In a paper for Physics Today in August 1969 (one month after Apollo 11 landed on the moon), the Austrian physicist Victor F. Weisskopf described the class of physicists as a bunch of "happy breed of men in a world of uncertainty and bewilderment" [1]. Despite of being an article to increase the ego of scientists, his manuscript … Continue reading An Ode to Metallurgy
A giant leap on the fundamental phenomenon of age-hardening in aluminium alloys!
SIZE DEPENDENT AGE-HARDENING DISCOVERED! The Montanuniversitaet Leoben has a small breakthrough to report. The age-hardening of metals was discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century. 110 years later, Phillip Dumitraschkewitz was able to show in his doctoral thesis under supervision of Professor Pogatscher from the Chair of Nonferrous Metallurgy, that the effect depends on the material … Continue reading A giant leap on the fundamental phenomenon of age-hardening in aluminium alloys!
AISI-348: An unstable austenitic stainless steel in particle irradiation environments
In two recent papers, we evaluate the application of the austenitic stainless steel AISI-348 in nuclear reactors. By using advanced electron microscopy techniques, it was found that the austenite phase can be quite unstable in energetic particle environments. Two very good works, don't miss reading them! =]
External Events: how safe a nuclear reactor can be?
The development of nuclear technology has allowed unprecedented progress for mankind. Modern medicine could not be the same without the numerous diagnosis protocols involving the application of concepts and products directly (and indirectly) derived from nuclear engineering. On nuclear reactors, it is unquestionably how cost-competitive, clean, environmentally-friendly and powerful electricity can be generated by using … Continue reading External Events: how safe a nuclear reactor can be?
Highly concentrated alloy coatings: an opportunity for commercialisation of high-entropy alloys
It is now available our latest paper on the use of highly concentrated alloy thin films (HCATF) in nuclear industry. Highly concentrated alloys (HCA) -- sometimes also known as high-entropy alloys (HEA) -- are a recent class of new metallic alloys under investigation for future applications within the nuclear technology (not only here, of course!). … Continue reading Highly concentrated alloy coatings: an opportunity for commercialisation of high-entropy alloys
Huddersfield scientists work with the University of São Paulo engaged on a quest to find materials that can ensure disasters such as the 2011 accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station will not recur.
Share from Uni. of Huddersfield: https://tinyurl.com/y6369ym2 THE University of Huddersfield’s combined electron microscope and ion beam accelerator is a world-class facility responsible for a large and growing global network of research collaborations. One of the latest is a partnership with Brazil’s leading university and the scientific significance of this link and how it could help … Continue reading Huddersfield scientists work with the University of São Paulo engaged on a quest to find materials that can ensure disasters such as the 2011 accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station will not recur.
Ceramic coatings for Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF): the case of titanium nitride (TiN)
Our first scientific paper on ceramic coatings for ATFs systems is finally published (in press) at the Journal of Nuclear Materials and it can be downloaded in this link. The paper addresses on the radiation tolerance of nanocrystalline magnetron-sputtered titanium nitride thin films. The coatings were subjected to medium energy heavy-ion irradiation at the homologous … Continue reading Ceramic coatings for Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF): the case of titanium nitride (TiN)
Are TiN coatings appropriate candidates for accident tolerant fuels?
I am so delighted to announce that our paper "Energetic particle irradiation study of TiN coatings: are these films appropriate for accident tolerant fuels?" has just been accepted for publication at the Journal of Nuclear Materials! In this study, we have used heavy ion irradiation in situ within a Transmission Electron Microscopy to investigate whether Titanium Nitride … Continue reading Are TiN coatings appropriate candidates for accident tolerant fuels?
The history of electronic love between Zirconium and Hydrogen!
In our most recent scientific manuscript published at the Scripta Materialia (https://goo.gl/WScks9) , zircaloy-4 specimens were H-charged up to 1230 wppmH by using a gas-solid reaction at high temperatures. We have used Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) to analyse the signals from the plasmonic emissions of face-centred cubic Zirconium Hydrides (ZrH): the δ-ZrH phase. The mechanisms of ZrH … Continue reading The history of electronic love between Zirconium and Hydrogen!
Inert gas bubbles and voids: a posed challenge for the future of nuclear fusion
Future controlled thermonuclear reactors (CTR) will produce large quantities of He gas. The nuclear fusion reaction between deuterium (D) and tritium (T) nuclei predicts the generation of a highly-energetic He atom (3.5 MeV) and an additional neutron with around of 14 MeV. Compared to current existing nuclear fission reactors, CTRs will be very aggressive environments for … Continue reading Inert gas bubbles and voids: a posed challenge for the future of nuclear fusion
Materials at Extremes 