EuroWire July 2015

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Transatlantic cable
July 2015 29
wind because seeing is believing,” Bill White, senior director
for o shore wind at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center,
told Climate Central.
“It’s going to be a big deal because people can touch it and
feel it and see it and understand it. Until that moment, it’s
not real.”
A similar view was expressed by Je rey Grybowski, CEO of
Deepwater Wind (Providence, Rhode Island), the developer
of the Block Island Wind Farm. Getting policymakers,
regulators and utility executives to take a good look at
o shore wind will, he said, require “standing up” a project so
as to bring o shore wind from theory to reality.
“It’s important for the industry to have a success,” said
Mr Grybowski. “It’s important to have steel on the water.”
† According to the US Department of Energy the o shore
wind power potential in the US is huge – totalling more than
4,000 gigawatts (GW) at full development.
That is about four times the electric power-generating
capacity in the USA today and enough electricity to power
some 800 million homes.
Automotive
With 34 million airbags ordered
replaced in a US recall,
Canadian drivers are waiting their turn
“As automakers scramble to replace Takata airbags in 34 million
recalled vehicles, there is less urgency in Canada. That’s because
it’s cold up there.”
The reference, by Alisa Priddle of the Detroit Free Press, is to
the investigation by Washington into exploding automotive
airbags that have been linked to six deaths and more than
100 injuries.
It was con rmed on 19th May that Takata, of Japan,
is under criminal investigation related to the airbag issue and
the company’s response to the USA inquiry.
While teams of engineers have not yet assigned a de nitive
cause to the explosions, they are considering heat and humidity
as factors.
The hypothesis is that these may degrade the propellant and
cause bags to rupture with enough force to blow apart their
canisters and shoot metal shards.
Cooler Canadian climes presumably exert a bene cial retardant
e ect. Because Takata had produced only about 3.8 million
replacement kits to date – “not nearly enough,” observed
Ms Priddle – automakers are prioritising repairs within the
United States. (“Canada Protected In Takata Airbag Recall?”,
20th May) The recall covers vehicles from 11 automakers and
multiple brands. Most of the vehicles are from the 2002 to 2008
model years.
Regulations require timely notice to car owners of a recall
when there is a safety issue; but the reality is that it could take
years to accomplish all the Takata xes, Mark Rosekind, the
new, proactive head of the National Highway Tra c Safety
Administration, told the Free Press.
† Some discouraging data from Autotrader, supplied by
Ms Priddle, indicate that the delay may not be noticed – still
less resented.
The online auto site says that only 61 per cent of drivers say
they try to stay informed about recalls; 56 per cent of those
who are aware of a recall take the vehicle in for the free
repair; and 35 per cent of prospective buyers enquire into
recalls when shopping for a car.
Technology
A new metal matrix composite combines
lightweight with heat resistance, promising
improved automotive fuel economy
While syntactic foams have been around for some time, the
rst-time achievement of a lightweight metal matrix syntactic
foam has been announced.
The work of a team of researchers from Deep Springs
Technology (DST) and the Polytechnic School of Engineering of
New York University (NYU), in collaboration with the US Army
Research Laboratory, the composite is light enough to oat
and resistant to heat – which would commend it to automakers
seeking to shave weight for better fuel economy.
As reported in R&D Magazine (Rockaway, New Jersey), in recent
years e orts to replace heavier metal-based components in
automobiles and marine vessels have focused on lightweight
polymer matrix composites.
The new magnesium alloy matrix composite, which is reinforced
with silicon carbide hollow particles, has a density lower than
that of water (0.92g/cc compared to 1.0g/cc). It thus o ers
both substantial strength and the lightness of foams. (“A Metal
Composite That Will Float Your Boat,” 13th May)
“This development of very light metal matrix composites can
swing the pendulum back in favour of metallic materials,”
suggested Nikhil Gupta, an NYU School of Engineering professor
and the study’s co-author.
Mr Gupta noted that the ability of metals to withstand higher
temperatures can be a huge advantage for these composites
in engine and exhaust components, quite apart from structural
parts.
The syntactic foam from DST (Toledo, Ohio) and NYU starts
with a matrix made of a magnesium alloy, which is then turned
into foam by the addition of strong, lightweight hollow spheres
of silicon carbide manufactured by DST. A single sphere’s shell
can reportedly withstand pressure of over 25,000 pounds per
square inch (PSI) before it ruptures – 100 times the maximum
pressure in a re hose.
The hollow particles are also said to impart impact protection
to the syntactic foam, with each shell acting like an energy
absorber during fracture. Adjusting the proportion of shells in
the metal matrix can customise the composite for density and
other properties.
Again according to the developers, who expect to present
prototypes for testing within three years, the concept is also
adaptable to other non- ammable magnesium alloys.
Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor