Scanning Electron Microscopes

Jet engine failure can be a very hazardous event, regardless if it is on a commercial or military plane. Preventative steps must be taken to ensure the safest, functional products are produced, and regular maintenance intervals must be implemented to ensure functionality.

Whether in the Air Force or at the local airline, preventative maintenance for [...]

Metal particles in raw materials in many cases have costly effects for the automotive and aviation industries. Metal contaminants, flaked off of screws, cylinders, nozzles or other parts that rub together, cause oil and engine failure. Engine oil screens and magnetic sump plugs must be monitored to reduce the risk of failure during [...]

Manufacturers in a variety of industries, including the automotive, aviation, pharmaceutical, and steelmaking, maintain high quality standards for the products they produce. The Quality by Design (QbD) that has started taking root in the pharmaceutical industry is slowly expanding to encompass other industry standards as well. QbD demands that manufacturers have an [...]

Wear surfaces include any metal to metal surfaces that rub together which causes asperities (peaks) on both surfaces. These asperities get welded together then ripped off, leaving tiny holes in the surface of the metal. Surface wear can be reduced by using lubricants, but that does not stop the wear process from happening. [...]

Oxides, or any compound that contains at least one oxygen molecule, have high melting points – anywhere from 1700°C (silicon dioxide) to 2600°C (calcium oxide) because of the bonding type found in these compounds. Since most of the bonds are covalent bonds, they require a great amount of energy to break the bonds since [...]

Killed steel is created when all of the oxygen is removed from the steel mix. Since oxygen can combine with carbon to form carbon monoxide bubbles in the steel, steelmakers add a deoxidizing agent to prevent the formation of these bubbles along the surface of the steel. In addition, oxygen can also react [...]

Killed steels are created by removing as much of the oxygen as possible to prevent reactions between the oxygen and carbon in the solidification process. Aluminum killed steel uses aluminum as the deoxygenizing agent, forming alumina (Al2O3). While this is advantageous in reducing the grain size in the steel, it also has a [...]

Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) have come a long way since their conception in 1935. These microscopes have a wide range of magnification, from 10X to 500,000X is possible detailing samples features as small as 1nm in size. SEMs can produce a variety of signals, such as:

• Secondary Electron
• Back-Scattered Electron (BSE)
• X-ray

The method used to analyze [...]

Oil contamination occurs for several different reasons, all of which leads to engine wear and breakdown if not corrected. Since oil plays an important roll in maintaining lubrication, oil breakdown or contamination reduces the lubrication the metal pieces receive, increases the friction between those moving metal parts, and can lead to engine failure.

There are [...]

High- and ultra high-strength steels attain their strength from the precipitation of inter-metallic compounds, primarily the element of nickel (15-25%) or the secondary elements such as cobalt, molybdenum, and titanium. These low carbon steels, also called maraging steels, are known for superior strength without the loss of malleability.

In 2000, UltraLight Steel Auto Suspensions (ULSAS) [...]