Dr Leonard Bessemer Pfeil (13 March 1898 – 16 February 1969) was a British

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

Early life

Leonard Pfeil was born in London, the son of accountant Leopold Pfeil, and educated at St Dunstan's College, Catford and the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

, where he graduated with a BSc in 1921.

Career

Leonard Pfeil was first appointed a Junior Lecturer in Metallurgy in the newly formed Metallurgy Department of the University College of Swansea, where he worked on the metallographic problems of steel and was awarded a D.Sc by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1927. In 1930 he moved to Birmingham to work at the

Mond Nickel Company The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) to ...

as Assistant Manager of their Research and Development Department. A variety of projects on the use of nickel alloys were suspended during the Second World War in favour of military ones, particularly the development of heat resisting alloys for use in the newly developed gas turbine engines for aircraft. Manufacturing techniques for the successful

Nimonic Nimonic is a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation that refers to a family of nickel-based high-temperature low creep superalloys. Nimonic alloys typically consist of more than 50% nickel and 20% chromium with additives such as titani ...

range of nickel alloys were significantly improved. When the Whittle jet engine was conceived, the need was for a stronger version of the Nimonic alloy then under development (Nimonic 75). Accordingly, Nimonic 80 was developed and the manufacturing difficulties overcome to the point where an experimental jet plane (E28) with a Whittle engine ( Power Jets W.2B) could be flown in 1942, easily outperforming conventional piston-engined fighters. Other projects included the development of diffusion membranes for the separation of uranium isotopes. For his wartime contributions he was awarded the OBE in the 1947 New Year Honours. After the war Pfeil moved to London as manager of Mond's Research and Development Department to continue his work on Nimonic alloys, becoming a director of Henry Wiggin and Co in 1946 and a director of Mond Nickel in 1951. He served on many official and institutional advisory committees and as President of the

Institution of Metallurgists The Institution of Metallurgists was a British professional association for metallurgists, largely involved in the iron and steel industry. History It was founded in 1945. The inaugural meeting was held on 28 November 1945; the organization was for ...

for 1953/54 and of the

Institute of Metals The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicati ...

for 1957. In 1960 he became Vice-Chairman of International Nickel Limited, the United Kingdom branch of the parent firm, holding the post until his retirement in 1963. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1951. Leonard Pfeil died in 1969. He had married Olive Williams in 1929 and had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeil, Leonard Bessemer 1898 births 1969 deaths Scientists from London British metallurgists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society People from Catford