MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of An X-ray Diffraction Contrast Tomography Instrument Enabling Research and Education Towards Establishing Microstructure-Property Relationships

这项主要研究仪器(MRI)奖支持奥本大学购买X射线衍射对比断层扫描仪。这一工具预计将在奥本大学、阿拉巴马州和美国东南部地区开展新的研究、教育和劳动力发展活动。所获得的仪器可以以非侵入性的方式独特地揭示各种材料的内部微观特征。这是奥本大学和周边机构一直缺乏的能力。该仪器将推进几个战略研究领域，包括疲劳和断裂、材料科学/工程、机器学习和数据分析、地球科学、化学、物理、化学工程和环境工程。通过这些跨领域的研究工作，该仪器将通过实现更绿色、更高效的先进制造、制造更适合的和更生物兼容的骨植入物、了解全球变暖对地质材料的影响以及设计更坚固和更轻的材料来造福社会。该项目还将积极将该文书产生的知识纳入若干外联和教育活动。这包括为K-12学生、代表不足的少数群体和STEM中的妇女设计的活动，以及研究生/本科教育和研究培训，以及为在职专业人员举办的短期课程。因此，该文书的获得将产生重大的更广泛的影响，促进公众对科学、技术和经济管理领域的认识和参与。这种X射线衍射对比层析成像仪器利用入射X射线束的衍射部分，这些部分将被传统的X射线计算机层析成像系统丢弃，以非破坏性地绘制晶体材料的三维取向图。这种仪器将为研究人员提供独特的能力，既可以获得临死前的三维微/缺陷结构，也可以获得他们对刺激的反应--这是一项通过传统方法一直左右为难的任务。因此，通过了解同一样品在测试前后的微观/缺陷结构，将能够构建晶体材料的真实结构-性能关系。由于多晶材料的无处不在的性质，该仪器可以使奥本大学和区域机构在三个跨学科研究领域开展重大的新研究和教育活动：金属添加剂制造、矿物和合成无机化合物以及聚合物和复合材料。例如，对于添加制造的金属材料，该项目可以帮助揭示疲劳损伤是如何开始的，阐明体积缺陷和微结构介导的裂纹形核机制的相互竞争的作用。值得注意的是，机器学习和数据分析将被用来帮助提取微/缺陷结构的几何特征，并与材料对激励的响应相关，包括热、机械和环境。该项目由主要仪器研究计划(MRI)、既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)和土木、机械和制造创新部门(CMMI)联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of an X-ray diffraction contrast tomography instrument at Auburn University. This instrument is expected to enable new research, education, and workforce development activities at Auburn University, in the State of Alabama, and in the Southeast region of the United States. The acquired instrument can uniquely reveal the internal microscopic features of a broad range of materials in a non-invasive manner. This is a capability that has been lacking at Auburn University and the surrounding institutions. This instrument will advance several strategic research areas including fatigue and fracture, materials science/engineering, machine learning and data analytics, earth sciences, chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, and environmental engineering. Through these cross-cutting research efforts, this instrument will benefit the society by enabling greener and more efficient advanced manufacturing, fabricating better fitting and more biocompatible bone implants, understanding the impact of global warming on geological materials, and designing stronger and lighter materials. This project will also actively integrate the generated knowledge from the instrument into several outreach and educational activities. This includes activities designed for K-12 students, underrepresented minorities, and women in STEM, as well as graduate/undergraduate education and research training, and short courses for working professionals. The acquisition of the instrument will therefore result in significant broader impact, promoting public awareness and participation in STEM fields. This X-ray diffraction contrast tomography instrument utilizes the diffracted portion of the incident X-ray beam, that would be discarded by conventional X-ray computed tomography systems, to non-destructively map the orientations of crystalline materials in three dimensions. This instrument will deliver researchers the unique ability of obtaining both the ante mortem three dimensional micro-/defect-structures and their response to excitations - a task that has been dilemmatic via conventional approaches. Thus, the construction of true structure-property relationships of crystalline materials will be enabled by knowing the micro-/defect-structure of the same specimen both before and after testing. Owing to the ubiquitous nature of polycrystalline materials, the instrument can enable significant, new research and education activities at Auburn University and regional institutions in three interdisciplinary research areas: metal additive manufacturing, minerals and synthetic inorganic compounds, and polymers and composites. As an example, for additively manufactured metallic materials, this project can help reveal how fatigue damage initiates, elucidating the competing roles of volumetric defects and microstructure mediated crack nucleation mechanisms. Notably, machine learning and data analytics will be used to assist extracting geometric features of micro-/defect-structure and correlate with material response to excitations, including thermal, mechanical, and environmental.This project is jointly funded by the Major Instrumentation Research Program (MRI), the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI).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.