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，它们允许汽车、航空航天、能源和生物医学等领域的电能、机械能以及越来越多的热能的相互转换。全球终端用户和制造商都认识到，性能改进且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，因此对更高效、更可持续的磁性系统的需求非常迫切。在制造过程中，只有通过更好地理解和控制多尺度的磁铁结构，才能实现性能的改进。为此，该奖项采用综合实验-计算方法来研究热、磁场和/或应变场在磁功能材料从原子到晶体并最终到有用的微观结构的发展过程中的作用。该项目有潜力实现新的可持续材料和工艺，以支持国家繁荣、安全和环境要求。它培养了一批对制造业、能源和环境交叉领域的研究感兴趣的少数族裔学生。在第一性原理纳米尺度和有限元分析（FEA）计算的指导下，包括磁致伸缩和永磁系统在内的试验台代理将使用东北大学定制的实验室规模的“MultiDriver”炉进行处理，该炉可以在热处理过程中施加饱和磁场和/或单轴应力。除了均匀的磁场外，MultiDriver炉还具有独特的能力，可以应用一个大而完全被动的梯度磁场，为加速元素扩散提供了令人兴奋的前景，而不需要高度升高的温度来破坏微观结构。该提案集成了一种新的处理方法，该方法基于基本的吉布斯能量框架，并依赖于实现改进磁系统的多尺度计算洞察力。这项理论工作是与英国华威大学的研究人员合作完成的。虽然所提出的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应（包括结晶度/规模、化学均匀性、缺陷状态和应变）非常敏感。该项目产生了关于统一原则的新知识，以确定在磁响应系统中重要的各种自由能项的类型和大小以及它们之间的相互作用。

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 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 realise 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. Guided by first-principles nanoscale and finite element analysis (FEA) computation, testbed proxies including magnetostrictive and permanent magnet systems for technologically important magnetic materials will be 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 proposal integrates a novel processing approach that is based on a fundamental Gibbs energy framework and relies on multi-scale computational insight for realising improved magnetic systems. The theoretical work is done in collaboration with researchers at the University of Warwick, UK. While the proposed 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.