Tribute to Sam Froes, Powder Metal Technology Expert

By Michael C. Gabriele

“The future appears bright for the various facets of titanium powder metallurgy technology. This includes the pre-alloyed/HIP (hot isostatic pressing), metal injection molding (MIM) methods, and especially additive manufacturing (AM). With the dramatically growing market for additive manufacturing and consistent property performance of an increasing number of AM titanium components, the use of metal powders for the manufacture of structural components is expected to become more acceptable than before. This will, in turn, assist in the further development of titanium powder metallurgy.”

“The bottom line is that a low-cost powder with good flow/packing is needed. On the other hand, research on titanium powder metallurgy has seen increasing momentum over the last two decades, with a number of promising developments or initiatives in the research base at present. Some breakthroughs may well occur in the next decade or so, leading to increased applications of powder metallurgy titanium components.”

So wrote industry sage, researcher and prolific author Sam Froes in the 2015 edition of the technical journal “Titanium Powder Metallurgy.” In many ways, this article summarized his contributions to the understanding of powder metallurgy technology and its applications.

Francis H. (“Sam”) Froes, Ph.D., passed away on May 19 at the age of 81 at his home in Tacoma, WA. Yahn and Son Funeral Home published his obituary.

Froes was involved in the field of titanium powder metallurgy for more than 40 years. He worked for Crucible Steel Co., where he was leader of the Titanium Group. He went on to be the program manager for a U.S. Air Force contract on titanium powder metal in Dayton, OH, and then spent time at the USAF Materials Lab, where he was supervisor of the Light Metals Group. He later relocated to Moscow, ID, where he was a director and department head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department of the Materials Lab. Sam was a longtime consultant of the ITA.

Among his observations and forecasts in the 2015 Titanium Powder Metallurgy journal, Froes wrote that AM “has reached a level of maturity that allows the production of parts for end users for most applications. As an enabling technology, AM should show rapid growth for the manufacturing of various types of complex titanium components.

Many new opportunities are expected to emerge as times goes on. Additive manufacturing makes imagination the major limitation. Innovative design will continue to drive the growth of AM of titanium components with novel functionality or properties.” Separately, he predicted that expanded applications for titanium MIM “should come from the use of lower-cost spherical powder and more widespread acceptance of this technology in industries such as aerospace and auto. MIM has been used for making titanium medical components. This market is expected to continue to grow.”

Froes gave the keynote presentation at the first Titanium Development Association (TDA), which was held in Keystone, CO, in November 1984. (The TDA was the precursor industry trade group that evolved into the International Titanium Association.) He cosponsored four symposia for TMS (the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society) on “Cost Effective Titanium,” featuring numerous papers on powder metal. He is a Fellow of ASM International, the world’s largest materials information society, a member of the Russian Academy of Science, and was awarded the “Service to Powder Metallurgy” by the Metal Powder Association. His body of work during his distinguished career includes publishing more than 800 papers, holding more than 60 patents, editing 15 books and co-authoring numerous comprehensive technical papers.

Over the years, various business groups and research organizations throughout the world, including the Ukrainian Academy of Science, the Air Force Academy, Simon Bolivar University (Venezuela), the Korean Institute of Metals, the University of Western Australia, Kobe Steel, and the Beijing Institute for Aeronautical Materials, invited him to present lectures at their conferences. He presented keynote addresses in more than 40 different countries on the science and technology of titanium and its alloys.

An alumnus of the University of Sheffield, England, Froes earned an MSc and Ph.D. in Physical Metallurgy and was an internationally recognized scholar in the field of titanium science and technology. He served with distinction as an Institute Director and Department Head (Materials Science and Engineering) at the University of Idaho, where he was awarded a prize for outstanding research in 2004. His achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including being elected as a Fellow of ASM, receiving the award of Service to Powder Metallurgy from the Metal Powder Association and the Ben Gurion Medal for his achievements in the field of Titanium Science and Technology.

“I met Sam back in 1979 when he worked for Air Force and we had a few powder metal titanium alloy programs with him that time,” Vladimir S. Moxson, Ph.D., the chief operating officer of ADMA Products Inc., recalled. “We worked with Sam on the various programs including Phase 1 and 2 of Small Business Innovation Research programs back in late 1990s, which were awarded to Cooperative Agreement between ADMA and the Army Research Lab. Based on those programs, ADMA, based in Hudson, OH, was able to develop the commercial application of powder metal titanium alloys being currently in full scale production for the U.S. Army critical flying components.”

Froes and his wife Sandra had two children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.