Project overview
This NSF–EPSRC project investigates how native magnesium and rare-earth oxides form, fragment, and disperse during friction stir processing and additive friction stir deposition. The work progresses from pure magnesium to Mg–Y and a commercial rare-earth magnesium alloy, combining controlled processing atmospheres with microscopy, synchrotron methods, atomistic simulation, and mesoscale modeling.
Performance studies include tensile and creep testing up to 300 °C, cryogenic testing to −196 °C, vacuum thermal cycling, and helium-ion irradiation relevant to low-Earth-orbit service. The goal is a mechanistic pathway to lightweight oxide-dispersion-strengthened alloys.