Investigating fundamental high strain rate deformation mechanisms to bridge the experiment-computation gap and local thermal shock response in C103

With the recent maturation and improvements in computational capabilities, the discovery of novel materials can be rapidly accelerated for application-specific material properties, like high-temperature strength, modulus, hardness, fracture toughness, and creep. For this approach to work, computational simulations will require direct experimental validation of these material properties at relevant length scales and strain rates. However, the existing computational-experimental gap in high-strain rate testing makes such validations, especially for extreme environments (thermal and mechanical stresses) and non-equilibrium processes, impossible. One key application of these non-equilibrium processes is additive manufacturing (AM), which reduces material cost and can produce near-net shapes. The proposed experimental research effort aims to develop and utilize novel experimental methods to test the deformation mechanisms of C103 in extreme environments (i.e. at mechanical high strain rates as well as repeated thermal shocks). The objective of this work is to implement a dual-phase method of small-scale testing of aerospace-relevant materials using methods of high strain rate and thermal shock testing. Using, small-scale nanomechanical testing to bridge the existing experimental-computational gap, I plan to study the microstructure-related deformation behavior of C103 at high strain rates. In addition, since most applications involve thermal as well as mechanical shock stresses, I will also study the microstructure-related thermal response of C103 using a Joule heating system I developed as my undergraduate capstone project.

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