The British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association was a research group in the United Kingdom during the 20th century, bringing together public and privately funded research into metallurgy

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

. The name was abbreviated officially to B.N.F.M.R.A. but the organisation was normally known as ‘The BNF’ during its life. It was formed in 1920 by members of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Federation which represented the commercial interests of British manufacturers of coppers and copper alloys, lead, zinc and other non-ferrous metals and their alloys, latterly including titanium. Robert Hutton

Robert Hutton

Dr Robert Hutton, was Goldsmiths’ Professor in Metallurgy at Cambridge University from 1931 to 1942 and known for his work with the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning in assisting academics to flee the Nazi regime in Germany.-Early life:Robert Salmon Hutton was the son of J.B...

 was appointed director in 1921 and expanded it to achieve a world-wide reputation. Many staff had reputations that were recognised and respected throughout the world.

Membership

The 600 or so subscribing members formed Industry Committees representing each of the main metal interests which discussed and agreed the topics for technical work to be done and a Council that controlled overall finances. Initially there was an annual government grant towards the work but this was changed to support funding for individual projects. When topics for research were agreed and funded by the industry they were then submitted to the government for approval of matching support funding but after the 1960s policy dictated that this became more and more difficult to obtain. The BNF also took on some contracts wholly sponsored by organisations which included some government departments. Individual technical enquiries from members were answered on a free and confidential basis.

Laboratories

For many years after the new art deco fronted building was opened in 1939 the work was carried out in laboratories fronting on Euston Street, London, NW1. These included three parallel four-story blocks of laboratories and offices with the basements being used for the heaviest equipment and for storage of samples. The laboratories were grouped in specialist sections, including Analytical Chemistry

Analytical chemistry

Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...

, Corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

, Creep Testing, Electroplating

Electroplating

Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...

, Fatigue

Fatigue

Fatigue may refer to:*Fatigue , structural damage from repeated loading*Fatigue , a state of physical and/or mental weakness*Fatigue , safety implications of tiredness...

 Testing, General Metallurgy, Information Library, Mechanical Testing, Melting

Melting

Melting, or fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase change of a substance from a solid to a liquid. The internal energy of a substance is increased, typically by the application of heat or pressure, resulting in a rise of its temperature to the melting point, at which the rigid...

 and Casting

Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

, Members Liaison, Metallography

Metallography

Metallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, typically using microscopy.Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collectively, materialography.-Preparing metallographic...

, Metal Working, Physics (X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...

), Spectrography. The laboratories were an excellent training ground both for assistants who studied for their qualifications part time and for recent graduates from universities. As such members found that staff could be ideal recruits for industrial work. There were 150-200 staff and the average time for researchers to stay was about three years and they could then be found in industries in Britain and world-wide. From the late 1930s to the 1960s through the war and then post-war recovery the Director was Mr G. L. Bailey with Miss E. M. (Helen) Hills as his secretary.

Reports

There was a quarterly report on each research topic presented to the individual research committee and an annual one circulated also to members on request. Final results were compiled as a report that was immediately available to members. After about two years the commercial confidentiality was dropped and a paper was presented at a meeting of the Institute of Metals or other organisation and subsequently published in their Journal. Some researches that had resulted in valuable definitive advancements were then published in book form.

Wartime Work

Much of the work done by the BNF during the 1939-45 period was of vital use for the defence industry. This especially included solving many of the corrosion problems of seawater cooled condenser tubes and tube plates that had resulted in many ships being unserviceable and significant improvements in corrosion resistant alloys for seawater pumps and pipe fittings. No work was ever carried out on active materials for nuclear weapons. Some consultancy work was undertaken on paperwork for new designs.

There has been much publicity about Mrs Melita S. Norwood (née Miss M. S. Sirnis) who joined the BNF in 1937 as a clerk, was eventually promoted to secretary and retired 1972. As secretary to a Research Superintendent she had access to the papers prepared at the BNF for presentation to the research committees and some contractors. Some of these she chose to copy to Russian intelligence. This information was made use of by them and did occasionally result in one of their research organisations publishing development work on non-ferrous metals similar to and sooner than the BNF in Britain.

BNF-Fulmer

During the 1970s the BNF became the BNF Metals Technology Centre and moved out of London to Grove Laboratories, Wantage

Wantage

Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....

, Oxfordshire. Recognising globalisation, membership was then opened to companies based overseas. In 1991 the BNF bought Fulmer Research from the Physics Society and was renamed the BNF-Fulmer, then BNF (Fulmer Materials Centre). The laboratories were closed in 1992.

External links

• British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association and BNFMRA at the National Archives