HILLSBORO, Ore. and MANCHESTER, U.K., June 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC) and The University of Manchester announce their collaboration on 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, states, "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."
A multiscale, three-dimensional (3D) correlative imaging workflow is applied at the Metals Lab to understand the nature of life-limiting degradation processes over a wide range of spatial scales. MicroCT equipment is used to identify areas of interest (such as cracks or pits), which are then evaluated using the high-resolution Quanta™ 3D and Nova NanoLab™ DualBeam™ focused ion beam (FIB)/scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and 3D slice and view reconstruction software from FEI. The Titan™ G2 80-200 transmission electron microscope (TEM) with SuperEDX™ is used to provide atomic-scale imaging and compositional analysis, in both 2 and 3D. FEI's Avizo® software is used to visualize, correlate and combine datasets recorded from this suite of tools. The Talos™ TEM is also installed in the lab for nanoscale materials characterization, while the high performance of the aberration-corrected Titan is used for more advanced research.
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. This ability to characterize the same sample on different length scales is crucial to improve properties like strength, creep, fatigue and corrosion of metals, where these macroscopic properties are linked to microscopic effects down to the atomic scale.
"The need to characterize metals on the nanoscale is pushing the boundaries of current commercial technologies," states 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 characterize individual structures, particles and their constituent phases, in real time, at the highest sensitivity and spatial resolution."
Trisha Rice, FEI's vice president and general manager for Materials Science, adds, "This partnership will enable us to develop and refine new multiscale techniques and approaches that will drive the next wave of advancements in metal research and development. The University of Manchester has a well-recognized history in microanalysis and quantification, and we are pleased to embark on this collaboration with them."
For more information, please visit http://www.fei.com/materials-science/metals/.
About the University of Manchester
The University of Manchester, a member of the prestigious Russell Group of British universities, is the largest and most popular university in the UK. It has 20 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking pioneering multi-disciplinary teaching and research of worldwide significance. According to the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, The University of Manchester is one of the country's major research institutions, rated third in the UK in terms of 'research power', and has had no fewer than 25 Nobel laureates either work or study there. The University had an annual income of £807 million in 2011/12.
About FEI
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of high-performance microscopy workflow solutions that provide images and answers at the micro-, nano- and picometer scales. Its innovation and leadership enable customers in industry and science to increase productivity and make breakthrough discoveries. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Ore., USA, FEI has over 2,600 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: www.fei.com.
FEI Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the performance capabilities and benefits of the Quanta 3D and Nova NanoLab DualBeams, Titan and Talos TEMs, and Avizo software. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to our ability to manufacture, ship, deliver and install the tools or software as expected; failure of the product or technology to perform as expected; unexpected technology problems and challenges; changes to the technology; the inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technological advances required for the technology to achieve anticipated results; and the inability of the customer to deploy the tools or develop and deploy the expected new applications. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.