The capabilities of the press are temperatures up to 2000 degrees C and forces up to 22,000 pounds. Fabrication can be carried out in either vacuum or an inert atmosphere. Apparatus for the preparation of electron microscope specimens include equipment for electrothinning of metals and alloys, several ion mills for thinning metals, ceramics and polymers, a microtome for sectioning of biological or polymer materials, several evaporators for vacuum coating, shadowing or production of replicas, and sputtering equipment for coating of SEM specimens. Facilities for Mechanical Properties Determination Excellent facilities are available for the determination of such mechanical properties as deformation, fatigue, creep, fracture, hardness, and toughness for a wide variety of materials including metals and alloys, ceramics, polymers, and composites. Major equipment consists of six computerized servohydraulic test machines, a servoelectric unit, two electromechanical testing machines, seven creep machines, a Tinius-Olsen impact tester, a microhardness tester, and special machines for tensile testing of whiskers and fibers in the micron size range.
Accessories are available for testing at elevated temperatures with environmental control.
Polymer Science Facilities Special equipment available for research on polymers includes apparatus for measurement of thermal and electrical conductivity, optical properties and image analysis, especially at high pressures. Facilities are also available for infrared spectroscopy, viscosity determination, differential thermal analysis and calorimetry, and automatic osmometry. Theoretical and modeling computations utilize a variety of commerical and other software running on networked workstations. Automated control of all functions allows sufficient flexibility to grow quaternary alloys with high and low doping concentrations. A three-zone furnace capable of zone leveling at temperatures of 1500 C has been installed for the preparation of thermoelectric bulk alloys.