Joining two dissimilar metals, specifically Mg and Al alloys, using conventional welding techniques is extraordinarily challenging. Even when these alloys are able to be joined, the weld is littered with defects such as cracks, cavities, and wormholes. The focus of this project was to use friction stir welding to create a defect-free joint between Al 2139 and Mg WE43. The stir tool used in this project, made of H13 tool steel, is of fixed design. The design included an 11 mm scrolled and concave shoulder in addition to a 6 mm length pin comprised of two tapering, threaded re-entrant flutes that promoted and amplified material flow. Upon completion of this project an improved experimental setup process was created as well as successful welds between the two alloys. These successful joints, albeit containing defects, lead to the conclusion that the tool used in project was ill fit to join the Al and Mg alloy plates. This was primarily due to its conical shaped pin instead of the more traditional cylindrical shaped pins. As a result of this aggressive pin design, there was a lack of heat generation towards the bottom of the pin even at higher (800-1000 rpm) rotation speeds. This …

Magnesium alloys are a popular research topic for structural applications because they have a lower density than conventional structural materials, including steel, titanium, and aluminum; however, the reliability and safety of their mechanical properties must be further proven. An important mechanical property for this purpose is fracture toughness, which is the measure of the material's resistance to crack propagation. In this study, a model of an experiment to investigate the fracture toughness of a magnesium alloy WE43 before and after friction stir processing (FSP) is developed, and the results are compared to those produced by a digital image correlation (DIC) system during an experiment from another paper. The model results of the material before FSP matched well with the DIC results, but the model of the material after FSP only partially matches the DIC results. In addition, a theoretical approach to calculating the standard fracture toughness value, KIc, from the modeling results is proposed, and is found to be a conservative approach.

A particle image velocimetry (PIV) computer software is analyzed in this work by applying automatic differentiation on it. We create two artificial images that contained particles that where moved with a known velocity field over time. These artificial images were created with parameters that we would have on real PIV experiments. Then we applied a PIV software to find the velocity output vectors. As we mentioned before, we applied automatic differentiation through all the algorithm to track the derivatives of the output vectors regarding interesting parameters declared as inputs. By analyzing these derivatives we analyze the sensitivity of the output vectors to changes on each one of the parameters analyzed. One of the most important derivatives calculated in this project was the derivative of the output regarding the image intensity. In future work we plan to use this derivative combined with the intensity probability distribution of each image pixel, to find PIV uncertainties. If we achieve this goal we will find an uncertainty method that will save computational power and will give uncertainty values with computer accuracy.

Programmable matter is a material whose properties can be programmed to achieve particular shapes or mechanical properties upon command. This is an essential technique that could one day lead to morphing aircraft and ground vehicles. Metamaterials are the rationally designed artificial materials whose properties are not observed in nature. Their properties are typically controlled by geometry rather than chemical compositions. Combining metamaterials with a programmable function will create a new area in the intelligent material design. The objective of this study is to design and demonstrate a tunable metamaterial and to investigate its thermo-mechanical behavior. An integrated approach to the metamaterial design was used with analytical modeling, numerical simulation, and experimental demonstration. The dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis was used to measure base materials' modulus and thermal expansion coefficient as a function of temperature. CPS, the unit cell of the metamaterial, is composed of circular holes and slits. By decomposing kinematic rotation of the arm and elastic deformation of a bi-material hinge, thermo-mechanical constitutive models of CPS were developed and it was extended to 3D polyhedral structures for securing isotropic properties. Finite element based numerical simulations of CPS and polyhedral models were conducted for comparison with the analytical model. 3D printing of …

This research demonstrates the use of friction stir welding (FSW) to join dissimilar (Al-Mg) metal alloys. The main challenges in joining different, dissimilar metal alloys is the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the stir zone affecting mechanical properties of joint significantly. In this present study, FSW joining process is used to join aluminum alloy AA2139 and magnesium alloy WE43. The 9.5 mm thick plates of AA2139 and WE43 were friction stir butt welded. Different processing parameters were used to optimize processing parameters. Also, various weldings showed a crack at interface due to formation of IMCs caused by liquation during FSW. A good strength sound weld was obtained using processing parameter of 1200 rev/min rotational speed; 76.2 mm/min traverse speed; 1.5 degree tilt and 0.13 mm offsets towards aluminum. The crack faded away as the tool was offset towards advancing side aluminum. Mostly, the research was focused on developing high strength joint through microstructural control to reduce IMCs thickness in Al-Mg dissimilar weld joint with optimized processing parameter and appropriate tool offset.

One of the major goal of the researchers is to reduce energy loss including nanoscale to the structural level. For instance, around 65% of fuel energy is lost during the propulsion of the automobiles, where 11% of the loss happens at tires due to rolling friction. Out of that tire loss, 90 to 95% loss happens due to hysteresis of tire materials. This dissertation focuses on multiscale modeling techniques in order to facilitate the discovery new rubber materials. Enhanced coarse-grained models of elastomers (thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer and natural rubber) are constructed from full-atomic models with reasonable repeat units/beads associated with pressure-correction for non-bonded interactions of the beads using inverse Boltzmann method (IBM). Equivalent continuum modeling is performed with volumetric/isochoric loading to predict macroscopic mechanical properties using molecular mechanics (MM) and molecular dynamics (MD). Glass-transition and rate-dependent mechanical properties along with hysteresis loss under uniaxial deformation is predicted with varying composition of the material. A statistical non-Gaussian treatment of a rubber chain is performed and linked with molecular dynamics in order predict hyperelastic material constants without fitting with any experimental data.

Due to the multi-tasking and miniaturization of electronic devices, faster heat transfer is required from the device to avoid the thermal failure. Die-attached polymer adhesives are used to bond the chips in electronic packaging. These adhesives have to hold strong mechanical, thermal, dielectric, and moisture resistant properties. As polymers are insulators, heat conductive particles are inserted in it to enhance the thermal flow with an attention that there would be no electrical conductivity as well as no reduction in dielectric strength. This thesis focuses on the characterization of polymer nanocomposites for thermal and electrical properties with experimental and computational tools. Platelet geometry of hexagonal boron nitride offers highly anisotropic properties. Therefore, their alignment and degree of orientation offers tunable properties in polymer nanocomposites for thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. This thesis intends to model the anisotropic behavior of thermal and dielectric properties using finite element and molecular dynamics simulations as well as experimental validation.