Research Areas:
Cyclic Plasticity of Nickel:
Research on the fundamental cyclic plasticity behavior of pure nickel has been accomplished in collaboration with Prof. John Moosbrugger. This research has included a variety of grain sizes ranging from single crystal to ultrafine grain. Most of this work was sponsored by the National Science Foundation through grants DMR 8603174, MSS 9108695, CMS 9634707, and CMS 0201487. More information on these research projects is available at the links below.
Single
Crystal Nickel
Polycrystalline
Nickel (Axial)
Polycrystalline Nickel (Axial-Torsional)
Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Foams:
Metal foams offer many attractive properties such as low density, high stiffness, and good vibration attenuation characteristics. In collaboration with Prof. Kathleen Issen, we have performed research on the mechanical properties of two type of aluminum foams: closed cell Alporas and open cell Duocel. Both monotonic and cyclic fatigue loading conditions have been investigated. Digital image correlation has been used extensively to characterize nominal surface strains. More recently we have used micro CT scanning to characterize subsurface fatigue cracks. More information on this research is available at the link below.
Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Foams
Hydrogen Embrittlement:
Metals that are used in the sub sea oil and gas drilling environment are highly susceptable to hydrogen embrittlement due to the presence of H2S, CO2, and hydrogen produced as a result of cathodic protection. A research project has been initiated to investigate high strength alloys that are resistant to hydrogen embrittlement in a sub sea environment. This project is in collaboration with GE Oil & Gas / VetcoGray.