Metals are Alive!
Author: Prof. Dr. David Kirk, Coventry University, U.K.
Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 33, Issue 1, Winter 2019
Doc ID: 2019007
Year of Publication: 2019
Abstract:
INTRODUCTION
Metallic objects abound in shot peening—steel shot, Almen
strips, nozzles, wheels, etc. The metals used are alive!
Essentially metals are made up of a regular framework of
vibrating, charged, atoms (ions) surrounded by a cloud of
high-speed electrons. The pulse rate of the vibrating atoms
is about 10 trillion per second—more than that of the Earth’s
human population combined. The speed of the electrons is
difficult to visualize—it is like comparing that of a supersonic
bullet with that of a geriatric snail. Electron speeds are of the
order of thousands of kilometers per second—enough to go
round the Earth in less than a minute.
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