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Virginia Tech Langley Professor |
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Kathryn V. Logan, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, the Center for Multifunctional Aerospace Materials
Research Interests and Specialty Areas:
Multifunction and biomimetic materials
Advanced materials synthesis and processing
High-temperature solid-state diffusion
Refractory material development
Analytical materials characterization
Mechanical properties of materials
"Materials are intrinsic to everything. I teach design of materials
from the atomic level up to macro scale. I accept students from any
discipline; it's a great opportunity for interdisciplinary integration
and interaction. NIA students have a unique opportunity to have a
really in-depth educational experience."
Dr. Kathryn Logan’s first love was geology - a discipline she decided against pursuing when she learned as a young graduate student that women weren’t permitted into deep mines. Dr. Logan chose instead the field of ceramic engineering, earning bachelor's and master's degrees, and a doctorate in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Logan spent most of her academic career at Georgia Tech or at its research institute, becoming a nationally and internationally recognized ceramic-engineering expert. Over a 30-year career, Dr. Logan has overseen the development of a variety of new materials and structures. She is responsible for more than $4.5 million in contract funding for high-performance materials research.
Today, Dr. Logan holds simultaneous faculty positions as an NIA Langley Professor in Virginia Tech’s Materials Science and Engineering Department and as a principal research engineer emerita in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Logan is also a member of the Clemson University Department of Materials Science and Engineering External Advisory Board, a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the National Institute of Ceramic Engineers, and a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.
Nature as Guide
Look no further than the human body to see advanced materials in action, Dr. Logan advises. Nature has already produced a dynamic template, one that humans could do well to emulate. Dr. Logan prizes the opportunity to learn from the best of the natural world and apply that knowledge to create unique materials that help humankind take the next steps toward exploration of space.
One such substance is titanium diboride, a powder derivative of the element titanium that is prized for strength and continues to be a vital structural metal in high-speed military and supersonic aircraft since its introduction in the late 1940s. A process invented and patented by Dr. Logan produces titanium diboride that is pure, free of carbon traces and easily processed into a variety of shapes. The fabrication process is also more cost-effective: two to three times less expensive than conventional methods.
Titanium diboride withstands temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Celsius (5,430 degrees Fahrenheit), resists acids and corrosives, and is rated just below diamond in hardness. Potential applications are many, including semiconductor and aerospace materials; uses in aluminum smelting and steel manufacturing; and as cutting tools and replacements for bearings and parts that experience heavy use and wear.
Dr. Logan has tested titanium diboride electrodes as potential replacements for the carbon electrodes currently used to smelt aluminum. Car manufacturers have also expressed interest in the material. One use may be as a cylinder liner in automobile engines.
Engineering the Extreme
Future aerospace materials may not be merely structural, but also multimodal, possessing an array of properties not traditionally found. Potential properties include electrical conductivity, thermal resistance, radiation shielding and resistance to impact.
Dr. Logan’s work focuses on the design of such multi-functional materials using advanced synthesis, processing, predictive modeling and characterization techniques. These next-generation designs would be built from the micro to macro scales by mimicking structural formations created by nature and the application of advanced synthesis methods.
Dr. Logan is also developing a large radio-frequency induction press that will be capable of forming large surface-area materials for space-exploration programs. Once complete, this device will produce unique components and structures not yet possible using standard technologies.
"One of the greatest challenges I have is keeping my graduate students.
They get hired even before they graduate. I'm doing this because I'm
driven. I'm passionate. I'm here at NIA for the long haul."
The Center for Multifunctional Aerospace Materials
The Center for Multifunctional Materials offers the prospect of development of lighter, stronger and multifunctional materials for extreme-environment aerospace applications. Center research will contribute to the discovery and documentation of methods and processes that facilitate the design of multifunctional aerospace materials across the nano-to-meso range of spatial and time scales.
Mesoscale is larger in scale than the realm of nanotechnology’s atoms and molecules, and smaller in scale than continuum models: approximately 109 to 107 meters. Phenomena that arise at the mesoscale level govern bulk properties of unique and important materials that perform well and reliably in extreme environments.
The design of multifunctional aerospace materials is being accomplished by developing and implementing advanced synthesis, processing, forming and characterization technologies. Theoretical and experimental models are being developed to verify experimental predictions about the resultant products’ composition, configuration and performance from a systems perspective.
Recently developed examples of high-performance multifunctional materials of potential interest to NASA space applications are pure titanium diboride and composite alumina/titanium diboride. Potential applications include
- Radiation shielding material for space suits
- Meteoroid shielding for structures and vessels
- Landing brakes
- Sensors that operate at extremely high temperatures
- Liquid-cooled, leading-edge materials for areas of intense aerodynamic heating
- Pressure sensors
Producing such materials requires a broad approach including formation of interdisciplinary teams coupled with research and education initiatives at NASA, the NIA, and the NIA’s university partners.
Recent Publications
Invited Presentations & Papers
VT GLC Seminar: “Materials in Space.” April 28, 2006.
Langley Colloquium and Sigma and Series Lectures: “Nature, Fireworks and Space: Multifunctional Space Materials,” November 3, 2005.
Conference Proceedings
ICC: “Ceramic Materials in Space Exploration,” ICC Toronto, June 2006.
“Basic Aluminum Oxidation: SHS Reaction Kinetics Parameter,” J. J. Payyapilly and K. V. Logan, submitted and accepted by MS&T '06.
“Selective Acid Leaching of SHS Produced TiB 2 /MgO,” J. Y. Lok and K. V. Logan, submitted and accepted by MS&T '06.
“Finding the Eutectic in Al 2 O 3 -TiB 2,” S. M. Holt and K. V. Logan , submitted and accepted by MS&T '06.
“Evaluation of TiB 2 in the Space Radiation Environment,” S. A. Jefferies and K. V. Logan, submitted and accepted by MS&T '06.
Books/Chapters/Editorships
“Proceedings of the International Symposium on Advanced Synthesis and Processing,” Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings, 23rd Annual Conference on Composites, Advanced Ceramics, Materials, Vol. 19, Issue 4, pp. 375-588, E. Ustendad, ed., The American Ceramic Society, Westerville, Ohio, 1999.
Contact Information: E-mail | (757) 325-6820 | Website
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