Albert Portevin facts for kids

Albert Marcel Germain René Portevin (born November 1, 1880, died April 12, 1962) was a French scientist who studied metals, known as a metallurgist. He helped create special kinds of stainless steel that use chromium. He also studied how metals stretch and change shape, and a scientific idea called the Portevin–Le Chatelier effect is named after him and another scientist, François Le Châtelier.

Who Was Albert Portevin?

Albert Portevin was born in Paris, France. His father passed away early, so his mother raised him. He went to a famous school called the École centrale des arts et manufactures in 1899 to study chemistry. He liked it so much that he continued to work there and became a professor in 1925.

Discoveries in Metallurgy

In 1905, Portevin started studying steel alloys. Alloys are mixtures of metals. He used a special method called micrography to look closely at chrome steels. He wanted to see how well different amounts of chrome helped steel resist rust and damage from acids.

• He found that if steel had more than 9% chromium, it became very good at resisting acids.
• After finding the best amount of chrome, he worked on making stainless steel less brittle. Brittleness means something breaks easily.
• Portevin also studied how different metal mixtures, like Cadmium Bismuth alloys, cooled down. He used a method called thermal analysis to study how metals shrink, become brittle, or get harder.

Making Metals Easier to Use

Portevin also came up with ways to measure how well metals could be used in manufacturing:

• Castability: This is how well a metal can fill a mold when it's melted.
• Weldability: This is how easily two pieces of metal can be joined together by welding.
• Hardenability: This is how well a metal can become harder.

He found ways to make stainless steels less brittle. This made them much easier to use in factories to make things. He did this by studying how metals change between different forms, like martensite and austenite.

Later Life and Achievements

From 1907, Portevin was the editor of a science magazine called Revue de métallurgie. He also taught at another school, the École supérieure de fonderie et de forge.

He was recognized for his important work:

• In 1942, he was chosen to be part of the French Academy of Sciences. He even became its president in 1959.
• In 1952, he was made a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, which is a very important science group in the United Kingdom.
• In 1954, he received a very high honor in France called the Grand Officier of the Legion d'Honneur.