EAGER/DMREF: In-Situ Thermomechanical Processing and Measurement in the Scanning Electron Microscope

改善工程合金的性能有很多应用，但这一领域的创新需要精确了解这些材料在微观尺度上的行为。EARLY概念探索性研究（EAGER）/设计材料以革命和工程我们的未来（DMREF）奖支持加速工程合金加工方法优化的努力。将在电子显微镜内建立一个"微模拟器"，以复制金属合金在从原材料到制造形式的加工步骤中所经历的温度和应力。 该设备将提供在处理材料时对材料的详细内部结构进行成像的能力。 用于测量材料机械性能的仪器也将集成到该系统中。 这种能力的组合将提供前所未有的能力，将加工条件与材料的结构和性能相关联，并有助于有效地识别改进的加工条件以提高性能。 本项目的研究生将接受设计和制造复杂仪器的培训，这是国家技术竞争力的关键技能。本研究的主要目标是在扫描电子显微镜内实现相关的热机械加工和测量条件，为了使应力和温度条件与真实的热处理过程中的微观结构演变和机械性能相关，金属合金的机械加工将开发一种自适应微尺度模拟器，该模拟器将在显微镜内运行，并集成在与商业金属合金加工相关的条件下加热和应力样品的能力，以及使用集成纳米压头测量局部机械性能的能力。 该仪器将允许访问的温度范围内，包括在这个系统中的相和微观结构的演变，并施加拉伸应力的方法或超过屈服应力，同时在纳米级的分辨率成像。 此外，集成的纳米压头被设计成将局部微观结构与机械性能相关联。这种独特的功能组合将为热机械加工条件下不断变化的微观结构和性能提供广泛的新见解。

Improving the performance of engineering alloys has a great many applications, but innovation in this area requires precise knowledge of the behavior of these materials at the microscopic scale. This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER)/Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) award supports efforts to accelerate the optimization of processing methods for engineering alloys. A "micro-simulator" will be built within an electron microscope to replicate the temperatures and stresses that a metallic alloy experiences during the processing steps from raw materials to a manufactured form. This device will provide the ability to image the detailed internal structure of the material as it is processed. An instrument for measuring the mechanical properties of the material will also be integrated into the system. This combination of capabilities will provide unprecedented ability to correlate processing conditions to the structure and properties of the material, and help efficiently identify improved processing conditions for improved performance. The graduate students involved in this project will receive training in designing and building complex instrumentation, a key skill for national technological competitiveness.The primary goal of this research is to implement relevant thermo-mechanical processing and measurement conditions within a scanning electron microscope, to enable correlation of stress and temperature conditions to microstructural evolution and mechanical properties during real time thermo-mechanical processing of metal alloys. An Adaptive Microscale Simulator will be developed that will operate within the microscope and integrate the ability to heat and stress samples under conditions relevant to commercial metal alloy processing, combined with the ability to measure local mechanical properties using an integrated nano-indenter. The instrumentation will allow access to the range of temperatures that encompass phase and microstructural evolution in this system, and application of tensile stresses that approach or exceed the yield stress, while imaging at nanometer-scale resolution. Further the integrated nano-indenter is designed to correlate local microstructure to mechanical properties. This unique combination of capabilities will provide broad new insight into evolving microstructure and properties under thermo-mechanical processing conditions.