Alfred Wilm
Alfred Wilm (born June 25, 1869 in Niederschellenberg , Silesia ; † August 6, 1937 in Saalberg , Riesengebirge ) was a German chemist , metallurgical engineer and metallurgist .
Life
In 1901 Wilm was appointed as a metallurgist at the Central Office for Scientific and Technical Investigations in Neubabelsberg , where he was supposed to do research on aluminum . In 1903 he applied for his first patent for a “method for improving aluminum alloys by annealing and quenching”. In 1906 he discovered the phenomenon of "space outsourcing" of hardening aluminum alloys. It is said that an apprentice in the laboratory forgot a pouring sample over the weekend next to the furnace. The next Monday it was more firm than on Saturday.
In 1909, A. Wilm registered a patent for a "process for refining magnesium-containing aluminum alloys". The licenses for this were soon acquired by the Düren metal works , which marketed the product as duralumin . At the International Airship Exhibition in Frankfurt in 1909 the new alloy won third prize, at the Airship Exhibition in Petersburg in 1910 the Great Silver Medal for the best airship material and the Great Gold Medal for “Advances in War Technology”. He was a member of the Potsdam Masonic Lodge Teutonia for Wisdom .
Soon many companies were producing duralumin without paying attention to the patent. Wilm struggled with patent infringers for a long time, but this used up his strength and license income, so that he retired from his profession in 1919 and became a farmer. He remained so until his death. In 1937 he died on his mountain farm in Saalberg in the Giant Mountains.
literature
- Herbert Butze: Conqueror of the world monopolies . Julius Klinkhardt Publishing House, Leipzig 1942.
Web links
- Klaus Hentschel : Alfred Wilm. Duralumin. In: 220 tons - lighter than air, material history of the Hindenburg . University of Stuttgart , Historical Institute, Department for the History of Natural Sciences and Technology, 2010, accessed on July 28, 2017 (website for the exhibition in the Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen ): "From 1914 ( LZ 26 ), duralumin was used in airship construction."
- Information on Alfred Wilm (PDF; 197 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Walther Pahl, World Struggle for Raw Materials . Leipzig 1941, p. 126.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilm, Alfred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German chemist, metallurgical engineer and metallurgist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 25, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Niederellenberg , Silesia |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1937 |
| Place of death | Saalberg , Giant Mountains |