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Industrial Group of the BCA
January 1995 NewsletterContents
EditorialOnce again we are preparing for the BCA Spring Meeting. In 1995 this will be at the University of Wales, Cardiff. As usual the Industrial Group will be organising two half-day sessions on Tuesday 28th March and these have the titles 'Novel Materials' and 'Rietveld Analysis in Industry'. To follow these, on 29th and 30th March, we have an 'Advanced Powder Diffraction Course' which will be of interest to all who use the Powder Diffraction File. Full details of all of these are given on the following pages. Those of you who are BCA members will recently have received the December issue of Crystallography News and an accompanying form giving your membership details. That form invites you to underline One Main Interest Group and to circle as many Special Interest Groups as you like. The BCA now allocates a small capitation allowance to the groups in proportion to the number of 'main interest' members. For those who select us as a 'special interest', we get only your name and address. Please therefore give some consideration as to how you wish your subscription to be used. If you wish to support us financially then please ensure that you select the Industrial Group as your MAIN INTEREST. Also in this issue is a report on the recent meeting at Raychem, Swindon on 'Real Problems? - Real solutions using X-ray Diffraction' and preliminary details of forthcoming meetings. The Industrial Group Award was again made towards the end of last year. It recognises the contribution to our discipline made by those, particularly in industry, who may not have had the opportunity to publish the results of their research. Nominations for this award are always welcome and can be sent to any of the committee. Also included in the following pages is formal notice of the next Annual General Meeting of the Group and a call for nominations to the committee. The committee sends its best wishes for a prosperous new year to all group members. We look forward to your continuing support at our meetings >Trevor Carter - Editor and David Dyson - Chairman Annual General MeetingNotice is given that the 12th Annual General Meeting of the Industrial Group of the British Crystallographic Association will be held on Tuesday, March 28th, 1995 at 17.00 hours at The University of Wales, Cardiff. Agenda
NominationsNominations are sought for the election of two Committee Members for three years from 1995. Dr J Jutson and Mr T J Carter are due to retire under the Rules and are not eligible for re- election. Nominations may be made by any two members of the Industrial group and should reach the Secretary by March 21st 1995. Nominees must indicate their willingness to serve if elected. Spring Meeting - Cardiff - 1995This will start with a plenary lecture from Ron Jenkins of ICDD. He will show how the Powder Diffraction File has, since its inception more than half a century ago, striven to ensure that the content and quality is commensurate with current and past materials analysis technology. Topics discussed will include the Grant in Aid programme supporting research by institutions involved in the development and production of novel materials, the enhancement of the file to its current level of nearly 70,000 entries and the recent introduction of computer-based search manuals. These offer the analyst a much higher degree of flexibility in the analysis of special materials through the use of PDF subdivision and the use of elemental pre-screens and quality marks. Also mentioned will be recent products for analysis of Metals & Alloys and of Polymers and also a brand new database based on the use of fully digitized patterns for Clays and Related Minerals. This presentation will be supported by an Advanced Powder Diffraction Short Course on the following two days. The morning session will be completed by a set of five papers on Novel Materials. The afternoon will then follow up last summer's workshop on the Rietveld Technique with a series of papers showing its application in industry. This will encompass both x-ray and neutron work on a diverse range of materials showing the versatility of the method. BCA Industrial Group Sessions - Tuesday, March 28 1995 - Cardiff
Advanced Powder Diffraction short course - Cardiff 1995Tutor: Ron Jenkins of JCPDS-ICDD In association with the BCA Spring Meeting, a two day course is offered by the Industrial Group of the BCA and JCPDS-ICDD. Methods of identification and characterisation of crystalline substances by use of the powder diffraction file will be covered. The course will focus on the importance of gathering good quality data and the use of new computer aided search methods. The new PC SEARCH INDEX, a DOS program designed to fulfil the role of a computer readable search manual, and the new PDF retrieval software for Windows on the IBM-PC with CD-ROM will be employed. Hands-on work sessions in the computer centre will build the proficiency of the user in the interpretation of experimental powder data with the latest JCPDS-ICDD products. The course is designed for both beginners and experienced users of the Powder Diffraction File. It is arranged to begin on the day after the Industrial Group Sessions at the Spring Meeting. The commercial exhibition at the Meeting will also provide an ideal opportunity to meet equipment suppliers. Attendance at the Course is conditional on registration for the full Spring Meeting. Apply for a place on the Spring Meeting Registration Form. A supplementary charge of _40 is payable for the course. Places are limited. Timetable
Autumn meeting report 1994Real Problems - Real Solutions using X-ray DiffractionThe autumn meeting was held on 3rd November 1994 at Raychem Ltd, Swindon. Approximately 40 people were present to hear seven papers illustrating the versatility of the XRD technique and the wide range of materials which can be studied. The delegates were warmly welcomed by Bob Reid who briefly spoke about the company and the markets which Raychem serve. Bruce Fox then illustrated how the x-ray facility at Swindon helps the company to achieve the ever more demanding requirements of the customer. Bruce showed how a combination of computer aided goniometer methods and camera techniques have provided the answers to problems in the field of heat recoverable plastics. These often involve thin films and extreme examples of preferred orientation. Brian Bellamy (AEA Harwell) showed, with examples, how starting from a request with little or no background information, XRD can make an extremely useful contribution to, and is often the key factor in, the solution to a problem. However, a combination of techniques providing complementary information were a more powerful tool to the analyst. Valery Allain (Poitiers) showed how XRD has been used to determine quantitatively the amount of alumina trihydrate in polymer cables. This compound conferred fire retardancy on the cable. The method described (now a quality control procedure) and the problems that were overcome in achieving success relied heavily on the uniqueness of the diffraction from this phase. Malcolm Butler (British Steel) described the problems experienced in quantifying the amorphous and crystalline components of ceramic fibre materials used as furnace linings by the use of XRD methods. The problems included sample preparation, preparation of standards and determination of peak intensity from overlapping peaks. Solutions to the problems were described. Dr. Kinneging (Philips) covered the application of XRD to the development and quality control of special cements. Particular attention had to be given to the composition of the raw mix and the clinker composition in the final product. The high density of lines in the patterns from some of the constituents introduced problems in intensity measurement. The solutions found were described. After he was presented with the Industrial Group Award, Ian Ferguson provided a most entertaining lecture on the characterisation of a single sample of aluminised inconel - subtitled 'Its a piece of cake'. He drew on his experience to show again the value of XRD, but demonstrated how the characterisation of the surface of technologically interesting materials was often improved by using a combination of 'state-of-the-art' techniques. The final talk was given by Rod Clapp on behalf of Andrew Mandile (Australia). In it he described the use of a rapid routine Rietveld procedure for quantitative analysis in the study of the organic content of coals, shales etc. Microabsorption effects were considered a problem but the methodology developed and described showed how these had been overcome to provide reliable analyses. The meeting was both informative and entertaining and thanks for the organisation of the facilities and the programme go to Bruce Fox and Derrick Hart and to our hosts Raychem. Quantitative Phase AnalysisThis is being organised as a two part workshop in the Summer and Autumn of 1995. Part 1 - Sample Preparation and Presentation - 7th June 1995, venue to be announced. Topics to be covered include: - Sampling methods and reproducibility of data - Particle size effects - Preferred orientation - Presentation of sample to diffractometer - Choice of sample holder - Effect of diffractometer parameters - Choice of quantitative method Part 2 - Data Interpretation - Date and venue to be announced later Autumn MeetingAs usual this will a mix of topics to help you keep up to date with the latest developments. This will be held in early November. More details in the next newsletter. Industrial Group AwardIan Ferguson was presented with the Industrial Group Award at the Autumn Meeting last November in recognition of his sustained contribution to the application of crystallography in industry. This contribution was well documented in over 80 papers of which he had been author or co-author. Ian studied at Southampton and London Universities and then joined the nuclear industry where he remained all his working life. His PhD was done while working at Harwell - the topic being 'The derivation of crystallite size and shape from diffraction line profiles'. He then moved north, spending a few years at Capenhurst before moving to Springfields. In the early years of diffractometry, especially when computers were being used off-line, there was little good quality software available for augmentation or reduction of data, let alone data collection. Ian provided a good quality suite of programs of the type that industrial crystallographers required. These included FIRESTAR (lattice parameter determination), FIRECOMET (powder diffraction line intensity) and FAFNIR (crystallite size and shape). However Ian still believed in the power of the diffraction camera for certain applications. He was well known outside UKAEA, not only for his computing prowess, but also for his ability to solve crystallographic problems as well as his knowledge of other related analytical techniques (TEM, SEM, EPMA and latterly SIMS). His work involved both troubleshooting studies and research work, giving him a broad base and specialist knowledge of nuclear related compounds - particularly oxides of the less common metals. He regularly attended conferences presenting papers, and was always willing to advise and help others. He retired from active service at Springfields in 1990 but still retains an interest in the subject and still attends our meetings. |
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