Acquisition of a Nanoindentation System for Multi-disciplinary Research and Education in Nano and Bio-Mechanics of Materials

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AbstractA state-of-the-art nanoindentation system, which is critically needed to support current research and teaching activities at Brown University in the areas of nano and biomechanics of materials, will be acquired. The equipment will be used for high-impact multi-disciplinary research activities to be conducted using the nanoindenter. The proposed activities cover a wide spectrum of programs in three areas of Engineering, Geological Sciences, Physics and Biology and Medicine. The programs include high impact areas such as the mechanics and the electromechanical coupling in carbon nanotubes, nanocomposites with aligned nanotubes, mechanics of biological friction surfaces, mechanics of surface plasticity, nanotribology, mechanical aspects of human joint disease, materials with complex microstructures and nanocrystalline materials. Exploring such a broad range of applications using a workhorse nanoindenter will enhance the research productivity of all participating investigators. The shared and coordinated use of the proposed multi-functional instrument will broaden the scope of research for all participants. More importantly, the shared access to this instrument will facilitate more collaborations addressing new scientific questions, and thus fostering synergistic research activities and fresh directions.The broader impact of the proposed nanoindenter lies in using it to provide research training and education opportunities to graduate students, undergraduate students, especially women and minorities, and in inspiring undergraduate students from under-represented groups to pursue careers in science and technology. Building on Brown's successful current outreach programs, undergraduate students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities will be offered summer research projects in the proposed facility. In addition, Brown undergraduate students will be given research opportunities involving nanoindentation. The objective of these positions will not be to use them as technicians; it will be to involve them in creative thinking and development process. Nanoindentation will be added to the teaching curriculum in the course on experimental mechanics. The proposed nanoindentation facility will be open to another outreach program, Research Experience for Teachers, by which the local primary/secondary school teachers will be exposed to nanoindentation research, so that the knowledge gained by these teachers while working at Brown will also spread to the schools in which they work, maximizing the instrument's broader impact.