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Pasadena Calif. – Caltech Material science undergraduate student Moriah Bischann, mentored by aerospace postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Owen Kingstedt, is the winner of the Doris S. Perpall Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) Speaking Competition. She was recognized as the best speakers-out of the 200 students who presented their SURF research. Read the full story . . ....
Continue readingDr. Kingstedt presents his work on the thermal signatures of deformation mechanisms and the localization evolution prior to failure in Mg Alloy AZ31B at the Society of Experimental Mechanics International Congress in Orlando, FL, June 2016. The Society for Experimental Mechanics is composed of international members from academia, government, and industry who are committed to interdisciplinary application, research and development, education, and active promotion of experimental methods to: (a) increase the knowledge of physical phenomena; (b) further the understanding of the behavior of materials, structures and systems; and (c) provide the necessary physical basis and verification for analytical and...
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Because of the low symmetry hexagonal close packed atomic structure of Mg there are a limited number of deformation mechanisms to accommodate deformation along the crystallographic c-axis. Only one dislocation slip based mechanism can accommodate deformation along the c-axis. Therefore, deformation twinning plays a dominant role in the accommodation of deformation along the c-axis. To date there have been a number of studies to examine twinning but there are still a number of critical details that need to be addressed to properly inform modeling efforts. Shown below are the first in-situ images of twin propagation of single crystal magnesium,...
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High speed imaging is combined with high strain rate loading to probe the evolution of strain localization leading up to failure in Mg alloys. From this study pathways for deformation are identified which lead to undesired shear band formation and crack formation. Show below is a comparison of the strain localization that occurs at a machined defect for three different loading orientations. The left two strain maps demonstrate the ability of two loading orientations to accommodate deformation in regions away from the specimen through hole. The strain map on the right shows strong localization near the machined defect which...
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Congratulations to Wes Tayon for passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam! New M.S. student, Karen DeMille, joins the MMM Lab after completing her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University. Karen will join Prof. Spear and Brian Phung at the Air Force Research Laboratory this summer. Welcome, Karen! Jayden Plumb has been selected for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Congratulations, Jayden! Kory Cross has been selected for a renewal of his UROP award. Congratulations, Kory! ...
Continue readingNew work from the MMM Lab and collaborators describes a method for generating high-fidelity conformal meshes to simulate microstructurally small fatigue crack growth. Read this and other articles in a new special issue of FFEMS (link)....
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ME Assistant Professors Michael Czabaj and Ashley Spear have each been selected for the 2016 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP). This program, sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), offers fellowships to university faculty to conduct research at Air Force research facilities in the summer. The objectives of the program are: To stimulate professional relationships among U.S. Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program participants and the scientists and engineers at Air Force research facilities. To enhance the research interests and capabilities of faculty (both new and experienced researchers) in the U.S. academic community....
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Prof. Spear recently traveled to Duke University to give a seminar on the topic of combining experimental observations with numerical simulation and machine learning to improve understanding of 3D crack growth at the grain scale. Thanks to the faculty and students in various departments within the School of Engineering for their kind hospitality and fruitful discussions. Special thanks to Professor Wilkins Aquino for the generous invitation and for hosting Spear’s visit....
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