Development of Lightweight Aluminum-Rare Earth Specialty Alloys Reinforced with Nano and Micro composites

Amongst the automotive, marine and aerospace industries, the growing demand for maintaining customer satisfaction through enhanced performance while sufficiently meeting strict governmental regulations on fuel economy and emission control has forced manufacturers to develop lighter metals with superior properties as compared to their predecessors. The new and improved metals will allow manufacturers to reduce the weight of their components while increasing the subjected temperatures and/or forces, thereby reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions while increasing the performance of their vehicles. The purpose of this project is to develop a lightweight material capable of withstanding the necessary increase in operating conditions. This will be achieved by introducing high strength materials such as rare earth elements and carbon nano-tubes into aluminum. The new alloy will be subjected to a series of mechanical test that will determine its strength. In addition, the structure of the metal will be investigated thoroughly using sophisticated microscopes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dimitry Sediako

Student:

Joshua Stroh

Partner:

Eck Industries

Discipline:

Engineering - other

Sector:

University:

Program:

Accelerate International