Ultra-High Strength Al Alloys with Nanostructured Hierarchy
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Advances in nanotechnology will potentially revolutionize the way we transport ourselves, defend our country and explore the universe. Moreover, successful application of nanostructured materials will be of technological and scientific significance for society as a whole. Nanostructured materials have been attracting increasing interest, and have the potential of revolutionizing traditional materials design via atomic-level structural control to tailor engineering properties. Considerable strengthening in a variety of nanostructured materials, for example light-weight nanostructured Al alloys has been documented. Moreover, applications of light-weight, high strength Al in aerospace may yield substantial weight reductions and other benefits. Ductility, however, appears to scale inversely with strength in these materials. This challenge has been addressed via a number of strategies, including the introduction of multi-scale concept that facilitates plasticity during deformation. However, there are still major obstacles to the application of bulk nanostructured materials, such asthe lack of fundamental understanding of the factors governing their synthesis and processing and the inadequate microstructure and property characterization for reliable materials design. The proposed work involves research to develop nanostructured materials that exhibit high strength and high ductility for potential applications in aerospace, automotive, and defense. The concept of nanostructured hierarchy will be employed to guide materials design, synthesis and processing of ultra-high strength Al alloys with high ductility. The novel materials synthesis and processing approaches will be used, including such as severe plastic deformation techniques and spark plasma sintering method. Advanced diagnostics will be used to examine microstructural characteristics and evaluate mechanical performance of the nanostructured materials. Successful implementation of the proposed research program will significantly benefit the State of California, in several ways. First, we anticipate that the development of innovative materials synthesis and processing technologies will accelerate manufacturing innovations in relevant industries in California. Second, knowledge transfer will be facilitated via the proposed research activities and furthermore promote the establishment of an appropriately trained and diverse engineering workforce. Technology transfer can potentially strengthen the regional economy through technology-based, start-up companies. Third, the proposed strong research partnership will increase industry’s competitiveness which is critical to long-term, sustained economic growth and development. Fourth, the proposed program will contribute to postdoctoral and graduate student training at UC Davis, a public higher education institution in California. Fifth, the proposed research will layout a foundation for the preparation of future proposals to solicit extramural funds.