MechE Seminar Series: Specialized Additive Manufacturing for Mission Critical Applications

March 22, 2019

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET

Porter Hall 100

Description

Current metal additive manufacturing techniques can create complex parts, but they offer limited control over microstructure, making it difficult to directly print highperformance components for demanding mission-critical applications. My research group seeks to overcome this limitation by developing hybrid additive manufacturing processes that can print objects with tailored structures that impart specific desirable mechanical properties. In pursuit of this goal, we study the physics of materials processing and plastic deformation, with a view towards establishing quantitative process -structure-property linkages for additively manufactured materials. This talk will summarize our methods for printing next-generation structural materials, including net-shaped nanocrystalline materials, mesostructured composites, and grain boundary engineered oligocrystals. I will discuss the exotic mechanical properties of these designer materials and their potential to address key challenges in spaceflight.

Speaker

Zack Cordero, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University

Dr. Cordero earned his B.S. in Physics and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His thesis work on tungsten powder metallurgy was licensed by the MIT startup Veloxint which was recently acquired by Braidy Industries. After receiving his PhD, Dr. Cordero spent one year as a post-doctoral fellow at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he developed improved process monitoring, quality control, and microstructure design tools for powder-bed metal additive manufacturing technologies. Dr. Cordero launched the Additive Lab at Rice University in 2016. For additional information please visit Dr. Cordero’s website.

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