Topic：Development and characterization of nanostructured materials for extreme environments

Speaker：Dr. Wen Haiming ( Idaho State University, USA)

Date：Friday, July 31, 2017, 10:00-11.30

Venue：NO. 38 Building, School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, SCUT

Report Summaires:

Bulk nanostructured materials, with structural units (e.g., grains) falling in the nanometer range, have emerged as a new class of materials and received world-wide attention. They are structurally characterized by a significant volume fraction of grain boundaries, which significantly enhances their mechanical and physical properties (e.g., irradiation tolerance) in comparison with those of their conventional coarse-grained counterparts. Nano science and engineering can be utilized to improve performance of materials to enable them for extreme environments such as neutron irradiation and ballistic impact. In this talk, research projects will be discussed involving nano science and engineering in an effort to develop, manufacture and evaluate nanostructured fuels and materials with enhanced performance for neutron irradiation. Bulk nanostructured nuclear fuels and materials will be fabricated using low-cost advanced manufacturing techniques (e.g., equal-channel angular pressing) and assessed for irradiation performance using neutron and ion irradiation. The structures of the fuels and materials will be tailored on the nanometer scale in order to achieve desired properties and performance. Characterization of neutron irradiated nuclear fuels will also be discussed. Furthermore, a nanostructured Al alloy – ceramic particle composite will be described for ballistic impact applications.

About the speaker:

Prof. Haiming Wen is a Research Assistant Professor at Idaho State University with joint appointment at Idaho National Laboratory. He earned his PhD in 2012 in materials science and engineering from University of California, Davis. He had postdoctoral appointments at Northwestern University and Idaho National Laboratory. Prof. Wen has extensive experience in research and development of advanced materials, including fabrication, microstructural characterization, and investigation of mechanical behavior. He has significant experience in irradiation behavior and fission-product transport in high-temperature reactor fuels and cladding materials. He also has important expertise in advanced microscopy and microanalysis techniques such as transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. He is leading multiple research projects funded externally. Prof. Wen has authored or coauthored more than 40 peer-reviewed journal publications. He serves on the Editorial Board of different journals, and has served as guest editor of special issues in journals. He will move to Missouri University of Science and Technology as an Assistant Professor in August 2017.