April 15-16th, 2025 4/15 – 8am-4pm, 4/16 – 8am-11:30am CST Fundamentals of Metallurgy Training
Course Overview
This course consists of (5) Individual modules:
- Principals of Metallurgy
- Steel Metallurgy
- Stainless Metallurgy
- Aluminum
- Failure Analysis
This course provides a foundational overview of metallurgy, designed for engineers, technicians, and professionals seeking to expand their expertise in material science. Metallurgy is a cornerstone of engineering, as it governs the behavior and properties of metals and alloys, influencing material selection, component design, and structural integrity.
A solid understanding of metals and alloys is essential for making informed engineering decisions. Factors such as composition, microstructure, and processing methods directly affect material properties like strength, hardness, and fatigue resistance. By studying these characteristics, engineers can optimize material selection, enhance performance, and ensure durability in various applications.
This training is specifically designed to help engineers and manufacturing professionals recognize the critical role of metals in production, product quality, and final delivery. Through this course, participants will gain practical knowledge of how metallurgy impacts manufacturing processes and learn to make more effective material choices for their specific needs.
Learning Objectives
- Relationship between a metal’s properties and its composition, microscopic structure, and the manufacturing processes used to fabricate the metal
- Microscopic structures in metals
- How microscopic structures and metal composition influence metal strength
- Steel types & designations used for the different categories of steel alloys
- Metallurgical phases and microstructures found in steels and their effects on steel strength and hardness
- Microstructure changes that occur in steel during heat treating and the resulting effects on strength and hardness
- The different families of wrought aluminum alloys
- Composition and strength differences between the alloy families
- The common metal failure analysis techniques used to analyze metals and the data obtained from the analyses
- How to determine failure mode and mechanism.
Target Audience
This course was developed for mechanical engineers and technicians.
In-Person
The session will be held in person in the training facility at RFA Engineering, 12986 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344.
Course Instructor
Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., P.E.
Metallurgical Engineering Consultant, Failure Analysis Expert, Metallurgy TrainerMichael Pfeifer is President of Industrial Metallurgists, a leading engineering consultancy that specializes in metallurgical engineering solutions for manufacturers, product designers, and legal teams.
With over 30 years of hands-on experience, Michael has been helping clients world-wide with design and manufacturing decisions and problems, as a failure analysis expert, and as a metallurgy expert witness for forensic engineering investigations. You can count on getting the support and guidance needed to make well-informed decisions.
Michael has worked on every aspect of product development and manufacturing. A metallurgy background coupled with extensive design and manufacturing experience enables him to quickly understand you situation, work with you to make a plan, help you get the information you need, and help you us the information to get to the best outcome.