2017 Physical Metallurgy Gordon Research Conference and Seminar

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

Non-Technical Abstract The 2017 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Physical Metallurgy has a subtitle: Frontiers of Quantification and Predictive Capability in Physical Metallurgy. The GRC is one of the most highly acclaimed topical conferences in the field of physical metallurgy. Held every two years, it provides a unique forum for in-depth discussion of cut-edging advances in the field and pathways to the future. The associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) provides a forum for early career researchers and students to showcase their work and to participate at career discussions. The GRS will be held on July 22-23, and the GRC will be on July 23-28, 2017, both at University of New England, Biddeford, Maine. Technical Abstract The field of Physical Metallurgy is currently seeing major changes in its research aims from qualitative understanding to quantitative predictive capability. This is largely driven by our ability to handle massive 3D data describing the structure of materials, to locally evaluate materials properties, and to acquire systematic data series in high-throughput experiments. As 3D imaging is transitioning from technique development to application, it permits one to test modeling approaches at different levels of complexity and spatial resolution. Here, the direct modeling and simulation of experiments and the inverse modeling of the experimental results just begin to demonstrate their analytic power and their power to increase the accuracy of the measurements. Meanwhile, the classical core of the field, modeling of materials behavior and of structure-property relations, is still challenged by the difficulties to seamlessly transition between different modeling scopes from atoms to materials defects to continuum field equations. The frontiers of the field therefore are concerned with the systematization and the quantification of information on materials and with the assessment and increase of the predictive capability of the modeling and simulation. Modeling and simulation is beginning to provide thermodynamic information on materials in complex environments. Small scale experiments can be pushed to the scale of individual defects and can challenge modeling particularly concerning the mechanical properties of materials: fracture, fatigue, friction and wear. Additive manufacturing is posing new challenges to modeling and at the same time opens entirely new avenues to alloy development. The aim of this Gordon Conference is to assess these current frontiers of the field and to sketch central questions which the community will have to solve for Physical Metallurgy to advance as a field that spans from understanding atomistic processes on femtosecond time scales to assessing the behavior of structural components for years in service.