Thermal spray plays an important but latent role in many energy generation applications. Strong R&D commitment is required to further expand its technological envelope. This article addresses future directions in the use of thermal spray coating technologies in the energy sector.

Fasteners play a critical role in engineered structures as a method of nonpermanent joining for the aerospace, infrastructure, civil, automotive, energy generation/distribution, and many other industries. Fastener failures can lead to disastrous consequences and substantial financial losses. One of the most common fastener failure modes is fatigue crack initiation and growth. Inadequate design considerations, material problems, insufficient preload, loosening, and excessive loads can all contribute to fastener fatigue. A case study of steel screw failures highlights some of the critical manufacturing and design factors that affect fastener fatigue.

The continually increasing demand for new energy will likely be met through a combination of traditional and emerging energy platforms. While technology needs for traditional oil and gas production differ greatly from the needs of emerging power generation platforms, such as solar, wind, fuel cells, and batteries, a common need among all these sources or energy is advanced materials. Tantalum surface alloys enable advancements in traditional and new energy production methods.

Hot section components of next-generation energy systems call for superalloys that can handle the heat. This article describes some recent advances in superalloy research and development, including characterization and modeling tools that are key to developing and understanding the formation of new superalloys capable of withstanding extreme environments.

To learn about the latest trends in advanced materials, we turned to four of ASM’s thought leaders: John Ågren, KTH Royal Institute of Technology; George T. (Rusty) Gray III, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Jennie S. Hwang, H-Technologies Group; and David K. Matlock, Colorado School of Mines. This article presents their perspectives on the future of engineered materials, key areas of opportunity, and what ASM can do to support the next generation of materials scientists and engineers.

This article presents a brief overview of thermally sprayed thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) used in gas turbines that generate electrical power.

The utility of cluster ion beams for x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis is just beginning to be explored, making a range of materials accessible that previously could not be analyzed. When combined with a monatomic source, these cluster ion beams will become an essential tool for any materials analysis laboratory. A new monatomic and gas cluster ion source for XPS instruments uses argon gas cluster sputtering to clean surfaces and create depth profiles for a growing class of advanced materials that include both hardened inorganic and softer organic materials.

Advanced thermoelectric materials open new horizons for use in solid state power generation and refrigeration applications. This article describes a project that used state-of-the-art computational modeling and high-throughput experimentation to strategically screen the extensive material space and accelerate learning for materials development.

Professor Induction answers a wide variety of questions regarding induction heating and heat treating. This article addresses differences between auto-tempering and self-tempering.

Computational thermodynamics and CALPHAD modeling prove useful for selecting and developing new magnesium alloys. This article summarizes an ongoing effort to establish a scientific foundation of computational thermodynamics and kinetics of magnesium alloys to achieve accelerated design and optimization of these alloys for weight reduction in the transportation industries.

In steel production, an automated particle workflow can increase the efficiency and statistical relevance of nanosized precipitate analyses, resulting in increased productivity and accuracy.

Alloy developers worldwide have struggled to create creep-resistant alumina-forming, iron-based austenitic stainless steels for use as high-temperature structural alloys, but with limited success in balancing alloy cost, oxidation, and creep resistance. This article describes the research and development of a novel cast alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel. This work won the prestigious Engineering Materials Achievement Award presented at IMAT 2023 in Detroit.

Use of radiography to inspect insulated generator components without the need to strip insulation offers advantages over other inspection methods to assess serviceability and need for repair. This article outlines some of the considerations involved in using nondestructive radiography techniques to assess component integrity.

The rapid ability of next-generation EDS detectors to characterize beam sensitive materials is leading to breakthroughs in nanoparticle research.

Moisture-electric energy transformation (MEET) technology is being developed to further expand the utilization of environmental energy sources like thermal power, wind power, hydropower, and solar energy. The goal of the MEET technology is to extract power from environmental moisture with as few conversion processes as possible to satisfy the ever-growing demand for new and more portable energy sources The use of cold spray to produce MEET devices results in a greener process. While the suitability of polyether ether ketone as a MEET material was proven and the deposition of PEEK using cold gas dynamic spray (CGDS) was achieved, additional work is needed to fully characterize the manufacturing of PEEK-based MEET devices via CGDS.

Concentrating solar-thermal power with thermal energy storage can provide renewable energy for electricity or industrial processes at any time of day. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has made significant research investments to increase the operating temperature of solar-thermal systems, which increases overall efficiency, but materials science challenges remain to affordably manufacture and commercialize key components.

Manufacturing data together with heat treating knowledge can be synthesized with physics and data-based modeling approaches in a closed loop to provide insight for improving process efficiency and product quality for overall reduction in operating and energy costs. This article provides case studies of data analytics for coil batch annealing and batch carburizing.

Selective-melt sintering is faster and more efficient than the methods currently used to make high-density ceramics. This article explains how applied electric fields contribute to the formation of metallic precipitates at grain boundaries and how defect segregation and field-assisted migration generate heat near dislocations and in grain boundaries, reducing flow stress and retarding grain growth in the solid state.

Advanced materials engineering is being used to solve component life cycle improvement challenges in extremely harsh working conditions. This article discusses examples from various industries where new materials and surface modifications are used to extend the useful life of engineering components and equipment.

The development of polymers, traditionally neglected in fusion materials research, is crucial to the success of commercial fusion energy. This article provides an overview of the materials science and technology challenges that will need to be addressed to develop the mechanically “soft” materials that will serve functional needs in a fusion pilot plant.