Importance
With advancing technology, use of high strength structural materials becomes a necessity. Depletion of fossil fuels and the search for other sources of energy is a current activity of mankind. Hydrogen is believed to be a possible future source of energy (Engineering note: Hydrogen could not be used as a "source" of energy but only as a means to transport energy from one place to another) and a “hydrogen economy” is a strong possibility within the next 50 years. In such a scenario, large scale production, storage, transportation and use of hydrogen becomes necessary. Materials’ problems caused by hydrogen damage could limit the progress of such an economy. Hydrogen may be picked up by metals during melting, casting, shaping and fabrication. They are also exposed to hydrogen during their service life. Materials susceptible to hydrogen damage have ample opportunities to be degraded during all these stages.
Read more about this topic: Hydrogen Damage
Famous quotes containing the word importance:
“There is, I think, no point in the philosophy of progressive education which is sounder than its emphasis upon the importance of the participation of the learner in the formation of the purposes which direct his activities in the learning process, just as there is no defect in traditional education greater than its failure to secure the active cooperation of the pupil in construction of the purposes involved in his studying.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The chimney is to some extent an independent structure, standing on the ground, and rising through the house to the heavens; even after the house is burned it still stands sometimes, and its importance and independence are apparent.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)