Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Additive Manufacturing Of (Mgconicuzn)O High-Entropy Oxide Using A 3d Extrusion Technique And Oxide Precursors, Ruoyu Chen, Saisai Li, Qingfeng Yan, Haiming Wen

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This report presents an additive manufacturing approach, for the first time, to producing high-entropy oxides (HEOs) using a 3D extrusion-based technique with oxide precursors. The precursors were prepared by a wet chemical method from sulfates. Additives were utilized to optimize the rheological properties of the printing inks with these precursors, and the properties of the printed HEOs were improved by increasing the solid content of the inks. When ink with a solid content of 78 wt% was used for printing, the resulting HEO exhibited a relative density of 92% and a high dielectric constant after undergoing pressure less sintering at …

High-Temperature Interactions Between Titanium Alloys And Strontium Zirconate Refractories, R. Sharon Uwanyuze, Baris Yavas, Jiyao Zhang, Janos E. Kanyo, Lesley D. Frame, Rainer J. Hebert, Stefan Schafföner, S. Pamir Alpay

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We investigated interactions between Ti6Al4V alloys and strontium zirconate (SrZrO₃) ceramic to assess its potential as a refractory mold material in investment casting. We developed a robust yet simple procedure to examine both the liquid–solid and solid–solid interactions using pellets in drop casting and diffusion couple methods. Reaction layers were characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The results were compared to alumina (Al₂O₃) which is still a common refractory ceramic for molds in investment casting. Our findings indicate that Ti6Al4V surfaces in contact with …

Strength Retention Of Single-Phase High-Entropy Diboride Ceramics Up To 2000°C, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas, Yue Zhou, Jincheng Bai

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The mechanical properties of single-phase (Hf_0.2,Nb_0.2,Ta_0.2,Ti_0.2,Zr_0.2)B₂ ceramics with high purity were investigated. The resulting ceramics had relative density greater than 99%, and an average grain size of 4.3 ± 1.6 μm. At room temperature (RT), the Vickers hardness was 25.2 ± 0.6 GPa at a load of 0.49 N, Young's modulus was 551 ± 7 GPa, fracture toughness was 4.5 ± 0.4 MPa m1/2, and flexural strength was 507 ± 10 MPa. Flexural strength increased by more than 50% from 507 ± 10 MPa at RT to 776 ± …

Improving Strength And Microstructure Of Sic Reticulated Porous Ceramic Through In-Situ Generation Of Sic Whiskers Within Hollow Voids, Ruoyu Chen, Kunshi Xie, Haipeng Zhu, Qun He, Saisai Li, Haiming Wen

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

SiC Reticulated Porous Ceramic with Excellent Strength and High-Density Ceramic Struts Was Successfully Prepared using the Polymer Replica Method, Followed by Pressureless Sintering under a Buried Charcoal Atmosphere. First, a Polyurethane (PU) Template Was Coated with a Si Slurry and Then a SiC-Containing Slurry, and Subsequently Heated under the Buried Charcoal Atmosphere. to Ensure Excellent Coating Ability of the Slurries, the Viscosity, Thixotropy, and Yield Stresses of the Si Slurry Were Optimized by Adjusting the Content of the Thickening Agent. during Heating, Si in the Coating Layer Reacted with the Residual C and CO Gas from the PU Template and …

Phenomenological Analysis Of Surface Degradation Of Metallic Materials In Extreme Environment, Simon N. Lekakh, Oleg Neroslavsky

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The resistance to surface degradation in metallic alloys plays an important role for the lifetime of the components working in harsh environments. The mechanisms involved in degradation of metallic surface in a high-temperature aggressive gaseous atmosphere include the following: forming adherent to the surface multiphase oxide layer, partial spallation, and possible vaporization of formed compounds. The governing equation, which describes a parabolic growth of adherent layer, time-dependent vaporization, and cross-linked to instantaneous thickness of adherent layer spallation rate, was suggested and analyzed. The several relationships between the kinetic constants were defined from analysis of the governing equation. Design of routes …

Real-Time Air Gap And Thickness Measurement Of Continuous Caster Mold Flux By Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer, Abhishek Prakash Hungund, Hanok Tekle, Bohong Zhang, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jeffrey D. Smith, Rex E. Gerald, Jie Huang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mold Flux plays a critical role in continuous casting of steel. Along with many other functions, the mold flux in the gap between the solidifying steel shell and the mold serves as a medium for controlling heat transfer and as a barrier to prevent shell sticking to the mold. This manuscript introduces a novel method of monitoring the structural features of a mold flux film in real-time in a simulated mold gap. A 3-part stainless-steel mold was designed with a 2 mm, 4 mm and, 6 mm step profile to contain mold flux films of varying thickness. An Extrinsic Fabry-Perot …

Modeling Phase Selection And Extended Solubility In Rapid Solidified Alloys, Azeez Akinbo, Yijia Gu

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new phase selection model based on the time-dependent nucleation theory was developed to investigate the effect of rapid solidification on extended solubility. The model was applied to predict the solubility as a function of undercooling for several binary Al alloys. The predictions of both eutectic and peritectic systems show good agreement with experimental data. It was demonstrated that the developed model is better than the T 0-line method, which neglected the kinetic process of nucleation. Furthermore, the model can also be applied to ternary and multicomponent phases assuming the nucleation is limited by the scarcest species or the slowest …

Characterization Of Virgin, Re-Used, And Oxygen-Reduced Copper Powders Processed By The Plasma Spheroidization Process, M. Hossein Sehhat, David Perez-Palomino, Connor Wiedemeier, Tristan Cullom, Joseph William Newkirk

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fabrication of parts with high mechanical properties heavily depend on the quality of powder deployed in the fabrication process. Copper powder in three different powder types were spheroidized using radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spheroidization process (TekSphero-15 system). The characterized powders include virgin powder as purchased from the powder manufacturer, powder used in electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) process, and reconditioned powder, which was used powder that underwent an oxygen-reduction treatment. The goal of spheroidizing these powder types was to evaluate the change in powder morphology, the possibility of enhancing the powder properties back to their as-received conditions, and …

Thermal And Electrical Properties Of Spark Plasma Sintered (Ti,Cr)B2 Ceramics, Steven M. Smith, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas, Laura Silvestroni

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Thermal and electrical properties were measured for TiB2 ceramics containing varying CrB2 contents up to 33 mol%. The room-temperature thermal diffusivity decreased with increasing Cr content from 0.330 ± 0.003 cm2/s for pure TiB2 to 0.060 ± 0.003 cm2/s for (Ti0.66Cr0.33)B2. The amount of anisotropy in the coefficients of thermal expansion increased with increasing Cr content and the c-axis had the greatest dependence on Cr addition, with an increase of more than 25% in the thermal expansion for 33 mol% CrB2 compared to TiB2, whereas the a-axis only increased by about 8%. The electrical conductivity was the lowest for (Ti0.66Cr0.33)B2 …

Characterization Of Virgin, Re-Used, And Oxygen-Reduced Copper Powders Processed By The Plasma Spheroidization Process, M. Hossein Sehhat, David Perez-Palomino, Connor Wiedemeier, Tristan Cullom, Joseph William Newkirk

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fabrication of parts with high mechanical properties heavily depend on the quality of powder deployed in the fabrication process. Copper powder in three different powder types were spheroidized using radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spheroidization process (TekSphero-15 system). The characterized powders include virgin powder as purchased from the powder manufacturer, powder used in electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) process, and reconditioned powder, which was used powder that underwent an oxygen-reduction treatment. The goal of spheroidizing these powder types was to evaluate the change in powder morphology, the possibility of enhancing the powder properties back to their as-received conditions, and …

Boro/Carbothermal Reduction Co-Synthesis Of Dual-Phase High-Entropy Boride-Carbide Ceramics, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas, Stefano Curtarolo

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Dense, dual-phase (Cr,Hf,Nb,Ta,Ti,Zr)B₂-(Cr,Hf,Nb,Ta,Ti,Zr)C ceramics were synthesized by boro/carbothermal reduction of oxides and densified by spark plasma sintering. The high-entropy carbide content was about 14.5 wt%. Grain growth was suppressed by the pinning effect of the two-phase ceramic, which resulted in average grain sizes of 2.7 ± 1.3 µm for the high-entropy boride phase and 1.6 ± 0.7 µm for the high-entropy carbide phase. Vickers hardness values increased from 25.2 ± 1.1 GPa for an indentation load of 9.81 N to 38.9 ± 2.5 GPa for an indentation load of 0.49 N due to the indentation size effect. Boro/carbothermal …

Re-Assembling Polymer Particle Package For Conformance Control And Fluid Loss Control, Jingyang Pu, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman

Patents

This invention is broadly concerned with compositions and processes for oilfield applications. More specifically, this invention relates to novel polymer constructed packages that, when pumped into a petroleum well, provide tunable characteristics of transformation and delayed self-assembly with each other under reservoir conditions to yield strong, elastic, bulk gel materials. The compositions comprise a polymer, assembling agents, and optional additives used for the re-assembly stage are uniformly-distributed within the initial gel particles. The polymer particle packages absorb water and swell upon exposure to water, thus exposing the "assembling agents" that enable re-assembly. Both swelling and re-assembly are proportionally controlled via …

Cast Iron Alloy For Automotive Engine Applications With Superior High Temperature Oxidation Properties, Larry Alan Godlewski, Mei Li, Carlos Engler-Pinto, Simon Naumovich Lekakh

Patents

A cast iron alloy is provided with a composition in weight percent (wt.%) of carbon between 2.6 to 3.4 wt.%, silicon between 2.4 to 3.2 wt. %, manganese between 0.3 to 0.6 wt. %, molybdenum between 0.4 to 1.2 wt. %, nickel between 0.6 to 1.75 wt.%, magnesium between 0.01 to 0.075 wt.%, aluminum between 1.8 to 3.5 wt.%, sulfur between 0.003 to 0.025 wt.%, zirconium between 0.001 to 0.02 wt. %, cerium between 0.001 to 0.03 wt. %, lanthanum between 0.0005 to 0.02 wt. %, and a balance of iron and unavoidable trace elements. A part formed from the …

Characterization Of Virgin, Re-Used, And Oxygen-Reduced Copper Powders Processed By The Plasma Spheroidization Process, M. Hossein Sehhat, David Perez-Palomino, Connor Wiedemeier, Tristan Cullom, Joseph William Newkirk

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fabrication of parts with high mechanical properties heavily depend on the quality of powder deployed in the fabrication process. Copper powder in three different powder types were spheroidized using radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spheroidization process (TekSphero-15 system). The characterized powders include virgin powder as purchased from the powder manufacturer, powder used in electron beam powder bed fusion (EB-PBF) process, and reconditioned powder, which was used powder that underwent an oxygen-reduction treatment. The goal of spheroidizing these powder types was to evaluate the change in powder morphology, the possibility of enhancing the powder properties back to their as-received conditions, and …

Thermal And Electrical Properties Of Spark Plasma Sintered (Ti,Cr)B2 Ceramics, Steven M. Smith, Lun Feng, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas, Laura Silvestroni

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Thermal and electrical properties were measured for TiB2 ceramics containing varying CrB2 contents up to 33 mol%. The room-temperature thermal diffusivity decreased with increasing Cr content from 0.330 ± 0.003 cm2/s for pure TiB2 to 0.060 ± 0.003 cm2/s for (Ti0.66Cr0.33)B2. The amount of anisotropy in the coefficients of thermal expansion increased with increasing Cr content and the c-axis had the greatest dependence on Cr addition, with an increase of more than 25% in the thermal expansion for 33 mol% CrB2 compared to TiB2, whereas the a-axis only increased by about 8%. The electrical conductivity was the lowest for (Ti0.66Cr0.33)B2 …

Investigation Of Manufacturing Techniques For Magnetorheological Elastomers To Expand Feasibility In A Diverse Array Of Applications, Austin S. Robbins

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Magnetorheological elastomers, or MREs, are smart composite materials with controllable physical and mechanical properties when introduced to an external stimulus of a magnetic field. The controllability of these properties is highly tunable by the selection of the elastomeric matrix, concentration of magnetically permeable particles, introduction of additives, and the alignment of the constituents during the curing process. The fabrication of MREs typically calls for a mold that is filled with an MRE mixture to create the final desired geometry after curing. These molds are frequently placed under a magnetic field which orients the micron sized magnetic particles along the magnetic …

Stability Of Ruddlesden-Popper Phase Lanthanum Nickelate As Air Electrode For Reversible Solid Oxide Cells, Daniel De Lorenzo Moreira

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis studied the long-term stability of Ruddlesden-Popper phase Lanthanum Nickelate under operating conditions as the air electrode for Reversible Solid Oxide Cells (R-SOC). Renewable energies have gone through increase in popularity throughout the last decades, mainly due to the consequences of the rapid population growth in the world. These new energies have been pointed as the rightful successor of fossil fuel energies in order to decrease the environmental impact of our day-to-day life. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells as well as Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells are believed to be the key to stabilizing the energy supply when environmental conditions are …

Material Characterization Of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (Tpu) And Thermoplastic Elastomers (Tpe) For Development Of 3d-Printed Surrogate Organs For Medical Training, Anastasia Elizabeth Lucci

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cadaveric specimens are a necessary, albeit limited, resource for training medical students on basic surgical skills. The availability of surrogate 3D-printed organs would readily allow access to resources that could reduce or potentially eliminate the need for cadaveric specimens or, at a minimum, provide students the opportunity to practice with 3D-printed surrogates before transitioning to those specimens. This research focuses on determining which thermoplastic material most closely mimics mechanical properties such as hardness and stiffness of human organs and allows 3D printing surrogate organs to be used as safe, educational tools. Relatively “soft” materials such as thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) and …

High Figure Of Merit Spin Polarized Electron Sources Grown Via Mocvd, Benjamin Belfore, Adam Masters, Deewakar Poudel, Greg Blume, Stephen Polly, Erdong Wang, Seth M. Hubbard, Marcy Stutzman, Joseph M. Grames, Matt Poelker, Matt Grau, Sylvain Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Spin polarized photocathodes are key to the future operation of electron accelerators such as the ones at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Currently, these photocathodes come in short supply due to limited production by molecular beam epitaxy. By developing a process to implement similar structures using metal organic chemical vapor deposition, the availability of these devices can be increased. In this paper, we detail the implementation of recent photocathode advancements via metal organic chemical vapor deposition process and show an improvement in both polarization and quantum efficiency of our devices compared to those fabricated via molecular …

Molecular Dynamics Modeling Of Polymers For Aerospace Composites, Swapnil Sambhaji Bamane

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Polymer matrix composite materials are widely used as structural materials in aerospace and aeronautical vehicles. Resin/reinforcement wetting and the effect of polymerization on the thermo-mechanical properties of the resin are key parameters in the manufacturing of aerospace composite materials. Determining the contact angle between combinations of liquid resin and reinforcement surfaces is a common method for quantifying wettability. It is challenging to determine contact angle values experimentally of high-performance resins on CNT materials such as CNT, graphene, bundles or yarns, and BNNT surfaces. It is also experimentally difficult to determine the effect of polymerization reaction on material properties of a …

Manganese-Based A-Site High-Entropy Perovskite Oxides For Solar Thermochemical Hydrogen Production, Cijie Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Non-stoichiometric perovskite oxides have been studied as a new family of redox oxides for solar thermochemical hydrogen (STCH) production owing to their favourable thermodynamic properties. However, conventional perovskite oxides suffer from limited phase stability and kinetic properties, and poor cyclability. Here, we report a strategy of introducing A-site multi-principal-component mixing to develop a high-entropy perovskite oxide, (La_1/6Pr_1/6Nd_1/6Gd_1/6Sr_1/6Ba_1/6)MnO₃ (LPNGSB_Mn), which shows desirable thermodynamic and kinetics properties as well as excellent phase stability and cycling durability. LPNGSB_Mn exhibits enhanced hydrogen production (~77.5 mmol moloxide^–1) compared to (La …

Deep Reinforcement Learning For Approximate Policy Iteration: Convergence Analysis And A Post-Earthquake Disaster Response Case Study, Abhijit Gosavi, L. (Lesley) H. Sneed, L. A. Spearing

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Approximate Policy Iteration (API) is a Class of Reinforcement Learning (RL) Algorithms that Seek to Solve the Long-Run Discounted Reward Markov Decision Process (MDP), Via the Policy Iteration Paradigm, Without Learning the Transition Model in the Underlying Bellman Equation. Unfortunately, These Algorithms Suffer from a Defect Known as Chattering in Which the Solution (Policy) Delivered in Each Iteration of the Algorithm Oscillates between Improved and Worsened Policies, Leading to Sub-Optimal Behavior. Two Causes for This that Have Been Traced to the Crucial Policy Improvement Step Are: (I) the Inaccuracies in the Policy Improvement Function and (Ii) the Exploration/exploitation Tradeoff Integral …

Cascaded Sapphire Fiber Bragg Gratings Inscribed By Femtosecond Laser For Molten Steel Studies, Dinesh Reddy Alla, Deva Prasad Neelakandan, Farhan Mumtaz, Rex E. Gerald, Laura Bartlett, Ronald J. O'Malley, Jeffrey D. Smith, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This research reports a distributed fiber optic high-temperature sensing system tailored for applications in the steel industry and various other sectors. Recent advancements in optical sensor technology have led to the exploration of sapphire crystal fibers as a solution for sensing in harsh environments. Utilizing a femtosecond (fs) laser, cascaded fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) were meticulously fabricated within a multimode sapphire optical fiber. These FBGs endowed the system with distributed sensing capabilities and underwent rigorous testing under extreme temperatures, reaching up to 1,800 °C. The study delves into the investigation of the FBG reflection spectrum, facilitated by the development of …

Development Of Corn Kernel-Based Biocomposite Films For Food Packaging Applications, Swastika Bera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most of the current and active food packaging resources and methods are nonbiodegradable and nonrenewable therefore harmful to the environment. Due to this, alternate sources of food packaging materials are in high demand. In this study, a bio-composite film has been developed, with Corn kernel powder as fiber reinforcement which is mixed with gelatin, and lignin two biopolymers as the matrix. The effect of Corn Kernel (CK) reinforcement on the Gelatin/Lignin (G/L) matrix on mechanical and barrier properties has been studied. CK has shown great potential as reinforcement to natural polymer, gelatin, and lignin (G/L) for food packaging applications as …

Suppressing Aluminum/Silica Exchange Reaction Between High Aluminum Steel And Mold Flux During Continuous Casting Process, Kuanysh Nurbekuly Yermukhanbetov

Masters Theses

"Mold flux plays one of the critical roles in continuous casting of steel. It performs five primary functions: thermal and chemical insulation, lubrication between the steel strand and mold, absorption of inclusions, and promotion of even heat flux. The aluminum/silica exchange reaction occurring between steel and mold flux during the continuous casting process poses significant challenges in the steel industry. This reaction can lead to various defects in the cast product and adversely affect its surface quality, as well as downstream processing.

In this work, effectiveness of two approaches, namely slag dopant additions and electrochemical techniques, in suppressing the exchange …

Development And Testing Of A Hyperbaric Aerodynamic Levitator For Containerless Materials Research, Sydney Elizabeth Boland

Masters Theses

"This research focused on the development and testing of a hyperbaric aerodynamic levitator for container less materials research of specimens at temperatures greater than 2000°C and pressures up to 10.3 MPa (1500 psi). The effect of specimen size, specimen density, pressure, and flow rate on the levitation behavior was studied. Lightweight specimens demonstrated two stable levitation regimes that were speculated to be associated with a change in the turbulent wake structure. The hyperbaric aerodynamic levitator was also used to determine the effect of pressure on the heat transfer by studying the melting behavior of a levitated 3.0 mm diameter alumina …

Investigation Of Microstructurally Dependent Mechanical Properties Of Cold Sprayed Copper Using Correlative Microscopy, Quintin Otto

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project employs multi-instrument materials characterization to analyze material made with the “Cold Spray” additive manufacturing process. Cold spray is an emerging additive manufacturing technique with unique benefits resulting from its low temperature adhesion process induced by plastic deformation. Metallic powder collides at high speeds creating three dimensional materials and coatings without the need for melting. Copper cold sprayed specimens were analyzed using a series of imaging techniques to characterize the microstructure at varying levels of detail and magnification. Scanning electron microscopy and electron back scattered diffraction were paired with microhardness testing to generate a correlative comparison between microstructure and …

Modified Reactive Sputter Deposition Of Titanium Nitride Thin Films Via Hipims With Kick-Pulse And Improvement Of The Structure-Zone Model, Andrew Miceli

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Direct current (DC) and radio frequency (RF) sputtering methods have been commonplace in industry for several decades and widely studied in literature. Hard films of nitrides, such as titanium nitride (TiN), have been deposited using reactive DC sputtering onto cutting tools and medical devices extensively as well. For these applications, the films require excellent adhesion, high density, and high hardness. High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS) has emerged over the last several years as a method to produce films with increased density and mechanical properties. Process-structure-property relationships for reactive HIPIMS are not yet well developed. Additionally, conventional HIPIMS suffers from relatively …

Quantifying The Evolution Of Strengthening Mechanisms For Commercially Produced Niobium And Titanium Hsla Steel Sheet, Isabella M.W. Jaszczak

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Strength uniformity along the coil length of commercially produced high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel hot-rolled sheet is crucial to avoid the downgrading of product that does not meet strength specifications. In addition to contributing to precipitation strengthening through the growth of niobium-titanium carbides ((Nb,Ti)-C), niobium hinders austenite recrystallization and refines ferrite grain size. The potency of these strengthening mechanisms relies heavily on the austenite to ferrite transformation kinetics of the hot-rolling process. While niobium’s effect on precipitation strengthening, Hall-Petch strengthening, dislocation strengthening, and solute strengthening have all been studied in literature independently, the interactions of these mechanisms with each other and …

Optimizing The Extrudability Of 6082 Aluminum By Varying The Magnesium And Silicon Concentration, Eli A. Harma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Alloy 6082 aluminum is used for high-volume manufacturing in the automotive industry due to its high strength, impact performance, and corrosion resistance. However, given these improved properties, the alloy has decreased formability compared to other 6xxx series alloys, especially in the extrusion process. Controlling the dynamic recovery and recrystallization properties by changing the additions of Mg and Si can improve the hot deformation properties. Five alloys of varying Mg and Si concentrations between 0.6 to 1.2wt% Mg and 0.7 to 1.3wt% Si were made with constant concentrations of Cr, Fe, and Mn and the same homogenization heat treatment. The proposed …