The objective of this research is to establish the feasibility of producing bulk nanostructured materials from machining chips by powder processing. It seeks to capitalize on the recent discovery of a low-cost means of producing nanostructured materials in essentially any metal or alloy. The discovery that chips produced during common machining operations are composed entirely of ultra-fine grained structures, provides an opportunity for making these materials in large volumes. The approach will employ advanced powder processing routes to explore consolidation of particulate derived from the nanostructured machining chips. Electron microscopy will be used to characterize the nanocrystalline structures. A key element of the research is to quantify the effect of thermal processing on microstructure coarsening; this should facilitate optimization of microstructure and properties of the bulk materials.
Broad Impact and Intellectual Merit Nanostructured materials have been reported to exhibit significantly better properties than conventional materials, including higher hardness, strength and ductility. The high cost of creating these materials, however, has restricted their broad application. A fundamental understanding of consolidation and densification processes will be necessary before widespread use of any particulate nanostructured materials in the discrete products sector can be expected. An important secondary benefit, with broad societal impact, will be providing higher value utilization for machining chips produced in manufacturing operations. Complementing the research is an innovative education program, which builds on a strong interaction with an institution having a high enrollment of African-American students and includes summer undergraduate research internships.
