U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Light Weight Lead Calcium Alloys- Microballoon Fly Ash Composites for Automotive Batteries Operating Under High Temperature

该项目支持威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校(UWM)材料科学与工程系普拉迪普·罗哈吉博士的合作研究。合作科学家是埃及赫尔万中央冶金研究与发展研究所的Atef Daoud博士。他们计划以复合材料的形式合成含有微球(由飞灰、玻璃或氧化铝制成)的轻质铅钙合金，用于在越来越高的温度下运行的汽车和工业电池。含有微气球的格栅将被设计成在延长电池寿命的同时减轻电池重量。PI将研究与铅-钙-微球复合材料的凝固、合成和结构-性能关系相关的基本原理。将对微球转化为合金熔体的理论分析以及含有微球的铅钙合金母体的固化进行研究。他们将对微球在铅钙合金熔体中的引入和转移进行实验，使用混合和压力渗透过程，然后进行凝固，以创建铅钙/微球复合材料。用光学显微镜和电子显微镜观察凝固材料的微球分布、界面、基质晶粒度、枝晶尺寸和微观偏析。该项目将分析现有的微复合材料合成、加工和性能知识库对铅-钙合金-微球复合材料的适用性，并提出铅钙合金复合泡沫塑料的合成、结构-性能关系的新模型。微观组织的表征将有助于理解铅钙合金在微球之间的小间隙中凝固时的形核、长大、微观偏析、颗粒推动和界面形成。这些研究将有助于了解这些合金的加工、显微组织与蠕变和腐蚀行为之间的关系。本研究将阐述微球的组成、体积、含量、大小和分布对铅钙合金的导电性、弹性强度、蠕变和耐腐蚀性的影响。更广泛的影响：这一结果可能会导致开发用于电池应用的轻质铅钙合金，并用微球增强。这些电池可以由美国和埃及的公司生产，将减轻车辆的重量，特别是卡车的重量。该项目将帮助教育本科生和研究生，包括少数民族和女性、博士后助理、高中生和教师，了解用于高温电池应用的铅-钙合金-微球复合材料。将为威斯康星大学和其他美国机构的现有课程开发教学模块。结果将通过研究出版物和会议传播。威斯康星大学为制造这些部件开发的基础设施将提供给其他研究人员。这项生产高性能复合泡沫塑料组件的工作有助于重振美国的金属铸造业。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金计划的支持，该计划为两国的科学家和工程师提供资助，以开展这些合作活动。

0710981RohatgiDescription: This project supports collaborative research by Dr. Pradeep Rohatgi, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM), Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The collaborating scientist is Dr. Atef Daoud, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Helwan, Egypt. They plan to synthesize lightweight lead calcium alloys incorporating microballoons (from flyash, glass or alumina) in the form of composites, for use in automotive and industrial batteries operating under increasingly high temperatures. The grid containing microballoons will be designed to enhance battery life, while decreasing battery weight. The PIs will investigate fundamentals related to solidification synthesis and structure-property relationships in Pb-Ca-microballoon composites. Research will be conducted on the theoretical analysis of transfer microballoons into alloy melts, and solidification of lead-calcium alloy matrices containing microballoons. They will carry out experiments on introduction and transfer of microballoons in the melts of lead-calcium alloys, using mixing, and pressure infiltration processes followed by solidification to create lead-calcium/microballoon composites. Solidified material will be examined by optical and electron microscopy to characterize the distribution of microballoons, interfaces, matrix grain size, dendrite size and microsegregation. Assessment of mechanical and electrical properties will be made to provide a benchmark for optimizing processing parameters.Intellectual Merit: The project will analyze the applicability of the existing knowledge base on synthesis, processing and properties of microcomposites to lead-calcium alloy-microballoon composite materials, and propose new models on synthesis, structure-property relationships in lead calcium alloy based syntactic foams. The characterization of microstructures will help to understand nucleation, growth, microsegregation, particle pushing, and interface formation when solidification of the lead calcium alloy occurs in the small spaces between microballoons. These studies will help to understand the relationships between processing, microstructure and the creep and corrosion behavior of these alloys. The research will elaborate the effect of composition, volume, percent, size and distribution of microballoons on conductivity, modulus strength, creep and corrosion resistance of lead-calcium alloys. Broader Impact: The results are likely to lead to the development of lightweight lead calcium alloys reinforced with microballoons for battery applications. These batteries, which can be produced by companies in the U.S. and Egypt, will lead to weight reduction in vehicles, and especially in trucks. The project will help educate undergraduate and graduate students, including minorities and women, postdoctoral associates, high school students and teachers about lead-calcium alloy-microballoon composites for high temperature battery applications. Instructional modules will be developed for existing courses at UWM and other U.S. institutions. The results will be disseminated through research publications and conferences. The infrastructure developed at UWM for manufacturing of these components will be made available to other researchers. This work on producing high performance syntactic foam components can help to revive the metal casting industry in the U.S.A. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.