Research

Data-Driven Approaches to Characterize Microstructure-Property Links

The emergence of new experimental capabilities for material characterization that result in extremely large and multi-dimensional data sets, combined with the concurrent emergence of unsupervised learning methods and computing power, has opened the door for a powerful means of unbiased recognition of the complex interactions between microstructure and mechanical properties under a wide range of thermo-mechanical loading conditions.

Constituent Architecture Effects on CMC Response under Elevated Thermo-Mechanical and Environmental Loads

Silicon Carbide/ Silicon Carbide ceramic matrix composites (SiC/SiC CMCs) are candidate materials for extreme environments due to their low weight, advantageous creep behavior, high specific strength, and oxidation resistance at temperatures exceeding 1400°C.

Deformation Mechanisms at Grain Boundaries (MEMs to Macroscale)

Dislocation slip and grain boundary sliding are centrally important to the behavior of polycrystalline metallic materials, but little is known about the interactions between these mechanisms during plastic deformation.

Environmental and Elevated Temperature Effects on Fatigue Loading of Titanium Alloys

Understanding the fatigue behavior of Titanium alloys is critical in order to accurately assess and design for their extensive use in aerospace applications, including turbine engine fan and compressor disks.

Functional Materials

Functional materials are materials in which the mechanical behavior is coupled with outside influences, such as temperature or magnetic fields. These materials are coming into increasing use in a wide variety of applications because of the unique properties that arise from these couplings. Examples include shape memory alloys, piezoelectric materials, and magnetostrictive materials.

Tailored Magnesium Alloys for Improved Lightweighting

Magnesium alloys have tremendous lightweighting potential in the defense, aerospace, and transportation industries due to their high weight-to-strength ratio, amongst other advantageous characteristics. The Daly group investigates interactions between microstructure and mechanical properties, towards the goal of improving component design and predictive capabilities of the material response of Mg and its alloys under a range of thermo-mechanical loading conditions.

New Experimental and Analytical Methodologies for Material Characterization

While material characterization has always been of fundamental importance, the need for quality characterization growing as the current demands on the performance-related properties of materials increase. Establishing a relationship between the microscopic behavior of a material and its macroscopic properties is critical for the systematic development of new materials and the prediction of their behavior in practical applications.