9406800 German Nanoparticles will be mixed with low temperature alloys to form a heated slurry with sufficient fluidity that can be directly molded, by using a net-shape manufacturing process. A hybrid of rheocasting and injection molding will be applied. Preliminary data are necessary to check the basic concepts and the approach, including the proper interfacial particle-alloy properties, the recommended synthesis method for nanoparticles, the fluidity and corresponding thermal characteristics of the composite slurry. The strength of the resulted composite material should improve it the specific powder-alloy interfacial area is larger, and the dislocation line length between phases is smaller. In the first set of experiments, nanoscale iron precursor materials are low- cost, commercially available. If successful, the results of the proposed exploratory research could be transferred immediately to industry. The approach could offer new manufacturing, materials and design options. The envisioned process will potentially provide new materials with superstrengths via a low temperature, highly automated manufacturing technology. ***
