CMMI-EPSRC: Multi-Driver Furnace Processing of Magneto-Functional Materials

磁性系统和材料对现代社会至关重要，允许汽车，航空航天，能源和生物医学等领域的电能，机械能和越来越多的热能相互转换。对更高效和可持续的磁性系统的需求是迫切的，全球最终用户和制造商都认识到，具有改进性能并由非关键元素组成的磁性材料对下一代和未来技术至关重要。性能的改进只能通过在制造期间更好地理解和控制多个长度尺度的磁体结构来实现。为此，该奖项采用了一种综合的实验-计算方法，以磨练热，磁场和/或应变场在磁功能材料开发中的作用，从原子到晶体，最终到有用的微结构。该项目有可能实现新的和可持续的材料和工艺，以支持国家繁荣，安全和环境的必要性。它开发了一个代表性不足的少数民族学生谁有兴趣在制造业，能源和环境的交叉进行研究的双边队列。本研究由NSF工程- UKRI工程和物理科学研究理事会合作研究机会NSF 20- 510资助。使用东北大学定制的实验室规模的“多驱动器”来处理包括磁致伸缩和永磁系统在内的用于技术上重要的磁性材料的试验台代理在热处理期间可施加饱和磁场和/或单轴应力的炉。除了均匀的磁场外，MultiDriver炉还具有独特的能力，可以施加大而完全被动的梯度磁场，从而提供令人兴奋的加速元素扩散的前景，而不需要可能损坏微结构的高温。这项研究整合了一种新的处理方法，该方法基于基本的吉布斯能量框架，并依赖于多尺度计算洞察力来实现改进的磁系统。理论工作是与英国沃里克大学的研究人员合作完成的。虽然研究技术可以应用于几乎任何类型的材料，但它们对磁性材料的影响最大，因为磁性响应对合成和加工效果非常敏感，包括结晶度/规模，化学均匀性，缺陷状态和应变。该项目产生了新的知识，统一的原则，以确定类型和大小，以及相互作用，各种自由能条款是重要的磁响应systems.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Magnetic systems and materials are essential to modern society, permitting the interconversion of electrical, mechanical and, increasingly, thermal energies for the automotive, aerospace, energy and biomedical fields, among others. The need for more efficient and sustainable magnetic systems is acute, with both global end users and manufacturers acknowledging that magnetic materials with improved performance and comprised of non-critical elements are crucial for next-generation and future technologies. Improvements in performance can only be achieved through better understanding and control of the magnet structure at multiple length scales during manufacture. To this end, this award applies an integrated experimental-computational approach to hone in on the roles of thermal, magnetic and/or strain fields in the development of magneto-functional materials during their construction from atoms to crystals and finally to useful microstructures. This project has the potential to realize new and sustainable materials and processes to support national prosperity, security and environmental imperatives. It develops a bilateral cohort of under-represented minority students who have interest in conducting research at the intersection of manufacturing, energy and environment. This research is funded under the NSF Engineering - UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council collaborative research opportunity NSF 20-510.Guided by first-principles nanoscale and finite element analysis (FEA) computation, testbed proxies including magnetostrictive and permanent magnet systems for technologically important magnetic materials are processed using the Northeastern University custom-built lab-scale “MultiDriver” Furnace that can apply a saturating magnetic field and/or uniaxial stress during thermal treatment. In addition to uniform magnetic fields, the MultiDriver Furnace has the unique capability to apply a large yet entirely passive gradient magnetic field, offering the exciting prospect of accelerating elemental diffusion without the need for highly elevated temperatures that can damage microstructures. This research integrates a novel processing approach that is based on a fundamental Gibbs energy framework and relies on multi-scale computational insight for realizing improved magnetic systems. The theoretical work is done in collaboration with researchers at the University of Warwick, UK. While the research techniques can be applied to almost any type of material, they have the greatest effects on magnetic materials as the magnetic response is extraordinarily sensitive to synthesis and processing effects, including degree/scale of crystallinity, chemical homogeneity, defect state and strain. The project generates new knowledge concerning unifying principles to identify the types and magnitudes of, and interactions between, various free energy terms that are important in magneto-responsive systems.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.