The Notre Dame Chapter would like to invite everyone to this exceptional virtual presentation:
Speaker: Dr. Josh MuellerDate: Monday, February 20, 2023Time: Login 6:45 PM, Presentation 7:00 PMDuration: Approximately one hour; questions and answers to followRegistration: Please contact Dave Guisbert at deguisbert@aol.com by February 20, 2023.Meeting login information will be sent to all who register.
Abstract:
Engine 1003 is a steam locomotive that was operated by the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Saint Marie Railroad (known as the Soo Line), which had a railroad network that extended across the upper‐Midwest. Manufactured by American Locomotive (ALCO) in 1913, Engine 1003 was officially retired from the railroad in 1959. In the mid 1990's, 1003 was partially restored in accordance with Federal Railway Administration (FRA), allowing it to operate on the nation's railroad system again. In 2011, as part of an FRA 1472 inspection, it was noted that some of the tell‐tale stay‐bolts around the boiler were expelling small quantities of water when the boiler was under pressure; this is an intentional function of the tell‐tale feature of the bolt to indicate if the stay‐bolt has been internally compromised. Upon disassembly of the boiler, it was observed that the tell‐tale stay‐bolts that indicated failure were not fractured or corroded in a manner that would enable egress of boiler water through the tell‐tale hole; the stay‐bolts were heavily corroded but did not visually appear to be compromised upon inspection. Recently, an analysis of the original wrought iron stay‐bolts from the 1003 has provided additional context on how these aged bolts may have indicated failure during operation while appearing functionally sound upon later inspection. The present talk delves into a brief history of the Soo Line and Engine 1003, as well as the technology for producing wrought iron at the turn of the 20th century. Microstructural characterization from optical and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy of a stay‐bolt from Engine 1003 showcase the wrought iron microstructure of the bolts and support a proposed failure mechanism of tell‐tale stay‐bolts.
About the speaker and authors:
Josh Mueller, PhD
Josh Mueller is a Research and Development Engineer in the Dynamic Structure Design and Engineering Group
at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) where he serves as the metallurgical technical lead and focusses on
materials for impulsively loaded pressure vessels. He also maintains a Research Assistant Professorship role
within the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Michigan Technological University. He earned a
Ph.D. from Colorado School of Mines in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and a B.S. in Materials Science
and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin‐Madison. Before working at LANL, he gained industry
experience from working at various manufacturing companies where he conducted research & development and
failure analyses. His primary research interests include phase transformations and microstructural evolution
associated with multi‐phase microstructures, as well as microstructure‐ mechanical property relationships of metals
and alloys. He is particularly interested in microstructural design to enhance yield strength‐toughness
performance and incorporating thermodynamic and phase field simulation for an integrated computational materials
engineering (ICME) approach to alloy and heat treatment development.
Virginia (Ginny) Euser, PhD
Ginny Euser is a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). She earned her BS (2014), MS (2017),
and PhD (2020) from the Colorado School of Mines in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. Her graduate research
focused on exploring novel, rapid thermal processing routes to improve the strength‐toughness performance of
medium‐carbon, high‐strength steels. Ginny joined LANL in February 2020 as a postdoc, where she investigated the
link between microstructure and the dynamic properties of metallic systems. She converted to a staff scientist position
in October 2022 and is now involved in investigating material corrosion and embrittlement phenomena.
Her overarching technical interest lies in linking the processing, microstructure, and properties of metallic systems.
Matthew Harvey
Matthew Harvey started his metal working training in an ornamental iron shop while still in high school. Later, he
earned a technical diploma in Machine Tooling from Moraine Park Technical College. He completed an
apprenticeship in tool and die, before becoming a shop foreman where, for over 15 years, he specialized in deep‐drawn
metal stamping. In 2015, he opened his own business which provides machining and welding services.
Currently, he is the only individual R‐stamp certificate holder in the state of Wisconsin, enabling him to make
repairs and alterations to pressure‐containing components that conform to the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC), including restoration and repair of steam engines.
Matthew currently serves as president of the Wisconsin Historic Steam Engine Association (WHSEA) and vice president of
the Steam Locomotive Heritage Association (SLHA), the operating entity of the restored Soo Line Engine 1003. His
interests include tools, metal forming, forging, tool steel, tool welding, and steam engines.
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David Guisbert
Associate
Quality Associates Metallurgical Services
Niles MI
(574) 485-9359
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