#materials testing

Composite metal foam endures over 1 million load cycles at 400°C and 600°C

New research shows that composite metal foam (CMF) is incredibly resilient at high temperatures, able to withstand repeated heavy loads even at temperatures of 400°C and 600°C. Coupled with the material's high strength-to-weight ratio, the finding suggests that CMF could be used in applications ranging from automobile engines to aerospace components to nuclear power technologies. "CMF has many attractive properties, which make it appealing for a wide range of applications," says Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. "But if you want to use a material in engines, airplane parts or any application involving repeated loading and high temperatures, you need to know how the material will perform.

Crunchy CMYK Watercolor Palette:

PY184 Bismuth Yellow x PR122 Quinacridone Magenta x PG50 Cobalt Turquoise Light + PBk31 Perylene Green/Black

Biodegradable bark–plastic composite lets engineers predict product lifetime from tensile tests

Old trees are learning new tricks with the advent of composite materials. A "green composite" made from biodegradable polymers and the waste bark of the Yakushima Jisugi tree was developed by a research team at Tohoku University. When assessing the material, they found that simply testing its mechanical strength—in this case, its tensile strength or ability to resist pulling—could reliably predict the biodegradation process. Traditionally, scientists chemically test how much of a material remains after time has passed, applying processes that are costly in time and money. Shifting assessment focus to how a material continues to safely function during the biodegradation process, the team said, could help better inform practical use of such products. They published their results on January 20, 2026, in npj Materials Degradation.

Ultrasound reliably detects inclusions in aluminum production

Large, hard-to-access equipment and high temperatures: Foundries are home to extreme conditions. Working with liquid metal requires flexibility and resilience in humans and machines alike. With an eye to this challenging environment, a team of researchers from Fraunhofer IZFP was tasked with developing a new measuring system for customers from the aluminum industry to detect contamination in molten metal—an important tool during the production process. Contaminants as safety risk "The purity of the molten metal, whose temperature ranges from 600 to 800 degrees Celsius, is hugely important to the final product later on. For example, any ceramic particles that may be present in the melt don't liquefy until they get to a temperature of 2,000 degrees or more, and they remain in the finished component as inclusions if they aren't deliberately removed.

Tests on superconducting materials for world's largest fusion energy project show reliable measurement protocol

Durham University scientists have completed one of the largest quality verification programs ever carried out on superconducting materials, helping to ensure the success of the world's biggest fusion energy experiment ITER. Their findings, published in Superconductor Science and Technology, shed light not only on the quality of the wires themselves but also on how to best test them, providing crucial knowledge for scientists to make fusion energy a reality. Fusion (the process that powers the sun) has long been described as the holy grail of clean energy. It offers the promise of a virtually limitless power source with no carbon emissions and minimal radioactive waste. ITER, now under construction in southern France, is designed to demonstrate fusion at an unprecedented scale. When operational, its giant magnets will confine plasma at temperatures hotter than the sun's core, and those magnets depend entirely on the performance of advanced superconducting wires.

Unmasking hazardous compounds in cosmetics, skincare products and perfumes

Four new studies by scientists from Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) have shown that lifestyle products contain hazardous compounds that have not been detected by previous tests and are not currently regulated. The researchers used a new analytical methodology to investigate 140 skincare products and cosmetics from 20 product segments as well as more than 40 perfumes. They found hazardous compounds that are mutagenic/genotoxic, cytotoxic, antibacterial, neuromodulatory or neurotoxic, and significantly affect the hormonal balance. A possible detoxification of the hazardous compounds in the body was not evident from a simulated liver metabolism. Their studies were published in the Journal of Chromatography A and Analytica Chimica Acta.

Pressure and temperature record broken for sCO₂ materials testing

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has achieved a significant milestone, reaching new temperature records for testing materials in high-pressure environments. While conducting material testing for a high-pressure, high-temperature supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) turbine, SwRI achieved unprecedented conditions of 1,150 degrees Celsius (2,100 degrees Fahrenheit) at 300 bar (4,350 psi). These are the highest published temperature and pressure conditions ever reached in sCO2 materials testing. In 2020, began to design an sCO2 oxy-fuel turbine for a direct-fired sCO2 power plant. The project, led by Senior Research Engineer Michael Marshall and Institute Engineer Dr. Jeff Moore, required materials testing in extreme sCO2 environments. "We evaluated turbine materials at constant temperatures and pressures with 100% sCO2. We assessed the performance of different materials and coatings under extreme conditions," said SwRI's Dr. Florent Bocher, who oversaw materials engineering for the project.