User Facilities

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is home to a number of user facilities, many of which contain unique instrumentation. These research laboratories are designed to serve ORNL staff scientists and engineers, as well as researchers from universities, industry, foreign institutions, and other government laboratories. For more information on these facilities and how to gain access to them, go to the Technology Transfer and Economic Development group's Collaborations and Sponsored Research site. Two facilities are featured below.

High Temperature Materials Laboratory

The High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) is a DOE user facility designed to help researchers in industry, universities, and federal laboratories solve materials problems that limit the efficiency and reliability of automotive systems. Instruments available at HTML have extensive capabilities for characterizing the microstructure, microchemistry, and physical and mechanical properties of materials over a wide range of temperatures. Specifically, HTML offers specialized capabilities in the areas of microstructure analysis, residual stress, machining and inspection, thermophysical properties, x-ray and neutron diffraction, friction and wear testing, mechanical characterization, and thermography.   —Click here for HTML Fact Sheet.—

Specialized User Equipment: ORNL Hydrogen-Service Internally Heated Pressure Vessel

This equipment is used for H₂ permeability and mechanical testing. It provides automated measurements of diffusivity and permeability of metal and polymer films at temperatures ranging from 5-1000ºC (±0.1°C in a range of 5-90°C) and H₂pressures up to 40,000 psi.