Into the World of Metals and Alloys
T Ramasami, Department of Science and
Technology, GoI
Dedication of the Lecture
y There came one who made a difference to the world of
metals and alloys in India. He built a school and many
and many tall careers. A whole host of extra-ordinary
metallurgists of India was built in BHU.
y Professor Anantha raman belonged to different times in
the history of India. He built a value system that sustains.
He built several modern metallurgists who made a
substantial difference. To that tall teacher, all of us in the
room bow and salute.
y The Eureka man proposed his theory on lever. Professor
Anantharaman practiced leveraging through people
y His contributions have been wholesome and enriching.
He created a new history. To this person who braved an
uncharted world in India in early days after
independence, the house salutes
What the World of people could learn from
that of metals
y World of People
y Made up of many
y Many races and types
y Co-existence of order and
disorder
y Left to Nature tend to chaos
y Suffers from interfacial
tensions and pressures
y When ordered, demonstrate
high strength
y Multi cloning affords new
cultures
y World of metal and alloys
y Made up of many
y Many, many alloys
y Order-disorder equilibria hold
the key
y Entropy plays high role
y Interfacial and grain boundary
considerations affect theie
coalitions too!!
y When ordered, they are strong
and ductility influenced by
fracture
y Alloys provide many new
properties
Metals and Alloys: In their
own world
y Material world is made up of 92 naturally occurring
chemical elements, of which roughly two thirds could be
categorized among metals
y Global annual production of metals can be estimated at
more than 850 million tons, of which iron derived metal
and allots account for more than 95%.
y Iron is the dominant player. Iron in the company of carbon
has played many roles. Steel of nerves of steel has been in
play for long.
y We have gained many insights into the metallurgy of
steel. What is the foresight.
Insight into the world of metals
y The roles of order disorder and phase equilibria are known and well
understood.
y Making atoms in metals to order is now in the hands of those who
could control.
y Breaking order in the world of metals and alloys is also under
control.
y In controlling order and disorder, Professor Anantharaman group has
done wonders for India
y We have tools now to probe into the world of metals and alloys with
all those microscopes and radiation derived techniques.
y Scientists of today do enjoy deep insights into the world of metals
and alloys
Some landmarks in the world of
metals and alloys
y Deeper understanding of the phase transformations among most
important metals even if they are not larger than 15-20 types
y Mastering knowledge on actions at grain boundaries and ability to
manipulate internal packing order in the world of alloys to
advantages of strength and ductility designs
y Discovery of Shape memory alloys and their applications form
ortho-dentistry to reactor designs
y Doing processes at the surfaces through surface engineering
y Mixing macro, micro and meso with nano structures to advantages of
strength
y Nano technology applications for functional gains
y ……… ,many, many more
Pursuit of Science in Changing Times
for metallurgy too!
y Three decades ago, pursuit of science was primarily for
the joy of learning. Metallurgists flourished too
y With time, shapes and directions are changing
y To include applications
y Collapse of boundaries of disciplines
y Actions are at the interface of disciplines
y Transition from knowledge as products to knowledge as
tools for wealth generation and problem solving
y Broadening frontiers of metallurgy seems to act closely
with those materials science.
y Marriage of metallurgy with materials science seem to
flourish in the honey moon period
There are celebrations of
several successes
Indian steel industry seems to be going global
for business
Vision for metallurgy and
material sciences
y The metallurgical industry of India
is on a swan song, buying up
plants all over the world, taking
India to new scale of confidence
and ambition.
y At the other end, vistas of
materials science have been
writing new lessons for
Metallurgical engineering.
y Is there a new vision for the world
of metals and alloys
y Is India prepared for new India in
Twenty20 world
Dream
Reality
Vision =Dream - Reality
Vision: Two modes
To break
New
Unknown
paths
Excellence
To create
New
future
Has the world of metals and
alloys found the balance?
Vision
To do more
Of known
better
Expansion
To position
better
SWOT on the world of Indian
metallurgy
Strength
Weakness
Opportunities
Threat
Proven performance Technology
Sustainability
New metals and
alloys
New alternate
materials
Established demand Resource depletion
Discovery of new
properties
Obsolescence rates
Infrastructure
Weakening
expertise base
High growth rate of
Asia
Innovation in
material science
Strong coupling to
civilization
Large investment
base
Generation of new
value of high
growth sectors
Linear thinking of
experts who dare
not
Steel Sector: Indian Score card
y India makes about 50 million tons of steel per year. This
represents a share of about 4.5% of global need
y Our neighbors have grown from 10 million ton per year
capacity to about 450 million tons growing currently at a
rate of 25% p.a.
y Rest of world makes steel of many varieties
y Iron alloys without carbon
y Iron in combination with copper and many other unknown
companies
What is India’s score card?
In discovering new metals and alloys
In developing new products of hitherto
unknown properties
Concerns of modern Metallurgy
y Technologies under use is mature
y Changes are slow
y Dominated by applications of known technologies
(particularly in steel making)
y Analytical engineering in metallurgy for more frequent
changes would be necessary
y Enrollment of talented youth in education in metallurgy is
not comfortable
y Number of institutions offering degrees in metallurgy is not
increasing
y Flight out of such courses is large
y Opportunities are not perceived
New Horizons of Metallurgy
y Energy and material efficient technologies with
low emissions of carbon di oxide
y Discovery of new alloys for more doling more
with less
y Generation of new properties and applications
y Recovery, renovation, reuse
y New technology tools to control order-disorder
processes
Fashion areas of metallurgy
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Non-ferrous alloys: Are still emerging
Powder metallurgy: transformed from fashion to practice
Shape memory alloys: Shaping in many forms
Intelligent materials: Challenging human intelligence
Nano technology: Expanding using large costs
Biomineralization and bioleaching: exploration
Radiation based mechanical processes: radiating new
hopes for e.g micro waves
…. Many more
Materials science in marriage
with metals and alloys
Transition from five day tests to Twenty20
From days of Gavaskar to Dhoni
Changes in shelf life of technologies,
products/ usage and everything
Metallurgy in different time
frames
y Gavaskar era
y Dhoni era
y Dominated by
y Influenced by fashion
foundations and
y Powder metallurgy
fundamentals
and system
applications
y Physical metallurgy
and observational tools
y Product specialization
and application led
y Process efficiency
y Yield optimization
y Competition
influenced
y Inward looking
development
Materials science and Frontier
areas: Impacting Metallurgy
y New materials science could draw from a large
pallet of both organic and inorganic materials and
do not depend on metals and alloys
y Non-metal materials offer threat to metal based
materials for functional replacement
y Conducting polymers and range of nano materials
offer a range of properties that were not available
before
y As the new materials emerge, metallurgists are
turning to materials science as well.
Metallurgy to materials science:
Interface of sciences
Metals and alloys mesh well with new found
joy in materials sciences.
Are we doing enough with metals and alloys
for their new range of applications?
Interface of Green
Engineering processes
Metals will not in the service of man if the
processes are not rendered green and clean.
Mankind ahs other alternatives. What is the
foresight for those who process metals and alloys
Scoping for vision in metals
and alloys
y Metallurgy as a discipline is expanding building
bridges with other frontier areas
y While steel making adopts mature technologies,
scope remains untapped to explore new frontiers
y Energy and material efficient technologies
y Break through innovations in metallurgy are needs
of the hour
y Incremental innovations and linear expansion of
scale can do for the time, but not for long
y Creating to break new paths is essential
Essential menu for vision
building
y Non-linear and out of box thought processes
y New brand of experts who observe beyond
what others see, who know beyond what is
known, who are not afraid of failing and fear
not authority
y Where are those experts who will write a
new history for metallurgy before materials
science consume the whole discipline?
y Who is training those who create to break
new paths?
Two kinds of people in the
world
y Those who adapt and change with changes that
occur in the perimeter
y Those who will the change and change the core of
diameter by sheer brilliance
y Where are those Indians who will write the new
chapter in metallurgy for new world of metals and
alloys?
y Is there a balance in the vision of India on two
axes of growth namely expansion and excellence?
y Let us invest in those Innovators who will create
new paths in sustainable manner.
Future belong to those who
seek new paths
Vision building for metallurgy and
materials science for India rests on those
who dare to think and lead and not follow
the known paths
End of the Journey
Is it in sight ?……. I do not see.
Thank you
fellow travelers
You have been great