Current TMS News

PbZn and Electrometallurgy Join TMS2020
The TMS 2020 Annual Meeting & Exhibition (TMS2020) welcomes two special programming events: the 9th International Symposium on Lead and Zinc Processing (PbZn 2020) and the the 3rd International Symposium on Electrometallurgy (Electrometallurgy 2020). These sessions, as well as 85 additional TMS2020 symposia in 15 topic areas, are now accepting abstracts through July 1. You can learn more about the technical program and submit an abstract for any TMS2020 symposium today. (Never submitted an abstract to a TMS meeting before? View our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn how.)

PbZn 2020
Established in 1970, the PbZn symposium series is considered the leading international technical forum for the lead and zinc processing industries. PbZn 2020 will convene operators, engineers, and researchers to exchange information about all aspects of current processing technologies for primary and secondary lead and zinc, as well as emerging technologies for both metals. Abstracts will be accepted in areas that include: 

• Global factors affecting the production of zinc and lead, including economic aspects, product development and marketing endeavors, and environmental and health issues
• Surveys of existing smelters and refineries for primary and secondary lead and zinc production
• Lead and zinc production technology
• Product applications, marketing, and new product development
• Recycling technologies and product life cycle issues
• Fundamental research related to lead and zinc processes and to understanding the basic theories of lead and zinc processing

Electrometallurgy 2020
Electrometallurgy 2020 builds on the success of symposia held in Orlando in 2012 and Quebec City in 2016, bringing together industry, consulting engineers, and researchers to discuss fundamental research, development, and application of innovative aqueous or molten salt electrometallurgical processing technologies for the extraction of metals.

Abstracts are being accepted on topics including:

• Copper electrowinning & electrorefining
• Electrochemical Engineering
• Anode Materials & Technology
• Electrometallurgy at High Temperature
• Electroslag refining
• Electrochemical effluent treatment
• Molten salts: (Ta, Sc, Ti, Ca, Li, Na, Mo,… )
• Electromotive force measurements
• Liquid metal batteries
• Molten oxides

This year's Electrometallurgy event will also feature Process Metallurgy and Electrochemistry of Molten Salts, Liquid Metal Batteries, and Extra-terrestrial Materials Processing: An EPD Symposium in Honor of Don Sadoway. This symposium will consist of a series of invited presentations. 

View the TMS2020 Technical Program web page for details on additional programming planned in 15 topic areas related to minerals, metals, and materials science and engineering.

TMS Discusses Revolutionary Technology at Congressional Briefing

More than 80 Congressional staff members and others engaged with public policy development gathered on June 6 for a high-level overview of a potentially disruptive technology at a Congressional Briefing sponsored by TMS and the United Engineering Foundation, and hosted by the House Manufacturing Caucus.

The topic was metamorphic manufacturing, a new technology that forges metal objects to precise specifications through a combination of robotic systems, intelligent machines, sensors, and integrated computational learning. The need to produce a die is completely eliminated, while the incremental deformation approach minimizes waste and optimizes part performance and properties. Metamorphic manufacturing is particularly well-suited for the production of highly specialized parts and, compared with other technologies, can potentially produce these parts cheaper, faster, at a higher quality, and with a lower carbon output.

The technology was explored in-depth in the recently released TMS technical report, Metamorphic Manufacturing: Shaping the Future of On-Demand Components.

Glenn Daehn, the study team lead and Fontana Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at The Ohio State University, was the featured speaker at the briefing. He opened his talk with a history lesson, tracing how the implementation of key process innovations gave rise to the great manufacturing hubs of the United States, such as the automotive industry in Detroit. Metamorphic manufacturing, he noted, offers that same potential. “We need mindful policies to put metamorphic manufacturing into production,” he said. The workforce implications of this investment, Daehn maintained, would be significant: “This new process will teach new skills and create a culture of doing.”

The briefing concluded with a robust question and answer session moderated by George Spanos, TMS Director of New Initiatives, Science, and Engineering, with Daehn and Tony Schmitz, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and study team member, providing responses.

You can download a copy of Metamorphic Manufacturing: Shaping the Future of On-Demand Components through the TMS website, and access a recording of the June 6 Congressional Briefing, including the question and answer session, through the House Manufacturing Caucus website.

The Congressional Briefing on metamorphic manufacturing is part of an advanced manufacturing briefing series supported by the United Engineering Foundation. The following organizations comprise the United Engineering Foundation: The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), IEEE USA, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Pictured (left to right) are Spanos and Daehn with James Foley, 2019 TMS President, and James J. Robinson, TMS Executive Director. 

Hansson to Deliver MS&T19 Plenary

Carolyn Hansson, Professor of Materials Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada and a TMS Fellow, will deliver the TMS/ASM Distinguished Lectureship in Materials and Society as part of the all-conference plenary session at the Materials Science & Technology 2019 (MS&T19) conference and exhibition in October.

Hansson’s research has covered many aspects of environmental degradation of materials, particularly the corrosion and erosion of metals and alloys. Over the last 20 years, her major research focus has been the durability of infrastructure materials, particularly the chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcing bar and those properties of the concrete which affect this process. Her current research is focused on the application of corrosion-resistant alloys as reinforcing materials with a view to understanding the influence of the metallurgy on the corrosion resistance and prediction of the relative life-cycle costs of the different alloys.

Her presentation, "The Challenge of 100 year Service-Life Requirement," will look at the materials challenges of meeting new standards that are under consideration to raise the service-life specification for reinforced concrete highway infrastructure from the current 75 years to 100 years or more.
The goals of these standards are to reduce financial and environmental costs and improve the sustainability of the system, but, in many locations, salt from seawater and de-icing agents limit the durability of reinforced concrete. The chlorides destroy the natural passivity of reinforcing steel in concrete and allow active corrosion, which eventually causes cracking and spalling of the concrete. De-icing agents containing calcium- or magnesium-chloride can attack the concrete directly. Her presentation will describe research at Waterloo on identifying the most appropriate stainless steels to combat the chloride attack over the long term.
Plan to join TMS, along with our MS&T organizing partners The American Ceramic Society, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology, and ASM International, for MS&T19 in Portland, Oregon, September 29 through October 3, 2019.

Registration for the MS&T19 conference will open in the coming week. 

Editor’s Choice: Read Outstanding Papers from TMS Journals for Free

A limited number of Editor’s Choice articles from TMS journals are selected and made available to the public at no charge. This distinct honor is awarded to fewer than 5% of papers published in the respective journals each year. In addition to high-quality writing, these notable articles are distinguished by attributes such as outstanding science, innovative methods, impactful outputs, historical significance, and/or broad interest to the readership.

Click to read the following selections from recent issues for free:

Journal of Electronic Materials May issue
"Effect of Rare Earth Metals on the Properties of Zn-20Sn High-Temperature Lead-Free Solder," Jun Tian, et al.

"Sintering Characteristics and Microwave Dielectric Properties of Li₂Mg₃Ti_0.95(Mg_1/3Sb_2/3)_0.05O₆ Ceramic Doped with LiF for LTCC Applications," Y.K. Yang, et al.

Journal of Electronic Materials June issue
"Recent Development of Graphene-Based Ink and Other Conductive Material-Based Inks for Flexible Electronics," D.S. Saidina, et al.

"Anatase TiO₂ Nanotubes-Aggregated Porous Microspheres for Ti Foil-Based Quasi-Solid State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Improved Photovoltaic Performance," Jin Hyok Ri, et al.

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A June Issue
"Magnetic Transformations and Phase Diagrams," David E. Laughlin