Pentagon eyes rare-earth supplies in Africa in push away from China (US)

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The US Department of Defense has held talks with Malawi’s Mkango Resources Ltd and other rare-earth miners across the globe about their supplies of strategic minerals, part of a plan to find diversified reserves outside of China, a department official said on Wednesday. The push comes as China threatens to curb exports to the United States of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used in a plethora of military equipment and high-tech consumer electronics.  

Although China contains only a third of the world’s rare-earth reserves, it accounts for 80% of US imports of minerals because it controls nearly all of the facilities to process the material, according to US Geological Survey data. “We are looking for any source of supply outside China. We want diversity. We don’t want a single-source producer,” Jason Nie, a materials engineer with the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency, said on the sidelines of the Argus US Specialty Metals conference in Chicago. The DLA, whichContinue reading→

The US Next Tank Could Be Protected by ‘Steel Foam’ (US)

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Researchers have discovered that composite metal foam offers greater protection than traditional armor steel plate at a third of the weight. The discovery has broad implications for armored vehicles, and could result in stronger, lighter vehicles better able to protect occupants from the impact of kinetic weapons, explosive shockwaves, and fires.Scientists at North Carolina State University and the US Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate have invented what they call Composite Metal Foam (CMF). “Metal foam” is exactly what you think it is—metal with sponge-like holes in it. This not only makes CMF lighter than normal metal, but it also makes CMF spongy, allowing it to give slightly under impact, soaking up some of the energy of a collision.

Researchers have demonstrated that vehicle armor using composite metal foam (CMF) can stop ball and armor-piercing .50 caliber rounds as well as conventional steel armor, even though it weighs less than half as much. The finding means that vehicle designers will be able to develop lighter military vehicles without sacrificing safety, or canContinue reading→

US Army Explores using of Shape Memory Alloys to build Big Lasers (US)

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Directed energy systems, which include lasers, are a hot research topic for the military but designing them to be small and mobile is tough because they have high heat flux and short pulse duration. That means they get hot, extremely fast, and need big cooling units to stop components from cooking and help maintain a precise wavelength and beam quality. The discovery of thermal energy storage via shape memory alloys provides an unprecedented two order of magnitude improvement in the cooling figure of merit, defined by the product of the material latent heat and thermal conductivity.“This opens a new paradigm of phase change material design, through which scientists can eliminate the need for heavy/large volume fin structures and fabricate thermal energy storage and heat transfer structures entirely out of metallic shape memory alloys.”

Scientists working at a U.S. Army laboratory are exploring the heat transfer properties of a strange class of metals that can return to their original shape when heated. They’re called Shape Memory Alloys, and the most common is made of nickel and titanium. They’re already used as braces to move crooked teeth and as stints to open clogged arteries, and recent testing indicated they’ll be great for dealing with all the heat created when powering a high-energy laser. “In recent years, researchers and companies have attempted to develop smarter, more efficient and

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Sidenor finalise la vente d’une partie de l’usine Reinosa au groupe NFL (FR)

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Sidenor a presque finalisé la vente d’une partie de ses installations de Reinosa au groupe nord-américain NFL, qui reprendrait la division des pièces de grande taille, dans le but de: renforcer la production de cette usine avec de nouveaux produits en acier. Les représentants de cette société ont expliqué hier leur projet aux représentants du gouvernement de Cantabrie et des syndicats, tandis que M. Sidenor a confirmé que les négociations étaient bien Continue reading→

Tosyali Algerie continue de booster sa production et ses exportations d’aciers (FR)

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C’est la première fois que le leader de la sidérurgie a décidé de communiquer sur ses investissements en Algérie. Présent dans le pays depuis 2007, le poids lourd de l’industrie sidérurgique Tosyali passe à la phase de l’exportation.

C’est l’un des membres de son conseil d’administration et actionnaire, en l’occurrence Alp Topcuoglu, qui a animé, hier dans les locaux du bureau de liaison de la société, un point de presse pour présenter Tosyali qui reste jusque-là méconnue du public et parler de ses projets. «Cela a été une erreur de rester dans l’anonymat», avoue le responsable de Tosyali, dont la direction a décidé désormais de communiquer sur ses activités. «Nous faisons des choses très importantes en Algérie», a affirmé Alp Topcuoglo, mettant l’accent sur la position de leader dans le secteur de la Continue reading→

World’s Largest 1.8 M Titanium 3D Print Drone for Defense Industry (US)

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Australian advanced manufacturing company Titomic has delivered the largest titanium 3D printed drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ever made, measuring more than 1.8 metres in diameter.

The UAV was manufactured at Titomic’s R&D Bureau in Melbourne, home of the world’s largest and fastest metal 3D printer. Reports from Defence Connect amongst others said that the quadcopter UAV was delivered to an unnamed client, and was printed on Titomic’s TKF9000 machine, which has a print bed of 9 x 3 x 1.5 metres. According to Titomic, the titanium structure offers a rugged and lightweight design, and the craft is “well-suited for deployment in live combat situations.” The system incorporates Titomic’s patented additive manufacturingContinue reading→

Slovakian’s forgings company ZTS Metalurg under bankruptcy (US)

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The company has focused since its establishment on products for use in the defence industry, ZTS METALURG, a.s. has many years of experience and a long tradition in the production of open and closed-die drop forgings as well as steel castings, cast steel and alloy steels.

The Czechoslovakian group decided to stop production at ZTS Metalurg in Dubenika Nad and Om. The company’s extinction ends on June 30 with more than 100 tribal employees. A spokesman for the news group Andrei Chirtak announced it. “Several dozen employees have the option to switch to Slovak company MSM Holdings, which is also part of the Czech group, or to Ostrava-based heavy machinery Vítkovice.Therefore, it is impossible to say exactly how Continue reading→

Chinese physicist says revolutionary technique means alloys can be developed in hours instead of years (US)

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  • Inspired by early colour television, method can create thousands of alloys quickly
  • Leader of Beijing team says a ‘revolution in material science’ is close to hand

Chinese physicists say they have developed a method that can cut the time involved in the discovery of alloys from years to hours. The technique has led to the creation of high performance alloys, including the world’s toughest amorphous metal, or metallic glass, for use in extremely hot environments. The search for an alloy typically takes years, but now it can be done in less

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Russian scientists create new aluminum alloy with flexibility, strength, lightness (US)

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Lighter and faster aircraft and vehicles require lighter materials. One of the most promising materials is aluminum, or rather, aluminum-based composites.

Scientists from NUST MISIS scientific school “Phase Transitions and Development of Non-Ferrous Alloys” created a new strong Al-Ni-La composite for aircraft and automobile industry. Doping elements were added to aluminum melt, forming special chemical compounds that further formedContinue reading→

Chinese company produces large seamless circular forging for nuclear reactor (US)

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China’s Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group (TISCO) announced Tuesday that it has produced a huge seamless circular forging with high-purity stainless steel, which will be used in a 4th-generation nuclear power unit. According to the company, the piece, 15.6 meters in diameter and 150 tonnes in weight, is the world’s largest in terms of size and weight. It will be used as the support ring for the core component of the pilot reactor for a 60 million kilowatts fast neutron reactor in Xiapu, Fujian Province. The forging is required to be able to bear a weight of 7,000 tonnes and a temperature of 650 degrees Celsius, and operate for four decades continuously. TISCO, located in Taiyuan of Shanxi Province, has supplied more than 50,000 tonnes of steel for nuclear power projects, including 45,000 tonnes of stainless stee

JINAN — A Chinese steel mill rolled off the world’s largest seamless ring forging piece, which was developed especially as the key part of a nuclear power unit. The loop-shape stainless steel piece, produced by the ShandongContinue reading→