(205c) Material Sustainability At General Electric

GE Global Research, working with our GE business partners, has developed a comprehensive strategy to mitigate risks in the availability and sustainability of raw materials that are critical to high technology products. Many such products contain rare elements with limited availability due either to geopolitical constraints or the fact that they are refined as by-products of limited growth commodity metals. We have developed a methodology to assess such risks and prioritize technical solutions. These solutions include the development of advanced manufacturing techniques that minimize waste, recycling technologies to recover materials lost during manufacture or at end of life, and materials engineering that enables substitutions resulting in significant reduction in the use of at-risk elements without sacrificing material properties. Recent examples include our development of superalloys with 50% and 100% less rhenium, and magnet materials with reduced rare earth content.  This presentation will discuss GE Global Research's work in this area.