Dan Beaty (1937-2002) was a prolific composer, pianist, researcher, educator, and writer. His large compositional output included chamber works, choral works, songs, orchestral pieces, electronic music, and keyboard works. Beaty was well versed in traditional Western music as well as the more avant-garde and perplexing idioms of the twentieth century. Beaty's compositions reflect the many fascinating, if not always popular, musical trends of his time. His music encompasses styles from serial to jazz, shows compositional influences from Arnold Schoenberg to Indonesian music, and demonstrates thought-provoking and highly intellectual craftsmanship. This document explores several of Beaty's songs through a discussion of the composer's life and compositional process. Songs included in this document are Three Weeks Songs, October, November, A Sappho Lyric, Love Song, That Night When Joy Began, and War Lyrics. This document was written to accompany the author's DMA Lecture-Recital at the University of North Texas. Unfortunately, Beaty's vocal music was never published and is mostly unknown. One goal of the project was to initiate interest in Beaty's songs. Through this document, Lecture-Recital, and additional performances, considerable strides have been made to bring Beaty's songs to new audiences throughout the United States. In addition, the author has received permission from …

Magnesium alloys exhibit desirable properties for use in transportation technology. In particular, the low density and high specific strength of these alloys is of interest to the aerospace community. However, the concerns of flammability and susceptibility to corrosion have limited the use of magnesium alloys within the aircraft cabin. This work studies a magnesium alloy containing rare earth elements designed to increase resistance to ignition while lowering rate of corrosion. The microstructure of the alloy was documented using scanning electron microscopy. Specimens underwent salt spray testing and the corrosion products were examined using energy dispersive spectroscopy.

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are a new class of solid solution alloys that contain multiple principal elements and possess excellent mechanical properties, from corrosion resistance to fatigue and wear resistance. Even more recently, twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) non-equiatomic high entropy alloys have been engineered, promising increased strength and ductility as compared to their equiatomic counterparts. However, impact and fracture resistance of these HEAs has not been studied as much as their other mechanical properties. In this thesis, the hardness, tensile properties, and Charpy impact energy of Al0.3CoCrFeNi, a TWIP HEA, and 50Fe-30Mn-10Co-10Cr (at.%), a TRIP HEA, was explored. First, three processing conditions, (1) as-received, (2) recrystallized, and (3) peak hardness, were chosen for each alloy and verified with Vickers microhardness measurements. Next, the tensile properties of each alloy and condition were investigated. Charpy impact specimen size was then selected based on the final plate thickness, and the machined samples were tested. Plastic zone size and change in sample thickness in the deformed region of each condition after testing was measured. Post-impact test inspection of the samples in all conditions showed that the samples were in tension near the V-notch root and in compression at the …

The current study focuses on improving the wear resistance of femoral head component and enhancing the osseo-integration properties of femoral stem component of a hip implant made of a new generation low modulus alloy, Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta or TNZT. Different techniques that were adopted to improve the wear resistance of low-modulus TNZT alloy included; (a) fabrication of graded TNZT-xB (x= 0, 1, 2 wt%) samples using LENS, (b) oxidation, and (c) LASER nitriding of TNZT. TNZT-1B and TNZT-O samples have shown improved wear resistance when tested against UHMWPE ball in SBF medium. A new class of bio-ceramic coatings based on calcium phosphate (CaP), was applied on the TNZT sample surface and was further laser processed with the objective of enhancing their osseo-integration properties. With optimized LASER parameters, TNZT-CaP samples have shown improved corrosion resistance, surface wettability and cellular response when compared to the base TNZT sample.

Mg alloys have spurred a renewed academic and industrial interest because of their ultra-light-weight and high specific strength properties. Hexagonal close packed Mg has low deformability and a high plastic anisotropy between basal and non-basal slip systems at room temperature. Alloying with Li and other elements is believed to counter this deficiency by activating non-basal slip by reducing their nucleation stress. In this work I study how Li addition affects deformation mechanisms in Mg using atomistic simulations. In the first part, I create a reliable and transferable concentration dependent embedded atom method (CD-EAM) potential for my molecular dynamics study of deformation. This potential describes the Mg-Li phase diagram, which accurately describes the phase stability as a function of Li concentration and temperature. Also, it reproduces the heat of mixing, lattice parameters, and bulk moduli of the alloy as a function of Li concentration. Most importantly, our CD-EAM potential reproduces the variation of stacking fault energy for basal, prismatic, and pyramidal slip systems that influences the deformation mechanisms as a function of Li concentration. This success of CD-EAM Mg-Li potential in reproducing different properties, as compared to literature data, shows its reliability and transferability. Next, I use this newly created potential …

Ceramics have a wide variety of applications due to their unique properties; however, the low fracture toughness leads the formation and propagation of unpredictable cracks, and reduces their reliability. To solve this problem, self-healing adaptive oxides were developed. The aim of the work is to gain new insights into self-healing mechanisms of ceramics and their application. Binary oxide systems were investigated that are at least partially healed through the extrinsic or intrinsic addition of silver or silver oxide to form ternary oxides (e.g., Nb2O5 + Ag → AgNbO3). Sintered pellets and coatings were tested. For self-healing TBCs, model systems that were studied include YSZ-Al2O3-SiC, YSZ-Al2O3-TiC, YSZ-Al2O3-Nb2O5, and YSZ-Al2O3-Ta2O5. Laser cladded samples and sintered pellets were produced to test. The healing process occurs due to the formation of oxidation products and glassy phases depending on the self-healing mechanism. X-ray diffraction was used to explore phase evolution, chemical compositions, and structural properties of these samples. SEM equipped with EDS was used to investigate the chemical and morphological properties for the cross-sectional area. Pin-on-disc test was applied to test tribology performance for Nb2O5-Ag2O system, and infiltration test was applied to test CMAS-resistance for TBCs at elevated temperature. The improvements in the performance of …

Over the last few decades, body-centered-cubic (bcc) beta (β) titanium alloys have largely been exploited as structural alloys owing to the richness in their microstructural features. These features, which lead to a unique combination of high specific strength and ductility, excellent hardenability, good fatigue performance, and corrosion resistance, make these alloys viable candidates for many applications, including aerospace, automobile, and orthopedic implants. The mechanical properties of these alloys strongly depend on the various phases present; which can be controlled by thermomechanical treatments and/or alloy design. The two most important and studied phases are the metastable ω phase and the stable α phase. The present study focuses on the microstructural evolution and the mechanical behavior of these two phases in a model β-Ti alloy, binary Ti-12wt. %Mo alloy, and a commercial β-Ti alloy, β-21S. Microstructures containing athermal and isothermal ω phases in the binary Ti-12wt. %Mo alloy are obtained under specific accurate temperature controlled heat treatments. The formation and the evolution of the ω-phase based microstructures are investigated in detail via various characterization techniques such as SEM, TEM, and 3D atom probe tomography. The mechanical behavior was investigated via quasi-static tensile loading; at room and elevated temperatures. The effect of β …

Nickel based superalloys have superior high temperature mechanical strength, corrosion and creep resistance in harsh environments and found applications in the hot sections as turbine blades and turbine discs in jet engines and gas generator turbines in the aerospace and energy industries. The efficiency of these turbine engines depends on the turbine inlet temperature, which is determined by the high temperature strength and behavior of these superalloys. The microstructure of nickel based superalloys usually contains coherently precipitated gamma prime (?) Ni3Al phase within the random solid solution of the gamma () matrix, with the ? phase being the strengthening phase of the superalloys. How the alloying elements partition into the and ? phases and especially in the site occupancy behaviors in the strengthening ? phases play a critical role in their high temperature mechanical behaviors. The goal of this dissertation is to study the site substitution behavior of the major alloying elements including Cr, Co and Ti through first principles based calculations. Site substitution energies have been calculated using the anti-site formation, the standard defect formation formalism, and the vacancy formation based formalism. Elements such as Cr and Ti were found to show strong preference for Al sublattice, whereas Co …

The effect of incorporation of montmorillonite layered silicate (MLS) on poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) matrix was investigated. MLS was added in varying concentration of 1 to 5 weight percent in the PET matrix. DSC and polarized optical microscopy were used to determine the crystallization effects of MLS addition. Non isothermal crystallization kinetics showed that the melting temperature and crystallization temperature decrease as the MLS percent increases. This delayed crystallization along with the irregular spherulitic shape indicates hindered crystallization in the presence of MLS platelets. The influence of this morphology was related with the fracture toughness of PET nanocomposites using essential work of fracture coupled with the infra red (IR) thermography. Both the essential as well as non essential work of fracture decreased on addition of MLS with nanocomposite showing reduced toughness.

Building waste and disposable packaging are a major component in today's landfills. Most of these are structural or thermally insulative polymer foams that do not degrade over a long period of time. Currently, there is a push to replace these foams with thermoplastic or biodegradable foams that can either be recycled or composted. We propose the use of compostable soy-based polyurethane foams (PU) with kenaf core modifiers that will offer the desired properties with the ability to choose responsible end-of-life decisions. The effect of fillers is a critical parameter in investigating the thermal and mechanical properties along with its effect on biodegradability. In this work, foams with 5%, 10%, and 15% kenaf core content were created. Two manufacturing approaches were used: the free foaming used by spray techniques and the constrained expansion complementary to a mold cavity. Structure-property relations were examined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermal conductivity, compression values, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and automated multiunit composting system (AMCS). The results show that mechanical properties are reduced with the introduction of kenaf core reinforcement while thermal conductivity and biodegradability display a noticeable improvement. This shows that in application properties can be …

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and Hytrel (a thermoplastic elastomer) were used as polymeric matrices in polymer + metal composites. The concentration of micrometric (Al, Ag and Ni) as well as nanometric particles (Al and Ag) was varied from 0 to 10 %. Composites were prepared by blending followed by injection molding. The resulting samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) in order to determine their microstructure. Certain mechanical properties of the composites were also determined. Static and dynamic friction was measured. The scratch resistance of the specimens was determined. A study of the wear mechanisms in the samples was performed. The Al micro- and nanoparticles as well as Ni microparticles are well dispersed throughout the material while Ag micro and nanoparticles tend to form agglomerates. Generally the presence of microcomposites affects negatively the mechanical properties. For the nanoparticles, composites with a higher elastic modulus than that of the neat materials are achievable. For both micro- and nanocomposites it is feasible to lower the friction values with respective to the neat polymers. The addition of metal particles to polymers also improves the scratch resistance of the composites, particularly so for microcomposites. The inclusion of Ag …

The penchant towards development of high performance materials for light weighting engineering systems through various thermomechanical processing routes has been soaring vigorously. Friction stir processing (FSP) - a relatively new thermomechanical processing route had shown an excellent promise towards microstructural modification in many Al and Mg alloy systems. Nevertheless, the expansion of this process to high temperature materials like titanium alloys and steels is restricted by the limited availability of tool materials. Despite it challenges, the current thesis sets a tone for the usage of FSP to tailor the mechanical properties in titanium alloys and steels. FSP was carried out on three near beta titanium alloys, namely Ti6246, Ti185 and Tiβc with increasing β stability index, using various tool rotation rates and at a constant tool traverse speed. Microstructure and mechanical property relationship was studied using experimental techniques such as SEM, TEM, mini tensile testing and synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Two step aging on Ti6246 had resulted in an UTS of 2.2GPa and a specific strength around 500 MPa m3/mg, which is about 40% greater than any commercially available metallic material. Similarly, FSP on an ultra-high strength steel―Eglin steel had resulted in a strength greater than 2GPa with a ductility close …

First, the effect of transition metal oxide (e.g., V2O5, Co2O3, etc.) on the physical properties (e.g., density, glass transition temperature (Tg), optical properties and mechanical properties) and chemical durability of a simplified borosilicate nuclear waste glass was investigated. Adding V2O5 in borosilicate nuclear waste glasses decreases the Tg, while increasing the fracture toughness and chemical durability, which benefit the future formulation of nuclear waste glasses. Second, structural study of ZrO2/SiO2 substitution in silicate/borosilicate glasses was systematically conducted by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and the quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPR) analysis to correlate structural features with measured properties. Third, for bioactive glass formulation, mixed-network former effect of B2O3 and SiO2 on the structure, as well as the physical properties and bioactivity were studied by both experiments and MD simulation. B2O3/SiO2 substitution of 45S5 and 55S5 bioactive glasses increases the glass network connectivity, correlating well with the reduction of bioactivity tested in vitro. Lastly, the effect of optical dopants on the optimum analytical performance on atom probe tomography (APT) analysis of borosilicate glasses was explored. It was found that optical doping could be an effective way to improve data quality for APT analysis with a green laser assisted system, while laser spot size …

Over the last two decades there has been an increased interest in understanding the influence of trace boron additions in Ti alloys. These additions refine the prior β grain size in as-cast Ti alloys along with increasing their modulus and yield strength due to the precipitation of TiB. TiB also acts as a heterogeneous nucleation site for α precipitation and has been shown to influence the α phase morphology. B is completely soluble in liquid Ti but has a negligible solubility in both body centered cubic β and hexagonal close packed α phases of Ti. Thus, during solidification of hypoeutectic B containing alloys, B is rejected from β into the liquid where it reacts with Ti to form pristine single crystal whiskers of TiB. Despite a substantial amount of reported experimental work on the characterization of TiB precipitates, its formation mechanism and influence on α phase precipitation are still not clear. The current work is divided into two parts – (i) understanding the mechanism of TiB formation using first principles based density functional theory (DFT) calculations and (ii) elucidating how TiB influences the α phase morphology and crystallography in titanium alloys using electron microscopy techniques. TiB exhibits anisotropic growth morphology …

The results from this study, on a few commercial and model metastable beta titanium alloys, indicate that the growth restriction factor (GRF) model fails to interpret the grain growth behavior in the additively manufactured alloys. In lieu of this, an approach based on the classical nucleation theory of solidification incorporating the freezing range has been proposed for the first time to rationalize the experimental observations. Beta titanium alloys with a larger solidification range (liquidus minus solidus temperature) exhibited a more equiaxed grain morphology, while those with smaller solidification ranges exhibited columnar grains. Subsequently, the printability of two candidate beta titanium alloys containing eutectoid elements (Fe) that are prone to beta fleck in conventional casting, i.e., Ti-1Al-8V-5Fe (wt%) or Ti-185, and Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al (wt%) or Ti-10-2-3, is further investigated via two different AM processing routes. These alloys are used for high-strength applications in the aerospace industry, such as landing gears and fasteners. The Laser Engineered Net Shaping and Selective Laser Melting (the two AM techniques) results show that locally higher solidification rates in AM can prevent the problem of beta fleck and potentially produce β-titanium alloys with significantly enhanced mechanical properties over conventionally cast/forged counterparts. Further, the detailed investigation of microstructure-mechanical property …

In this work, wear and scratch behavior of four different bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) namely Zr41.2Cu12.5Ni10Ti13.8Be22.5 (LM 1), Zr57Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10Nb5 (LM 106), Ni60Pd20P17B3 (Ni-BMG), and Pt57.5Cu14.7Ni5.3P22.5 (Pt-BMG) were compared. Shear band formation on the edges of the scratch groove with spallation was found to be the primary failure mechanism in progressive scratch tests. The wear behavior and the scratch response of model binary Ni-P metallic glasses was systematically studied as a function of composition, with amorphous alloy formation over the narrow range of 10 at% to 20 at% phosphorus. Pulsed current electrodeposition was used to obtain these binary amorphous alloys, which offers a facile and versatile alternative to conventional melt quenching route. The electrodeposited metallic glasses (EMGs) showed hardness values in the range of 6.6-7.4 GPa, modulus in the range of 155-163 GPa, and friction coefficient around 0.50. Among the studied alloys, electrodeposited Ni80P20 showed the lowest wear rate. The wear mechanism was determined to be extensive plastic deformation along with mild ploughing, micro tears, and formation of discontinuous lubricious oxide patches. The effect of phosphorus content on the structure, mechanical properties, and the tribological response was systematically investigated for biocompatible Co-P metallic glasses. With increase in phosphorus content, there was …

Bioactive glasses are a class of synthetic inorganic material that have wide orthopedics, dentistry, tissue engineering and other biomedical applications. The origin of the bioactivity is closely related to the atomic structures of these novel glass materials, which otherwise lack long range order and defies any direct experimental measurements due to their amorphous nature. The structure of bioactive glasses is thus essential for the understanding of bioactive behaviors and eventually rational design of glass compositions. In this dissertation, molecular dynamics (MD) and reverse monte carlo (RMC) based computer simulations have been used to systematically study the atomic structure of three classes of new bioactive glasses: strontium doped 45S5 Bioglass®, ZnO-SrO containing bioactive glasses, and Cao-MgO-P2O5-SiO2 bioactive glasses. Properties such as ionic diffusion that are important to glass dissolution behaviors are also examined as a function of glass compositions. The accuracy of structure model generated by simulation was validated by comparing with various experimental measurements including X-ray/neutron diffraction, NMR and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown in this dissertation that atomistic computer simulations, when integrated with structural and property characterizations, is an effective tool in understanding the structural origin of bioactivity and other properties of amorphous bioactive materials that can lead to …

Silicate glasses are the most common glass types and have impact on almost every aspect in our lives: from window, containers, to glass fibers for telecommunications. Unlike their crystalline counterparts, glass materials lack long-range order in their atomic arrangement but their structures do possess short and medium range characteristics that play critical roles in their physical and chemical properties. Despite active development of characterization techniques that have contributed to the understanding of glass structures, there remain key challenges in obtaining essential structural features of glasses. Atomistic computer simulations have become an increasingly important method in elucidating the atomic structures and in interpretation and/or prediction of composition-structure-property relationships of complex materials. In this dissertation, classical molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were used to investigate the atomic structures, dynamic and other properties of two important glass systems—aluminosilicate glasses and borosilicate glasses, which are the basis of most industrial and technologically important glasses. Firstly, a comprehensive study of peralkaline Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2 glass with varying Al2O3/SiO2, Na2O/Al2O3, Na2O/SiO2 ratios has been performed to obtain better understanding of the composition–structure–property relationships in this glass system. More than 99% of Al were 4-coordinated in these glasses, validating that Na+ tend to charge balance [AlO4]- network forming units first …

I have used computer simulations to investigate the behavior of polymeric materials at the molecular level. The simulations were performed using the molecular dynamics method with Lennard-Jones potentials defining the interactions between particles in the system. Significant effort was put into the creation of realistic materials on the computer. For this purpose, an algorithm was developed based on the step-wise polymerization process. The resulting computer-generated materials (CGMs) exhibit several features of real materials, such as molecular weight distribution and presence of chain entanglements. The effect of the addition of a liquid crystalline (LC) phase to the flexible matrix was also studied. The concentration and distribution of the second phase (2P) were found to influence the mechanical and tribological properties of the CGMs. The size of the 2P agglomerates was found to have negligible influence on the properties within the studied range. Moreover, although the 2P reinforcement increases the modulus, it favors crack formation and propagation. Regions of high LC concentration exhibit high probability of becoming part of the crack propagation path. Simulations of the tensile deformation under a uniaxial force have shown that the molecular deformation mechanisms developing in the material depend on several variables, such as the magnitude of …