Format: Live Online
Course Summary
This course covers the basics of how metals are produced, how they behave, and how their properties can be altered by common mill processes. It also covers common metallurgical analyses used to evaluate metal properties, composition, and microstructure for general metal characterization and for when quality problems arise.
The training is geared to non-metallurgists working in the metals supply chain and provides practical knowledge. Understanding the concepts covered and learning basic metallurgy terminology is important for having productive conversations with mills and customers. It is also helpful for working through quality problems.
Presented over three days for a total of eight to twelve hours of content, the sessions consist of lecture, discussion, and question and answer exercises. Concepts covered include:
- How metal properties are influenced by alloy composition and processes such as cold working, hot working, and heat treating.
- How carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum products are produced.
- The differences between different types of carbon steel alloys, aluminum alloys, and stainless steel alloys.
- How tensile testing and hardness testing are performed and how the test data is analyzed to determine tensile properties and hardness.
- How metallurgical failure analysis is used to help determine the root cause of quality problems.
Who Should Attend
The course is appropriate for new hires, operations professionals, sales people, purchasing agents, and quality engineers.
Schedule (all students will take Principles of Metallurgy and Solving Problems and have their choice of Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel, and/or Aluminum)
March 18, 2025
Principles of Metallurgy
March 18, 2025
Analysis Techniques
March 19, 2025
Carbon Steel Metallurgy
March 19, 2025
Stainless Steel Metallurgy
March 20, 2025
Aluminum Metallurgy
March 20, 2025
Failure Analysis of Metal Problems
Meet the Instructor
Michael Pfeifer is Principal Engineer and Trainer at Industrial Metallurgists LLC. For over 25 years he has worked with many companies on failure analysis and root cause analysis investigations, as well as providing engineering consulting for product design and manufacturing. He is also the author of Materials Enabled Designs, which teaches how to select materials that optimize product performance, reliability, and cost. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University.