Nanostructured Materials: From the Nanoscale to the Microscale

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 11:00 a.m. to Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 11:55 a.m.
McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium
ChEMS Seminar

Featuring Enrique J. Lavernia, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of California, Davis

Location:  McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium
Free and open to the public
Co-sponsored by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Abstract:

Bulk nanostructured materials are emerging as a new class of materials with unusual structures and, as a result, have attracted considerable interest in recent years. The successful synthesis of large-scale nanostructured materials is of technological and scientific significance. From a technological point of view, it will be feasible to obtain engineering materials that retain the structural and chemical attributes of particles/grains in the nanometer size range. From scientific point of view, large-scale nanostructured materials will permit systematic investigation of novel physical and deformation mechanisms.

Over the past decade or so, various techniques have been successfully developed for the synthesis of nanostructured metals and composites, based on fcc, hcp and bcc crystal structures. Results from various groups around the world reveal considerable strengthening in a variety of cryomilled Al alloys, for example. Ductility, however, appears to scale inversely with strength in these materials. This challenge has been addressed via a number of strategies, including the introduction of additional size scales that facilitate plasticity during deformation. The concept of a bimodal microstructure has recently been extended into the realm of Al composites with tri-modal microstructural characteristics, to accomplish ultra-high strength values. In this overview, published data of nanostructured Al, Ni and Ti alloys and are reviewed and discussed with particular emphasis on the following topics: recent development in the area of cryomilled materials; primary consolidation and secondary processing methods; microstructural evolution from nanostructured powders to bulk materials during consolidation; and mechanical behavior of consolidated materials. The deformation behavior and the underlying mechanisms of cryomilled materials are discussed in an effort to shed light into the fundamental behavior of ultrafine grained and nanostructured materials.

About the Speaker:

Enrique Lavernia, Ph.D., has served as UC Davis' provost and executive vice chancellor since January 1, 2009, after serving as dean of the College of Engineering since September 2002. Lavernia holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor's degree from Brown University. He joined the faculty of UC Irvine in 1987, becoming department chair in 1998. Lavernia's research interests are in processing and synthesis of structural materials including novel alloys, refractory  materials, composites, and ultrafine grained and nanostructured materials. He has developed several new processing techniques.  He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers as well as conference proceedings, invited papers, and book chapters.

He is recognized by the of Institute for Scientific Research as one of the most highly cited, influential researcher in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. Among many other awards and honors, Lavernia was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2000, and Fellow of American Society of Materials (ASM International) in 1998. He has held prestigious fellowships from the Ford Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Iketani Science and Technology Foundation of Tokyo, Japan; and Rockwell International. He serves on various boards of review and advisory panels.  Lavernia has held grants from federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.