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Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site

[Summer-2022]

Interdisciplinary Research Experiences in Metrology & Inspection

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
May 31 - Aug. 5, 2022

This REU site will enhance the knowledge and skill-level of a cohort of undergraduates through empowering, hands-on and interdisciplinary research experiences in metrology and inspection technologies. Metrology, the science of measurement, and inspection, transcends scales, materials, and disciplines; yet, rarely are its salient aspects emphasized. This site is a first-of-its-kind direct response to specific concerns raised by regional industry partners and technical workforce recruiters. The impact of this site will be to create empowered future researchers and a workforce well-rooted in metrology/inspection techniques, and to motivate them to pursue advanced study and STEM careers.

What/When/Where:
You will be hosted at Texas A&M University (TAMU) over ~10 summer weeks, where you will immerse in a hands-on research experience comprising of a state-of-the-art research project, technical sessions/seminars, lab practice, field tours, and professional-development workshops. You will be part of a vertically-integrated team, each comprising of 2 REU students, 1 senior undergraduate and 1 graduate student (from TAMU) and a faculty mentor working in concert on a specific research project; each REU student pair will be matched based on complementing skills/interests. Your deliverables will include a public dissemination of research results (report and poster), and a follow-up plan tailored to your career interests. This on-site experience will be supplemented with follow-ups for continued interaction, growth, and guidance for pursuing advanced study.

Program Goals:
This REU site program will place emphasis on the major aspects of scientific measurement and inspection, especially in relevance to the energy and manufacturing sectors. Intended goals are:
     1. To excite, empower and educate undergraduates in metrology and inspection technologies,
     2. For you to experience an immersive research-training through a related transformative project,
     3. To mold you as an independent/collaborative researcher capable of effective communication,
     4. For you to learn to ask the right questions, formulate plans, pragmatically interpret data, and
     5. To inspire and enable you to pursue advanced study and related STEM careers.

Participant Support:
- Stipends: $6,000
- Travel Reimbursements: Up to $500
- Housing: On-campus student housing will be reserved for you, and paid for ($2,500 value)
- TAMU infrastructure for summer REU students (partial list):
     > Undergraduate Summer Research Grant (USRG) program activities, including professional-development workshops
     > On-campus accommodation reserved for REU students
     > Low-cost parking pass
     > Summer meal plans, and off-campus dining options
     > Disability services office
     > Free bus service within the campus/city
     > Student ID, net ID, and all related accesses
     > Engineering Education Complex Facilities
     > Open Access Labs
     > Libraries
     > Recreation centers
     > Student health center, and hospitals
     > Other social activities, etc.

Eligibility:
- A current undergraduate student at a 2 or 4-year college/university
  (or an outstanding high school graduate, accepted into such an institution, and slated to start his/her degree in the Fall)
- Pursuing a degree (or having demonstrated a background and interest) in one or more of the following fields:
     > Manufacturing
     > Materials Science & Engineering
     > Mechanical Engineering
     > Petroleum Engineering
     > Industrial Engineering (Processes)
     > Aerospace Engineering
     > Biomedical Engineering
     > Civil Engineering
     > Other related majors
- GPA of 3.0 or higher
- US citizen, national, or permanent resident

[Please refer to the "Projects" section below for a list of potential research themes]
[Please refer to the "How to Apply" section below for application instructions/deadlines]

Projects

This REU site will enhance the knowledge and skill-level of undergraduates in metrology/inspection. Under this umbrella topic, the 6 major intellectual themes include:
     1. Inline Process Monitoring of Pharmaceutical Additive Manufacturing
     2. Forensic Metrology of Sub-Surface/Surface Behavior in Bio-Inspired Functionally-Graded Materials
     3. Forensic Metrology of Fractures in Additive Manufactured Parts
     4. Tomography Characterization of the Dynamics of Fluid Flow
     5. Novel Ultra High Speed Photography Techniques
     6. Health Monitoring of Precision Spindles
For each of the above intellectual themes, examples of potential projects (and/or their scope) are detailed in the following section.

[Theme-1: Inline Process Monitoring of Pharmaceutical Additive Manufacturing]

Inline Sensor-Tool Fusion for Monitoring Laser Sintering of Pharmaceutical Printlets

[Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom]

Objective - To establish the foundational knowledgebase that correlates powder- and flow-related attributes of pharmaceutical powder mixtures to their behavior under laser energy, and further connect the manufacturing process to the mechanical/pharmacodynamic critical quality attributes (CQA) of printed pills (printlets), to revolutionize the future of personalized medicine and advance public health.

Description - The project tasks will involve the systematic integration and fusion of an array of inline sensors (e.g., non-contact/contact thermal, optical, etc.) and process monitoring tools (e.g., microscopy, machine vision for shape quantification, spectroscopy probes, etc.) in order to benchmark the material-to-performance chain to formalize a dynamic process analytical technology (PAT) mechanism for quality control at each production stage. These quality metrics for product stability/performance, tolerances for material/process variability, and limits for powder reusability/recyclability will be built into a database, and will form the backbone to correlate critical material attributes (CMA) and critial process parameters (CPP) to the CQA of the printlets. Further, a combination of post-process characterization via microscopy (SEM), diffraction (XRD), interferometry, spectroscopy (EDS), calorimetry (DSC) and testing for mechanical and pharmacodynamic performance quantification will be conducted. Altogether, elucidating the intricacies of manufacturing on printlet performance will enable the agile/adaptive AM of evolving pediatric dosages, tailored multi-functional multi-drug dosages with flexibility to order and grade compositions/release-rates, etc.

Fig. 1: Surface thermal capture during a selective laser sintering (SLS) print of phenytoin sodium pills (left); Surface temperature cycling (valleys = recoating times) (right)

Fig. 2: Polymer particle size distribution effects on sintering (left); Dependence of % lactose fraction on dissolution rates along with scan speed and temperature (right)

[Theme-2: Forensic Metrology of Sub-Surface/Surface Behavior in Bio-Inspired FGM]

Manufacturing & Characterizing Bio-Inspired Surface Topological Gradients to Reduce Friction/Wear

[Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom]

Objective - To fabricate and characterize snake-scale-inspired surface topology features and their gradients on select metallic/non-metallic materials to improve their tribological performance, i.e., to lower friction and wear. This project will enable deterministic topology feature rules for reducing friction/wear, and hence help create durable and resilient surfaces.

Description - First, the core topological principles that enable the low frictional coefficient and wear in scaled reptilian skin will be investigated. Then, a selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing (AM) machine will be used to fabricate the desired topological feature gradients; the effects of energy-density-based AM process parameters on the resolution/achievability of features and textures will be investigated as well. Finally, their tribological performance (friction and wear) will be quantified using a tribometer, and high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy will be conducted to elucidate their behavior.

Fig. 1: 3D image and profile measurements taken from a freeze-dried snake scale specimen (left); 3D topological map of specimen (right) & profilometer (inset)

Fig. 2: Micro-scale features being created by the laser (left) & the SLM AM machine, process parameters & test pattern (inset); 3D image & height profile of a round pillar (right)

[Theme-3: Forensic Metrology of Fractures in Additive Manufactured Parts]

Size & Surface Effects on the Fatigue Life of FFF Parts

[Dr. Jyhwen Wang]

Objective - To investigate the size and surface factors in fatigue life characterization of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) parts. Metrology research is a significant component is this project as it can enable fast and reliable characterization of the fracture surfaces.

Description - In this project, FFF samples are printed with different sizes to study the size effect. Samples are subjected to sand paper polishing and acetone surface treatment, among other methods. A Moore fatigue tester is used to conduct four-point bending experiments with repeated, reversed fatigue loading (stress ratio of R = -1). Recent results from the PIs show that there are distinct features on the fracture surfaces obtained from microscope images. On the fracture surfaces of samples without surface treatment, the size of the whitened area (indication of crazing) could correspond to the stress level. On the fracture surface of acetone treated samples, the damage (dark annual ring) due to acetone treatment contributes to a shorter fatigue life. The metrology focus of this project is to investigate measurement techniques that can correlate quantitatively the surface feature and the fatigue life. In addition to material processing and mechanical testing, the interdisciplinary research tasks will include imaging processing and the algorithm design to quantitatively characterize features on the fracture surface.

Fig. 1: Fatigue fracture surfaces of standard ASTM samples without (left) & with (right) acetone surface treatment

[Theme-4: Tomography Characterization of the Dynamics of Fluid Flow]

Visualization of 3D Mist Flow for Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) Machining Optimization

[Dr. Bruce Tai]

Objective - To develop a measurement method based on high-speed microscopy and tomography for mist flow characterization. The setup will be used to investigate the mist flow transformation as a function of drill geometrical features and flow parameters and to observe the oil coverage near the tool cutting edges. This knowledge will enable better through-channel design, flow parameters for improved productivity, and quick inspection for MQL.

Description - The REU students will work with the team to design and fabricate a testbed for automatic flow capture and use the developed algorithm to construct a flow density map as shown. Students will study the effects of light settings (direction, irradiance) and camera settings (exposure time, ISO) on the image quality, and associated influences on the reconstructed flow map. They will design a validation plan to compare the reconstructed flow map with direct measurement (e.g., spray-on-sheet method). All tests will be conducted on a custom-built testbed consisting of a commercial MQL system, a rotary union, and a dual-channel passage to a 3D printed drill bit. Upon validation, students will analyze flow conditions for different passage/drill geometries, fluid types, and their effects.

Fig. 1: Flow reconstruction procedure using custom-built MQL testbed & tomography

[Theme-5: Novel Ultra High Speed Photography Techniques]

Low-Cost Ultra-High-Speed Imaging for High-Speed Machining

[Dr. Dinakar Sagapuram]

Objective - To develop an effective means to capture high-resolution microscopic images at ultra-high frame rates using ‘off-the-shelf’ 3 Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) color cameras and LED spectral shuttering. High-speed imaging and digital image correlation (DIC) are powerful tools for characterizing the deformation behavior of materials. The application of these methods however has been limited to conventional material testing methods and low strain rates (< 10 s-1). On the other hand, their application to characterize material response under actual process scenarios (e.g., high-speed machining, forming, etc.) has remained elusive due to the imaging requirements that are needed (at least 100,000 fps, at ~1µm spatial resolution).

Description - This project uniquely combines metrology and manufacturing in that not only will a new practical imaging technique be developed, but material behavior could be probed during machining. The above imaging challenge will be addressed using low-cost 3-CMOS color cameras and an illumination system consisting of 3 LEDs (red, green and blue (RGB)). In this multi-pulse LED module, the three colors can be pulsed independent of each other with controlled time delays (~10 ns) between the colors using a four-channel pulse generator. The image sequence will be then cross correlated using DIC to obtain velocity fields. The imaging capabilities (time resolution of < 1 μs, spatial resolution of ~ 1 μm) will be suitable for analysis of the machining deformation zone at speeds up to 2-3 m/s. The students will first develop/calibrate these methods using model high-speed phenomena such as disintegration of Prince Rupert’s drops or bubble splash, and then to high-speed machining. The results will lead to novel, low-cost high-speed imaging capabilities of broad applicability in manufacturing, mechanics and materials science with potential IP. Students will gain valuable exposure to state-of-the-art high-speed photography, triggering methods, and image analysis.

Fig. 1: High-speed images showing disintegration of Prince Rupert’s drops (64,000 fps),  and propagation of the fracture front at ~1.5 km/s

[Theme-6: Health Monitoring of Precision Spindles]

Intelligent Spindle Health Monitoring System via Curved-Edge Sensors

[Dr. Chabum Lee]

Objective - To establish a framework of intelligent spindle systems and machine learning algorithms that is able collect, analyze and visualize spindle-related information in real-time, and adapt process conditions based on data analytics using an artificial neural network.

Description - The REU student-pair will design and build curved-edge sensors (CES), and integrate the sensor systems into the aerostatic spindle. The research team will help them create an intelligent spindle system, while highlighting principles of sensors, circuit design, laser/optical components and experimental techniques necessary for system integration. For this, they will calibrate and characterize the sensors. The capacitive type sensors or laser interferometers will be used for a baseline comparison with the CES. Next, they will integrate the sensors with the spindles, and will collect data such as cutting force, tool chatter, resonance and operating frequency, rotor runout, unbalancing, and camping status of the spindle. Finally, they will use data analytic models based on ANN to diagnose and monitor the spindle conditions to apply process control and to plan tool preventive maintenance.

Fig. 1: (a) Arrangement of the measurement system, (b) Schematic of the senror network, (c) Configuration of intelligent spindle system (c)

How to Apply

We will be utilizing a web-based system called "NSF-ETAP" (on behalf of NSF) for the application process. By utilizing this system, you will be able to complete your entire application online, and apply to multiple REU sites with a single application. Please follow the instructions below for completing your application:

Weblink of the application portal: https://www.nsfetap.org/award/172/opportunity/171

For submitting your application, please follow the steps outlined below:
    1. Create an account as an "Applicant" at the above listed weblink.
    2. Once logged in, please complete any requested info such as Personal Info (contact, address, ...), Demographic Info (race, gender, ...), Enrollment Info (university, major, ...), etc.
    3. Site selection: Please make sure you select this REU site, which you will find listed as "NSF-REU: Interdisciplinary Research in Metrology & Inspection"
    4. Complete/upload application materials requested:
          (i) Personal statement, that addresses the following 3 questions [limit of 500 words total]:
               (a) Describe your major technical accomplishments/experiences to date
               (b) Why are you a good fit for this REU program and what to you expect to achieve
               (c) Your long-term career goals, and plans for advanced study (if any)
          (ii) Current transcript [unofficial copy]
          (iii) Up-to-date resume/CV [limit of 2 pages]
    5. Please answer the additional question to indicate you top 2 research theme preferences (from the 6 listed above).
    6. Certify and submit your application.

If you have any technical difficulties/questions regarding the web-based application, please contact help@nsfetap.org or 1-800-232-8024.

Deadline:
March 31, 2022 [All application materials should be received by this date]

Selection Criteria:
(1) Technical background, attitude, and research aptitude/potential
(2) Interest in research, higher study, and related STEM careers
(3) Relevant leadership and extracurricular activities
(4) Potential to be matched in a vertically-integrated team
Students from underserved academic institutions and/or underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Selection Procedure:
All complete applications received by the deadline will be evaluated and ranked by a faculty panel. Following this, select students might be contacted via email for specific queries and/or for a short phone/virtual interview. Final decisions and notifications are expected to be sent out by early April.

Contact:

Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom
Associate Professor, Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering Technology
Dept. of Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution
Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering
Texas A&M University
117E Thompson Hall, 3367 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3367
Phone: 979-862-8472; Fax: 979-862-7969
E-mail: mathew@tamu.edu (note the single "t" in "mathew")
Website: http://people.tamu.edu/~mathew/

Program Flyer: