Sandvik Materials Pod
The Materials Pod is a podcast based on technical articles and special topics, that can be found on our website. Here you can listen to the episodes or read the articles if you prefer the printed word. If you, like us, are a bit of a materials nerd, don’t miss this!
History specials
Join us in listening to our newly released podcast series on Sandvik founder Göran Fredrik Göransson and his fascinating journey to create one of the world’s most innovative companies – stronger than ever after 156 years.
Episode 1. Göransson and Bessemer
Göran Fredrik Göransson, born in Gävle in 1819, joins Elfstrand’s, the trading firm his father manages and eventually becomes manager himself. As Elfstrand’s is about to go broke, Göransson buys a decisive patent from the English inventor Sir Henry Bessemer.
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Episode 2. A new factory and a new town
Intensive experimentation in Edsken with the Bessemer method for steel production takes place during the first half of 1858. By July that year he has succeeded and decides to build a new factory and accommodation for workers in Sandviken by lake Storsjön.
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Episode 3. Bankruptcy and beyond
Huge loans and too little income forced both Fredrik personally and his company into bankruptcy in 1866. But after a few lean years, the company was bought back and steadily grew. By the 1870s the company was the largest producer of pig-iron in Sweden.
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Specials
Special: ASTM Award of Merit goes to Keith Hottle
Special: Renewable energy
Season 1 - Duplex stainless steels
E4. Bye-Bye Corrosion! - Molybdenum and tungsten in duplex steels
In my previous column, I promised to give an overview of the role of molybdenum and tungsten in duplex stainless steels (DSS). They are neighbors of chromium in the periodic table (Group 6B) and even more potent than chromium in preventing pitting, which is shown in the familiar PRE-relation: PRE = %Cr + 3.3×[%Mo + 0.5%W] + 16%N
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E3. Chrome It Up! - Chromium in duplex steels
Designing a steel that is stainless was considered impossible in the beginning of the 1900’s. A renowned German chemist, G Mars, maintained the opinion that creating a stainless steel is impossible because iron is not a noble metal and its oxides are thermodynamically more stable than the pure metal. The year was 1911 but, by the irony of fate, the two first stainless steels were launched the following year.
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E2. Steady On! - Nitrogen in duplex steels
Some nitrogen has been present in steel as long as steel-making has taken place. This has been unintentional and, in practice, there have been no means of removing or controlling the nitrogen concentration. It was not until the advent of modern process metallurgical techniques such as AOD, VOD and CLU during the 1970’s that nitrogen could be added to the steel melt in a controlled way and nitrogen, therefore, became an important alloying element.
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E1. Rock steady! - Nickel and manganese in duplex steels
In this series of articles, the role of the elements nickel, manganese, chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen in the design of duplex stainless steels will be described. An optimum balance between austenite and ferrite is accomplished by a clever use of the alloying elements.
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Season 2 - The seven families of stainless steels Pt. 01
S02E04. Martensitic Stainless Steels
Martensitic steel has been used by smiths to make knives, axes and ploughs for thousands and thousands of years. In the season finale of the second season of our Materials Pod, you’ll find out what makes this particular type of steel so good in everything from tools and weapons to farming gear.
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S02E03. Duplex stainless steels- an interplay between ferrite and austenite
The whole is surely greater than the parts! Find out why this is the case for duplex stainless steels - and why they are so essential for many industrial purposes today – in the third episode of the Materials Pod.
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S02E02. Ferritic stainless steels-almost immune to stress corrosion
S02E01. Austenitic stainless steels - from kitchen sinks to fuel cell cars
To people in general, austenitic stainless steels are most well-known through a variety of kitchen utensils and domestic appliances, such as kitchen sinks, dish-washers, silver ware and washing machines. The importance of this in the improvement of hygiene and our quality of life cannot be exaggerated.
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Season 3 - The seven families of stainless steels Pt. 02
S03E04. Medical applications of stainless alloys
S03E03. Nickel-rich austenitic stainless steels
S03E02. Precipitation hardened stainless steels
S03E01. Metastable austenitic stainless steels
