Surface Engineering and Tribology Research for Sustainable Materials in Demanding Applications

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Degradation by wear remains a difficult problem for engineers and scientists attempting to deliver more sustainable materials. Present day approaches are to optimize the material for its first day in service and this most often is about bulk properties with little accounting for the surface and its interaction with the environment. Surface engineers attempt to protect materials from the environment by using coatings and surface modifications that will protect and extend the lifetime of expensive engineering components like those in engines, bridges, mining equipment, spacecraft, etc. However, even these approaches emphasize initial properties and don't account for the dynamic changes a material undergoes as it interacts with its environment. The objective of this proposal is to develop a new approach to materials design where we use the information about what happens to materials in service to help us design even better materials. To accomplish this objective, our research group will undertake extensive study of what happens to metals, alloys and composites when they undergo wear in various environments (e.g. humid, dry, elevated temperatures). We will identify instances when the material undergoes changes at the surface that tend to reduce wear. Understanding the mechanisms for these changes, or adaptations, will help us to engineer the initial materials to better adapt and create a surface feature that helps to make it last longer. Having that information, we will undertake a design process to make materials with optimized structure and properties for being self-adaptive to wear, with longer lifetimes and more sustainable. The benefits to this approach can be enormous for society as even small increases in a material's lifetime can save significant energy and reduce the environmental impact of replacing or repairing components. This is especially true for components that are complicated and energy-intensive to produce.