ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MAY/JUNE 2024 5 RESEARCH TRACKS SUPERALLOY COULD CUT POWER PLANT EMISSIONS Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have shown that a new 3D-printed superalloy could help power plants generate more electricity while producing less carbon. Sandia scientists, working with colleagues at Ames National Laboratory, Iowa State University, and Bruker Corp., used a 3D printer to create a superalloy with an unusual composition that makes it stronger and lighter than the best materials now used in gas turbine machinery. The team’s experiments showed that the new superalloy was stronger at 1472°F than many other high- performance alloys—and even stronger when returned to room temperature. The alloy is comprised of 42% aluminum, 25% titanium, 13% niobium, 8% zirconium, 8% molybdenum, and 4% tantalum. The findings could have a broad impact across the energy sector as well as aerospace and automotive. “We’re showing that this material can access previously unobtainable combinations of high strength, low weight, and high-temperature resiliency,” explains Sandia scientist Andrew Kustas. “We think part of the reason we achieved this is because of the additive manufacturing approach.” Moving forward, the team is interested in exploring whether advanced computer modeling techniques could help researchers discover more members of what could be a new class of high- performance super- alloys designed for additive manufacturing. Kustas notes that challenges are ahead. For one, it could be difficult to produce the new superalloy in large volumes without microscopic cracks, a general challenge in additive manufacturing. He also said the materials that go into the alloy are expensive. “With all those caveats, if this is scalable and we can make a bulk part out of this, it’s a game changer,” he says. sandia.gov. U.S.-JAPAN PARTNERSHIP AIDS AI INNOVATION Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and Keio University, Japan, will join forces with each other and industry partners to boost AI-focused research and workforce development Sandia’s laser engineered net shaping machine enables 3D printing of new superalloys. in the United States and Japan. The partnership is one of two new university partnerships between the two countries in the area of artificial intelligence. This work will center on multimodal and multilingual learning, AI for robots, autonomous AI symbiosis with humans, life sciences, and AI for scientific discovery. The partnerships between Carnegie Mellon and Keio universities and between the University of Washington and the University of Tsukuba will be supported by $110 million in combined private sector investment from several American companies and a consortium of nine Japanese companies. cmu.edu. INTERNSHIPS SUPPORT EXTREME MATERIALS RESEARCH The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) initiated a joint research training opportunity through the NSF INTERN program. Two DEVCOM organizations are participating: the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC). The program provides graduate students with sixmonth experiential learning oppor- tunities through research internships where they acquire core professional competencies and skills. The NSFDEVCOM INTERN opportunity will support research experiences at DEVCOM that align with ARL and GVSC research competencies including extreme materials, biotechnology, energy, robotics, and others. The opportunity will fund approximately 10 internships in 2024, providing up to $55,000 per student for a six-month period. nsf.gov. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Japanese Minister of Science and Technology Moriyama Masahito. Courtesy of U.S. Department of Commerce.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTYyMzk3NQ==