Collaborative Research: Particle Reinforced Ice as a Tunable Acoustic Couplant

美国制造业的繁荣依赖于保持在新材料技术和制造工艺前沿的能力。在这种背景下，金属部件的3d打印已经成为许多行业的游戏规则改变者，在这些行业中，制造几何复杂部件的潜力有望提高高价值产品的性能和生命周期可持续性。然而，由于缺乏合适的方法来检测制造缺陷或组件在使用过程中产生的后续损坏，这些组件在安全关键应用中的使用受到了阻碍。如果不及时发现，这些缺陷可能导致灾难性的失败，并导致巨大的经济损失甚至生命损失。本研究旨在通过扩大超声检测的适用范围来弥合这一差距，超声检测是一种广泛用于简单形状部件的无创检查方法。目标是引入一种专门设计的新材料，用于将超声波信号与大量几何复杂元件耦合在一起。这种材料将是一种装载固体颗粒的新型冰，以产生可调的刚性和质量密度，这对超声波测试的有效性至关重要。该项目将为宾夕法尼亚州立大学和辛辛那提大学的三门不同课程开发教育模块，并为该项目支持的研究生和本科生提供培训。该项目将通过创建粒子复合材料中波传播的新模型来推动科学的进步，从而使这些可调谐耦合固体（即增强冰）的设计成为可能。本研究将通过实验验证的多尺度模型研究冰复合材料微结构变化对波传播和散射的影响。该项目将创建一个新的数学框架来模拟颗粒增强复合材料中的波传播，这是基于物理的分析方法和数值单位细胞方法的融合。通过结合分析和数据驱动策略，这项工作将揭示创新的多尺度方法来研究具有复杂微观结构的介质中的波传播。了解颗粒加入对冰动力响应的影响将使波在广义颗粒复合结构中的传播分析成为可能，这将远远超出所述的应用范围。结合所提出的优化算法，提高了数值分析方法的效率，将从根本上改变弹性动力学建模和超声无损评价领域。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The prosperity of the US manufacturing industry is dependent upon the ability to remain at the forefront of new material technologies and manufacturing processes. In this context, 3-D printing of metallic components has emerged as a game changer in many industries where the potential to build geometrically complex components promises to increase the performance and life-cycle sustainability of high value products. However, utilization of these components in safety-critical applications is hindered by the lack of suitable methods to detect manufacturing defects or subsequent damage that develops while a component is in service. If left undetected, these defects can lead to catastrophic failures and result in great financial losses or even loss of life. This study seeks to bridge this gap by expanding the range of applicability of ultrasonic testing, a widely used method for the noninvasive inspection of simple shape components. The goal is to introduce a new material specifically designed to couple ultrasonic signals with the bulk of geometrically complex components. The material will be a new form of ice loaded with solid particles to yield tunable rigidity and mass density which are critical for the effectiveness of ultrasonic testing. This project will develop educational modules for three different courses at Penn State and the University of Cincinnati and train graduate and undergraduate students supported by the project.This project will advance the progress of science by creating novel models of wave propagation in particle composites that enable the design of these tunable coupling solids (i.e., reinforced ice). This study will investigate the effects of microstructural modifications in ice composites on wave propagation and scattering through experimentally validated multiscale models. The project will create a new mathematical framework to model wave propagation in particle reinforced composites that lies at the convergence of physics-based analytical approaches and numerical unit cell methods. By merging analytical and data-driven strategies, this work will uncover innovative multiscale approaches to the study of wave propagation in media with complex microstructures. Understanding the impact of particle addition on the dynamic response of ice will enable the analysis of wave propagation in generalized particle composite structures, which will extend far beyond the described application. The increased efficiency in the joint numerical and analytical approach combined with the proposed optimization algorithms will fundamentally change the fields of elastodynamic modeling and ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.