Project Description

Polymer additive manufacturing (AM) enables the creation of novel structures using heterogeneous composite materials (i.e. particle and polymer phases). Compositional changes and small defects within these materials impact predictive modeling and affect their performance. Destructive techniques to quantify material properties are limited in sample size, geometry, and measurement location. Thus, the goal of this project is to leverage multi-modal nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to characterize these materials without compromising integrity and performance. For this purpose, this work will focus on understanding the constituent material responses of particles and polymers, as well as the changes to the material acoustic and electrical signatures in the presence of voids or cracks and as a function of material condition. The objectives include (1) modeling the viscoelastic properties of the 3D printed heterogeneous composites as a function of composition and particle characteristics, (2) experimentally validating the viscoelastic material models, and (3) multi-modal sensing (i.e. via combined ultrasonic and electric probing) and data fusion techniques for a thorough understanding of material state. Co-advisors Dr. McClain, Dr. Sotelo, and Dr. Tallman will guide the fellow in the interdisciplinary area of multi-modal NDE applied to composite polymer AM.

Start Date

June 1, 2025

Postdoc Qualifications

- Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials
engineering, or equivalent.
- Demonstrated knowledge in at least 4 of the following areas:
o Polymers and heterogeneous composites
o Polymer blend processing and preparation protocols
o Material testing protocols for polymers and composites
o Advanced polymer 3D printing
o Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and testing
o Analytical/numerical modeling
o Statistical methods applied to science and engineering
- Formal training in at least 1 of the following areas:
o Polymer Additive Manufacturing
o Nondestructive evaluation and testing
- U.S. citizenship is required for this position. 

Co-advisors

Monique McClain, School of Mechanical Engineering, mcclain5@purdue.edu, https://mcclain.team/
Luz Sotelo, School of Mechanical Engineering, lsotelo@purdue.edu, https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sUD9j0EAAAAJ&hl=en
Tyler Tallman, School of Aeronautics & Astronautics, ttallman@purdue.edu, https://engineering.purdue.edu/TNTLabs

Bibliography

1) M.S. McClain, I.E. Gunduz, S.F. Son, “Additive Manufacturing of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant with High Solids Loadings”, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 37 (3), 2019, pp. 3135-3142, doi: 10.1016/j.proci.2018.05.052.
2) M.S. McClain, A. Afriat, B. Montano, J.F. Rhoads, I.E. Gunduz, S.F. Son, “Dynamic Combustion of Additively Manufactured Layered Composite Propellant”, AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, 2021, Vol. 37(5), pp. 725-732, doi: 10.2514/1.B38282.
3) L.D. Sotelo, A.O. Vignola, C.A. Brown, K. Sampath, M.D. Guild, "Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation of Additively Manufactured Photopolymers", Research in Nondestructive Evaluation, 2022, Vol. 33(4-5), pp. 175-195, doi: 10.1080/09349847.2022.2155334
4) H. Hassan, T.N. Tallman, "Failure Prediction in Self-sensing Nanocomposites via Genetic Algorithm-enabled Piezoresistive Iinversion", Structural Health Monitoring, 2020, Vol. 19(3), pp. 765-780, doi:10.1177/1475921719863062
5) J.A. Hernandez, N. Kedir, B.H. Lim, W. Chen, T.N. Tallman, "An Experimental Study on the Piezoresistive and mechanical Behavior of Carbon Nanocomposites Subject to High-rate Elastic Loading", Composites Science and Technology, 2020, Vol. 198,
108285, doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2020.108285.