Future of Engineering

War and bloodshed has been here since the days of Cain and Abel. Till the 19th century warriors met on the field to prove their might. But the creation of bombs has redefined war. No place on earth is safe anymore. Explosives can be here, there or anywhere. And if you can't spot it, you can't control it.

To tackle terrorism, scientists have created a sensor chip that detects hydrogen peroxide vapor, which is often used in homemade explosives. It does this by monitoring the electrical conductivity of a thin metal film. The chip is made of two different thin films - one made of a cobalt compound and another made of a copper compound. When the chip was exposed to various fumes had responded in a similar manner. But when it was exposed to hydrogen peroxide vapor the films showed a difference in electrical conductivity.

When the sensor reveals this difference, you can easily spot the masked bomb. This is sure to fulfill the requirements of the bomb squad. Usually they have resorted to X-ray examination of luggages which wouldn't detect plastic or non-metallic devices. Sniffer dogs have helped out in various places, but come with a high price tag.

Source - DBIS

Labels: Metallurgical-Engineering, Safety

Major gold rushes occurred in the United States, Australia, Canada, and South Africa in the 19th century. Looks like the scientists from Australia are on their way to trigger the next one with their latest findings. Nanoparticles of gold too small to be seen with the naked eye have been created in laboratories, but up until now, have never been seen in nature.

The CSIRO Scientists in collaboration with scientists from Curtin University and the University of Western Australia successfully sighted the elusive particle. Their research reveals that salty and acidic groundwater dissolves primary gold and re-deposits it as pure gold crystals on fracture surfaces and in open pore spaces.

Initially they took the clay from the fracture surface and analyzed it. They spotted a dark band across the crystals, not gold. But reports suggested that the clay contained up to 59 parts-per-million of gold.

Intrigued by the finding they subjected the crystals to high magnification imaging. Now the band showed its true colors. The band revealed the hidden, unseen world of gold nanoparticles. These are identical to those being manufactured in laboratories around the world for their unique properties.

This finding will help give us a deeper understanding of how gold can be transported and deposited by geological processes, and therefore help explorers to find new gold deposits in Australia.

Australian scientists seem to have struck gold, literally.

Source - Net News Publisher

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Labels: Chemical-Engineering, Metallurgical-Engineering

Nanocomp Technologies has been given an Air Force contract to develop electrically conductive wire and other materials from carbon nanotubes. The major aspect of this contract is an effort to replace copper wiring and its attendant limitations — weighty, physically breaks down, etc. If Nanocomp Technologies is successful the entire aerospace industry will be one of the first beneficiaries of this development.

Under Phase One, Nanocomp Technologies will expand upon its current processing and manufacturing methods for producing CNT sheets and spun conductors, composed of long-length CNTs, to surpass established electrical performance standards required by aerospace to replace traditional copper wiring.

More from here

Keywords: Nanocomp, Carbon Nanotubes(CNT), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Improved Electrical Power, Boeing 747, Aerospace Systems, Copper Wiring Harnesses

Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Material-Sciences, Metallurgical-Engineering

Rio Tinto, a mining giant in North American and Australia, has found a way to eliminate the stresses and strains experienced by Australian miners: automated operations. The company's chief executive, Tom Albanese, announced these initiatives recently:

* Mine operations in the Pilbara iron ore region will be controlled 1,300 kilometers away at a new center in Perth
* Driverless trains will carry iron ore on most of 1,200 kilometers of track
* A driverless "intelligent" truck fleet will be deployed
* Remotely controlled "intelligent" drills will be used

Albanese called this vision "the mine of the future" in a Perth speech and said it is part of Rio Tinto's drive to maintain its position as Australia's leading iron ore producer.

Full report here

Labels: Automation, Metallurgical-Engineering

For centuries, engineers have bent and torn metals to test their strength and ductility. Now, materials scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science are studying the same metals but at nanoscale sizes in the form of wires a thousand times thinner than a human hair. This work has enable Penn engineers to construct a theoretical model to predict the strength of metals at the nanoscale. Using this model, they have found that, while metals tend to be stronger at nanoscale volumes, their strengths saturate at around 10-50 nanometers diameter, at which point they also become more sensitive to temperature and strain rate. Such prediction of different strength regimes of nano-solids is important for future application and engineering design of nanotechnology.

Full story here

Labels: Material-Sciences, Metallurgical-Engineering

Physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have made two important findings regarding gold on the nanoscale. They found that applying an electrical field on a surface-supported gold nanocluster changes its structure from a three-dimensional one to a planar flat structure. In another paper, they relate their discovery that gold in this size regime can be made magnetic through oxygenation of gold nanowires.

They also found that up to a certain length, oxygenated gold nanowires behave as a conducting metal, but beyond that, they become insulators. This marks the first time on the nanoscale that such a metal-to-insulation transition has been found on the nanoscale. Both findings are important predictions that could some day be implemented as control parameters governing the chemical and physical material properties employed in nanotechnology.

Full story here

Labels: Material-Sciences, Metallurgical-Engineering

Nano-alumina: Future metal for automobile, aerospace engineering

From nano-fabric to nano-drugs — the new technology has become a major field of research worldwide and its applications have tremendous impact on our day-to-day life.

But an Indian scientist has discovered a new method to solidify nano-alumina composites in laboratory- scale for the first time and claims to have created "nanoalumina with uniform strength" which could be three times stronger than steel.

More from here

Labels: Material-Sciences, Metallurgical-Engineering

Automation Drives 'Mine of the Future'

Rio Tinto, a big mining and commodities company in North American and Australia, has found a way to eliminate the stresses and strains experienced by Australian miners: automated operations. The company's chief executive, Tom Albanese, announced these initiatives on Jan. 18:

* Mine operations in the Pilbara iron ore region will be controlled 1,300 kilometers away at a new center in Perth
* Driverless trains will carry iron ore on most of 1,200 kilometers of track
* A driverless "intelligent" truck fleet will be deployed
* Remotely controlled "intelligent" drills will be used

Full story here

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Automation Drives 'Mine of the Future'

Labels: Geo-Sciences, Metallurgical-Engineering

Two groups in particular—one in America and one in Britain—are trying to create composite materials such as reinforced plastics that will mend themselves if they get cracked, in much the same way as an animal’s broken bone will heal. The difference is that these materials will heal in minutes rather than months.

Such self-healing composites may take a while to enter everyday use. But if they can be made reliably, they will be welcome in high-stress applications that are difficult to inspect regularly (the blades of wind turbines, for example) or are critical to safety (such as the doors and window-frames of aircraft).

Full report here

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Labels: Metallurgical-Engineering