MRI: Acquisition of a Large High-Temperature Vacuum Press for Advanced Materials Research, Manufacturing and Training at NC State University

这项重大研究仪器（MRI）奖将支持收购具有高温能力的扩散结合热压炉（炉），以加强北卡罗来纳州州立大学（NCSU）和地区大学和行业的研究和教育。该熔炉将促进新制造工艺和材料的基础研究，从而提高从飞机到生物医学设备等产品的性能、安全性和效率。该熔炉将被整合到先进材料和制造课程中，并用于增材制造的推广活动，包括为高中和中学生举办的制造夏令营。 它将有助于促进与工业界的合作努力，并让学生接触到与工业界合作的研究经验。该炉将使基础研究能够了解加工参数对选定材料系统性能的影响，范围从金属泡沫到高温多功能陶瓷传感器，从高熵合金到增强钛基复合材料。对复合金属泡沫技术的潜在变革性研究可以实现更高的能量吸收、出色的辐射屏蔽、防爆和良好的隔热。该仪器将允许在更大和可测试的规模上更一致和可靠地制造金属泡沫。 通过控制传感器的热历史来控制传感器的微观结构和性能，对高温传感器开发的研究将具有潜在的变革性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award will support the acquisition of a diffusion bonding hot press furnace (furnace) with high-temperature capabilities to enhance research and education at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and area universities and industries. The furnace will catalyze fundamental research on new manufacturing processes and materials-- leading to enhanced performance, safety and efficiency for products ranging from aircraft to biomedical devices. The furnace will be integrated into courses on advanced materials and manufacturing and used for outreach activities in additive manufacturing, including a Manufacturing Summer Camp for high school and middle school students. It will help to foster collaborative efforts with industry and to give students exposure to research experiences in partnership with industry.The furnace will enable fundamental studies to understand the effect of processing parameters on the performance of selected material systems, which range from metal foams to high temperature multifunctional ceramic sensors and from high entropy alloys to reinforced Ti matrix composites. Potentially transformative research on composite metal foam technology can enable higher energy absorption, excellent radiation shielding, blast resistance, and good thermal insulation. This instrument will allow the fabrication of the metal foams more consistently and reliably at much larger and testable scales. The research on the development of high temperature sensors would be potentially transformative by allowing the microstructure and properties of the sensors to be controlled through the control of their thermal history. There is a great need for such multifunctional ceramics at ultrahigh temperatures for structural health monitoring.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.