Monthly Archives July 2018

Four students, three of them members of our lab, were part of a field team who recently conducted experiments at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).  Experiment campaigns at ANL are rigorous and demanding, but highly rewarding.  The students reflect on their experience.

Matthew Northam, graduate student:

“I am, overall, very happy with how this year’s ANL trip went. Our group hit a few road blocks during the XRD experimentations, as to be expected, but everyone was constantly focused and determined to work together and get around the problems. Because the beam went down, we had to do twice as much work in the last day of experiments in order to reach our goals, but we came up with a new sample holder design and became more efficient regarding data collection and achieved our goals and then more. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of dedicated people to work with.”

Lin Rossmann, graduate student:

“Zac was our MVP, hands down.  It’s impressive enough for an undergrad to be in charge of their own study, but not only did he do that, he also took the lead on our data analysis.  With some help from the beamline scientists, he was able to analyze some of our XRD data to get strain information while we were still there.  Being able to analyze data while the experiment is still ongoing is very important, because then you can be confident that your collection parameters are good, and if they’re not, you have time to fix it.”

Peter Warren, graduate student:

“To be able to go to Argonne National Lab and conduct experiments was an amazing and transforming experience. The entire trip was very enlightening, and was filled with excitement. I feel extremely lucky and blessed to have been a part of this trip. Being able to interact with some of the most brilliant scientists in the world felt quite surreal. This trip has given me both motivation and encouragement to continue my academic career in engineering.”

Zachary Stein, undergraduate student:

“It was definitely challenging to run my own study and ensure the best possible data was being produced, but the rest of the team was there assisting me along the way.  Teamwork and on-the-spot problem solving is essential, meaning everyone must know each other’s projects as well as their own to be able to contribute fully.  It was a week of important life lessons, but the most important of all is to keep a persistent, determined, and focused attitude so that no obstacles can stand in the way.”

We are proud to announce that Estefania Bohorquez has won second place in the Best Poster Award at Thermal Barrier Coatings V, a conference held by Engineering Conferences International (ECI). Her poster, titled “Raman studies on EB-PVD 7 wt% yttria-stabilized zirconia coatings with CMAS deposits,” is the result of a collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The conference was held in Irsee, Germany from June 24 – 29, 2018.  This is the first time the lab has been represented at this event, which occurs every 4 years and is highly competitive.

The collaboration with DLR developed from the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program.  As part of IRES, Estefania was one of a group of students who spent a summer conducting research at a DLR facility.  To read more about IRES, click here.

A team of researchers under Dr. Seetha Raghavan and Dr. Ranajay Ghosh has just returned from an experimental campaign at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).  The experiments encompassed three different projects, each making use of the high-energy synchrotron x-rays of the APS to investigate the microstructure and physical properties of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs).  TBCs are used to protect components in gas turbine engines from the extreme heat of combustion, and the team is contributing to their advancement in three areas.

The project led by graduate students Matthew Northam and Lin Rossmann encompasses investigating the properties of thermal barrier coatings produced by plasma-spray physical vapor deposition, a new and promising manufacturing method that may be more customizable and cost-effective than the current techniques in industry.  This project is in collaboration with Dr. Bryan Harder of NASA’s Glenn Research Center; Matt and Lin visited Glenn in the spring semester to manufacture and begin testing these samples with Dr. Harder.

Postdoctoral fellow Sandip Haldar and graduate student Peter Warren led a Department of Energy-funded study on thermal barrier coatings doped with the rare earth element europium.  Rare earth elements fluoresce when stimulated with certain wavelengths of light, and the duration of this fluorescence is dependent on temperature.  A major objective of the DoE project is to implement rare-earth-doped TBCs such that the temperature inside an engine can be measured non-destructively and optically.  The study performed at ANL will provide insight into how the addition of europium affects the mechanical properties of the TBC.

Undergraduate student Zachary Stein led a study investigating the effects of sand and ash on thermal barrier coatings.  Fine debris like sand, dust, and ash causes damage to the TBCs in aircraft engines and shortens the engine lifetime, so understanding the nature of its effects is important to improving future coatings.  This project is in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and DLR postdoctoral fellow Dr. Ravi Naraparaju joined the team for a day to discuss the project with Zac and Dr. Raghavan.

The team members from Raghavan Research Group were postdoctoral fellow Sandip Haldar, graduate students Matthew Northam and Lin Rossmann, and undergraduate student Zachary Stein; graduate student Peter Warren is a member of Dr. Ghosh’s research group.  The team thanks the scientists at Sector 1 of the Advanced Photon Source who helped them: Dr. Jonathan Almer, Jun-Sang Park, Peter Kenesei, and Ali Mashayehki.

The AIAA Diversity Scholars Program provides scholarships for underrepresented university students to attend an AIAA forum. The scholars are given the chance to expand their network and learn about career opportunities in the aerospace industry. They get to learn from engineers and scientists about the latest research and development findings that are changing the future of aerospace. Additionally, there are special sessions designed to enhance the scholars’ experience.

Debraliz participated in many networking opportunities where she connected with representatives from companies such as NASA, Lockheed Martin, Aurora from Boeing, and many more! In the Plenary and Forum 360 sessions she got to learn about the different aspects of the aviation industry, from technical advancements to social, environmental, and economic effects. She attended many technical sessions from topics of aircraft design optimization to heat transfer in chemically reacting or extreme environments.

Debraliz’s favorite event was the Rising Leaders in Aerospace Panel on the topic of growing diversity in the aerospace sector. “It was inspiring to hear from accomplished professionals in the aerospace field about how they overcame challenges, as well as, their involvement in helping diversity grow in aerospace.”

Attending the Aviation Forum as a diversity scholar was a great way for her to get involved and learn about the aerospace industry.

Lab members Zac Stein, Khanh Vo, Matt Northam, and Sanjida Jahan hosted “The Balancing Act of Tensegrity” for Camp Connect II. This activity introduces the students to the concept of tensegrity – the principle of a structure that contains stiff members in compression held only by elastic members like cables, string, and rubber bands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Connect is a week-long summer camp at UCF that introduces students in 8^th grade and high school to a variety of engineering disciplines and encourages careers in STEM. Students participate in various activities and presentations with the help of both faculty and students.

Lab members Remelisa Esteves and Sanjida Jahan spent a week at Lumium in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands to train with optical instrumentation for their respective projects. They are collaborating with Dr. Bauke Heeg, who is developing a piezospectroscopic imaging (PSI) system for Remelisa’s Partnership for Innovation (PFI) project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as a phosphor thermometry (PT) system for Sanjida’s Department of Energy (DoE) project funded by Siemens.

Lumium is a sole-proprietary business, founded and owned by Dr. Heeg, that develops advanced laser and non-laser based optical instrumentation for science, engineering and industrial applications. For more information, visit www.lumium.nl.

Remelisa Esteves presented her technical paper at the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) conference in Long Beach, CA, held May 21 – 24, 2018. She presented her topic “Piezospectroscopic coatings: Effects of alumina nanoparticle volume fraction on stress-sensing,” in which she is first author.

SAMPE is a global professional member society that provides educational opportunities pertaining to new and advanced materials and processing technology. At the conferences, scientists, engineers and students can present their research, attend talks, network, and participate in professional development workshops. For more information on SAMPE, visit https://www.nasampe.org/.