Laboratory Technician Support: Shock Wave Experiments in Geophysics

这项奖励将提供五年的稳定资金，以支持加州理工学院林德赫斯特实验地球物理实验室的一名高级实验室经理。林德赫斯特实验室致力于利用实验室规模的撞击实验，研究地球和行星的内部以及超高速撞击对其表面的结果。该实验室操作着几种大型枪支，可以将投射物的速度提高到每秒数百米到几千米(即高达每小时17,000英里)。当这些射弹击中它们的目标时，对产生的冲击波或冲击后回收的材料的观察被用来探索撞击本身的过程以及极端压缩下的地质或技术材料的特性。在某些情况下，这些方法和正在研究的实际材料与国家和行星防御应用都有关。高级实验室经理职位将能够招聘和长期保留一名能够保持对实验室方法的持续记忆、确保安全、培训学生和博士后研究人员以及规划升级和维护的专家工作人员。在该奖项的时间跨度内，受资助的技术人员将致力于多种方法。首先，对实验室真空系统进行升级，以便在更短的时间内准备好射击靶室。第二，从传统加工过渡到附加加工(3-D打印)，以尽可能多地使用可消耗性零件。第三，最近由国防部海军研究办公室资助的新的光子多普勒测速仪的设计、安装和调试。第四，重新校准我们的高速光学高温计，以实现准确的动态温度测量。第五，设计和测试结合分级密度冲击器和阻抗匹配样品室的改进恢复实验，以实现新的压力-温度路径和更好地保存高压阶段。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 award will provide five years of stable funding to support a senior laboratory manager for the Caltech Lindhurst Laboratory of Experimental Geophysics. The Lindhurst Lab is dedicated to research into the interiors of the Earth and planets and the results of hypervelocity impacts on their surfaces, using laboratory scale impact experiments. The lab operates several large guns that can accelerate projectiles to speeds from hundreds to several thousand meters per second (that is, up to 17,000 miles per hour). When these projectiles hit their targets, observations of the resulting shock waves or of material recovered after the shock are used to probe both the process of impact itself and the properties of geological or technological materials under extreme compression. In some cases, these methods and the actual materials under study are relevant to both national and planetary defense applications. The senior laboratory manager position will enable recruitment and long-term retention of an expert staff member able to maintain continuous memory of laboratory methods, ensure safety, train students and postdoctoral researchers, and plan upgrades and maintenance.Within the time span of this award, the funded technician will dedicate efforts to a number of methods. First, an upgrade of the laboratory vacuum system to prepare the gun target chambers for shots in much less time. Second, transition from traditional machining to additive machining (3-D printing) for as many expendable parts as possible. Third, design, installation and commissioning of a new Photonic Doppler Velocimeter recently funded by the Defense Department's Office of Naval Research. Fourth, recalibration of our high-speed optical pyrometer for accurate dynamic temperature measurements. Fifth, design and testing of improved recovery experiments combining graded density impactors and impedance-matched sample chambers to achieve new pressure-temperature paths and better preservation of high-pressure phases.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.