TECHNICAL: The microstructure of materials is intimately connected to multiple material properties (mechanical, electrical, magnetic, etc.). To fully understand the important aspects of a microstructure, it is often necessary to obtain three-dimensional structural and chemical information about grain boundaries, second phase particles, large scale defects, and so on. One of the primary ways of obtaining this kind of information is through the process of serial sectioning. Recent advances in robot technology now make it possible to completely transfer the human tasks of metallography to a robotized setup, which is more precise and can work around the clock. In the PIs laboratory, a robotized metallography instrument will be installed in the early Spring of 2008; this device generates optical serial section images or montages for material volumes of around a cubic millimeter, far larger than any of the more conventional serial sectioning methods, such as focused ion beam milling. In this high-risk, high payoff, and transformative SGER program, PI will augment this instrument with a refection Laue camera, develop automated indexing software, and integrate the diffractometer into the RoboMet.3D control hardware. In the first year of the program, PI will implement the indexing algorithms, and in the second year PI will apply the technique to determine the 3D microstructures of magnetic materials and materials that exhibit martensitic transformations. There is very little 3D information available on either of these material classes, and PI will acquire data sets that will enable subsequent numerical analysis of their macroscopic material properties. Material systems investigated will include Fe-3% Si transformer steel (in which the problem of abnormal grain growth is still poorly understood), Cu-Al-based martensitic alloys (which exhibit the shape memory, etc.), and also the Ni2MnGa system, which is a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy (i.e., it exhibits both magnetism and a martensitic transformation). The simultaneous acquisition of optical images and orientation data (through the indexing of Laue patterns) for material volumes of the order of cubic millimeters will enable the detailed study of materials that thus far have not been studied in 3D. The research will create the tools to routinely obtain this kind of microstructural information, and will also apply the method to several important engineering materials. In the long run, this instrument has the capability to transform the way we look at materials; it will help us change our usual 2D view of a microstructure (from optical or electron micrographs) to a truly 3D understanding of real-world microstructures. NON-TECHNICAL: The development of a fully automated device capable of both serial section imaging and orientational data acquisition has the potential to impact a large portion of the materials community. In the short term, the program may lead to a more widespread commercial availability of this new instrument. This will have an immediate effect on materials education, since the 3D visualizations of microstructures acquired on this instrument can be incorporated directly into courses and textbooks, thereby making 3D metallography for the future generation of materials engineers as basic a tool as 2D metallography has been in the past.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Materials Research (DMR)
Application #
0809048
Program Officer
Alan J. Ardell
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2008-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$200,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213