Keith Millis
Encyclopedia
Keith Dwight Millis was an American metallurgical engineer
and inventor of ductile iron
.
Keith Millis grew up in Rensselaer, New York and earned his Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering as a 1938 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
. A year later he was conferred a Master of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering at RPI.
Early in the Second World War, chromium
was considered critical to the war effort and experimentation was conducted by Millis to find a substitute. He made his discovery while experimenting with molten iron and magnesium
. The original intent was to find another element that would cause all the carbon
in the cast iron
alloy
to be combined as carbide
. Magnesium was a known carbide former. Instead, the graphite
in the iron formed into spheroidal shapes, and the cast iron had high tensile strength plus it exhibited ductility. Thus was born ductile iron
in 1943.
Millis and others at the International Nickel Company (Inco) sought and obtained U.S. patent 2,485,760 on October 25, 1949 for magnesium additions to cast iron that would spheroidize the graphite and dramatically ductilize the material.
As an employee of Inco, Millis worked to promote the use of ductile iron as it began to be used as a commercial material. He also helped to found the Ductile Iron Society, and organization whose purpose is to promote the production and application of ductile iron castings.
Millis died in 1992.
The most recent symposium was co-sponsored by the American Foundry Society
. He was inducted into RPI's alumni hall of fame in 1999. A perpetual international scholarship has been awarded by the Ductile Iron Society Foundry Educational Foundation in Millis’s name since 1991.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and inventor of ductile iron
Ductile iron
Ductile iron, also known as ductile cast iron, nodular cast iron, spheroidal graphite iron, spherulitic graphite cast iron and SG iron, is a type of cast iron invented in 1943 by Keith Millis...
.
Keith Millis grew up in Rensselaer, New York and earned his Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering as a 1938 graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
. A year later he was conferred a Master of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering at RPI.
Early in the Second World War, chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
was considered critical to the war effort and experimentation was conducted by Millis to find a substitute. He made his discovery while experimenting with molten iron and magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
. The original intent was to find another element that would cause all the carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
in the cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
to be combined as carbide
Carbide
In chemistry, a carbide is a compound composed of carbon and a less electronegative element. Carbides can be generally classified by chemical bonding type as follows: salt-like, covalent compounds, interstitial compounds, and "intermediate" transition metal carbides...
. Magnesium was a known carbide former. Instead, the graphite
Graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
in the iron formed into spheroidal shapes, and the cast iron had high tensile strength plus it exhibited ductility. Thus was born ductile iron
Ductile iron
Ductile iron, also known as ductile cast iron, nodular cast iron, spheroidal graphite iron, spherulitic graphite cast iron and SG iron, is a type of cast iron invented in 1943 by Keith Millis...
in 1943.
Millis and others at the International Nickel Company (Inco) sought and obtained U.S. patent 2,485,760 on October 25, 1949 for magnesium additions to cast iron that would spheroidize the graphite and dramatically ductilize the material.
As an employee of Inco, Millis worked to promote the use of ductile iron as it began to be used as a commercial material. He also helped to found the Ductile Iron Society, and organization whose purpose is to promote the production and application of ductile iron castings.
Millis died in 1992.
Legacy
Since his death, the Ductile Iron Society has held the "Keith Millis World Symposium on Ductile Iron", a technical meeting concerning all facets of ductile iron material, processing and applications. The event has been held approximately evry 5 years:- 1993 - Hilton Head Island, SC
- 1998 - Hilton Head Island, SC
- 2003 - Hilton Head Island, SC
- 2008 - Las Vegas, NV
The most recent symposium was co-sponsored by the American Foundry Society
American Foundry Society
The American Foundry Society traces its roots to 1896 when the American Foundrymen's Association was formed. The Association was subsequently named The American Foundrymen's Society, and later the name was shortened to the American Foundry Society, sometimes shortened to AFS...
. He was inducted into RPI's alumni hall of fame in 1999. A perpetual international scholarship has been awarded by the Ductile Iron Society Foundry Educational Foundation in Millis’s name since 1991.