Intern: Giorgia Bettin
Mentor: Heather Ludke
Faculty Sponsor: Dr Gene Lucas and Dr. Carlos Levi
Supporting Grant Agency: Materials Research Lab
Academic Major: Engineering
Project Title: "The Effect of Oscillatory Heat Treatment on Copper-Silver Multi-layer Composites"
Abstract: Multilayer composites have been studied as a possible coating for turbine engine blades. Cu Ag multilayers are being used as a model system to examine the behavior of multilayered structures. We are trying to understand how the internal structures in multilayer compounds behave, and how the interfaces between the layers evolve over time when heat-treated. A system of Cu-Ag multilayers was fabricated using electron-beam physical vapor deposition. The layers were about 2 microns thick and were deposited on a niobium substrate. The composite was annealed for 12 and 48 hours, at 850 and 900K to study the evolution of the interfaces between the layers over time. In addition, oscillations between the two temperatures, holding each one for 30 min, for a total period of 12 hours, were made. The composite was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Grain growth and perturbations along the interfaces occurred in all cases. The perturbations were qualitatively similar for both the constant temperature and the oscillatory heat treatment.
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