Safety in chemistry and materials technologies
Issue no. 3 of 25. June 2009
Safety in chemistry and materials technologies
Issue no. 3 of 25. June 2009
Dr. U. Ewert (right in the picture) and Professor Dr. M. Hennecke at the ceremony for the award of Röntgen plaque.
Dr. Uwe Ewert, Head of Radiological Methods Division, was distinguished with the Röntgen plaque on 9 May 2009. He received this honour for his ‘achievements in the field of industrial digital radiology, in particular for the development of mobile, laminographic measurement methods and the high-contrast-sensitivity technique’.
The city of Remscheid and the Society of Friends and Supporters of the German Röntgen Museum have assigned this honour to outstanding scientists since 1951 so that the scientific achievements of William Conrad Röntgen can be commemorated. Other plaque holders are eight Nobel laureates, one of them being the physicist Max von Laue.
Dr. Ewert and his division’s research contributes to detecting errors in materials and components and thus avoiding accidents. The results of research by BAM’s scientists are also used in fighting criminal cases and remediating contaminated land. They use X-ray, gamma, electron and neutron beams in order to non-destructively test dangerous goods containers for tears, weld seams for flaws or to seek out hidden weapons in the hand baggage of aircraft passengers.
Dr. Ewert has patented eleven test methods, among them a mobile test for weld seams.
Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Uwe Ewert
Department VIII Non-destructive Testing, Division VIII.3 Radiological Methods
Phone: +49 30 8104-1830, email: uwe.ewert@bam.de
BAM established a Product Contact Point in May 2009. Product Contact Points - product information bodies - are supposed to facilitate access to national markets for participants of other European Union member states.
In Germany the tasks of Product Contact Points are assumed by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung BLE) for the agricultural and fishery sector as well as for consumer products and by BAM for all remaining products.
The task of the Product Contact Points is to provide information about products for which no uniform EU regulations are currently available. In particular, providing information about current national product regulations and the resulting requirements on a product, for example composition, form, size, packaging, labelling, sales designation and weight.
The product information bodies provide individual reports on request.
Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Stephan Trommsdorf
Phone: +49 30 8104-3702
Fax: +49 30 8104-1907, email: produktinfostelle@bam.de
Internet: www.product-contact-point.de, www.pcp.bam.de/en/index.htm
The photo shows a sheet metal fragment from the base of an ornament used for reference tests. The size of the sample is approx. 25 mm x 80 mm and is composed of gilded silver plate.
BAM supported the Rhineland State Museum in Bonn and the Cologne Cathedral Building Administration in testing the shrine of the three holy kings using the eddy current test method.
The eddy current test enabled the identification of different alloys in the figures and fittings of the shrine. The tests were based on electrical conductivity on authentic reference samples performed in BAM. The results showed that an extremely convincing copying technology had been used for repairs already in the early 19th century. The eddy current measurement was influential and of great importance for the Rhineland art historians.
The shrine of the three holy kings in Cologne Cathedral is the largest reliquary of the Middle Ages in Europe made of gold forging work. It was made to hold mortal remains of the three holy kings more than 800 years ago. It is about 1,10 m wide, 1,50 m high and 2,20 m long. It used more than 5 kg fine gold alone for the front narrow side, most figures were embossed silver, in addition, it was decorated with more than 300 antique cameos, over 1700 jewels and about 200 beads.
One of the goldsmiths was Nikolaus of Verdun (approx. 1130 until 1205). The shrine was restored several times around 1750 by Johann Rohr, a half century later by Wilhelm Pollack and then major work undertaken from 1961 to 1972. During the preparation of the spare pieces the goldsmiths stuck to the originals perfectly and fitted the parts so inconspicuously that they hardly differ from the originals.
Unfortunately, not all repairs were documented, so that their allocation in time has not been unequivocally possible so far. Art historians of the Cologne Cathedral Building Administration and restorers of the Rhineland State Museum, Bonn analyzed individual fittings removed from the shrine using chemical methods. With the help of BAM’s eddy current test instrument the entire metal surface of the shrine was tested. Data furnished by the eddy current test and chemical analysis and the historical art knowledge helped confirm and disprove theses so far unapproved.
Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Hans-Martin Thomas
Division VIII.4 Acoustical and Electronical Methods, Working group Eddy current testing methods
Phone: +49 30 8104-1842, email: hans-martin.thomas@bam.de
The BetonMarketing Ost Conference will take place in BAM on 9 July 2009. It resides under the slogan Bridges from Ultrahigh-Strength Concrete (UHSC). The conference will be organized by BAM, BetonMarketing Ost and MFPA Leipzig GmbH (Society for Materials Research and Test Institute for the Building Industry Leipzig).
The participation fee is 85 euros, including VAT. The reduced student fee is 40 euros, including VAT.
Information about the conference: Flyer (PDF - only in German)
Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Rogge
Department VII Safety of Structures
Phone: +49 30 8104-1700, email: andreas.rogge@bam.de
Registration:
BetonMarketing Ost GmbH
Dipl.-Journ. Katrin Koburg
Teltower Damm 155
14167 Berlin-Zehlendorf
Phone: +49 30 308 777 8-30
Fax: +49 30 308 777 8-31
Email: koburg@bmo-berlin.de
Internet: http://www.beton.org/service/kalender.html?a=2851&cHash=223ce8e52d
The BAM Test Site Technical Safety introduces itself. What happened in the last few weeks? New articles have been published (only in German).
Would you like to see all this with your own eyes?
BAM will open its gates to visitors on 09.09.09. We will be demonstrating fire tests and explosion tests, describing test set-ups and present further ideas about tests for technical safety.
More information: http://www.tts.bam.de (only in German)
Contact:
Dr. Ulrike Rockland, Spokeswoman
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: presse@bam.de
Mrs. Professor Dr. rer. nat. habil. Anna A. Gorbushina assumed the position of Head of Department IV Materials and Environment on 1 April 2009. Simultaneously, she was appointed professor at the Free University of Berlin (Department Geosciences and Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy).
Previously Mrs. Gorbushina worked at the Department for Geomicrobiology of the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and the material/biofilm/environment interface topics have been her key research areas since 1989. She has also worked in Israel and the USA in order to research the survivability of microorganisms on desert rock surfaces.
Mrs. Gorbushina completed her habilitation in microbiology in 2006. She developed a new model biofilm at the University of Geneva supported by the Swiss National Research Fund and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This model biofilm can be used to look into the genetic aspects of interactions between microorganisms and rocks. The results are integrated into simulation programs which enable the effect of biofilms on materials to be quantified.
Mrs. Gorbushina will resume her research into the interaction between mineral materials, biology and the environment including protective or destructive chemical metabolic products at BAM and the Free University.
In her new function as Head of Department IV Materials and Environment she is responsible for the environmental compatibility of materials being investigated and assessed by engineers, chemists, geologists and biologists in a multidisciplinary co-operation.
The investigations will be focussed on the long-term interactions at the material/environment interface looking for technical, ecological and economic outcomes.
Special interest will be attributed to the development of standardized biological test procedures which are often more complex than purely physicochemical tests.
BAM Newsletter No 3/2009
Submission deadline: 10 June 2009
Publication, including excerpts, is free.
Figures will be provided on request.
Manuscripts to be sent to:
Press Office
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 8104-0, fax: +49 30 8104-3037, email: presse@bam.de
http://www.bam.de
Responsible: Dr. Ulrike Rockland (spokeswoman)
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: ulrike.rockland@bam.de
Editorial management and layout: Daniela Samol
Phone: +49 30 8104-3056, email: daniela.samol@bam.de
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