CAREER: Development of Hyperplastic and Superplastic Microforming Processes and Related Educational Activities

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This CAREER project will utilize a combined fundamental and applied research approach to create effective hyperplastic (high strain rate) and superplastic (elevated temperature with small grain size) microforming processes. At the macroscale, these processes are too slow and energy intensive to be practical for high production rate applications, but at the microscale due to the reduced energy and force requirements, these processes will provide for a low cost, compact processing technique. However, basic research on size effects, which prevent optimized macroforming processes to be simply miniaturized to components on the microscale, must be conducted with respect to material and processing parameters. This knowledge will then be applied to devise effective microforming processes that will produce more accurate parts faster, for less cost, and with higher aspect ratios. The anticipated specific scientific and technological outcomes are: (a) scientific understanding of the size effects on material behavior and process parameters, (b) development of models and methods to aid microcomponent designers, and (c) creation of effective microforming systems based on the microfactory concept.Several broader impacts will be created through this research. First, the knowledge gained through this research at the microscale will lead to the advancement of microscale systems for energy generation, environmental monitoring, and biomedical applications and thus will benefit society as a whole. Also, the undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from the integration of research results into course material, international experiences, and involvement in this industrial relevant, multidisciplinary research. Finally, the nature of the hyperplastic and superplastic forming lends itself to high school outreach activities, which the PI is actively involved, through physics principles such as impact mechanics and chemistry principles such as grain size and structure.