HEADLINES ARCHIVE
Automotive Market a Target for Aluminum Process Innovation
Alcoa Inc. has introduced a manufacturing technique designed to supply stronger, more formable aluminum sheet metal for next-generation automotive platforms.
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Used for Energy Storage Products
Researchers have discovered a new way to take some of the atmospheric carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to make an advanced, high-value material for use in energy storage products.
Boeing Signs Long-term Carbon Fiber Deal for 777x and 787 Aircraft
Japan's Toray Industries says it will be the sole supplier of carbon fiber for Boeing Co's 777X passenger jet in addition to the 787 Dreamliner. Reuters says the deal is likely to exceed $8.6 billion for both planes. Engineering360 recently reported on the carbon fiber market and cited an IHS
Carbon Fiber Faces Long Road to Adoption in Automotive, Energy Industries
One of the most common ways to improve energy efficiency in transportation is "lightweighting," or making a vehicle lighter by using less dense materials that offer the same strength as metals.
Material Aims to Be "Black Hole" for Sunlight in Power Projects
An engineering team at the University of California, San Diego has developed a new nanoparticle-based solar power material that eclipses previous designs.
Method Could Expand Biomass Waste Use for Chemical Feedstock
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison disclosed a new method to convert lignin, a biomass waste product, into simple chemicals. The innovation could held expand the use of biorenewable materials for fuel and chemicals, says Shannon Stahl, an expert in green chemistry at the University.
Smart Lithium-ion Battery Warns of Fire Hazard
Stanford University scientists have developed a "smart" lithium-ion battery that gives warning before it overheats and ignite. The technology is designed for conventional lithium-ion batteries.
Nuclear Power Plant to Contain New Stainless Steel Product
Korea-based steelmaker POSCO says it has developed an advanced corrosion-resistant stainless steel for use in nuclear reactors. The product, branded SR-50A, will be used to build a nuclear reactor in the United Arab Emirates by Hyundai Heavy Industries, POSCO was reported as saying on September 29.
Enabling New Age Knees
Over the course of 50 years, the average person takes about 140 million steps. Add tennis, jogging and a gym membership and it’s no wonder that knee replacement surgeries increase 10% year over year. In 2010, American doctors replaced more than 590,000 knees. All this repair work requires
ASTM B989 Specification for High Fluidity Zinc-Aluminum Alloy in Ingot Form for Thin Wall Die Castings
Thinner cell phone casings and business card holders are just two of the applications for a new high fluidity zinc die casting alloy. This casting is covered by a new ASTM standard, ASTM B989, “Specification for High Fluidity (HF) Zinc-Aluminum Alloy in Ingot Form for Thin Wall Die Castings."
Rare Earth Opportunities
Rare earth elements such as neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), gadolinium (Gd), dysprosium (Dy), europium (Eu), erbium (Er), yttrium (Y) and praseodymium (Pr) are important raw materials in a variety of electronics products, such as batteries, phosphors, drives, lighting, display, photovoltaic films and
Recycled Rubber Finds Use in Lithium-ion Batteries
Recycled tires could see new life in lithium-ion batteries that provide power to plug-in electric vehicles and store energy produced by wind and solar, say researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. By modifying the microstructural characteristics of carbon
Ultra-thin Semiconductor Opens Door for Product Innovation
Scientists have developed what they believe is the thinnest-possible semiconductor, a new class of nanoscale materials made in sheets three atoms thick. The University of Washington researchers demonstrated that two of these single-layer semiconductor materials can be connected in an atomically
ASTM B831: Test Method for Shear Testing of Thin Aluminum Alloy Products
ASTM B831 is amended to include a new appendix that was created to describe a novel shear test sample geometry and incorporation of digital image correlation for shear strain measurement.
ASTM WK40615: Practice for Mixing and Comparing Performance of Concrete Materials Using Mini-Mix Mortar Mixtures
Concrete technologists need to have a well-defined, useful and efficient means to detect and possibly address concrete material incompatibility issues. This need will be addressed in a proposed new ASTM International standard, ASTM WK40615, Practice for Mixing and Comparing Performance of Concrete