Peyton O’Kelly, “Thermal Expansion of Alloys”
Mentor: Benjamin Church, Materials Science & Engineering, Engineering & Applied Science (College of)
Poster #159
Thermal expansion is a property of materials where they expand as their temperature increases. Monitoring the expansion of a material in a single direction creates a value for Linear Thermal Expansion (LTE), which in turn allows the calculation of the Mean and Instantaneous Coefficient of Thermal Expansions (MCTE and ICTE, respectively). Monitoring the Thermal Expansion requires the use of a dilatometer, an instrument that monitors the dimensional changes in a material under differing effects, such as changes in temperature. For this study, a pushrod dilatometer is used, which uses a pushrod placed against the sample situated within a furnace and measures its change in dimension as a change in voltage. The measured LTE can be differentiated to determine the ICTE, the objective of this study. More specifically, the end goal of this study is to find the ICTE of samples of different Aluminum-Cerium alloys. To become more acquainted with the process and to ensure the proper function of the lab equipment, alloys with known LTEs were measured first. Knowing the ICTE of an alloy is useful for better working with and producing parts from said material that may experience a wide range of temperatures. The specific set of data regarding Aluminum-Cerium alloys is going to be used by the Aerospace industry. This is because the production of lighter, heat-resistant parts is necessary for more efficient flight and lift-off.