The realm of metallurgy has been a part of our existence since humans started extracting metal from the Earth. Through trial and error, the practical and artistic side of metallurgy developed as humankind created various methods for casting, alloying, heat treating, joining, and forming metals. How to work the metal happened long before understanding why these methods worked. Examples of products fabricated encompass tools, weapons, consumer products for daily use, and ornamental creations for cultural rituals and trade. During the past two centuries, the realm of science infiltrated the artisan’s lair and people started to understand the why of basic metallurgical operations and how to apply the fundamentals to more complex fabrication methods.
The science of metallurgy draws upon the disciplines of physics, chemistry, and mechanics, which in turn is the foundation for metal production, fabrication of products, and service life. The science has many specialties and within each one the activities can range from pure research to practical engineering. The science also transcends across different industries, yet it is so tightly interrelated by technology, that cross-fertilization of ideas provides a constant source of challenge and inspiration.
A metallurgist’s expertise leverages a variety of tools to address questions and challenges people experience with their manufacturing operations and products, for example:
- failure and root cause analyses - fabricated products, process operations, and field service;
- quality control and material inspections – monitor product quality based on material specifications;
- vendor qualifications – current versus proposed alternate materials and processes;
- product process developments – achieving best industrial practices;
- material selections – suitable to intended application and environment.
The scope of work ranges from macroscopic to microscopic evaluations that employ visual examinations, non-destructive testing, mechanical testing, chemical testing and analysis, optical and electron microscopy, metallographic cross-sections, and image analysis.
This presentation will be a series of case studies that illustrate the science and engineering of metallurgy as they apply to real life scenarios.
Key Learning Objectives
- To gain a fundamental understanding of the foundation and building blocks that support metallurgical knowledge
- To understand how the metallurgical knowledge addresses questions and challenges with the development and fabrication of metal products
- To know what tools are available and why a metallurgist selects them
- To realize the knowledge potential a metallurgist brings to an engineering team working on part design, alloy selection, product fabrication, quality control testing, and failures during manufacturing and field service.
