STTR Phase I: Support Material Characterization for Ultrasonic Rapid Prototyping

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will result in the characterization of the mechanical and physical properties requirements for a support material for an ultrasonic consolidation rapid prototyping process. Ultrasonic excitation is known to affect the deformation characteristics of metals, either through superposition effects as a high frequency cyclic load, or through excitation of the lattice structure, resulting in enhanced dislocation mobility. Experimental generation of a shear stress-strain curve for aluminum undergoing shear loading with superimposed ultrasonic excitation is required to determine what properties a support material must have in order to ensure that uniform contact stresses can be maintained in the interlaminar zone during material deposition in ultrasonic consolidation. Work in this area has been undertaken for tensile mean stresses only, with superimposed ultrasonic shear. This project will provide shear loading on the specimens, and ultrasonic shear, combined with extensive characterization of the resulting dislocation substructures in the bond zones. This will contribute to increased fundamental understanding of plastic deformation of metals in the presence of ultrasonic excitation. The broader impact from this technology could be the ability to expand processing capability in wire drawing, extrusion, tube drawing, and to ball milling to name a few. The data that is derived from this technology could be of great interest to scientists concerned with ultrasonic effects on deformation of metals.