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Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Mechanical properties of materials that control service life and device capabilities depend on internal structures and stresses established during manufacturing. Additive manufacturing, an advanced method of manufacturing, can fundamentally change the way components are built in space technologies by allowing lightweight complex geometries to be produced on demand. It also offers the exceptional opportunity to fabricate reliable structures and engineering components in remote locations where resupply or repair may not be possible. While additive manufacturing offers significant technological advancements supporting innovative design, it also introduces unique internal structures and stresses, thereby affecting the mechanical properties. My research focuses on evaluating the effects of these internal structures and stresses in additively manufactured materials through fatigue crack growth analysis, providing insight into the variability, reproducibility, and reliability of the resultant material properties. My research will focus on residual stress, the inherent internal stresses present in AM materials in the absence of external loads, as well as the distinctive directional microstructures that develop during the deposition process. In this way, I will contribute to the establishment of processing structure properties relationships, which are necessary for scientific advancement in additive manufacturing technology and its subsequent transition to NASA programs.
My research will contribute to the establishment of processing-structure-properties relationships, which are necessary for scientific advancement in additive manufacturing technology and its subsequent transition to NASA programs.
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