APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090022-2
chemistry, electrochemistry is a subject of some importance, and considerable work has been done on stress corrosion as well as batteries and fuel cells. A variety of other subjects have been studied, including inorganic complexes, the chemistry of uranium compounds, polyions, and the chemistry of seawater. The Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Stockholm has contributed greatly to the understanding of structural inorganic chemistry.
Richly endowed with iron ores but not with low-cost metallurgical fuels, Sweden traditionally has stressed quality rather than quantity in its metallurgical industries. A broad metallurgical research program is directed toward supporting the special steels and machine tool industries and is primarily developmental. Only a limited amount of basic research is pursued and fundamental research is generally neglected. The level of metallurgical technology is excellent and compares favorably with that of West Germany and France in ferrous metallurgy. Relatively little effort is directed toward nonferrous metals, although some research is conducted on aluminum and copper alloys.
The major metallurgical research facility is the Swedish Institute for Metals Research, a cooperative organization supported equally by industry and government. It undertakes research on analytical chemistry, physical metallurgy, corrosion, metals solidification, and powder metallurgy. The former director of the institute, Dr. Roland Kiessling, is world famous for his research on inclusions in steel, and the institute continues to perform excellent research on the subject. Other high-quality research is underway at the institute by Dr. Lennart Rahlin on metals behavior under combined creep and fatigue conditions, an area in which the Swedes excel. Considerable research is conducted on fracture mechanics. The institute also has conducted basic research on metal physics, chiefly stacking faults and transmission electron microscopy.
The KTH is active in metallurgical research and its effort has included research on electroslag refining, the fundamentals of arc behavior in gas metal-arc welding, the interaction of creep and fatigue in austenitic stainless steels, fatigue crack growth, and the formation of graphite in alloy cast iron. the KTH has done excellent research on creep mechanisms and fatigue crack growth. Extensive studies on fracture mechanics have been undertaken at the Technical University in Lund under the direction of Prof. K.B. Broberg.
Although the extent and scope of the metallurgical research conducted by governmental and academic facilities are impressive, the strength of the metallurgical effort rests almost entirely in the research conducted by private industrial laboratories. All of the metal producing companies have research facilities, which are well funded, equipped, and staffed. Most of the industrial effort is devoted to the development of improved refining methods and improved alloys. The Swedes have long been leaders in the development of advanced refining methods, and one of the first basic-oxygen steel production processes, the Kaldo process, was developed in Sweden. The process, developed by Dr. B.O. Kalling of Stora Kopparberg Berslages AB in Domnarvet, is an excellent steel production process for relatively small plants. The Swedish Electrical Corporation in Vasteras and the Swedish Ballbearing Works, Inc., in Goteborg, one of the world's leading producers of bearings, jointly developed a ladle refining process for inductive stirring of the melt in the ladle to produce high-quality steel. The Swedes have widely applied a Soviet development, electroslag refining, in their production of stainless steels and are more advanced in the use of electroslag refining than any other country in the West. Comprehensive research programs in this process are underway at various industrial firms. Other research on production processes has included work on heat-exchanger furnaces, for magnetic reduction, sponge iron production, desulfurization of pig iron, and iron powder production. In addition, vacuum melting and vacuum treatment have been investigated thoroughly in connection with the production of heat-treatable allow steels. Hydrogen cracking in high-strength steels has received extensive study.
The Swedes have long been leaders in the development of improved special-purpose steels. Sandviks Steel has developed several special-purpose corrosion-resistant stainless steels that are gaining wide acceptance in the U.S. petrochemical industry. AB Bofors, although not a metals producing company, has a metallurgical laboratory that has been studying hydrogen cracking of alloy steels, metals refining, fatigue creep, and corrosion fatigue. In addition to improved materials for weapons, the company has also developed materials for alloys for the pulp and paper industry.
The Atomic Energy Company has conducted appreciable metallurgical research directed toward support of the nuclear energy program. The research has centered on cladding materials (zirconium alloys and stainless steels), structural materials, pressure vessels, and materials for fast-breeder, liquid-metal cooled reactors, as well as welding and fabrication.
b. Physics and mathematics
The scope of Swedish research in physics is impressive for the size of the country. Most of the essential branches of physics are covered with the
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090022-2
