Paul Jablonski
Paul Jablonski
October / November 2011
Volume 9 Number 5
What do a novel metallic coronary stent, an easily applied protective coating and titanium production have in common? The common denominator is Paul Jablonski, a metallurgist in the Process Development Division at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s site in Albany, Ore. Jablonski spearheaded development of three winners of R&D 100 awards, although he points out that others also had important input.
Jablonski is described by colleagues as “really a hands-on guy,” preferring to do the melting, heat-treating and rolling of experimental new metallic compounds and alloys himself. Jablonski smilingly admits that what he likes best about his job is planning and executing experiments on materials to solve problems. It was his grandfather, who “could fix anything,” who was Jablonski’s first inspiration. On his very first job at his grandfather’s auto repair shop, he saw how metals could fail, which captured his interest. This experience eventually directed his career path toward understanding metals, how they work and what can be done to make them stronger.
The driving force in his career at NETL is understanding how to improve materials, and by improving them, to improve people's lives. “Metals have always interested me,” Jablonski affirms. “Consider this: by adding the right amount of a very weak element like carbon to a somewhat strong element like iron you can create some of the strongest materials known.” And this is pretty exciting stuff to Jablonski, who uses computer programs such as Thermo-Calc and DICTRA quite extensively—as well as a number of Excel programs he has developed—to determine useful alloy combinations for various applications.
Jablonski received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994, after which he worked first as a metallurgist at ATI Wah Chang and then at Precision Castparts Corporation before he was hired at NETL in 2002. His supervisor at the time, Paul Turner, says, “He was the best hire that I made in 23 years that I supervised federal employees.” Turner sums up his experience with Jablonski, saying, “He is a brilliant metallurgist and has an outstanding work ethic. He is the only one at NETL that I know who has won three R&D 100 awards in five years. It is a privilege to work with him.”
It was the alloy for the stent that won Jablonski an R&D 100 award for 2011. Technically called a “novel platinum chromium alloy for the manufacture of improved coronary stents,” the alloy’s development actually began years ago when Boston Scientific Corporation needed a stent that had a higher yield strength and radiopacity (visibility to x-ray) than the ones they had been manufacturing. They contracted with the then-Albany Research Center (now part of NETL) with a request to design a new platinum-enhanced stainless steel alloy. Jablonski was chief scientist on the development team that worked on the project, devising much of the process that led to the new alloy.
Using trial-sized batches, Jablonski and his team performed the melting, casting, and fabrication of the metal, as well as the characterization of its properties. Part of the work was overcoming the complexities involved in combining the elements and rolling and forming the extremely strong metals. Once the challenges in creating the alloy were overcome, five years of testing followed before the first release of the stent in Europe in 2009, where it captured more than 22 percent of the European market before being approved for the United States. The alloy’s yield strength, Jablonski says, allowed stents to be created thinner and with more flexibility than previous ones. This means that insertion of the new stent, as well as follow-up medical procedures, is made easier. Another plus is the increased visibility of the stent in X-rays.
Just last year, Jablonski and co-worker David Alman won another R&D 100 Award, this time for development of a protective coating called by the long title of “cerium oxide coating for oxidation rate reduction in stainless steels and nickel superalloys.” Testing has shown this patented surface treatment, which can be applied as a slurry by brushing, spraying or dipping metals, will extend the life of a wide variety of metallic alloys in the extreme heat and pressure of high-efficiency energy production plants. The coating is less costly to apply than current protective methods and could result in substantial savings in the power industry.
Jablonski was part of a team that developed an innovative process to produce commercially pure titanium and titanium alloy powder at a significantly lower cost than previously possible. This proprietary process, called the Armstrong Process, won an R&D 100 award in 2007. It was developed jointly by NETL, International Titanium Powder, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and several other private companies. The high-temperature batch process that was currently used for manufacturing this super metal was very expensive, meaning that titanium could only be practical for specific, high-priced markets.
The groundbreaking Armstrong Process is a continuous process (as opposed to a step-wise batch process) that is conducted at low temperature and low pressure. The cost-efficient titanium process loans itself to a variety of applications, particularly NETL's work with the Army Research Laboratory in developing armor plate. Titanium armor plate is valued for its light weight, high corrosion resistance and superior ballistic properties. The reduced-cost Armstrong Process makes titanium a more viable option for the military’s use.
Jablonski remembers one of his favorite work assignments—the fabrication of 1,000 pounds of titanium alloy plate for personal body armor for the troops in Iraq in 2005. Jablonski says, “I like to think we saved some lives.”
Janice Fink is a writer for Performance Results Corporation, a contractor for the National Energy Technology Laboratory.
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