Microstructure Sensitive Design A Quantitative Approach To New Materials Development

The central goal of the project is to develop a new spectral method for design of polycrystalline materials. The methodology (MSD) differs from other materials design approaches in that all components of the materials design enterprise are communicated in the same mathematical framework - a Fourier space in which the objectives/constraints of the mechanical designer, the set of all possible material microstructures, and the set of all possible combined properties are examined in a common framework. During the three year period of the project we have tackled the challenging problem of fully developing the first-order MSD and then extending it to its second-order framework, by incorporating 2-point correlation functions in the homogenization relations. We have also conducted the first numerical tests of method for evolving 1-point microstructure statistics during plastic deformation. The main achievements include (1) new methodology for estimating properties closures via MSD, (2) a framework in which 2-point homogenization can be addressed by MSD, (3) an interface between MSD and multidisciplinary optimization, and (4) demonstration of benefits to be achieved in selected design projects, especially including geometries that concentrate stress.