A recent award from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) brings together researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and Lehigh University (Lehigh) under the Multi-objective Engineering and Alloy Structure Testing Program (METALS). The team will investigate new design tools for the simultaneous optimization of shape and composition gradients in multi-material structures that complement new high-performance materials testing techniques, paying particular attention to the bladed disc (blisk) geometry that It is commonly found in turbomachines (including jet aircraft). and rocket engines) as an exemplary challenge problem.
“This project could have important implications for a wide range of aerospace technologies. Insights from this work may enable more reliable and reusable rocket engines that will power the next generation of heavy-lift launch vehicles,” says Zachary Cordero, Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT ( AeroAstro) and the lead principal investigator of the project. “This project combines classical mechanics analysis with cutting-edge generative ai design technologies to unlock the plastic reserve of composition-sorted alloys, enabling safe operation in previously inaccessible conditions.”
Different locations on blisks require different thermomechanical properties and performance, such as creep resistance, low cycle fatigue, high strength, etc. Large-scale production also requires consideration of cost and sustainability metrics, such as sourcing and recycling of alloys in design.
“Currently, with standard manufacturing and design procedures, one must find a single magical material, composition, and processing parameters to meet the limitations of ‘one part, one material,’” says Cordero. “Desired properties are also often mutually exclusive, leading to inefficient design trade-offs.”
Although a single-material approach may be optimal for a singular location of a component, it may leave other locations open to failure or may require a critical material to be carried throughout an entire part when it may only be needed in one location. specific. With the rapid advancement of additive manufacturing processes that enable voxel-based composition and property control, the team sees unique opportunities to achieve cutting-edge performance in structural components now possible.
Cordero's collaborators include Zoltan Spakovszky, T. Wilson Professor (1953) of Aeronautics at AeroAstro; A. John Hart, class of 1922 professor and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Faez Ahmed, ABS career development assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT; S. Mohadeseh Taheri-Mousavi, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at CMU; and Natasha Vermaak, associate professor of mechanical and mechanical engineering at Lehigh.
The team's expertise spans hybrid integrated computational materials engineering and machine learning-based materials and process design, precision instrumentation, metrology, topology optimization, deep generative modeling, additive manufacturing, materials characterization, thermostructural analysis and turbomachinery.
“It is especially rewarding to work with the graduate students and postdoctoral researchers collaborating on the METALS project, which ranges from developing new computational approaches to building testbeds that operate in extreme conditions,” says Hart. “It is a truly unique opportunity to develop innovative capabilities that could form the basis of the propulsion systems of the future, leveraging digital design and manufacturing technologies.”
This research is funded by DARPA under contract HR00112420303. The views, opinions, and/or findings expressed are those of the author and should not be construed as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government, and no inference should be drawn. official endorsement.
