PFI-TT: Novel Mechanical Testing Technology with Intermediate Speed Actuation to Improve Manufacturing and Safety

创新技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将增加美国制造业在汽车、航空航天、海洋、健康、体育器材和电子等不同行业的下一代工程零部件和系统领域的经济竞争力。准确的力学行为数据对这些产品的设计和制造非常重要。目前的数据是在变形速度条件下获得的，这些条件与这些产品的服务操作基本无关。测量和使用之间的这种差距导致了成本过高的过度设计以及材料和系统发现的迟滞。该项目预计将产生一种机械测试系统，该系统将能够生成准确的机械数据，从而实现节省能源、降低成本和提高安全性的新一代智能材料和部件的卓越制造。例如，汽车设计师可能会提高耐撞性，并将乘客安全性提高至少10%。航空航天工程师或许能够实现高达25%的重量减轻。这项技术预计将渗透到价值7亿美元的机械试验机市场。建议的项目是对一种新的力学测试系统进行优化和演示，该系统能够在受控应变率下产生可靠的力学行为数据，特别是在5 S-1和500 S-1的中等应变率范围内。这一新颖的机械测试系统融合了两项基于高科技材料和系统的改进技术-同轴嵌入蛇纹杆(CESB)和压电制动传感器(PBT)。该项目将通过降低CESB的尺寸和提高PBT的额定负载来改善这两项专利技术的现状，从而使最终的系统具有很强的市场竞争力，并可用于常规实验室。工业合作伙伴对客户需求有深入的了解，并提供手段向学术合作伙伴介绍整合两项技术和制造最终示范样机的基本特征。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of the Partnerships for Innovation – Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project will increase the economic competitiveness of US manufacturing in the field of next generation engineering components and systems in diverse industries such as automotive, aerospace, marine, health, sporting equipment, and electronics. Accurate mechanical behavior data is important to the design and manufacturing of these products. The current data is obtained in deformation speed conditions which are largely irrelevant to the service operations of these products. This gap between measurement and use has led to cost-prohibitive overdesign and sluggishness in materials and system discovery. This project is expected to lead to a mechanical testing system that will enable generation of accurate mechanical data and as such, superior manufacturing of next generation intelligent materials and components that will save energy, reduce cost, and increase safety. For instance, automotive designers may improve crashworthiness and increase passenger safety by at least 10%. Aerospace engineers may be able to achieve up to 25% weight savings. The technology is expected to penetrate the $700 million market of mechanical testing machines. The proposed project is the optimization and demonstration of a novel mechanical testing system able to produce reliable mechanical behavior data under controlled strain rates, especially in the intermediate strain rate regime of 5 s-1 and 500 s-1. This novel mechanical testing system features the integration of two improved technologies based on high tech materials and systems – a coaxially embedded serpentine bar (CESB) and a piezoelectric braking transducer (PBT). The project will improve the current state of these two patented technologies by reducing the dimension of the CESB and increasing the load rating of the PBT, such that the final system may be strongly marketable and used in conventional labs. The industrial partner has a deep understanding of customer needs and provides the means to inform the academic partner with regard to the essential features for integrating the two technologies and manufacturing the final demonstrating prototype.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.