Materials Research Group

History

During 1984 and after Iraq imposed an untenable war on Iran, Iranian economy faced unfair international sanctions and limitation in trade and money transfer. Starting up research and developments to help industries suddenly emerged as an essential need. In fact independency was the key factor for survival. In those years materials and technical center was established in Academic Centre for Education, Culture and Research, Mashhad branch to serve Iranian industries. The materials and technical center has started its work by production and manufacturing of different components used in agricultural machineries. Later on the center has started to give service to gas and oil industries. In 2006 Novel Materials Research Centre was officially established and since then a plethora of projects has been performed by this research group. There are three main research areas:

1- Composite and porous materials

2- Biomaterials

3- Nano materials

Prospect

Supporting industries and focusing on applied research. Providing technical knowledg to startup companies.  Research and development related to novel materials and composite.

Achievements

1- Metallic foams

Metal foams are a new class of materials with low densities and novel physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and acoustic properties. They offer the potential for lightweight structures, for energy absorption, and for thermal management; and most importantly, some of them are cheap. They are made by a range of novel processing techniques. They are recyclable and nontoxic.

 Iranian Academic Centre for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) Mashhad Branch was the first and the only institute to establish a research based commercial unit production of closed- and open cell Aluminum foam.

Photos of aluminum foams produced by ACECR, Mashhad

2- Tricone drill for well drilling

Well drilling is a process to drill a hole in the ground to extract oil and gas. These drills must have unique mechanical properties to be able to drill holes deep in the earth. Mechanical tolerances and the materials also are the key factor in manufacturing process. Materials research group at ACECR, located in Mashhad has successfully manufactured tricone drill for Iranian gas and oil industries. 

Photos of Tricone drills manufactured by ACECR, Mashhad

3- Double Block and Bleed (DBB Valves)

These valves replace existing traditional techniques employed by pipeline engineers to generate a double block and bleed configuration in the pipeline. Two block valves and a bleed valve make a unit, or manifold, to be installed for positive isolation. Used for critical process service, DBB valves are for high pressure systems or toxic/hazardous fluid processes. Applications that use DBB valves include instrument drain, chemical injection connection, chemical seal isolation, and gauge isolation. Materials research group of ACECR, located in Mashhad, has successfully manufactured these valves for gas and oil industries.

Double Block and Bleed (DBB Valves) manufactured by ACECR, Mashhad

4- Anodizing

The anodic oxidation process (anodizing) is the electrochemical process, creating stable oxide layer on metal surfaces making them more resistant to corrosion and hardness. Aluminum is ideally suited to anodizing, although other nonferrous metals, such as magnesium and titanium, can also be anodized.

Materials research group, ACECR Mashhad could setup of anodizing line for aluminum and titanium.