Chester J. Van Tyne

Professor Emeritus, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Forging is an old art. The forger has evolved from the artisan of the ancient world through the blacksmith of the last several centuries into the modern engineer of today. But the forger’s challenge – creating a forged product with optimal geometry and properties – remains the same.

The present challenges facing the forging industry are still related to basic material questions. New materials are being developed; how can they be forged successfully? Older alloys are still used extensively – are they sufficiently characterized so that models correctly predict their behavior?

As the Forging Industry Education and Research Foundation Professor at CSM, I work extensively with the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center. My primary focus is on steels and specialty alloys used by the forging industry.

One aspect of my research centers around the various microstructural changes that occur during forging and the relationship between these changes and the mechanical properties that the steel possesses.

Besides forging, I am involved in other metal deformation processes such as rolling, extrusion, and sheet metal forming. I also have a keen interest in modeling of these deformation processes by a variety of techniques. Frictional behavior of metal surfaces during deformation is another research area in which I have done some studies.

Education

  • BA, BS, MS, MS, PhD, Lehigh University

Research Interests

  • Forging and forming