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Seminar by James McCauley |
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Date: April 21, 2005
Time: 3:30pm*
Location: NIA, Rm 303
Speaker: James McCauley, Army Research Laboratory
Subject: "Some Aspects of Materials by Design"
Materials by design, conceptually, is the process of designing materials for a particular suite of properties that are required for defined applications. Many examples of this concept can be found in nature including diatoms, certain beetles, rat tails and abalone shells - each system optimally designed for their environment. In synthetic materials, this can be done at many length scales, from crystal chemically controlled new phases to designed microstructure composites. The key aspects are to define the desired applications and then to identify the desired properties and the potential mechanisms in the phases or the microstructures that control these properties. This strategy is a paradigm shift from many conventional research programs that result in new materials that have unknown applications and, therefore, much smaller probability of successful utilization and widespread commercialization. Conceptually, state-of-the-art computers employing a range of models from quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics to finite element analysis codes, can now be used to predict the properties of materials and the processing routes to fabricate them at many length scales, but the reverse can also be true, to design materials for the properties needed. In this talk two examples will be presented: the crystal chemical design of a new ceramic phase, AlON, and the design and processing of composites using mica incorporations to control and enhance a variety of properties.
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