FEI and University of Manchester collaborate on Metals Research

FEI and The University of Manchester have announced their collaboration on research at the Metals Lab at The University of Manchester’s Electron Microscopy Centre in the School of Materials. The lab will focus on steels and non-ferrous alloys research in an effort to develop high-performance materials for use in automotive, aerospace, nuclear, oil & gas, and other industrial sectors where advanced metallic alloys play a critical role. 

Professor Phil Withers, director of the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials at The University of Manchester, said “Modern alloys are critically dependent on the role of alloying elements. Whether these are relatively common elements, like chromium in steel to confer corrosion resistance, or rhenium and ruthenium in nickel–base super alloys for high-temperature strength, even small improvements can impact heavily on their economics – especially for the steel industry - where millions of tons of material quickly translate into millions of dollars of extra cost. The ability to confidently reduce, replace, or exploit these alloying elements without a reduction in performance can have huge economic impacts across a range of sectors. With new electron microscopes, software, and the ability to manage multiple, large datasets, we can now positively engage with these demands from industry.”

The multiscale workflow permits investigations of the root causes of behavior and failure at the atomic scale, while at the same time, ensuring that those small-scale observations accurately represent the structure and composition of the material at larger scales.

“The need to characterise metals on the nanoscale is pushing the boundaries of current commercial technologies,” said Professor Grace Burke, director of the Materials Performance Centre at The University of Manchester. “This workflow from FEI is essential to our continued development and understanding of new materials, namely, the ability to characterise individual structures, particles and their constituent phases, in real time, at the highest sensitivity and spatial resolution.”