BE: MUSES: Multilevel Cycles, Models, and Scenarios for Iron Alloying Elements

环境中的生物复杂性-材料使用：科学、工程和社会研究项目侧重于通过材料流动分析(MFA)和经济分析将钢铁生产中使用的合金元素的使用联系起来。到目前为止，还没有为任何技术材料(如钢)建造多级链接循环。自第二次世界大战以来，世界钢铁产量几乎增加了十分之一。冶金方面的进步在同一时间内发生，这使得有可能生产各种性能显著提高的钢，这是通过将铁与一套少量到中等数量的其他工程金属合金化实现的。对于这些元素中的一些，工业使用与钢铁生产的需求密切相关。关于这些要素的物质流动周期的信息很少，特别是关于这些周期如何联系在一起的信息，以及这些周期的变化可能对资源可获得性、经济、环境和政府政策选择产生什么影响的信息。这项研究将使用动态物质流动分析模型来研究合金元素的联系，以及追踪铁合金元素的使用历史，并为未来制定长期情景。同时，将为美国开发一个包含材料流动的经济模型，以探索市场结构、成本和相关驱动因素对未来材料流动的影响。一个由来自钢铁行业、政府和学术界的代表欧洲、亚洲和美国的研究人员组成的六人顾问团队将建立一个独特的信息交流。为了让更广泛的公众了解有关钢铁及其合金元素的决定的重要性，将为耶鲁皮博迪博物馆组织一个关于材料流动周期的展览。这项研究直接涉及由国家研究委员会确定的一个关键主题，即“重新发明材料的使用”。预计该项目所产生的综合的、动态的MFA和经济学框架将使国内和国际工业生态学研究人员对材料和环境的未来研究成为可能。该奖项由NSF工程局的BES和CMS部门共同资助和监督。

This Biocomplexity in the Environment - Materials Use: Science, Engineering and Society research project focuses on linking the use of alloying elements used in steel production through materials flow analysis (MFA) and economic analysis. To date, no multilevel linked cycles have been constructed for any technological materials, such as steel. World steel production has increased by almost a factor of ten since the Second World War. Advances in metallurgy have occurred over the same timeframe, making it possible to produce a wide variety of steels with considerably enhanced properties, achieved through the alloying of iron with small to moderate amounts of a suite of other engineering metals. For some of these elements, industrial use is significantly linked to the demands of steel production. Very little information on the material flow cycles of these elements is available, especially on how those cycles are linked together, and on what the implication of changes in those cycles might be for resource availability, economics, the environment, and options for governmental policy. This research will use a dynamic material flow analysis model to study the linking of the alloying elements, as well as to trace the histories of the ferroalloy element use and to develop long-term scenarios for the future. In parallel, an economic model incorporating materials flows will be developed for the United States to explore market structure, costs, and related drivers as influences on future materials flows. A unique information exchange will be created with a six-member advisory team of researchers from the steel industry, government, and academia representing Europe, Asia and the United States. In order to inform the broader public of the significance of decisions regarding steel and its alloying elements, an exhibit on material flow cycles will be organized for the Yale Peabody Museum. This research directly addresses a key topic, identified by the National Research Council, on "Reinventing the Use of Materials". It is expected that the integrated, dynamic framework of MFA and economics that results from this project will enable future research studies on materials and the environment by both national and international researchers in industrial ecology. The award is jointly funded and monitored by the BES and CMS divisions of the NSF Engineering Directorate.