There are many situations in which steel reinforcement within structural materials is vulnerable to corrosion. In some cases the result of such deterioration of the structural integrity can have significant safety implications. However, there is currently little by way of reliable non-destructive means of obtaining direct evaluation of the state of the embedded steel, which yields anything more than rudimentary information. This paper considers the possibilities of making use of the vectorial nature of the magnetization of steel to improve the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the integrity of embedded steel reinforcement in vehicle tyres. Results are presented which show that enhanced non-destructive mapping of faults within tyres can be achieved by this means.

For many years, firearm's design has been based on extensive use of traditional metallic materials.

Regarding operating conditions severity, it was a comfortable position.

In the last fifteen years, users requirements were growing (weight budget, cost reduction, …) and designers had to consider potential use of new materials.

During P90 sub-machine-gun design, introduction of reinforced fiber composites like polyarylamide IXEF® induced design methodology reconsideration.

It was the first use of a material having highly temperature sensitive mechanical characteristics.

As environmental temperature became a key factor, failure modes analysis and performance assessment methods needed to be reviewed.

Those changes brought use of new scientific tools during design stage like structural dynamic analysis (experimental and finite elements computation), fatigue computation, mechanical simulation, … Testing programs and methods were also adapted in order to put in evidence environmental effects on product performance.

Thanks to this design process reengineering, performance goals have been achieved and user's safety has been preserved.

Nuclear power currently supplies about 20% of the nation's electrical power needs. The nuclear power industry is going through evolutions that will lead to greater efficiency and competitiveness. Many changes in the nuclear power industry are limited by materials issues. This paper discusses a representative range of the materials issues that are arising in the industry. Materials issues are associated with prolonged use of reactor fuel, extended operation of power plants and realistic analyses of power plant safety. The issues include questions of fuel stability at high burnups, metallurgical issues of fuel cladding, embrittlement of pressure boundaries, detecting and sizing flaws in steam generators and issues of environmental qualification of reactor control and instrumentation systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of the future of nuclear power and the continuing need for better materials for power plants.

The mission of the Architectural SuretySM program at Sandia National Laboratories is to assure the performance of buildings, facilities, and other infrastructure systems under normal, abnormal, and malevolent threat conditions. Through educational outreach efforts in the classroom, at conferences, and presentations such as this one, public and professional awareness of the need to defuse and mitigate such threats is increased. Buildings, airports, utilities, and other kinds of infrastructure deteriorate over time, as evidenced most dramatically by our crumbling cities and aging buildings, bridges, and other facility systems. Natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding also stress the materials and structural elements of our built environment. In addition, criminals, vandals, and terrorists attack our federal buildings, dams, bridges, tunnels, and other public and private facilities. Engineers and architects are beginning to systematically consider these threats during the design, construction, and retrofit phases of buildings and infrastructures and are recommending advanced research in new materials and techniques. Existing building codes and standards do not adequately address nor protect our infrastructure or the public from many of these emerging threats.

The activities in Sandia National Laboratories' Architectural SuretySM efforts take a risk management approach to enhancing the safety, security, and reliability of our constructed environment. The technologies and techniques developed during Sandia's 50 years as the nation's lead laboratory for nuclear weapons surety are now being applied to assessing and reducing the vulnerability of dams, to enhancing the safety and security of our staff in foreign embassies, and assuring the reliability of other federal facilities. High consequence surety engineering and design brings together technological advancements, new material requirements, systems integration, and risk management to improve the safety, security, and reliability of our as-built environment. The thrust of this paper is the role that new materials can play in protecting our infrastructure. Retrofits of existing buildings, innovative approaches to the design and construction of new facilities, and the mitigation of consequences in the event of an unpreventable disaster are some of the areas that new construction materials can benefit the Architectural SuretySM of our constructed environment.

The processing of fire-resistant non-halogeneted electric cables is a specific challenge. Metal hydroxides have always been extensively used as fillers in the insulating polymer sheaths. Recently, an hydrated zinc borate has been said to act in synergy with the traditionnal aluminium trihydroxide. We report the results of a microstructural investigation of a cable containing zinc borate in combination with aluminium trihydroxide, submitted to different heat treatments in order to get information about the structural modifications and the degradation of the electrical properties. We conclude with a short proposal to improve its efficiency.

There exists basically two types of failure scenario: Either "brittle" where failure takes place suddenly without any sign which could help to anticipate over the failure, or "controlled" where the development of failure is progressive.