Metal compression

[Paul Alciatore]

Picky, picky, picky!

I am not going to go back and edit my post yet again. I think everybody got the idea.

Friendly reminder: there are no molecules in a pure metal, only atoms. Steel will have carbides and inclusions, but the iron atoms are in a crystal lattice, not a molecule.

[fjk]

FWIW I seem to recall that nuclear bombs compress their nuclear fuel (blobs of uranium or plutonium) to make it reach critical mass/density/etc…

[Paul Alciatore]

Well, YES.

From my post Albums above;

The compression of a metal (uranium 235) is one of the mechanisms for triggering an atomic explosion. To achieve that actual compression explosive charges completely surround a spherical, uranium core and a large number of detonators are simultaneously triggered on the outside of these explosive charges to produce a very symmetric shock wave toward that inner uranium core. That compression of the U235 raises the number of neutrons per unit volume above the critical point and fission proceeds. The number of neutrons flying around inside the U235 remains the same but the volume is reduced. BTW, those charges and the trigger circuitry are the hard parts of building an A-bomb after the U235 isotope is produced.

It also works with plutonium.

The point is, metals can be and actually are compressed. Sometimes with spectacular results.

FWIW I seem to recall that nuclear bombs compress their nuclear fuel (blobs of uranium or plutonium) to make it reach critical mass/density/etc…

[Noitoen]

A long tome ago, I saw a video on TV that I tried to find online about the building of a Atmospheric Diving Suit. The main portion was machined out of a huge block of aluminium that was removed from an oven and put in a giant hydraulic press and squeezed on all 3 axis before being loaded into and ancient CNC mill to carve the main body of the suit. I don't recall they mentioning a reason for the press procedure but I could clearly see the difference in shape of the block before and after the pressing.

[strokersix]

Hot Isostatic Pressing sounds similar?

https://www.pressuretechnology.com/about-hip.php

[Noitoen]

Hot Isostatic Pressing sounds similar?

https://www.pressuretechnology.com/about-hip.php

No, that wasn't it. It was a cube of about 1000mm of aluminium that was removed from a oven that was moved without any special care onto the press and you could see the sides "fattening" up, rotated on one side to press in another direction and again on the remaining side. It was a little deformed when it went into the machine.

[kf2qd]

Metal Compression. Flame Hardening brake dies. The flame hardening process is to take a torch(or several) and while moving, heat a section of die to red hot while right behind the heat supply a good flow of water to quench it. A 12ft long die 6"high curled up 3 feet on each end. What i interpret that as is this, the heated area was unable to expand but wound up shrinking when it was cooled. The heat treated are must have had a higher density and shorter length than it did in the original bar.