National Science Foundation grant to study fatigue in additively manufactured shape memory alloys
November 13, 2024
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a team, including Penn State Shenango Associate Teaching Professor of Engineering Matthew Caputo, $445,515 to investigate the fatigue behaviour of additively manufactured materials.
The funding, known as a major research instrumentation grant, will support the acquisition of instrumentation designed to test both the dynamic stiffness and the lifetime of a material subjected to external forces. The machinery will be housed at Youngstown State University in Ohio, about 30 miles from Penn State Shenango. Alexander Pesch, assistant professor in the Rayen School of Engineering at Youngstown State University, is the project’s principal investigator.
Caputo’s investment in the grant proposal is focused on the research capabilities of Additive Manufacturing of nickel-titanium shape memory alloys (SMAs). SMAs are a unique class of materials that can ‘remember’ their original shape after deforming.“Think of a metal coat hanger permanently deforming when it’s pulled and twisted,” Caputo said. “If the coat hanger was made with nickel-titanium SMA, the coat hanger would return to its original state after being deformed.”
According to Caputo, the material has difficulty in manufacturing processes, especially in complicated shapes. However, there is significant interest in using additively manufactured technology as a method to produce SMAs.
“There has been some success [using Additive Manufacturing technology], but material fatigue, one of the most important aspects for applications, has yet to be fully explored,” Caputo shared.
In manufacturing technology, fatigue is how well a material responds mechanically to a cyclic load. A portion of the grant was used to purchase an Acumen 12 electrodynamic test system, which performs dynamic and static tests on different materials.
“Nickel-titanium happens to respond favourably to fatigue cycles,” Caputo stated. “The focus of my work will be on creating 3D-printed nickel-titanium parts using Additive Manufacturing technology and testing their fatigue responses.”
Penn State Shenango students will also have access to this equipment. According to Caputo, local manufacturing industry representatives will be invited to participate in new research and development initiatives, enabling students to engage in hands-on learning opportunities with real-world benefits.
