Posted by Mark E. Chachich on February 15, 1999 at 18:15:48:
In Reply to: Cryogenic Questions!? posted by Tom on February 12, 1999 at 19:50:47:
For what this is worth. When I first learned about cryogenic treatment I asked a friend of mine that is a Ph.D. level chemist what his opinion was. His opinion was that freezing would probablly not relax the stresses in the metal (such as heat treating might, but this has another set of problems). I have since talked to two other chemists that had the same opinion. None of these chemists are metalurgists (sp?) and none of these chemists claimed specialized knowlege of this subject. Please take these data for what they are worth (opinions from chemists and not professional advice). My opinion is simply that I would not want my tubas dunked in liquid nitrogen (I have worked with liquid nitrogen for histology, interesting stuff). However, I am in behavioral neuroscience and have no training in material science. If you want good information, call your local university chemistry or physics department and ask someone in material sciences, metalurgy (sp?) or cryogenic preparations (such as superconducting materials). If you do this please post your findings, I would be interested in what they have to say.
good luck,
Mark E. Chachich
t570466(AT)vm.sc.edu