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Description
The study of the mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices lies at the intersection of nanotechnology, mechanical engineering and material science. The extremely small grains that make up nanocrystalline metals lead to higher strength but lower ductility as compared to bulk metals. Effects of strain-rate dependence on the mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals are explored. Knowing the strain rate dependence of mechanical properties would enable optimization of material selection for different applications and lead to lighter structural components and enhanced sustainability.
ContributorsHall, Andrea Paulette (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis director) / Liao, Yabin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper investigates Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment (SMAT) and the influence of treatment temperature and initial sample surface finish on the corrosion resistance of 7075-T651 aluminum alloy. Ambient SMAT was performed on AA7075 samples polished to 80-grit initial surface roughness. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were used to characterize the corrosion behavior of samples before and after SMAT. Electrochemical tests indicated an improved corrosion resistance after application of SMAT process. The observed improvements in corrosion properties are potentially due to microstructural changes in the material surface induced by SMAT which encouraged the formation of a passive oxide layer. Further testing and research are required to understand the corrosion related effects of cryogenic SMAT and initial-surface finish as the COVID-19 pandemic inhibited experimentation plans.
ContributorsDeorio, Jordan Anthony (Author) / Solanki, Kiran (Thesis director) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
An approach for modeling resistance spot welding of thin-gauge, dissimilar metal sheets with high electrical conductivity is presented in this work. In this scenario, the electrical and thermal contact resistances play a dominant role in heat generation and temperature evolution within the workpieces; these interactions ultimately control the weld geometry. Existing models are limited in modeling these interactions, especially for dissimilar and thin-gauge metal sheets, and at higher temperatures when the multiphysics becomes increasingly interdependent. The approach presented here uses resistivity measurements, combined with thermal modeling and known bulk resistance relationships to infer the relationship between electrical contact resistance and temperature for each of the different material interfaces in the welding process. Corresponding thermal contact resistance models are developed using the Wiedemann-Franz law combined with a scaling factor to account for nonmetallic behavior. Experimental and simulation voltage histories and final weld diameter were used to validate this model for a Cu/Al/Cu and a Cu/Al/Cu/Al/Cu stack-ups. This model was then used to study the effect of Ni-P coating on resistance spot welding of Cu and Al sheets in terms of weld formation, mechanical deformation, and contact resistance. Contact resistance and current density distribution are highly dependent on contact pressure and temperature distribution at the Cu/Al interface in the presence of alumina. The Ni-P coating helps evolve a partially-bonded donut shaped weld into a fully-bonded hourglass-shaped weld by decreasing the dependence of contact resistance and current density distribution on contact pressure and temperature distribution at the Cu/Al interface. This work also provides an approach to minimize distortion due to offset-rolling in thin aluminum sheets by optimizing the stiffening feature geometry. The distortion is minimized using particle swarm optimization. The objective function is a function of distortion and smallest radius of curvature in the geometry. Doubling the minimum allowable radius of curvature nearly doubles the reduction in distortion from the stadium shape for a quarter model. Reduction in distortion in the quarter model extends to the full-scale model with the best design performing 5.3% and 27% better than the corresponding nominal design for a quarter and full-scale model, respectively.
ContributorsVeeresh, Pawan (Author) / Oswald, Jay (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, Blair (Committee member) / Hoover, Christian (Committee member) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Achieving a viable process for advanced manufacturing of ceramics and metal-ceramic composites is a sought-after goal in a wide range of fields including electronics and sensors for harsh environments, microelectromechanical devices, energy storage materials, and structural materials, among others. In this dissertation, the processing, and manufacturing of ceramics and ceramic composites are addressed, specifically, a process for three-dimensional (3D) printing of polymer-derived ceramics (PDC), and a process for low-cost manufacturing as well as healing of metal-ceramic composites is demonstrated.Three-dimensional printing of ceramics is enabled by dispensing the preceramic polymer at the tip of a moving nozzle into a gel that can reversibly switch between fluid and solid states, and subsequently thermally cross-linking the entire printed part “at once” while still inside the same gel was demonstrated. The solid gel converts to fluid at the tip of the moving nozzle, allowing the polymer solution to be dispensed and quickly returns to a solid state to maintain the geometry of the printed polymer both during printing and the subsequent high-temperature (160 °C) cross-linking. After retrieving the cross-linked part from the gel, the green body is converted to ceramic by high-temperature pyrolysis. This scalable process opens new opportunities for low-cost and high-speed production of complex three-dimensional ceramic parts and will be widely used for high-temperature and corrosive environment applications, including electronics and sensors, microelectromechanical systems, energy, and structural applications.
Metal-ceramic composites are technologically significant as structural and functional materials and are among the most expensive materials to manufacture and repair. Hence, technologies for self-healing metal-ceramic composites are important. Here, a concept to fabricate and heal co-continuous metal-ceramic composites at room temperature were demonstrated. The composites were fabricated by infiltration of metal (here Copper) into a porous alumina preform (fabricated by freeze-casting) through electroplating; a low-temperature and low-cost process for the fabrication of such composites. Additionally, the same electroplating process was demonstrated for healing damages such as grooves and cracks in the original composite, such that the healed composite recovered its strength by more than 80%. Such technology may be expanded toward fully autonomous self-healing structures.
ContributorsMahmoudi, Mohammadreza (Author) / Minary-Jolandan, Majid (Thesis advisor) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Cramer, Corson (Committee member) / Kang, Wonmo (Committee member) / Bhate, Dhruv (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This thesis presents a study of Boron Nitride (BN) and Copper (Cu)/BN multilayer thin films in terms of synthesis, chemical, structural, morphological, and mechanical properties characterization.
In this study, the influence of Ar/N₂ flow rate in synthesizing stoichiometric BN thin films via magnetron sputtering was investigated initially. Post magnetron sputtering, the crystalline nature and B:N stoichiometric ratio of deposited thin films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. Thicknesses revealed by ellipsometry analysis for nearly stoichiometric B:N thin films and their corresponding deposition times were used for estimating BN interlayer deposition times during the deposition of Cu/BN multilayer thin films. To characterize the microstructure of the synthesized Cu/BN multilayer thin films, XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used. Finally, a comparison of nanoindentation measurements on pure Cu and Cu/BN multilayer thin films having different number of BN interlayers were used for studying the influence of BN interlayers on improving mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus.
The results show that the stoichiometry of BN thin films is dependent on the Ar/N₂ flow rate during magnetron sputtering. An optimal Ar/N₂ flow rate of 13:5 during deposition was required to achieve an approximately 1:1 B:N stoichiometry. Grazing incidence and powder XRD analysis on these stoichiometric BN thin films deposited at room temperature did not reveal a phase match when compared to hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and cubic boron nitride (c-BN) reference XRD patterns. For a BN thin film deposition time of 5 hours, a thickness of approximately 40 nm was achieved, as revealed by ellipsometry. XRD and microstructure analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on pure Cu and Cu/BN thin films showed that the Cu grain size in Cu/BN thin films is much finer than pure Cu thin films. Interestingly, nanoindentation measurements on pure Cu and Cu/BN thin films having a similar overall thickness demonstrated that hardness and Young’s modulus of the films were improved significantly when BN interlayers are present.
ContributorsCaner, Sumeyye (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis advisor) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Magnetic liquids called ferrofluids have been used in applications ranging from audio speaker cooling and rotary pressure seals to retinal detachment surgery and implantable artificial glaucoma valves. Recently, ferrofluids have been investigated as a material for use in magnetically controllable liquid droplet robotics. Liquid droplet robotics is an emerging technology that aims to apply control theory to manipulate fluid droplets as robotic agents to perform a wide range of tasks. Furthermore, magnetically controlled micro-robotics is another popular area of study where manipulating a magnetic field allows for the control of magnetized micro-robots. Both of these emerging fields have potential for impact toward medical applications: liquid characteristics such as being able to dissolve various compounds, be injected via a needle, and the potential for the human body to automatically filter and remove a liquid droplet robot, make liquid droplet robots advantageous for medical applications; while the ability to remotely control the torques and forces on an untethered microrobot via modulating the magnetic field and gradient is also highly advantageous. The research described in this dissertation explores applications and methods for the electromagnetic control of ferrofluid droplet robots. First, basic electrical components built from fluidic channels containing ferrofluid are made remotely tunable via the placement of ferrofluid within the channel. Second, a ferrofluid droplet is shown to be fully controllable in position, stretch direction, and stretch length in two dimensions using proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers. Third, control of a ferrofluid’s position, stretch direction, and stretch length is extended to three dimensions, and control gains are optimized via a Bayesian optimization process to achieve higher accuracy. Finally, magnetic control of both single and multiple ferrofluid droplets in two dimensions is investigated via a visual model predictive control approach based on machine learning. These achievements take both liquid droplet robotics and magnetic micro-robotics fields several steps closer toward real-world medical applications such as embedded soft electronic health monitors, liquid-droplet-robot-based drug delivery, and automated magnetically actuated surgeries.
ContributorsAhmed, Reza James (Author) / Marvi, Hamidreza (Thesis advisor) / Espanol, Malena (Committee member) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Committee member) / Zhuang, Houlong (Committee member) / Xu, Zhe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Solid-state and non-equilibrium processings are of great interest to researchers due to their ability to control and refine bulk and/or surface microstructure of metallic alloys and push them to surpass their conventional properties limit. In this dissertation, solid-state processing i.e., Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE), and non-equilibrium processes i.e., surface mechanical attrition (SMAT) and additive manufacturing (AM) techniques were used to process the magnesium and aluminum alloys respectively. A synergistic investigation of processing-induced microstructural modification and its effect on corrosion resistance was performed using various ex-situ, quasi in-situ, and in-situ electrochemical, microscopy, and spectroscopy characterization techniques. To evaluate the effect of the same processing condition on a range of microstructures, a variety of magnesium alloys such as AZ31B, Mg-3Si, ZK60, and Pure Mg were processed using a novel solid-state processing method, namely ShAPE. It induced a significant grain refinement, homogenized distribution of second phases, and low residual strain in AZ31B alloy, which contributed toward a noble breakdown potential, stable protective film, and hence better corrosion resistance compared to the parent extruded counterpart. However, with variations in composition, volume fraction, and distribution of second phases with Mg-3Si and ZK60 magnesium alloy an opposite response was inferred indicating a strong dependence of corrosion on underlying microstructure compared to a processing condition. Non-equilibrium processes, i.e. SMAT and AM were utilized to process high-strength 7xxx series aluminum alloys. Continuous high energy impacts of hard balls in room temperature (RT SMAT) and liquid nitrogen (LN2 SMAT) flow environment generated a gradient nanocrystalline surface layer with the dissolution of inherent second phase and precipitation of new phases in aluminum 7075 alloys. RT SMAT showed a reduced anodic dissolution rate and improved film resistance, which was attributed to the thicker and composite oxide layer along with new nanoscale precipitates. Lastly, reactive AM was used to process aluminum 7075 and 7050 alloys which resulted in a refined and textureless microstructure. A reduction in corrosion resistance was observed with precipitation of excessive reactive particles (Ti and B4C) in AM alloys compared to wrought counterparts.
ContributorsBeura, Vikrant Kumar (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Peralta, Pedro (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Ankit, Kumar (Committee member) / Joshi, Vineet V (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The increasing demand for structural materials with superior mechanical properties has provided a strong impetus to the discovery of novel materials, and innovations in processing techniques to improve the properties of existing materials. Methods like severe plastic deformation (SPD) and surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) have led to significant enhancement in the strength of traditional structural materials like Al and Fe based alloys via microstructural refinement. However, the nanocrystalline materials produced using these techniques exhibit poor ductility due to the lack of effective strain hardening mechanisms, and as a result the well-known strength-ductility trade-off persists. To overcome this trade-off, researchers have proposed the concept of heterostructured materials, which are composed of domains ranging in size from a few nanometers to several micrometers. Over the last two decades, there has been intense research on the development of new methods to synthesize heterostructured materials. However, none of these methods is capable of providing precise control over key microstructural parameters such as average grain size, grain morphology, and volume fraction and connectivity of coarse and fine grains. Due to the lack of microstructural control, the relationship between these parameters and the deformation behavior of heterostructured materials cannot be investigated systematically, and hence designing heterostructured materials with optimized properties is currently infeasible. This work aims to address this scientific and technological challenge and is composed of two distinct but interrelated parts. The first part concerns the development of a broadly applicable synthesis method to produce heterostructured metallic films with precisely defined architectures. This method exploits two forms of film growth (epitaxial and Volmer-Weber) to generate heterostructured metallic films. The second part investigates the effect of different microstructural parameters on the deformation behavior of heterostructured metallic films with the aim of elucidating their structure-property relationships. Towards this end, freestanding heterostructured Fe films with different architectures were fabricated and uniaxially deformed using MEMS stages. The results from these experiments are presented and their implications for the mechanical properties of heterostructured materials is discussed.
ContributorsBerlia, Rohit (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis advisor) / Sieradzki, Karl (Committee member) / Peralta, Pedro (Committee member) / Crozier, Peter (Committee member) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This thesis presents a study of the microstructure and mechanical properties of Yttrium-Zinc (YZn) thin films. Rare-earth intermetallic compounds have gained significant attention in recent years due to their unique structural and mechanical properties, making them suitable for various applications. However, studies on the Y-Zn system are scarce and there are very few published reports on YZn thin films. The main objective of this study is to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of YZn thin films using various experimental techniques.In this study, YZn films of various thicknesses were synthesized via magnetron co-sputtering: 200 nm, 500 nm, 1 µm, 2 µm and 11.5 µm. Then these samples were annealed at 250°C, 300°C, 350°C and 400°C to investigate their microstructural evolution and mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) based techniques have been used to analyze the microstructure and chemical composition of these compounds. The mechanical properties such as hardness and elastic modulus have been measured using nanoindentation.
The results show that the microstructure of YZn thin films is dependent on the annealing conditions. The microstructure of samples deposited at room temperature and those annealed at 250°C and 300°C were found to be amorphous except for the 200 nm YZn film. Annealing at higher temperatures leads to crystallization of the films. Moreover, the results demonstrate that YZn intermetallic thin films have high hardness, which varies with the film thickness and annealing treatment.
This work represents an initial effort to understand the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of YZn thin films as a function of film thickness and annealing temperatures. The results of this study can be used to guide the design and development of YZn thin films with tailored microstructures and mechanical properties for various applications.
ContributorsAkkarakaduppil, Riju Philip James (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis advisor, Committee member) / Peralta, Pedro (Committee member) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Mechanical behavior of metallic thin films at room temperature (RT) is relatively well characterized. However, measuring the high temperature mechanical properties of thin films poses several challenges. These include ensuring uniformity in sample temperature and minimizing temporal fluctuations due to ambient heat loss, in addition to difficulties involved in mechanical testing of microscale samples. To address these issues, we designed and analyzed a MEMS-based high temperature tensile testing stage made from single crystal silicon. The freestanding thin film specimens were co-fabricated with the stage to ensure uniaxial loading. Multi-physics simulations of Joule heating, incorporating both radiation and convection heat transfer, were carried out using COMSOL to map the temperature distribution across the stage and the specimen. The simulations were validated using temperature measurements from a thermoreflectance microscope.
ContributorsEswarappa Prameela, Suhas (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016