Prof. Field's Presentation at MBRE Meeting Highlights New Collaborative Research

Prof. Kevin G. Field recently attended the Mechanical Behavior and Radiation Effects (MBRE) meeting in Gaithersburg, MD, where he presented a poster on newly funded collaborative work with Prof. Dane D. Morgan and Prof. Paul M. Voyles. The research, titled “Mechanistic, Quantitative Understanding of the Dynamics of Many, Interacting Defect Clusters for Tailoring Irradiation Responses,” promises to advance our understanding of material behavior under irradiation.

The poster highlighted the project’s goal to identify, understand, and quantify the mechanisms governing the complex motion of defect clusters in Ni-Cr alloys for better alloy design under extreme conditions. Key elements included insights into defect cluster mobility, experimental challenges, machine learning (ML) applications, and molecular simulation of void mobility. Foundational results demonstrated the potential of ML frameworks for defect detection and 3D microstructural analysis.

The presentation underscored the promising interplay between traditional experimentation and cutting-edge ML techniques, setting a solid foundation for future research in material science and radiation effects.