MEAM Seminar: “Property Optimization for High Temperature Aerospace Materials”
February 24 at 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Optimized thermochemical, thermomechanical, and thermal properties of high temperature materials are key for successful performance of propulsion systems and hypersonic leading edge systems. In this presentation fundamental studies of materials for these two aerospace applications will be described. In the first case, properties of novel rare-earth containing high temperature coatings for aero turbine engine components will be described. The effect of composition and structural complexity on thermochemical stability, thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity will be described. In the second case, the performance of refractory materials in high temperature molecular and dissociated oxygen for hypersonic leading edge applications will be covered. Oxidation results for selected transition metals and carbides in these extreme environments will be presented. Mechanistic understanding developed in both environments enables improved life prediction and materials selection.
Elizabeth J. Opila
Department Chair, Rolls Royce Commonwealth Professor of Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia
Elizabeth Opila is Chair and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, the Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor of Engineering at the University of Virginia with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She is also the Director of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Center for Advanced Materials Systems at the University of Virginia. Prior to 2010, she held the position of Materials Research Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH for 19 years where she worked primarily on ceramics for applications in turbine engines, rocket engines, hot structures for thermal protections systems, and other power and propulsion applications. Her current research focus includes understanding thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms for material degradation in extreme environments, development of life prediction methodology based on understanding of fundamental high temperature chemical reaction mechanisms, and materials development for protection of materials from extreme environments. She studies thermochemical stability of ceramic matrix composites, refractory metals and alloys, ultra-high temperature ceramics, and environmental and thermal barrier coatings using a variety of specialized experimental approaches, materials characterization, and computational methods. Prof. Opila received her BS in Ceramic Engineering from the University of Illinois, her MS in Materials Science from the University of California Berkeley, and her PhD in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the Electrochemical Society and recipient of the 2021 American Ceramic Society’s Arthur L. Friedberg Award. She has approximately 150 publications, is editor of 10 proceedings volumes, and coinventor on seven patents.