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Sometimes a discovery with superior technical traits can take as long as two decades to find market acceptance. Since the 1930s metallurgists knew that nickel aluminide exhibits increased strength with rising temperature. But the alloy is brittle and prone to fracture. In 1982 an ORNL group led by C. T. Liu found that adding tiny amounts of boron to nickel aluminide made the alloy ductile and less likely to crack when formed into shapes. The alloy recipes were further improved at ORNL by adding trace amounts of chromium, molybdenum and zirconium. After 20 years ORNL's alloy finally found a market. Tests showed that modified nickel aluminides last longer than steel as furnace rolls to carry steel plates for bridges, for example, into metallurgical furnaces. As a result, the steel industry uses less energy, avoids plant shutdowns and makes a better product. ORNL's nickel aluminide lasts twice as long as chromium-nickel steel for furnace furniture-trays and fixtures on which automotive valves, ball bearings and gears are heat-treated in a furnace. Duraloy Technologies, BAE Systems and Alcon Industries, Inc. licensed the DOE-funded technology. Delphi Automotive Systems is a loyal customer. With extraordinary persistence, nickel aluminides have found their niche.
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Web site provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Communications and External Relations |
