Xinghang Zhang will visit us for our fall seminar series on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 3pm. Check out his talk in Maryland Hall room 110!
Abstract: High-strength, deformable metals and ceramics with nanoscale defects
Metallic and ceramic materials have been extensively used under high temperatures and high stresses. Consequently, the design of advanced materials with unique mechanical properties has become challenging. In this presentation, I will present several examples, where nanoscale defects, such as twin boundaries, stacking faults and phase boundaries, are essential in tailoring the mechanical properties and high temperature stability of metallic and ceramic materials. In situ micromechanical testing shows that CoAl intermetallics and TiO2 with nanoscale defects exhibit ultra-high yield strength and prominent plastic deformability at room temperature. The proper design of Al alloys with nanotwins enables high mechanical strength, comparable to martensitic steels, and high temperature thermal stability. The implications of these findings on the design of advanced materials will be discussed.
Bio: Xinghang Zhang
Xinghang Zhang obtained his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 2001. He was a Director’s postdoc fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory for 2 years. After spending 12 years at Texas A&M University, he joined Purdue University in 2016. Zhang’s team excels at radiation damage and mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline, nanotwinned, and nanolayered metals and nanostructured ceramic materials. Together with his graduate students and colleagues, they have published more than 300 journal articles. Among more than 20 of his Ph.D. students graduated so far, many have become faculty at university or national laboratories. He was the Chair of the Nanomechanical Behavior of Materials Committee at TMS, and an associate editor for Science Advances. Zhang has received numerous research awards, including NSF Early Career award and TMS Brimacombe award. Zhang is an ASM Fellow and can be reached at [email protected].