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How And Why Did It Break?


antoniosz

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I have not posted for a very long time. Life interfers with pleasure you know.. :)

Every year around this time, I teach a bunch of freshmen engineers in my university through a project that we call "How and why did it break?”. It is an effort to introduce them to failure analysis an important (and profitable) endeavor for engineers. I give them some broken items and they have to find what material they are made, how they were manufactured, and if possible why they broke. Their tools are … Google, a loupe, an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope. This year the items were a cork screw which broke in the cork, a veterinarian medical suture, a paper clip and the nib from an antique fountain pen. The students don’t know that I am the one who enjoys this class the most.

 

Here are the photos from the broken tip of a fountain pen tip. The nib is a Warranted 14K gold and at the tip the material is “iridium” – actually not iridium but a hard, wear resistant material like iridium, osmium, ruthenium or their alloys, etc.) . Iridium was used in the early days but it was soon replaced by other less expensive materials. The tip is welded to the nib by applying electrical current that heats up the tip and nib and locally partially melts the gold. Sometimes this difficult weld is weak. In this sequence of photos we see an nib that lost its tip on one tine.

 

(1-2) This is the pen nib with the 14K mark probably from late 30s early 40s. The photo was taken by my mobile phone. (not an iphone)

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkODiIfBs0w/VGe3ABMKDoI/AAAAAAAAANQ/i82t3AuLTvY/s1600/Capture.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iAzMz1d-4Aw/VGe3Q61DlVI/AAAAAAAAANY/gMDq7L_UwWo/s1600/Capture.JPG

(3) Magnified view of the tip taken by my phone through an optical microscope.

 

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y_5OHvk2reE/VGe6UJl7Z7I/AAAAAAAAANk/-CFIv8zS4Ug/s1600/Capture.JPG

 

(4) This is the scanning electron microscope with the students – it uses electrons rather than light.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8z1pAXD0W4A/VGe7YoO4LII/AAAAAAAAANw/gUS_vgkvN1Q/s1600/Capture.JPG

 

(5) X-ray spectrum cause by electrons that collide with the material we examine. Here is shows maybe gold (Au), Copper (Cu) and a little bit of silver (Ag).

 

 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5jdGteBtSxc/VGe7k-F3OKI/AAAAAAAAAN4/RHTjjMYPli4/s1600/Capture1.JPG

 

 

(6) Detail of the tip under the electron microscope.

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E9HA3kdrKL0/VGe8wkFep-I/AAAAAAAAAOM/A0Y3-4EakTY/s1600/Capture2.JPG

 

 

(7) This is the nib tip. It should be smooth for proper writing but what seems smooth in the eye or feels smooth in the hand it is never totally smooth. Here it is slightly rougher than usual.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nKJ5JelLUko/VGe8q6NStOI/AAAAAAAAAOE/FdowA2QTyLA/s1600/Capture3.JPG

 

 

(8) This is the spectrum from the tip of the nib. It shows mainly Ruthenium and a hint of tungsten, also some salts maybe KCl and NaCl – probably from residuals of ink(?)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-udAz750hTic/VGe8z6WVnxI/AAAAAAAAAOU/9hZKERWMnQ0/s1600/Capture4.jpg

 

 

(9)No, it is not the comet Philae, it is the tip of the nib. Incidentally, the microscope can increase this magnification by 200-1000 times.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yvThmOi914A/VGe8215aigI/AAAAAAAAAOc/_d7vOtWuhgE/s1600/Capture5.JPG

 

Now, probably you understand why I am enjoying this class more than the students

 

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nice to see you back:)

 

where can I find toys like yours??

 

time to take up engineering:)

 

 

"Writing is 1/3 nib width & flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink. In that order."Bo Bo Olson

"No one needs to rotate a pen while using an oblique, in fact, that's against the whole concept of an oblique, which is to give you shading without any special effort."Professor Propas, 24 December 2010

 

"IMHO, the only advantage of the 149 is increased girth if needed, increased gold if wanted and increased prestige if perceived. I have three, but hardly ever use them. After all, they hold the same amount of ink as a 146."FredRydr, 12 March 2015

 

"Surely half the pleasure of life is sardonic comment on the passing show."Sir Peter Strawson

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Who needs a loupe when you have an electron microscope!?! :D

Pelikan 140 EF | Pelikan 140 OBB | Pelikan M205 0.4mm stub | Pilot Custom Heritage 912 PO | Pilot Metropolitan M | TWSBI 580 EF | Waterman 52 1/2v

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< - wearing a huge smile reading about this experiment.

Now wondering, have the students arrived at a conclusion(s) yet? (the Rest of the story).

 

Was just observing an online class in metals conservation, so your experiment additionally piqued my interest. A fountain pen nib's duty is to face the elements and dangers that conservators of old metal objects take great pains to cloak and avoid.

 

Delightful seeing you post again!

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