NSF Award
0116871
OIA-0116871<br/>Institution: Alfred University<br/>PI: Jinghong Fan<br/>Title: "Acquisition of Materials Testing Systems for Multiple Usage Including Multi-Axial Fatigue Analysis<br/><br/> Abstract:<br/><br/>The research equipment being acquired through this grant is a 100 KN Servo Hydraulic Axial Tension - Torsion Materials Testing System (MTS) with an environmental chamber and other supporting facilities for measuring crack propagation rates and characterizing material microstructures. On-going research projects and the mission to strengthen the graduate engineering education program at Alfred University led to this acquisition.<br/><br/>Results from multi-axial fatigue tests of A356 aluminum alloy conducted previously by this PI and a multi-scale computational and microstructure-based fatigue analytical modeling effort conducted in conjunction with Dr. McDowell of Georgia Tech and Dr. Horstemeyer of Sandia National Labs show great potential for increasing fatigue life of particular aluminum alloys. These instruments will allow the extension of those results to industry.<br/><br/>The new equipment will be used by faculty members and students at Alfred University. They will also be used by members of the USCAR/USAMP team and companies and colleges in western New York State. Besides the above-mentioned projects, the planned activities include:<br/>- Modeling and analysis of electrostrictive, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric ceramics.<br/>- Damage and failure analysis of carbon-carbon composites under complex loading.<br/>- Testing of non-proportional cyclic plasticity of metals and light-weight alloys.<br/>- Analysis behavior of brittle materials such as glass, ceramics, and concrete.<br/>- Mechanical behavior characterization and multi-scale analysis of bio-materials.<br/>- Environmental effects on material behavior, such as moisture and temperature effects.<br/>Courses such as Fatigue, Fracture, and Mechanical Behavior of Engineering Materials.
