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In This Issue

1. Welcome and Thanks
2. Wear Technology ____ Wear Testing
3. Marketing _____ Sacrifice
4. "Grillin" ____ Beer Stories
5. Beer Marinade

1. Welcome and Thanks

The response to the newsletter keeps on getting better. More and more of you have opted in to this free publication. Apparently word of mouth and the website are responsible. Thanks so much for joining us and a warm welcome.

2. Wear Technology …. Wear Testing

Engineers are comfortable when they deal with numbers. To put a number on a certain materials attribute, such as tensile strength, yield strength, impact energy, or hardness not only lends credibility to the attribute, many times it can be used in calculations and formulations. And so it is no different when it comes to wear properties. While the literature abounds with all types of wear tests, few if any, give us real hard numbers to use in calculations and formulae. Most of the time the established tests give us relative numbers which impart some ranking to the materials in question. Since wear is a weight loss phenomenon, these tests generally are reported as weight losses or volume losses.

One of the most popular wear tests is the ASTM G-65 Dry Sand Rubber Wheel Abrasion Test. This test measures the weight or volume loss in a very controlled environment and simulates what is commonly referred to as Low Stress Abrasion or Scratching Abrasion. Scratching Abrasion is principally characterized by the lack of any fracturing of the abrading material. In other words, the sand particles in the G-65 test retain their shape and size throughout the test procedure. This characteristic is unlike its cousin abrasion wear mechanism, High Stress Abrasion, or Grinding Abrasion where the sand particles are actually fractured into smaller pieces. The newly created particles are very sharp and angular, and coupled with the high degree of stress, imparts an entirely different type of wear. But back to Scratching Abrasion. Scratching Abrasion can be easily illustrated by sand sliding on a dump truck bed liner.

The ASTM G-65 test is quite helpful in ranking materials according to their relative abrasion resistance. The basic test includes a rubber wheel which rotates at a specific RPM, a sand hopper capable of delivering a stream of sand, and a sample approximately 1" x 3" and loaded with a specific force. The sample is weighted before and after the test. The results are reported as a weight loss in grams or a volume loss.

Typical results of the test might yield the following:

From the above, it would be easy to conclude that the substitution of Chrome Carbide Wear Plate for Mild Steel would yield a life expectancy of 13 times in a field application. This not the case however. It must be kept in mind that the G-65 wear test is a highly controlled test and does not simulate actual field conditions. Most applications involve a number of wear mechanisms such as corrosion, impact, frictional wear, and erosion, just to mention a few. Humidity, particle speed, shape, and dynamic forces, all impart their contribution to the deterioration of the component. It is not uncommon for the actual component life to be increased by only 3 to 4 times, while the G-65 test indicates a much greater factor.

Despite this discrepancy between lab and field, the test is an invaluable tool in the ranking of materials and predicting component wear life.

Plan to visit my web site http://www.cladtechnologies.com/weartesting for more information.

If you have material that you wish to test by the G65 method I will be happy to do this for you. Just email me at email: miller@cladtechnologies.com or call at 205-978-5186

3. Marketing: ___ Sacrifice

In the last issue we talked a little bit about being the master of your own category. According to Ries and Trout in their book "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing", SACRIFICE is the corollary to the category law. By this we mean that in order to compete with the number 1 competitor you will have to sacrifice some of your product line. In stressing your category, you will have to abandon the emphasis on your other products to become established as a category leader. For example, Federal Express opted to capture the Overnight small package market, and did so at the expense of all other types of delivery. Thinking they could violate the sacrifice rule, they bought Tiger Lines and emgaged Emery in all other deliveries and promptly lost $2.1 Billion and the rights to the small package market. When you separate yourself, you must stay that way. Once you have established yourself in the mind of the consumer as the leader, you cannot deviate, you cannot confuse the consumer. This may be a little hard to swallow, but it is essential according to Trout and Ries. Remember that marketing is not about products, it's about perception and the mind.

4. "Grillin":

One of the great things about outdoor Grillin is the BEER. I usually find myself sipping a beer as the fire does its job. Well, in the spirit of beer I thought I might pass on a few Beer Stories before sharing a great recipe with you.

BEER STORIES

To all those wonderful BEER LOVERS, here's something to drink
and ponder the next time you reach for a nice ice cold one !!!!

It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".

Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's
clear from the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste
beer looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the
passengers "were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".

After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without
armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

In 1740, Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon "Old Grog", after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy".

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked
into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a
refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle", is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Now you can appreciate the importance of BEER throughout history..

5. Beer-Grilled Sirloin

1 lb. sirloin, well trimmed and portioned into 4 steaks

Marinade:
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 cup beer
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl or pan. Add sirloin.
Cover and refregerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
Grill over medium-hot flame, turning once. (I have also used
this to bake steaks in and was just as good).
"Buddha left a road map, Jesus left a road map, Krishna left a road map, Rand McNally left a road map. But you still have to travel the road yourself."

Stephin Levine