Home page > Research Areas > Innovative materials > Functional Materials
Multifunctional Materials
- Professor: Dr. M. Cherkaoui
- Ph.D Student : Frédéric Pons
- Ph.D. Student : Muhammad Sadiq
- Ph.D. Student : Audric Saillard
- Ph.D. Student : David Swafford
These are three criteria for creating materials that will thrive in the industrial world. However, a compromise among these attributes is often necessary in order to achieve a solution. To select the best material, one must identify a function that it will have to perform. This allows one to emphasize the properties, grouped by order of importance, that the solution material must have. The concept of Material-by-Design can be compared to the concept of “custom made.” Having clearly identified a need and a function, the objective is to use the established criteria and defined properties to develop, to the best of our ability, the material that will meet the demands set before us. The general process is to create models describing the phenomena at the atomic scale, then use scale transition methods to draw conclusions about the macroscopic scale (human scale). This work requires a thorough understanding of the interaction between the studied phenomenon and the actual response of the material.
By mixing experimental work and numerical modeling, our team of researchers is able, thanks to high power computing facilities, to work in cooperation with a number of industries both national and international to address relevant problems.
1. Substitution of AgCdO contact material (Frédéric Pons)
AgCdO is one of the most widely used contact materials in the world because of its outstanding performance. Nevertheless, due to environmental considerations, it will soon be forbidden by European environmental directives. Therefore, finding a good substitute is of crucial importance.
Electrical arc erosion plays a crucial role in the reliability and life of power switching devices. Depending on the contact material behavior in response to an electrical arc, surface damages can induce severe changes in contact material properties that will impact the power switching device functioning. Consequently, electrical arc effects and consequences on the contact material surface are of first importance. The final objective of this project is to develop a code which will allow us to design a new contact material replacing AgCdO.
2. Lead Free Sloders in harsh environment (Muhammad Sadiq)
In electronics assemblies, solder joints serves as both electronic connection and mechanical support for components and substrates. Solder joints submitted to many thermomechanical stresses usually stand as one of the weakest point in assembly and usually determine the lifetime of the assembly. Solder joint reliability depends on packaging specificities and application environments. In high reliable application, failure mechanisms leading to the damage of solder joints are mainly thermo mechanical phenomena’s. Fatigue, thermal diffusion phenomena and thermal extension mismatch produce solder strength decreasing. Evaluation and development of materials capable of increasing the reliability of electronic equipments is a constant problematic to be able to reach the need of growing markets. The electronics industry, however, is facing significant international legislative and market pressures to phase out the use of tin-lead solders and switch to lead-free alternatives. Such a switch will require significant capital expenditures and may have a broad impact on public health and the environment. The electronics industry, as well as public interest and governmental organizations, are concerned about the lack of research to date on the potential environmental effects of the alternatives to tin-lead (SnPb) solder.
Objective of this project is to study the elaboration of a new lead-free solder formulation to develop potential alternative to leaded based high temperature melting point solder for high reliability requirements and in accordance with governmental directives.
3. Modeling and simulation of high-temperature oxidation of metallic alloys: oxide scale growth, stress development and influence of alloy composition (Audric Saillard)
Metals oxidize in contact of air, developing an oxide scale. This phenomenon is increased in industrial machines functioning at high temperatures like aircraft engines or fuel cells, resulting at mid term in their deterioration or the spoiling of their function. We study and model the multi-physics multi-scale mechanisms leading to mechanical failure and their relation with the properties and composition of the metallic alloy. Thus owing to a better understanding and a prediction tool, it becomes possible to optimize the structure and constitution of materials in view of increasing the systems lifetime.
4. Development of the new generation current sensor (David Swafford)
The goal of this project is to pioneer the next generation current sensor for both direct and alternating current. Specifically, the challenge is to create a small, lightweight device capable of operating in a harsh environment that is immune to temperature changes and external electromagnetic interference. This is accomplished through two main tasks. The first task is to design a novel type of sensor that will overcome the limitations of current devices. Efforts will be focused on MEMS-type sensors because the decrease in size, weight, and fabrication cost are highly desirable. The second task is more fundamental than the first and is the core of the project. A multiphysics model will be developed for optimizing the materials used to construct the sensor. This model will account for such design aspects such as mechanical, thermal, electrical, and magnetic behavior. In addition to providing a superior device for sensing electrical current, this research makes numerous contributions to engineering science as well. At its core, this problem is multidisciplinary, requiring collaboration among several engineering fields. This aspect in itself is beneficial because it aids the distribution of knowledge. Another outcome is the further integration of intelligent materials into MEMS. Separately, both technologies have great potential but it has yet to be seen what they can accomplish together. Finally, this research expands material modeling ability by relating macroscopic behavior to microscale mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties.
Keywords
materials
-->Multifunctional Materials
- Professor: Dr. M. Cherkaoui
- Ph.D Student : Frédéric Pons
- Ph.D. Student : Muhammad Sadiq
- Ph.D. Student : Audric Saillard
- Ph.D. Student : David Swafford
These are three criteria for creating materials that will thrive in the industrial world. However, a compromise among these attributes is often necessary in order to achieve a solution. To select the best material, one must identify a function that it will have to perform. This allows one to emphasize the properties, grouped by order of importance, that the solution material must have. The concept of Material-by-Design can be compared to the concept of “custom made.” Having clearly identified a need and a function, the objective is to use the established criteria and defined properties to develop, to the best of our ability, the material that will meet the demands set before us. The general process is to create models describing the phenomena at the atomic scale, then use scale transition methods to draw conclusions about the macroscopic scale (human scale). This work requires a thorough understanding of the interaction between the studied phenomenon and the actual response of the material.
By mixing experimental work and numerical modeling, our team of researchers is able, thanks to high power computing facilities, to work in cooperation with a number of industries both national and international to address relevant problems.
1. Substitution of AgCdO contact material (Frédéric Pons)
AgCdO is one of the most widely used contact materials in the world because of its outstanding performance. Nevertheless, due to environmental considerations, it will soon be forbidden by European environmental directives. Therefore, finding a good substitute is of crucial importance.
Electrical arc erosion plays a crucial role in the reliability and life of power switching devices. Depending on the contact material behavior in response to an electrical arc, surface damages can induce severe changes in contact material properties that will impact the power switching device functioning. Consequently, electrical arc effects and consequences on the contact material surface are of first importance. The final objective of this project is to develop a code which will allow us to design a new contact material replacing AgCdO.
2. Lead Free Sloders in harsh environment (Muhammad Sadiq)
In electronics assemblies, solder joints serves as both electronic connection and mechanical support for components and substrates. Solder joints submitted to many thermomechanical stresses usually stand as one of the weakest point in assembly and usually determine the lifetime of the assembly. Solder joint reliability depends on packaging specificities and application environments. In high reliable application, failure mechanisms leading to the damage of solder joints are mainly thermo mechanical phenomena’s. Fatigue, thermal diffusion phenomena and thermal extension mismatch produce solder strength decreasing. Evaluation and development of materials capable of increasing the reliability of electronic equipments is a constant problematic to be able to reach the need of growing markets. The electronics industry, however, is facing significant international legislative and market pressures to phase out the use of tin-lead solders and switch to lead-free alternatives. Such a switch will require significant capital expenditures and may have a broad impact on public health and the environment. The electronics industry, as well as public interest and governmental organizations, are concerned about the lack of research to date on the potential environmental effects of the alternatives to tin-lead (SnPb) solder.
Objective of this project is to study the elaboration of a new lead-free solder formulation to develop potential alternative to leaded based high temperature melting point solder for high reliability requirements and in accordance with governmental directives.
3. Modeling and simulation of high-temperature oxidation of metallic alloys: oxide scale growth, stress development and influence of alloy composition (Audric Saillard)
Metals oxidize in contact of air, developing an oxide scale. This phenomenon is increased in industrial machines functioning at high temperatures like aircraft engines or fuel cells, resulting at mid term in their deterioration or the spoiling of their function. We study and model the multi-physics multi-scale mechanisms leading to mechanical failure and their relation with the properties and composition of the metallic alloy. Thus owing to a better understanding and a prediction tool, it becomes possible to optimize the structure and constitution of materials in view of increasing the systems lifetime.
4. Development of the new generation current sensor (David Swafford)
The goal of this project is to pioneer the next generation current sensor for both direct and alternating current. Specifically, the challenge is to create a small, lightweight device capable of operating in a harsh environment that is immune to temperature changes and external electromagnetic interference. This is accomplished through two main tasks. The first task is to design a novel type of sensor that will overcome the limitations of current devices. Efforts will be focused on MEMS-type sensors because the decrease in size, weight, and fabrication cost are highly desirable. The second task is more fundamental than the first and is the core of the project. A multiphysics model will be developed for optimizing the materials used to construct the sensor. This model will account for such design aspects such as mechanical, thermal, electrical, and magnetic behavior. In addition to providing a superior device for sensing electrical current, this research makes numerous contributions to engineering science as well. At its core, this problem is multidisciplinary, requiring collaboration among several engineering fields. This aspect in itself is beneficial because it aids the distribution of knowledge. Another outcome is the further integration of intelligent materials into MEMS. Separately, both technologies have great potential but it has yet to be seen what they can accomplish together. Finally, this research expands material modeling ability by relating macroscopic behavior to microscale mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties.
Keywords
materials
