High-Strength Nanostructured Alloys via Novel Machining Processes

这项跨学科研究合作的目标是开发材料加工科学，支持一类新的混合加工工艺，使纳米结构合金的大规模，低成本制造成为可能。在正常加工操作过程中产生的切屑由高强度和硬度的纳米晶体结构组成的发现开辟了一种低成本、直接大量制造这些材料的方法。该研究的重点是大应变挤压加工（LSEM）和调制辅助加工（MAM），这两种新工艺通过严重的塑性变形（SPD）以及对产品尺寸和形状的独立控制来实现晶粒细化，包括散装和颗粒形式。该计划将对商业利益的合金进行系统的加工实验与先进的微观结构表征方法（包括电子显微镜）相结合。 这项工作将绘制这些新工艺的能力和局限性，并为其在商业加工业务中的应用提供明确的方向。 纳米结构合金的广泛使用受到其高成本的阻碍，通常报价超过每磅一百美元。 新的加工工艺为这一根本问题提供了变革性的解决方案。这项研究将为纳米结构合金的制造和这些材料在离散产品领域的散装形式的实际利用之间提供重要的桥梁。具有广泛社会影响的一个重要的次要好处是为制造业务中生产的芯片提供更高的价值利用率（升级循环）。补充研究是一个以学生为中心的教育和培训计划，包括跨学科，协作环境，研究生的工业实习和本科生的综合暑期研究机会。

The objective or this interdisciplinary research collaboration is to develop the materials processing science underpinning a new class of hybrid machining processes that enable large-scale, low-cost manufacturing of nanostructured alloys. The finding that chips produced during normal machining operations are composed of nanocrystalline structures of high strength and hardness opens a low-cost, direct way of making these materials in large volumes. The study focuses on Large-Strain Extrusion Machining (LSEM) and Modulation-Assisted Machining (MAM), two new processes that impart grain refinement through severe plastic deformation (SPD) together with independent control of the product size and shape, in both bulk and particulate forms. The program couples systematic processing experiments on alloys of commercial interest with advance microstructure characterization methods, including electron microscopy. This work will map the capabilities and limitations of these new processes and provide clear direction for their application to commercial processing operations. Widespread use of nanostructured alloys has been hampered by their high cost, frequently quoted in excess of one hundred dollars per pound. The new machining-based processes offer a transformative solution to this fundamental problem. The research will provide an important bridge between the manufacturing of nanostructured alloys and the practical utilization of these materials in bulk forms in the discrete products sector. An important secondary benefit, with broad societal impact, will be providing higher value utilization for chips produced in manufacturing operations (up-cycling). Complementing the research is a student-centered education and training program that includes an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment, industrial internships for graduate students and integrated summer research opportunities for undergraduates.