Two DTU students taking an MSc course in corrosion technology came up with a solution to an annoying material problem involving silver-coated bolts.
The two MSc students Christian Warm and Fabian Barrientos found themselves facing a rather extraordinary task when they were presented with the ‘journeyman assignment’ from their course in corrosion technology at DTU Mechanical Engineering.
Via the Big Science Secretariat and Lars Pleth Nielsen from the Tribology Centre at Danish Technological Institute, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) had asked for help with a problem they were experiencing with the silver-coated bolts used to hold the super magnets in place around the 26 km accelerator ring.
The problem was that these bolts could not withstand being tightened and loosened repeatedly without forming particles, increased friction, and a greater risk of seizing. The two students initially thought that poor adhesion might be the cause of the problem. However, it transpired that the situation was more complex and attributable to a combination of wear and corrosion. They were therefore obliged to draw on their knowledge of both surface and process technology to come up with a solution.
Interdisciplinary problem
“The problem with the bolts involved several disciplines and extended far beyond the bounds of simple corrosion. The assignment has taught us to convert complex theory into operational knowledge and to find an applicable solution to a problem that CERN itself was unable to solve,” relates Christian Warm.
The corrosion course is designed specifically to teach students how to apply the knowledge they acquire to contexts outside DTU—in the same way as the courses taught at MIT and Caltech in the United States.
On the corrosion course, the students therefore learn to ask relevant and fundamental questions about why the chosen solution is not working. This makes them highly skilled in thinking outside the box and asking the right questions about their observations and the material technology solutions chosen.
In fact, students who have taken the corrosion course over the past 15 years have tackled assignments involving material decomposition for ‘clients’ including Siemens’ research unit in Berlin, the Finnish company Nokia, Saab in Sweden, and Danish companies including Danfoss, Vestas, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), the Panum Institute and the Danish Royal Mint.
"The assignment has taught us to convert complex theory into operational knowledge and to find an applicable solution to a problem that CERN itself was unable to solve"
Christian Warm
The right tools
“I have absolutely no doubt that introducing appropriate problems into the teaching helps us produce the most highly skilled students, as this approach allows the students to pit their wits against real life issues. Discovering that they can understand and solve assignments that other people have given up on, simply by applying what they have learned from course syllabus, is a huge experience for our students,” relates Professor Per Møller, who teaches part of the course.
Fabian Barrientos is sure that the experience they have gained will help them tackle engineering assignments in an efficient and innovative manner in future:
“It’s important to learn to use the right analysis tools and to dare to think outside the box. There are all kinds of complex issues out there, but with the right tools and the capacity to ask the right questions, we can find solutions to the problems.”
Article in DTUavisen no. 3, March 2015.