2025-04-09 09:00:00
The development of the Diamond Anvil Cell (DAC) to generate high pressures on a small scale has led to numerous innovations across multiple disciplines. In condensed matter systems, we use the application of hydrostatic pressure to tune the physical and structural properties of materials,…
Molten salt loops are an important tool to understand corrosion in molten salts and to build a working molten salt reactor (MSR). Designers since the MSRE have known that material loss in pipes will likely not be lifetime limiting, but rather material deposition in…
Molten salt nuclear reactors (MSRs) are a type of Generation IV nuclear reactor which use molten fluoride or chloride salts as their primary coolant. At over 800ºC, these molten salts are extremely corrosive and limit the feasibility of using conventional steel or nickel alloys….
Synchrotron-based X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) of dynamic events offers unique insights into materials’ micro- and mesoscale responses. However, the relatively small field of view provided by state-of-the-art platforms limits the time window available for capturing features such as crack propagation, failure fronts, and…
Under extreme loading conditions heat generation due to dynamic friction or thermomechanical instabilities leads to the development of highly localized thermal fields. Thermal localization occurs when the rate of heat generation by these dissipative mechanisms is much greater than the thermal diffusion effects. Predictions…
Prolonged space travel is becoming an increasingly intriguing possibility but has many challenges across multiple scientific fields. The question that must be asked of every component within the spacecraft is whether the materials can provide the expected performance despite the harsh thermal and radiation…
The strength of Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) depends on temperature and rate of loading (strain rate), according to published literature. PMMA becomes brittle at low temperatures, ductile at higher temperatures, and exhibits a brittle behavior at elevated strain rates from strain hardening. We are exploring…
Dynamic collapse of voids plays a key role in hot spot formation and the shock-to-detonation transition (SDT) in energetic materials. To better understand the dynamic material response which leads to hot spot formation, here we quantitatively characterize the kinematic fields around collapsing cylindrical holes…
Time-resolved, synchrotron X-ray diffraction methods coupled to gas and powder gun shock experiments are used to study twinning, detwinning, and melting in magnesium alloy AZ31B-H24. The X-ray diffraction data shows that when this cold-rolled polycrystalline metal is shock-compressed to ~9 GPa in the rolling…
Three-dimensional (3D) tomography using focused-ion beam (FIB) microscopy is a powerful technique to generate sub-micron resolution volumes that can expand upon the information acquired two-dimensionally with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This is critical for contextualized phenomena that need to be captured in 3D to…
