Harder, Cheaper, Greener: the Design and Deployment of Alloy Coatings with Stabilized Nanocrystalline Structures
Event details
| Date | 04.11.2013 |
| Hour | 13:15 |
| Speaker |
Christopher Schuh, MIT Bio: Background: 1997 BS, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois 2001 PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University 2001-2002 Ernest O. Lawrence Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Research: Prof. Schuh’s group uses experiments, analytical theory, and computer simulations to explore the processing-structure-property relationships in structural metals. They are particularly interested in the role of structural disorder and its effect on mechanical properties. Their research covers many length scales, from long-range disorder in grain boundary networks, to the nanoscale disorder in amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys. |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
When the grain size of a metal is refined to a scale on the order of just a few nanometers, its strength, hardness, wear resistance, and other properties improve in dramatic ways. There is therefore significant interest in designing and deploying such nanocrystalline alloys for structural applications. However, refining the grain structure is a struggle against equilibrium, and nanocrystalline materials are often quite unstable; the grains grow given time even at room temperature, and the associated property benefits decline over time in service. In this talk, our efforts to design a stable family of nanocrystalline alloys will be described. We rely on selective alloying as a method to lower the energy of grain boundaries, bringing the nanocrystalline structure closer to equilibrium. Using analytical thermodynamic mixing calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, we identify desirable alloying elements for a given base metal, and assess the relative stability of nanocrystalline structures against grain growth. We then transition these mod eling principles to the laboratory, produce materials, and experimentally validate the modeling results. Finally, the talk will review the connection between theory, experiment, and engineering application, and describe a suite of commercial products based on this research.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
Organizer
- Holger Frauenrath and Anna Fontcuberta i Morral
Contact
- Anna Fontcuberta i Morral