LeTourneau University
LeTourneau University is a co-educational, inter-denominational Christian university that offers undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education with courses in engineering, technology, the liberal arts, business, aviation, education and the sciences. U.S. News & World Report and many other national publications have regularly listed LeTourneau University as one of the top small universities in the United States.
For Dr. Yoni Adonyi and his colleagues, part of the ingenuity at LeTourneau involves a Gleeble thermomechanical simulation system. The Gleeble is at the heart of a number of research projects and serves as a key tool in undergraduate education.
The machine is a Gleeble 1500 that has been retrofitted with a Series 3 control system as well as a number of upgrades. "We've changed everything but the frame," Dr. Adonyi says. "If ever there was a 'hot rod' Gleeble, this is it."
"The Gleeble is an important part of our undergraduate education," he says. "We use the Gleeble in several senior level classes to understand solid state transformation phenomena and to study welding design."
He adds, "The Gleeble is also a key part of undergraduate research worth $1.5 million."
Some of the work includes investigations for a centrifugal casting project sponsored by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, HAZ simulations on high performance steel for bridges for the Federal Highway Administration, line pipe development for Lone Star Steel, and transformation temperatures on weld deposits for Lincoln Electric, to name just a few.
Dr. Adonyi says, "Seventy percent of inquires regarding potential research involve the Gleeble. It has a tremendous impact on our future plans."
"What really sets the Gleeble apart," he says, "are two things: its ability to produce incredibly high strain rates and temperature gradients and its capability to simulate gradients and transients just like real-work processes."
The school's motto is "Faith brings us together. Ingenuity sets us apart." The Gleeble plays a proud part of that tradition.
This article first appeared in the Gleeble® Newsletter — Fall 2000.
