QuesTek Innovations

Last updated
QuesTek Innovations LLC
Company type Private
Industry
  • Materials science
  • Software
Founded1997 in Evanston, Illinois
FounderGreg Olson, Charlie Kuehmann, Ray Genellie, Charlie West
ProductsICMD®
Websitequestek.com

QuesTek Innovations LLC is a materials science, engineering and software company that develops materials for applications such as automotive and aerospace. It is one of the first companies to employ integrated computational material engineering (ICME), which relies on physics-based models to predict the performance characteristics of materials. QuesTek has developed materials for companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, Apple, General Motors, Audi, [1] and government agencies such as NASA, United States Department of Energy, and United States Department of Defense. [2] QuesTek uses simulation tools to predict formulations of alloys that can meet the requirements for material properties and performance, often while increasing sustainability. [3]

Contents

History

QuesTek was founded in 1997 in Evanston, Illinois, by Greg Olson, Charlie Kuehmann, Ray Genellie and Charlie West. [4]

QuesTek designs metal alloys for applications such as airplane parts, race-car gears, medical devices and sporting goods. It uses computer-modeling methods to complete work for clients such the U.S. Defense Department, Boeing and other original equipment manufacturers. QuesTek claims to be able to make new metal alloys in half the time and at less than 30% of the cost of traditional methods. QuesTek's software predicts how certain elements will react to one another and gets an early read on characteristics such as strength, flexibility and weight. [5]

Kuehmann is the vice president of materials engineering at SpaceX and Tesla and formerly worked on a design team at Apple. At Tesla he has overcome materials challenges related to stainless steel. [6]

Olson is currently the chief science officer of QuesTek, a member of the company’s board and a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a former professor at Northwestern University. [4] At MIT, Olson investigates fracture resistance, creates materials system designs through computational modeling, and develops design methodologies for alloy steels and other materials, including intermetallic composites, ceramics, and polymers. [7]

ICMD®

In 2023, QuesTek launched its Integrated Computational Materials Design (ICMD®) software, which is built on computational physics models developed by QuesTek in order to resolve challenges from hundreds of materials science engagements QuesTek has completed on behalf of private companies and government agencies since 1997. [8] Drawing on QuesTek’s proprietary models as well as the Materials Genome Initiative, ICMD® maps materials science outcomes into predictive models. [9] ICMD® also uses AI and machine learning when beneficial to solving a particular materials challenge. [10] The ICMD® SaaS application developed by QuesTek allows users to bring ICME capabilities in-house, in order to develop, design and deploy novel materials. [11]

Patents and projects

QuesTek holds 25 patents and currently has 11 patents pending. [4]

QuesTek developed heat-resistant rocket alloys for the SpaceX reusable launch system development program. Its materials were used on the Starship’s Super Heavy booster that landed back on the launchpad in October, 2024. [12]

The U.S. Air Force uses QuesTek’s Ferrium® S53® steel on landing gear pistons of the T-38 aircraft. This steel provides resistance to stress corrosion cracking, fatigue, corrosion fatigue, and grinding burn damage. It also eliminates the need for toxic cadmium plating. [13]

QuesTek also worked with the U.S. Navy to find a new alloy for the hook shank on Navy aircraft. QuesTek developed Ferrium® M54® steel, which is lower cost, stronger and corrosion resistant, doubling the number of landings before replacement is needed to 2,000. Ferrium® M54® also uses far less cobalt compared to other ultra-high strength steels, which is sourced from countries in Africa which can be unstable. [14] The National Institute of Standards and ­Technology (NIST) also supported the development of Ferrium® M54® as one of several Quantitative Benchmark for Time to Market Framework case ­studies to support the Materials Genome Initiative. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stainless steel</span> Steel alloy resistant to corrosion

Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), and rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy containing a minimum level of chromium that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion results from the 10.5%, or more, chromium content which forms a passive film that can protect the material and self-heal in the presence of oxygen. It can also be alloyed with other elements such as molybdenum, carbon, nickel and nitrogen to develop a range of different properties depending on its specific use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrosion</span> Gradual destruction of materials by chemical reaction with its environment

Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engineering is the field dedicated to controlling and preventing corrosion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amorphous metal</span> Solid metallic material with disordered atomic-scale structure

An amorphous metal is a solid metallic material, usually an alloy, with disordered atomic-scale structure. Most metals are crystalline in their solid state, which means they have a highly ordered arrangement of atoms. Amorphous metals are non-crystalline, and have a glass-like structure. But unlike common glasses, such as window glass, which are typically electrical insulators, amorphous metals have good electrical conductivity and can show metallic luster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airframe</span> Mechanical structure of an aircraft

The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inconel</span> Austenitic nickel-chromium superalloys

Inconel is a nickel-chromium-based superalloy often utilized in extreme environments where components are subjected to high temperature, pressure or mechanical loads. Inconel alloys are oxidation- and corrosion-resistant. When heated, Inconel forms a thick, stable, passivating oxide layer protecting the surface from further attack. Inconel retains strength over a wide temperature range, attractive for high-temperature applications where aluminum and steel would succumb to creep as a result of thermally-induced crystal vacancies. Inconel's high-temperature strength is developed by solid solution strengthening or precipitation hardening, depending on the alloy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium bronze</span> Alloy of copper and aluminum

Aluminium bronze is a type of bronze in which aluminium is the main alloying metal added to copper, in contrast to standard bronze or brass. A variety of aluminium bronzes of differing compositions have found industrial use, with most ranging from 5% to 11% aluminium by weight, the remaining mass being copper; other alloying agents such as iron, nickel, manganese, and silicon are also sometimes added to aluminium bronzes.

Corrosion fatigue is fatigue in a corrosive environment. It is the mechanical degradation of a material under the joint action of corrosion and cyclic loading. Nearly all engineering structures experience some form of alternating stress, and are exposed to harmful environments during their service life. The environment plays a significant role in the fatigue of high-strength structural materials like steel, aluminum alloys and titanium alloys. Materials with high specific strength are being developed to meet the requirements of advancing technology. However, their usefulness depends to a large extent on the degree to which they resist corrosion fatigue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aluminium alloy</span> Alloy in which aluminium is the predominant metal

An aluminium alloy (UK/IUPAC) or aluminum alloy is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two principal classifications, namely casting alloys and wrought alloys, both of which are further subdivided into the categories heat-treatable and non-heat-treatable. About 85% of aluminium is used for wrought products, for example rolled plate, foils and extrusions. Cast aluminium alloys yield cost-effective products due to the low melting point, although they generally have lower tensile strengths than wrought alloys. The most important cast aluminium alloy system is Al–Si, where the high levels of silicon (4–13%) contribute to give good casting characteristics. Aluminium alloys are widely used in engineering structures and components where light weight or corrosion resistance is required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society</span> US-based professional organization

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a professional organization for materials scientists and engineers that encompasses the entire range of materials and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials.

7075 aluminium alloy (AA7075) is an aluminium alloy with zinc as the primary alloying element. It has excellent mechanical properties and exhibits good ductility, high strength, toughness, and good resistance to fatigue. It is more susceptible to embrittlement than many other aluminium alloys because of microsegregation, but has significantly better corrosion resistance than the alloys from the 2000 series. It is one of the most commonly used aluminium alloys for highly stressed structural applications and has been extensively used in aircraft structural parts.

Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) is an approach to design products, the materials that comprise them, and their associated materials processing methods by linking materials models at multiple length scales. Key words are "Integrated", involving integrating models at multiple length scales, and "Engineering", signifying industrial utility. The focus is on the materials, i.e. understanding how processes produce material structures, how those structures give rise to material properties, and how to select materials for a given application. The key links are process-structures-properties-performance. The National Academies report describes the need for using multiscale materials modeling to capture the process-structures-properties-performance of a material.

Crevice corrosion refers to corrosion occurring in occluded spaces such as interstices in which a stagnant solution is trapped and not renewed. These spaces are generally called crevices. Examples of crevices are gaps and contact areas between parts, under gaskets or seals, inside cracks and seams, spaces filled with deposits and under sludge piles.

Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) is a research laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Defence Research Complex, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad. It is responsible for the development and manufacture of complex metals and materials required for modern warfare and weapon systems.

Corrosion engineering is an engineering specialty that applies scientific, technical, engineering skills, and knowledge of natural laws and physical resources to design and implement materials, structures, devices, systems, and procedures to manage corrosion. From a holistic perspective, corrosion is the phenomenon of metals returning to the state they are found in nature. The driving force that causes metals to corrode is a consequence of their temporary existence in metallic form. To produce metals starting from naturally occurring minerals and ores, it is necessary to provide a certain amount of energy, e.g. Iron ore in a blast furnace. It is therefore thermodynamically inevitable that these metals when exposed to various environments would revert to their state found in nature. Corrosion and corrosion engineering thus involves a study of chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, electrochemistry and materials science.

Metallurgical failure analysis is the process to determine the mechanism that has caused a metal component to fail. It can identify the cause of failure, providing insight into the root cause and potential solutions to prevent similar failures in the future, as well as culpability, which is important in legal cases. Resolving the source of metallurgical failures can be of financial interest to companies. The annual cost of corrosion in the United States was estimated by NACE International in 2012 to be $450 billion a year, a 67% increase compared to estimates for 2001. These failures can be analyzed to determine their root cause, which if corrected, would save reduce the cost of failures to companies.

Integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) involves the integration of experimental results, design models, simulations, and other computational data related to a variety of materials used in multiscale engineering and design. Central to the achievement of ICME goals has been the creation of a cyberinfrastructure, a Web-based, collaborative platform which provides the ability to accumulate, organize and disseminate knowledge pertaining to materials science and engineering to facilitate this information being broadly utilized, enhanced, and expanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerbrand Ceder</span> Belgian–American scientist

Gerbrand Ceder is a Belgian–American scientist who is a professor and the Samsung Distinguished Chair in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research at the University of California, Berkeley. He has a joint appointment as a senior faculty scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is notable for his pioneering research in high-throughput computational materials design, and in the development of novel lithium-ion battery technologies. He is co-founder of the Materials Project, an open-source online database of ab initio calculated material properties, which inspired the Materials Genome Initiative by the Obama administration in 2011. He was previously the founder and CTO of Pellion Technologies, which aimed to commercialize magnesium-ion batteries. In 2017 Gerbrand Ceder was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering, "For the development of practical computational materials design and its application to the improvement of energy storage technology."

Mark F. Horstemeyer is the Dean of the School of Engineering at Liberty University. He was the Giles Distinguished Professor at Mississippi State University (MSU) and professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Mississippi State University (2002–2018), holding a Chair position for the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) in Computational Solid Mechanics; he was also the Chief Technical Officer for CAVS. Before coming to MSU, he worked for Sandia National Laboratories for fifteen years (1987-2002) in the area of multiscale modeling for design.

Computational materials science and engineering uses modeling, simulation, theory, and informatics to understand materials. The main goals include discovering new materials, determining material behavior and mechanisms, explaining experiments, and exploring materials theories. It is analogous to computational chemistry and computational biology as an increasingly important subfield of materials science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metal casting simulation</span> Overview of casting simulation tools

Casting process simulation is a computational technique used in industry and metallurgy to model and analyze the metal-casting process. This technology allows engineers to predict and visualize the flow of molten metal, crystallization patterns, and potential defects in the casting before the start of the actual production process. By simulating the casting process, manufacturers can optimize mold design, reduce material consumption, and improve the quality of the final product.

References

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  2. "SBIR | QuesTek Innovations LLC". www.sbir.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  3. Fritz, Keith (2023-10-02). "Rare Earth Elements Are Increasingly Replaceable". IndustryWeek. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  4. 1 2 3 Brown, Jim (2024-01-25). "Questek's Ferrium M54 steel saves Navy money and potentially lives". Evanston RoundTable. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  5. Ahlberg, Erik (July 21, 2005). "For Alloys Maker, Computer Modeling Is the Key to Success". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  6. Ewing, Jack (February 6, 2023). "Tesla's Pickup Truck Is Coming Soon. Maybe". The New York Times . Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  7. "Gregory B. Olson". MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  8. "QuesTek's ICMD: Faster, cheaper, and better alloy development for Additive Manufacturing". Metal AM. December 19, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  9. Wei, Xiong (12 February 2016). "Cybermaterials: materials by design and accelerated insertion of materials". Nature. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  10. Shepard, Susan (30 August 2023). "Software Platform Aims to Reduce Trial and Error in Materials Selection". Design News. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  11. Williams, Carl (2024-04-22). "How Digital Transformation in Materials Engineering Will Help in the Climate Fight". Tech Times. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  12. Hemmer, Bill (15 October 2024). "QuesTek's Role in SpaceX's Groundbreaking Starship Launch". Fox News. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  13. Kern, Chris (1 January 2010). "Design, Development and Application of New, High–Performance Gear Steels" (PDF). Gear Technology. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  14. Grabowski, Jeff (7 August 2023). "Integrated Computational Materials Design software simulates complex materials testing". Aerospace Manufacturing and Design. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  15. "The Materials Genome Initiative and the Metals Industry". NAE Website. Retrieved 2024-10-31.