MaterialsScience2000

I love seeing the crystal grains develop as the acid etches the metal surface. It's just gorgeous.

The eight-and-a-half-minute video above shows the preparation of a few different samples, some of which show crystals large enough to be seen by the human eye as well as a few samples that have been etched through natural processes over time.

MaterialsScience2000 has ten total videos posted, and many of them are worth a watch, including a thorough explanation of the tests being preformed. Check out these, too...

Galvanizing a Towmaster Trailer

Early this week the students at ASM's corrosion-themed three-day workshop (hosted by the University of Akron's National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance - that's a mouthful) got to tour the AZZ Galvanizing plan in Canton, OH. There the AZZ folks gave a great PowerPoint (which you can see here - be warned, however, that it's a 150MB pdf of the presentation, kinda big) on the advantages of and science behind the hot dip galvanizing process - about which they might be admittedly a little biased. They then took the teachers/campers to see the process in action. I - as one of those campers - can say it was a pretty impressive sight to see, particularly as the steel light post was lowered into the molten zinc which began to spit and splash due to the temperature difference of the materials.

The finished post section practically glowed from the brilliant, shiny zinc coating as it was removed from the zinc bath. Great process to see in action and great protection against corrosion.