 3600 RPM
    • Donation from The Timken Company
  • Cantilever Bending Fatigue
    • Two load-controlled SATEC Systems Inc. Fatigue-Testing-Machines
    • Model SF-10 Manuel, operating at 30 Hz
    • Modified Brugger fatigue specimens
    • Donation from IBM
  • Two Baldwin Universal Fatigue testing machines
    • Donation from The Timken Company
  • Rotating Bending Fatigue
    • 4 Hydra-matic Model RBF-200 rotating beam fatigue testing machinesmanufactured by G.M.C.

Forming

  • Deep Rolling Device
  • Designed and fabricated by ASPPRC
  • Variable speed, DC electric motor providing constant torque up to 1.12 kW (1.5 hp)
  • Sprocket and chain drive train with a 6:1 gear reduction
  • 3-roller design with the rollers 120 degrees apart around the axis of the sample
  • Load provided by a hydraulic cylinder with 20 kN capacity controlled by a MTS 458 controller and a 98 kN (10 metric ton) load transducer
  • Fenn two-high rolling mill
  • Cold and hot rolling capability
  • Swaging
  • Wire drawing

Thermo-Mechanical Simulation

  • GLEEBLE 3500 manufactured by Dynamic Systems Inc. (DSI)
    • High speed resistive heating
    • Servo hydraulic system for compression
    • Computer controlled data acquisition
    • Dilatometry capability

ASPPRC was awarded a grant by the Division of Materials Research of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for acquiring a new Gleeble 3500. As of spring 2011, this Gleeble has been installed and is in use.

Heat Treating

Heat treating capabilities over a wide temperature range in a variety of heat transfer mediums

  • 7 Lindberg saltpot furnaces
  • 8 Carbolite air furnaces
  • 4 Lindberg Hevi Duty tube furnaces
  • 7 Blue M Oil baths
  • Variety of quench mediums

Analytical Chemistry

  • Leco Interstitial Analyzers
    • LECO RH-404 Hydrogen Analyzer
    • LECO EF-400
    • LECO CS-400
    • LECO HF-400A
    • LECO TC-436
  • LECO SA-1000 surface analyzer
  • Electrochemical dissolution set-up
    • Princeton Applied Research Potentiostat/Galvanostat Model 273
  • Hydrogen charging set-up
    • BK Precision 1735A 30V/3A DC power supply
    • Graphite anode
    • H2SO4 electrolyte with As2O3 addition
  • Differential Scanning Calorimetry
  • Thermal Desorption Spectrometer

Microstructural Characterization

  • Specimen preparation capabilities
  • Vicker’s and Knoop Hardness Testers
  • Nano-hardness tester

Microscopes

The Electron Microscopy Laboratory has extensive equipment for imaging and analyzing specimens by routine methods. Microscopes include various light and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. The laboratory also houses equipment for embedding, sectioning, polishing and etching materials specimens. Equipment includes:

  • Electron microscopes:
    • FEI Quanta 600 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope with Princeton Gamma-Tech Prism Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer
    • JEOL JSM-6320F Scanning Electron Microscope with EDAX Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (Coming Soon!)
    • JEOL JSM-7000F Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope with EDAX Genesis Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer, TSL Electron Backscatter Diffraction Detector and J.C. Nabity Nanometer Pattern Generation System (Acquisition of this system was supported by NSF Award# 0520386)
    • Philips CM12 Transmission Electron Microscope
    • Philips CM200 Transmission Electron Microscope with Princeton Gamma-Tech Prism Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer
  • Preparatory equipment:
    • Low speed saws, Buehler
    • Electropolishers, E. A. Fischione and Struers
    • Gatan Model 600 dual ion mill
    • Bal-Tec RES100 ion mill
    • Grinding/polishing wheels, LECO and Buehler
    • Vibratory polisher, Buehler
    • Dimpler, VCR D500i
    • Vacuum evaporator, Denton DV502
    • Sputter coater, Technics Hummer VI
    • Metallographic optical microscopes, Olympus

XRD

  • Phillips X-pert diffractometer
    • Filtered copper radiation
    • Multiple stages to accomodate sample state

SOFTWARE

  • Thermo-Calc
  • DICTRA
  • HSC
  • DANTE
  • ABAQUS