Highlights
CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory Settling Into New Hamilton Facility
The five months since the new CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory’s state-of-the-art research facility officially opened its doors have been an exciting time. As researchers and administrators who were part of the relocation to Hamilton have been joined by many new team members, the atmosphere has been electric.
Contributing to the high level of activity has been the arrival and commissioning of world-class equipment that will allow researchers and technical staff to continue progressive work in the development and testing of high-performance metals and materials for use in the automotive, pipelines and energy production industries.
The twin roll caster relocated from Ottawa to the lab’s new facilities was used by our Innovative Casting and Advanced Materials Processing teams in April to perform the first magnesium melt in Hamilton. Many staff were thrilled to see metal moving through the lab after so many years of hard work on the relocation!
Casting AZ31 magnesium alloy
Another significant arrival in April was the Macrodyne Press, which is a fully functional sheet-metal-forming press similar to those currently in use at major automotive manufacturing companies in Canada. Standing 9 metres tall and weighing 74 250 kilograms, this 900-tonne press can simulate real-world manufacturing situations, allowing researchers to study how different materials and alloys behave under a variety of metal-forming conditions.
The massive Macrodyne Press
It is a valuable addition to the lab, since it offers researchers the capability to carry out computer simulations based on their theoretical models and to test their results on a state-of-the-art press that has been specially equipped with sophisticated instrumentation capable of recording the actual motions and forces at work during the metal-forming process.
In May, the lab’s Thermcraft melting furnace (E117) was commissioned and the permanent mold used for controlled solidification experiments was tested. This will help the lab with projects in its Advanced Materials for Transportation and Emerging Materials research programs.
Commissioning the Thermcraft melting furnace
The lab’s long history in electron microscopy has been enhanced at the new facilities with the addition of three leading-edge microscopes, a Scanning Electron Microscope: a Transmission Electron Microscope, and a Focused Ion Beam Microscope. These instruments will be useful for research program work, and for academic access programs.
The lab’s new Transmission Electron Microscope
The Thermo-Mechanical Simulation Laboratory has performed its first tests on new equipment called the UMSA (Universal Metallurgical Simulator and Analyzer). The UMSA is able to process test samples taken from ingot, melts and cast components and perform metallurgical simulations, including melting, melt treatment, solidification and heat treatment processes. The first project on the UMSA included melting and solidification tests for hypereutectic Al-Si alloys.
The UMSA with alloy sample inside induction coil
This is just a sampling of all the equipment the lab’s scientific and technical staff have been bringing online in Hamilton. Stay tuned for more updates!