Alloy

[ydoaPs]

"Impervium? Eternium? What do you call a nearly unbreakable metal? Dr. Richard Waterstrat has been pondering that question ever since he invented an alloy that is nearly impervious to wear.

Several years ago at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, Dr. Waterstrat was developing a metal for use in artificial hips and knees. Because the alloy would be implanted into the human body, it needed to be both nontoxic and crack-resistant.

 

He made one alloy by mixing three metals- zirconium, palladium, and ruthenium. The alloy seemed promising, so Dr. Waterstrat sent it down to the machine shop to prepare a sample for testing. Soon after, Dr. Waterstrat received a call from a worker in the shop who reported that he was unable to cut the alloy in a lathe, using conventional methods. At first, Dr. Waterstrat thought the metal might simply be too hard to cut. But closer examination revealedthat a very thin fibrous layer had formed wherever force had been applied to the metal. The crystalline structure of the alloy's surface had changed in response to the force to prevent new damage. THe metal had actually 'healed itself.'

 

'The new crystals are harder and stronger than the original crystals,' Dr. Waterstrat explained, 'and that reinforces or 'heals' the defects that form as a result of the applied stress, making the material, in fact, stronger than it was to begin with. So the unusual wear resistance is due to the fact that the metal is contunually forming crystals under stress to resist further wear'

 

Dr. Waterstrat's alloy not only was resistant to cracking, but also was found to be nearly impervious to wear. He submitted the alloy to a test to measure its wear-resistance, its ability to withstand intense wear over long periods of time. After a pin was rubbed against the metal for 5 million cycles, the alloy shoed practically no wear. Artificial joints are constantly subjected towear, so it seemed that Dr. Waterstrat had finally found his ideal metal.While the alloy is still being perfected for use in joint replacements, there are other applications for which it might be used. Any piece of metal that is subject to extreme wear, such as drill bits, bearings in machinery, or needles in sewing machines, could be coated with the wonder metal. The alloy seems to be corrosion-resistant, suggesting that it could be used as the metal contact in an electric circuit, a part that is constantly subjected to high wear and corrosion. The indestructible ally is here; now all it needs is a name." --- Holt Physics page 129

 

what is the progress on this metal and how light is it?

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

That metal is not on Google. As far as I know it doesn't exist, because the only Dr. Waterstrat I saw on Google was a guy that did dental stuff.

[ydoaPs]

i don't know.book was copyright 1999. i wonder why a dentis would be looking for a metal for joint replacements.

 

sorry for the long-ass first post.

[coquina]

The machinist was unable to cut the material in a lathe because it "work hardened". Stainless steel is famous for pulling this trick. One avoids the problem by not allowing heat to build up. You flood the material and tool with coolant, and make sure your tool is sharp.

 

We use disposable carbide inserts that have several cutting surfaces. Here are some pictures: http://images.google.com/images?q=carbide%20inserts&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi They are precision sized so that when you program a part you can change an insert without changing the program. As you can see, they come in triangle and diamond shapes. You can get 6 new cutting surfaces out of a triangular shaped insert. If you are cutting something very expensive that is apt to work harden you turn or change the insert before it starts to get dull.

 

For really mean materials, one can use ceramic or diamond tooling.

 

One can also use an "electric discharge machine" or EDM. There are two types - wire and sinker. Wire is like a band saw, it uses electricity to burn through the material. With the sinker EDM - you make a carbon or a tungsten electrode in the male shape - it will burn a female shape. If it is metallic, you can burn through it.

 

You can also use a "water knife" - extremely high pressure water with a matrix of corundum or diamond mixed in.

 

Excuse me - but this guy sounds like a crackpot. He's probably suckering in people for his invention, or trying to explain why their investment went down the toilet.

[swansont]

Excuse me - but this guy sounds like a crackpot. He's probably suckering in people for his invention, or trying to explain why their investment went down the toilet.

 

Well, he works at NIST, and his discovery has been noted in a press release, so I'd hesitate to call him a crackpot.

 

Also, a Google on RM Waterstrat got about 275 hits.

[5614]

Also, a Google on RM Waterstrat got about 275 hits[/url'].

 

thats a pointless sentence, a google search for my name comes up with 738, and im just a teenager,

searching tom swansont gets 472, now swansont is a physicist, so he might have pages, also there's his own site, i dont have my own site and im not going to published anywhere for a scientific result, yet i still get more.... google searching a name is pointless, it prooves nothing.

 

but he doesnt really sound like a crackpot to me neither.

[Lance]

I got 1,920 hits. I seem to be the most popular here.

[swansont]

thats a pointless sentence' date=' a google search for my name comes up with 738, and im just a teenager,

searching tom swansont gets 472, now swansont is a physicist, so he might have pages, also there's his own site, i dont have my own site and im not going to published anywhere for a scientific result, yet i still get more.... google searching a name is pointless, it prooves nothing.

[/quote']

 

Feel better?

 

It was in response to Cap'n refreshement, who said, "the only Dr. Waterstrat I saw on Google was a guy that did dental stuff."

 

So there was a point to it.

 

If you looked at some of the links, there were several metallurgy papers and publications lists on the first page. That would seem to make it relevant - it wasn't just a guy's own website hyping some quackery. When professionals publish papers they generally don't put "Dr." in the author. That's why I included the link.

[coquina]

He made one alloy by mixing three metals- zirconium, palladium, and ruthenium. The alloy seemed promising, so Dr. Waterstrat sent it down to the machine shop to prepare a sample for testing. Soon after, Dr. Waterstrat received a call from a worker in the shop who reported that he was unable to cut the alloy in a lathe, using conventional methods. At first, Dr. Waterstrat thought the metal might simply be too hard to cut. But closer examination revealedthat a very thin fibrous layer had formed wherever force had been applied to the metal. The crystalline structure of the alloy's surface had changed in response to the force to prevent new damage. THe metal had actually 'healed itself.'

 

Maybe the problem is not with Waterstrat, but with the author of the article who claimed that the material "changed in response to the force to prevent new damage" and had "healed itself". The author is refering to metal anthropomorphically - crediting it with human emotions and abilities.

 

As I said before - what is described has been known in the machine shop trade as "work hardening". It's just a physical property of some metals, and they don't do it on purpose to keep machinists from cutting them.

 

Perhaps it's not machinable using conventional tools. No big surprise there either. The tool has to be harder than the material. Undoubtedly Waterstrat's material is harder than high speed steel. It may be harder than carbide, but it is certainly not harder than diamond.

 

The second article cited said he got the award for developing that fantabulous material in 1993 - it is now 2004. If the stuff was all that wondrous, don't you think it would at least have a name by now?

 

What it probably comes down to is that the metals are so rare, they are prohibitively expensive to manufacture in quantities suitable for mass production.

[ydoaPs]

The second article cited said he got the award for developing that fantabulous material in 1993 - it is now 2004. If the stuff was all that wondrous' date=' don't you think it would at least have a name by now?

[/quote']

 

well, the first article was in a book that was copyright 1999, so the article probably was published a few years before that.

[fiberoptics]

How do you know so much. LOL not being sexism due to your knowledge. Its good to see that a woman can give their opinion.

 

I know what your are reffering to when you talk about work hardened. I'm suprise they have not test the metal with diamonds tip saw or something else like pressure or heat. Anyways I think he should name it adamantium, after Wolverine

The machinist was unable to cut the material in a lathe

because it "work hardened". Stainless steel is famous for pulling this trick. One avoids the problem by not allowing heat to build up. You flood the material and tool with coolant' date=' and make sure your tool is sharp.

 

We use disposable carbide inserts that have several cutting surfaces. Here are some pictures: http://images.google.com/images?q=carbide%20inserts&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi They are precision sized so that when you program a part you can change an insert without changing the program. As you can see, they come in triangle and diamond shapes. You can get 6 new cutting surfaces out of a triangular shaped insert. If you are cutting something very expensive that is apt to work harden you turn or change the insert before it starts to get dull.

 

For really mean materials, one can use ceramic or diamond tooling.

 

One can also use an "electric discharge machine" or EDM. There are two types - wire and sinker. Wire is like a band saw, it uses electricity to burn through the material. With the sinker EDM - you make a carbon or a tungsten electrode in the male shape - it will burn a female shape. If it is metallic, you can burn through it.

 

You can also use a "water knife" - extremely high pressure water with a matrix of corundum or diamond mixed in.

 

Excuse me - but this guy sounds like a crackpot. He's probably suckering in people for his invention, or trying to explain why their investment went down the toilet.[/quote']

[chilehed]

Interesting, but confusing as well.

 

The press release says "Tests show that under applied stress normally large enough to produce a change in shape, the alloy undergoes internal changes that actually increase its ability to resist further deformation and wear." Alright, reduced ductility and increased wear resistance usually go hand in hand.

 

The patent application can be found here "Ductile intermetallic compounds for dental applications":http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=waterstrat-richard-m.INZZ.&OS=in/waterstrat-richard-m&RS=IN/waterstrat-richard-m

Claim #1 of the patent aplication is "An alloy composition having a cubic CsCl or B2 type structure which can undergo stress-induced martensitic transformations at or near mouth or body temperature and consisting essentially of about 35 to about 60% by weight zirconium, about 1 to about 60% palladium, and about 1 to about 60% ruthenium." So far, so good, in steels the martensitic structure yields lower ductility and higher hardness and wear resistance. No surprises so far.

 

But then the description of the invention in the application says "This invention relates to alloy compounds which undergo stress-induced martensitic transformations at or near mouth or body temperature. A martensitic transformation occurs in these alloys when they transform under stress from a cubic CsCl or B2 type structure, which is stable at elevated temperatures, to a CrB type structure that is stable at a lower temperature. This type of transformation increases the ductility of these alloys...Methods of enhancing the ductility of high strength steels and other alloys, through a combination of elements enabling the formation of stress-induced martensitic structures appear in the prior art."

 

This throws me. I only know enough about the heat treatment of steels to be dangerous, but I've NEVER heard of martensite causing GREATER ductility than one would get from the ferritic or austenitic phases of the same alloy. And even if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be more difficult to machine in the more ductile phase.

 

It seems to me that there's something fishy here. I'm hesitant to give this credence merely because it got a patent, I've seen patents given on descriptions that involve violations of the laws of fluid dyanmics.

[gcol]

My first reaction was : A metal that can not be machined? reminds me of an acid that dissolves everything, but the inventor could find nothing in which to store it.