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Category Archive: Metals

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  1. Nickel: Powerful Driver of Electric Vehicle Batteries

    Feb
    28
    2023
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    Manufacturers have used nickel to produce s batteries for over a century. In fact, Nickel was the key driver of the battery revolution in the 20th Century. From Nickel-cadmium (NiCAD) batteries to longer-lasting metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries, these batteries changed how we worked and lived. The 1990s saw the first major use of nickel-containing […]

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  2. Scientists Are Planning To Convert Abandoned Mines Into Gravity Batteries

    Feb
    23
    2023
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    Worldwide many countries are reducing their reliance on fossil fuels by boosting renewable-energy output. However, to rely on these inherently variable and inconsistent renewable energy sources like solar and wind, we need to tackle renewable energy’s storage problem. Now, scientists have developed an innovative technique called Underground Gravity Energy Storage (UGES) to solve this issue. […]

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  3. The Role of Nickel in Manufacturing Stainless Steel and Other Alloys

    Feb
    07
    2023
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    Nickel (NI) is a low-cost, highly versatile industrial material. A transition element with a mixture of ferrous and non-ferrous properties, it’s widely used in manufacturing an exceptionally wide variety of products thanks to its chemical and physical properties. Nickel and nickel alloys are ideal for many aerospace, chemical, and petrochemical processing applications because of their […]

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  4. Ground-Breaking Shock-Absorbing Material Can Withstand Supersonic Impacts

    Jan
    12
    2023
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    Researchers at the University of Kent have developed an innovative shock-absorbing material capable of absorbing supersonic projectile impacts. Scientists foresee this material could revolutionize both the defense and planetary science sectors. Led by Professors Ben Goult and Jen Hiscock, the team has explored the natural shock-absorbing abilities of a protein called talin for this research. […]

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  5. Robots Can Now Sew Your Jeans

    Dec
    09
    2022
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    The development of sewing robots, which are now capable of literally sewing your jeans, marks a significant step forward in the movement toward automation that is taking place in the apparel industry. The American clothing company Levi’s is developing robots in charge of sewing its notorious jeans. When put into practice, these robots, however, are […]

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  6. Delving into The Popular Heat-Treating Methods of Specialty Alloys

    Oct
    27
    2022
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    Heat treating boosts a metal’s workability, which helps manufacturers modify metals to meet the specific requirements of an application. Critical in manufacturing high-quality products, this thermal process involves heating a metal to near or just above its critical temperature, holding it there for a time, and then cooling the metal in a medium, such as […]

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  9. Audi Will Join Formula 1 in 2026

    Sep
    12
    2022
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    The German luxury car manufacturer Audi AG recently announced that the company will join the Formula 1 World Championship beginning with the 2026 season. The announcement was made ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. Audi’s decision was made after the F1 introduces new regulations regarding the power unit and electrification that will kick in beginning […]

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  10. GAF Energy: New Manufacturing Plant in Texas Announced

    Jul
    28
    2022
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    Expecting to grow the manufacturing capacity by 500%, the San Jose, California-based company GAF Energy announced that it will open its second factory in Georgetown, Texas, 30 miles north of Austin.  The 450,000 square-foot factory is expected to be completed in mid-2023, with a domestic production capacity of 300 MW per annum. The factory will […]

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  11. New manufacturing process improves metal component strength by 15%

    May
    27
    2022
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    A team of scientists from the National University of Science and Technology in Moscow has devised a new production method for making aerospace composite parts which gives them a final strength improvement of 15%, compared to that of conventional parts made of materials such as titanium alloys, that are omnipresent and widely-used in the aerospace […]

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  12. Nickel Set to Replace Palladium as a Greener and Cheaper Catalyst

    May
    05
    2022
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    Palladium prices have exploded in the past decade, going from $5,300/kg in 2008, to $15,600/kg in 2016, $60,000/kg in 2020, and standing at $75,000 per kg right now. The valuable rare metal has been historically used in catalytic converters of cars, but it’s now also required by hydrogen fuel cell technology, an emerging technology that […]

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  13. Is The Ongoing Nickel Price Roller-Coaster a Cause for Concern?

    Mar
    24
    2022
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    Nickel is undergoing a wild pricing ride lately, being one of the most heavily affected metals of the market turbulence caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions and shortages. The region of Krasnoyarsk in Russia is one of the world’s major production hubs of nickel, so closing that supply tap makes […]

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  14. New Laser-Based Welding Promises to Cut Energy Consumption In Construction

    Mar
    22
    2022
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    Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have developed a novel laser-based system that can be used for precision and energy-efficient welding of construction metals. According to their measurements, the energy requirements of their system are roughly 85% lower than that of conventional welding methods, while the result is also typically of a higher quality […]

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  15. Giant ‘ArcelorMittal’ Steel Plant in Ukraine Shuts Down Amid War Crisis

    Mar
    11
    2022
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    Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal SA has closed its Ukrainian steel mill on Thursday after facing raw material supply disruptions and increasing risks associated directly with the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country. The company shut down blast furnaces gradually as the supply problems culminated and forced the production to a minimum, but the escalating situation […]

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  16. Engineers Figured How Fatigue Cracks Grow and What Stops Their Propagation

    Feb
    22
    2022
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    The Cornell Fracture group has published the results of an ongoing study on the formation and propagation of fatigue cracks on metals and claims to have identified the mechanism that causes the cracks to grow. Their paper, titled “Atomic Mechanism of Near Threshold Fatigue Crack Growth in Vacuum,” explains that a molecular dislocation happens near […]

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  17. Tata Steel Investigated in Netherlands for Excessive Air Pollution

    Feb
    11
    2022
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    The Dutch prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Tata Steel for intentional and unlawful pollution, a result of the operation of its Amsterdam-based steelwork facilities. The authorities have also launched a probe involving specialist investigators to determine the scale and type of pollution that is taking place to compare it with the legal emission […]

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  18. Selective separation could help retrieve rare metals that are costly to mine

    Jan
    10
    2022
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    MIT researchers have developed a new processing method to help retrieve rare metals that are costly to mine and are getting increasingly harder to find. The technique is called “solid selective separation”, and it could replace liquid separation for at least 56 elements, 15 of which have already been tested successfully. Compared to liquid separation, […]

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  19. The Complexity of Re-Purposing The Steel Border Walls

    Dec
    28
    2021
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    Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision for raising an impermeable border in the south has failed to realize, but not before a whopping $16.4 billion was spent in funding the barrier construction. Now, hundreds of thousands of steel bollards, each costing about $9,000, lie in piles at various locations, rusting, creating an environmental hazard, and […]

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  20. Researchers Presented Self-Healing Anti-Corrosive Coating for Steel

    Dec
    20
    2021
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    Steel is a very resilient material in general, but when it comes to subjecting it to harsh environments like seawater, you need to apply an anti-corrosive coating or it will rust pretty quickly. Researchers at the Rice University in Houston have tested a novel insulating material made out of sulfur and selenium and found that […]

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