MRI: Acquisition of Instruments for Characterization of Complex Structures

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。能源成本的增加和对功能改进的渴望等趋势正在推动材料和结构在不牺牲强度和耐久性等关键性能的情况下变得更轻、更小、更复杂。这些先进技术的例子包括：超轻和生物启发结构、先进复合材料、微机电系统、燃料电池技术和雪工程。为了达到预期的性能，蒙大拿州立大学（MSU）工程学院的工程研究人员必须能够在不同的长度和时间尺度上进行探索。获得的ARAMIS高分辨率数字成像系统和Polytec激光测振仪的组合提供了静态和动态结构响应的评估，可以连接回材料微观结构。这种能力使密歇根州立大学的研究人员能够发现新的材料特性，并解决材料/结构相互作用中的重要问题，同时为研究和教学活动提供新的机会。获得的仪器的灵活性刺激跨学科的研究，提高研究的质量和深度在密歇根州立大学。这些工具用于本科、研究生和博士后水平的教育，以说明工程“看”的基本概念和新方法。密歇根州立大学通过必要的高级研究项目、夏季本科生项目和美国原住民夏季研究项目（如蒙大拿学徒计划）对本科生研究的坚定承诺，进一步扩大了此次收购作为教育研究工具的影响。新仪器的功能也为密歇根州立大学的新研究领域提供了机会，并为基础科学和技术发现了新材料。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(Public Law 111-5). Trends such as increasing energy costs and desire for improved functionality are driving materials and structures to be lighter, smaller, and more complex without sacrificing critical properties such as strength and endurance. Examples of these advanced technologies include: ultra-lightweight and biologically-inspired structures, advanced composite materials, micro-electro-mechanical systems, fuel cell technology, and snow engineering. In order to meet performance expectations, engineering researchers in the College of Engineering at Montana State University (MSU) must be able to explore across widely different length and time scales. The combination of the acquired ARAMIS high resolution digital imaging system and the Polytec laser vibrometer provides assessment of static and dynamic structural responses that can be connected back to material microstructure. This capability allows MSU researchers to discover new material properties and solve important problems in material/structure interaction, while simultaneously providing new opportunities for research and teaching activities. The flexibility of the acquired instruments stimulates interdisciplinary study that improves the quality and depth of research at MSU. These tools are utilized for education at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral level to illustrate fundamental concepts and new ways of engineering "seeing". MSU's strong commitment to undergraduate research through required senior research projects, summer undergraduate projects, and Native American summer research programs such as the Montana Apprenticeship Program, further expands the impact of this acquisition as educational research instruments. The capabilities of the new instruments also opens opportunities for new fields of study at MSU, as well as the discovery of new materials for basic science and technology.