Established in : 1950.
 

MANDATE

• To pursue excellence in research on the preparation and properties of engineering materials.
• To develop know-how for gainful utilization of mineral resources of the country.
• To develop linkages with the user organizations and help them in utilizing the expertise generated.

MAIN FACILITIES

• Pilot plants: Mineral beneficiation facilities (0.5-5 tonnes/hour), VRDR, 500 kVA submerged arc furnace.
• Material shaping units: rolling mill, forging unit, wire drawing unit, extrusion press.
• Mechanical properties: Creep testing (218 points), tensile bending (MTS INSTRON), fatigue (Vibrophore), impact (instrumented and conventional).
• Analytical: XRF, DRS, AAS, XRD instruments.
• Physic-chemical characterization: DTA/DTC, DSC, magnetic, thermal and electric properties analyse; automatic image analyser.
• Furnaces: Submerged arc furnace (50 kVA), rotary kiln, other melting units (arc, induction resistance furnaces), 60kg vacuum induction furnace.
• Microdestructive characterization: Optical,  SEM, TEM.
• Non-destructive evaluation: Ultrasonic 8-channel acoustic emission, eddy-current, micro-magnetic Barkhausen emission.
• Mineral beneficiation: Hydrocyclone, magenetic seperator, Bartles-Mozley unit, flotation cells, particle size analyser, mineral microstructure characterization facilities.
• Refractories:Characterization, mechanical behaviour, specialized furnaces.
• Instruments for characterization of corrosion behaviour: Polarization behaviour, stress- corrosion, inhibitors (liquid, vapour and gas phase).

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS                          

• NML has carried out characterization, processing and/or agglomeration studies on iron ores and other raw materials for practically all the steel plants, the recent ones being those for Pradip Steel Plant, Orissa; Rashtriya Ispat Nigam,Vishakhapatnam and Durgapur Steel Plant.
• Froth flotation plants have been set up based on the NML's know-how for recovery of fine coal values at the washeries of TISCO (Jamadoba, West Bokaro), CCL (Gidi), and BCCL(Dugda).
• Copper plants based on flow sheets developed at NML have been setup at Rakha and Malankhand.GMDC (Kadipani, Gujrat) and MPMMC (Chandidongri, MP) are utilizing NML's flowsheet to produce acid grade flourspar from low grade ore.
• India's first commercial plant for producing magnesium has been put up by Southern Magnesium and Chemicals Ltd., Rajamundry AP, based on NML's technology.
• The national creep testing facility at NML has generated a comprehensive database based on the high temperature creep behaviour of all indigenous steels useful to power plants and methodologies of estimating remaining life for power plant components.
• NML has developed new grades of mangenese containing steels for high temperature steels.
• NML's technology for the production of low carbon ferro alloys is being utilized by a number of units producing Fe-Mo, Fe-W, Fe-V, Fe-Mn, Fe-Cr alloys.
• NML's technology has been used for the production of battery grade manganese dioxide from Indian ores by MOIL, Nagpur. Also a 50 kg/day pilot plant has been setup in Rangoon, Myanmar, based on the technology.

DIRECTOR
Prof  P. Ramchandra Rao,
M.Sc. (Physics), B.E (Metallurgy), M.Sc (Met. Engg.),
Ph.D.(Met. Engg.), F. I. E., F. I. M.,(London), F. A. Sc., F. N. A. E., F. N. A.
 

CONTACT ADDRESS
Jamshedpur 831 007.
Telephone: (091)657-431131, 426091-6.
Telegram : METALS, TATANAGAR.
Telex    : 0626-210 & 274 NMLJ IN
Fax      : (091)657-426527.