Safety in chemistry and materials technologies
Issue no. 6 of 1. December 2009
Safety in chemistry and materials technologies
Issue no. 6 of 1. December 2009
Corrosion tests on steel cones
Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Die besten Wünsche für ein frohes Weihnachtsfest und ein gutes neues Jahr.
Joyeux Noël et meilleurs vœx pour la nouvelle année.
Yours BAM
Bakelite telephone – a common item in every office in earlier times
The exhibition “Bakelite100 – plastic from Erkner conquers the world” will be presented in BAM from 3 December 2009 to 7 January 2010.
100 years ago the world’s first all-synthetic plastic was produced in Erkner (Brandenburg). The Friends of Erkner Chemistry Museum Association have organised an exhibition which will also be shown in BAM on the occasion of the anniversary. The exhibition will illustrate the connection between plastic from Erkner and BAM or its predecessor, the Public Materials Testing Office Berlin Dahlem, and its contribution to implementing an exemplary quality assurance measure. More information on this exhibition is available at http://www.bakelit100.de/index.html
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Unter den Eichen 87, D-12205 Berlin
Building 5, Lobby
Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. habil. Wolfgang Stark
Division VI.3 Durability of Polymers, Working Group Elastomers and Reference Materials
Phone: +49 30 8104-1614, email: wolfgang.stark@bam.de
Fireworks
BAM is responsible for the safety of New Year’s Eve fireworks. Fireworks without BAM approval may be dangerous and are not allowed to be sold. BAM will provide information and news about products and legal regulations at a press conference on
Tuesday, 15 December 2009, 15:00 hours at the
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Unter den Eichen 87, D-12205 Berlin
Building 8, Visitors’ Centre in the library (car entrance from Mörchinger
Straße)
Additionally, pyrotechnic demonstrations are planned in an open area.
Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Rockland, Spokeswoman
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
Phone: +49 30 8104-1003, email: presse@bam.de
2010 RAM Conference Flyer
BAM, together with the editors of Gefahr/gut (Dangerous goods) of Springer Transport Media GmbH, will organize the 2nd RAM Container Safety Conference (RAM = radioactive materials) on 18 and 19 March 2010. Early bookers who register by 15 January 2010 receive a 10-% discount.
Current developments of safety engineering test methods, evaluation criteria for approval and expert assessment of transport and intermediate and final storage containers for radioactive substances will be presented and discussed at the conference. BAM and invited speakers will report on development and implementation of safety engineering verification methods in view of available and new types of containers and discuss quality assurance for container construction and operation.
A visit to BAM’s test equipment and laboratories (impact test stand, materials testing equipment) will be held on the second day.
Manufacturers and users of containers, representatives of supervisory and approval bodies at Federal and State level and testing and expert organizations will have the opportunity to obtain information at first hand about these issues, to deepen their knowledge and discuss current issues.
Information on the conference (Flyer, PDF - only in German)
Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Droste
Department III Containment Systems for Dangerous Goods, Division III.3 Safety of Transport Containers
Phone: +49 30 8104-1330, email: bernhard.droste@bam.de
Dr.-Ing. Holger Völzke
Department III Containment Systems for Dangerous Goods, Division III.4 Safety of Storage Containers
Phone: +49 30 8104-1340, email: holger.voelzke@bam.de
Graffiti on a wall
Graffiti is a nuisance not to be overlooked, particularly when it spoils architectural monuments and historic façades. For some years, coating systems have been used to protect them from graffiti and help the cleaning of buildings substantially. However, most anti-graffiti systems (AGS) available on the market have been developed for building materials such as concrete, ceramic or steel and are not really suitable for historic building materials.
Therefore a European Union project (GRAFFITAGE), supported within the 6th Framework Programme, was initiated to investigate the behaviour of selected commercial systems on historical building materials. The researchers developed a new anti-graffiti system in order to better meet the needs of monument conservation.
The consortium consisted of 10 partners from six European countries. The three-year project time ended last year. BAM (Division VII.1 Building Materials) and other research partners investigated the new AGS developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP) and the Polish Academy of Sciences for its functionality and durability.
Comparative investigations indicated that both efficiency and durability of the new substance and, in addition, its compatibility with various materials were substantially better than those of commercially available systems. Laboratory and field tests confirmed the result that the system meets the high requirements of monument conservation and can protect architectural monuments from graffiti.
Contact:
Dr. rer. nat. Urs Müller
Department VII Safety of Structures, Division VII.1 Building Materials
Phone: +49 30 8104-1712, email: urs.mueller@bam.de
EXIST, a support programme of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) for research transfer, makes it possible for three young BAM scientists to establish their own business. Dipl.-Ing. Nils Nöther, MSc. Marko Krcmar and Dr.-Ing. Stefan von der Mark have established a measurement method and device within a Ph.D. study and developed it into a practical application in the rough everyday-life climate. The method itself is a fibre-optic measurement, evaluation and alarm system and can be used in large structures with dimensions of several kilometres to report changes at a resolution of one metre within a few minutes thus enabling the forecasting of imminent failures such as dam breaches or landslides.
The method was developed in the BAM Division VIII.1 Measurement and Testing Technology; Sensors and co-financed by the BMWi research programme “Support of small and medium enterprises in the implementation of innovations within the fields of measurements, standards, testing and quality assurance” (MNPQ transfer).
Further information:
Dipl.-Ing. Nils Nöther
Department VIII Non-Destructive Testing, Division VIII.1 Measurement and Testing Technology; Sensors
Phone: +49 30 8104-3576, email: nils.noether@bam.de
Havelberg cathedral, window nXI, 1411/12 (top)
From 1994 to 2006 a number of environmental projects dealing with the remediation of valuable pieces of Middle Ages and 19th century historic stained glass in important national buildings were successfully and exemplarily performed. The German Environmental Award (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) supported the research at that time with more than 6 million euros in today’s terms. BAM participated in the projects for re-establishing stained glass windows damaged by environmental influences which covered numerous items in all five new Federal States such as those in the Halberstadt, Havelberg and Stendal cathedrals, the Quedlinburg town church and the Marienstern cloister church (Panschwitz Kuckau).
The “Exemplary evaluation of restoration and conservation measures for historical stained glass windows with severe damage due to anthropogenic environmental effects” project supported by the DBU has investigated and evaluated all substances and materials and retaining and protective systems in order to determine their current functional capability. Improvements, amendments or new technical solutions have been recommended based on the results.
To do this, a new climate monitoring scheme has been undertaken for a period of one year which took measurements between the historic stained glass windows and the external protection glazing in the above five buildings.
Temperature, humidity and air flow velocity have been measured at the stained glass surface and in the gap. In addition to optical and electron microscopic analyses of the historical stained glass windows, dust samples completed the investigations.
Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Michael Bücker, Dr.-Ing. Manfred Torge
Department IV Materials and Environment, Division IV.2 Environmental Material and Product Properties
Phone: +49 30 6392-5960, -5930, email: manfred.torge@bam.de
BAM Newsletter No 6/2009
Submission deadline: 26 November 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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