Nanoscale Investigation of Material Properties and Damage Precursor in Heterogeneous Material Systems
Abstract
An experimental investigation is proposed to study the underlying physics and the inherent mechanisms that govern the macroscale response in nano-engineered heterogeneous materials. The goal is to capture the complex interactions, within and among the various constituent phases, to assess the mechanical behavior, damage and degradation in these material systems. A MultiView scanning probe microscopy (SPM) 4000 system, featuring high accuracy mechanical, electrical, and thermal property measurements with high spatial resolution in multiple length scales, will be used to develop a novel experimental platform for characterizing the interaction of the nanomaterials with structural composites in a systematic manner. The effects of type, morphology and functionalization of the constituents in nano-engineered composites that manifest at the nano-, submicro- and microscale will be studied. By integrating traditional AFM, nanoindentation, electrical measurement module, and thermal measurement module, the novel system allows simultaneous measurements of a wide range of multifunctional material properties with speed and accuracy. The AFM and nanoindentation probes can be operated independently or simultaneously. In composites with radially grown carbon nanotubes, the geometric and architectural properties of each fiber/nanotube assembly will be identified using the AFM module while the elastic and inelastic properties will be measured using the nanoindentation module. The high-resolution topographical data from the AFM will provide a means to locate nanoparticles in the matrix; the information will help identify possible sites of bond breakage, which is key to understanding damage initiation at the nanoscale. The mechanical properties measured using both AFM and nanoindentation module will provide valuable insight into the length scale dependent material characteristics. Experiments will be conducted, under different load conditions, to investigate the effects of architectural variability in nanostructure and stochasticity in microstructure on macroscale response and damage initiation. The research outputs will directly contribute to the enhancement of multiscale models that are being developed under the 2016 ONR project, A Computationally Driven Approach to Nano-engineered Composite Structures," which require modeling and validation of the nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes of various architectures. A wide range of heterogeneous material systems will be tested, including crystalline and non-crystalline metals, impacting a current NAVAIR project, Fatigue Crack Initiation and Growth Behavior of Al Alloys under Complex Biaxial Loading Conditions, enabling the identification of crack initiation sites and the initiation of sub-grain scale microcracks in specimens subjected to complex biaxial fatigue loading. The system will also aid the development of multifunctional nanocomposites with self-sensing and potential self-healing capabilities, which will directly contribute to DoDs vision of understanding damage precursors. The PIs adept modeling slity physics based models of complex nano-engineered composites of particular interest to current and future DoD platforms. The integration of experiments with computational tools will contribute to the need for integrated computational materials science and engineering (ICMSE) and computationally-assisted material design, enabling the design of nano-engineered composites with tailored properties. This will help address DoDs vision to develop paradigm shifting materials and processes to enable new structural design concepts and their life-cycle management.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 08, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012544
Entities
People
- Aditi Chattopadhyay
Organizations
- Arizona State University
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy