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NIST Test Blocks Now Available; Rockwell C Hardness Scale Revised
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NIST Test Blocks Now Available; Rockwell C Hardness Scale Revised
The hardness of a metal reveals its strength and other properties, which are evaluated for quality control during and after the manufacture of products. Hardness is gauged by using special test equipment to make small indentations in the metal. A hardness value is assigned to the metal based on the depth of the indentation. To ensure that these testing devices are accurate, NIST is now providing U.S. industry with highly precise calibration test blocks.
The test blocks are specifically for the most frequently used hardness standard--the Rockwell C scale (known as HRC)--with which industries gauge the hardness of certain steels. The high quality of the agency's calibration artifacts results from two NIST-developed innovations: a precision "dead-weight standardizing" machine for measuring Rockwell hardness and a sophisticated method for measuring the shapes of the diamond tips used to make test indentations.
An international comparison with other standardizing laboratories showed the NIST data to be nearly identical to those used in Japan and Italy. However, the research also revealed that the commercially accepted U.S. scale for the Rockwell C standard is about 0.2 to 0.8 "hardness points" lower than the NIST scale, depending on the hardness level of the metal. Conforming to the NIST scale will help U.S. industry come in line with the rest of the world.
Because companies use large numbers of hardness blocks during in-production testing, NIST soon will begin a voluntary accreditation program for test block manufacturers so that they can produce commercial blocks that are traceable to NIST.
NIST eventually will produce test blocks for many of the 30 different Rockwell hardness scales.
For more information, contact Sam Low, B254 Materials Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-5709.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Fall Meeting to Address Broad Array of R&D Opportunities
Where are today's opportunities for major technological advances? The Advanced Technology Program will explore this question with industry for a diversity of key technology areas in a series of workshops at its fall meeting in Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 17-18, 1998.
Participants will hear tips on writing effective proposals, help develop future ATP research programs, learn "best practices" for networking and building R&D alliances, get the latest news on the ATP and attend workshops in key technology areas. Among the technology areas to be discussed are manufacturing, the electronics industry and materials science. Other presentations will examine the lessons learned from studies of the ATP and explore strategies for moving ATP research results into the market or for cracking export markets.
For details on the ATP Fall Meeting, check out http://www.atp.nist.gov/fallmeeting on the World Wide Web or call (800) ATP-FUND (287-3863). Meeting registration can be done on-line at https://sales.nist.gov/conf/secure/CONF87/conf_register.htm, or by contacting Lori Phillips, (301) 975-4513, fax: (301) 948-2067.
Media Contact:
Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763
New Method May Lead to Better Insulators and Faster Microchips
Certain plastics are well-suited for the job of insulating computer chips. But because they sometimes turn rubbery as temperatures rise, the heat of an operating computer may lead to insulation breakdown and, in turn, chip failure.
Therefore, NIST scientists have formulated a new mathematical theory for measuring the viscosity of polymers in thin layers. This allows them to study precisely how extremely thin layers of plastic polymers flow when heated.
To make the measurements necessary for their theory, the NIST team had to design and build an entirely new instrument: the twin-crystal resonator.
The point at which a specific polymer turns rubbery is called its glass transition temperature. To determine precisely at which temperatures and thicknesses this transition takes place, the NIST researchers are studying changes in a polymer's viscosity.With the twin-crystal resonator, viscosity can be analyzed by coating quartz crystal with an ultrathin layer of plastic and then recording changes in the crystal's response to an oscillating electric current.
So far, they have discovered that the changes take place when polymers are produced in layers no thicker than 300 nanometers, or about four one-thousandths of a human hair's diameter. The researchers believe their technique has the potential to measure properties in far thinner films as well.
For more information, contact Christopher White, B320 Polymers Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-6016.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Center Helps Hydraulics Company Lift Its Efficiency, Sales
Zinga Industries, a Reedsburg, Wis., manufacturer of filters and valves for hydraulic systems, needed help to overcome inefficiencies in its production system. So the call went out to the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an affiliate of the nationwide NIST MEP assisting smaller manufacturers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
WMEP first performed a comprehensive assessment of Zinga's operations and, based on the data, facilitated a cross-functional team to define and prioritize issues with potential bottom-line impact. Employee teams then were established to work on key priorities for process improvement.
The results? Production lead time decreased 25 percent, inventory costs were reduced 35 percent, on-time shipping improved by over 100 percent and, best of all, sales increased 55 percent.
"WMEP installed the mindset and the skills," says company chairman Bill Zinga. "We are much better today than we were a year ago because of the discipline we learned from WMEP. And we will be a better company next year than we are today. What WMEP started will never end."
Smaller manufacturers can call (800) MEP-4-MFG (637-4634) to reach the MEP center serving their region, or check out the MEP World Wide Web site at http://www.mep.nist.gov.
For more information on WMEP, call (608) 240-1740 or send an e-mail message to wmep@wmep.org.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767
New Version of Refrigerant Database Released
A new version of NIST Standard Reference Database 23, Thermodynamic and Transport Properties of Refrigerants and Refrigerant Mixtures (known as REFPROP), has been released. Previous versions of this database have become the de facto standard in the refrigeration industry as well as in research labs for providing the property data needed to evaluate new refrigerants and to optimize the energy efficiency of heat pumps and other refrigeration equipment.
Version 6.0 of this database is a complete revision based on the most accurate pure fluid and mixture models currently available. The models are implemented in a suite of Fortran subroutines that have been rewritten completely from earlier versions of REFPROP. Routines are provided to calculate thermodynamic and transport properties for a wide variety of possible input conditions. A separate graphical user interface, designed for the Windows operating system, provides a convenient means of accessing the models.
Among the database's other features are:
- the ability to calculate tables and/or plots for any of 33 pure fluids listed and for mixtures up to five components;
- the convenience of commercially available refrigerant blends being predefined in the database;
- an online help system for ease in using the program;
- information screens that display fluid constants and documentation for the property models; and
- numerous options to customize the output.
For more information, contact the NIST Standard Reference Data Program at (301) 975-2208, srdata@nist.gov, or go to http://www.nist.gov/srd/nist23.htm on the World Wide Web.
Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, (303) 497-3246
Encryption Key Advisory Group Gets Extended Lifetime
The Department of Commerce has rechartered an advisory group that is developing technical advice related to certain data scrambling systems. The focus of the Technical Advisory Committee to Develop a Federal Information Processing Standard for the Federal Key Management Infrastructure is on key recovery, an alternative way to recover information if, for example, users forget their encryption keys.
The advisory committee's original charter expired in June 1998, but the group was unable to complete its work. Rechartering allows it to continue operating through the end of the year. Members of the committee include company representatives from a variety of industries, including banking, credit card and computer firms.
The committee's goal is to give technical advice to DoC, which intends to develop a Federal Information Processing Standard dealing with key recovery. The standard will allow federal agencies to choose from a variety of technical approaches to encryption key recovery. The advisory committee plans to hold two more meetings, one this month and another in November.
More information about the committee and its efforts is available on the World Wide Web at http://csrc.nist.gov/tacdfipsfkmi.
Media Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
U.S. Department of Commerce
Technology Administration
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Editor: Michael
Newman
HTML conversion: Crissy Wines
Last updated: September 14, 1998
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