Beamlines in Focus - FAST
The FAST beamline focuses on high energy monochromatic techniques in diffraction and imaging. These techniques are applied to in situ sample environments in order to investigate the microstructure of materials while they are being mechanically loaded, thermally cycled, and/or being processed or built up (as in 3D printing).
Q&A with Ryan Hurley, NSF Early CAREER Award Recipient
As CHESS strives to align research with education, we asked Ryan a few questions about the award and how he uses CHESS to pursue his research and educational goals.
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SUNY Delhi Mechatronics Shows Importance of Diverse Skill Set
The Start of Something Good
Two students from SUNY Delhi are participating in an intensive, hands-on internship at CHESS.
Recap: Building a Science Gateway for Structural Materials Analysis at CHESS I
On December 9th and 10th, CHESS hosted the first in a series of workshops for launching a Science Gateway on the Galaxy software platform (https://usegalaxy.org/) at CHESS. The workshop was open to members of the structural materials science synchrotron community for whom the X-ray Imaging of Microstructures Gateway, XIMG (pronounced “X-image”), will be developed. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation.
X-rays quantify stress gradients at twin boundaries, which can drive fatigue failure in nickel-based superalloys.
Predicting fatigue crack initiation in engineering alloys is a long-standing challenge. It requires model validation via precise quantitative comparison to measurements of deformation gradients across many length scales, particularly in the vicinity of stress concentration features.
Developing the Next Generation of CHESS Compact Undulators
A key enabling technology for the recent CHESS-U upgrade was the CHESS Compact Undulator (CCU). These devices deliver world-class high-energy x-ray beams to our experimental hutches at a fraction of the cost and requiring significantly less physical space than traditional insertion devices. First generation variable-phase CCUs, built by KYMA using technology licensed from Cornell, presently generate x-rays for 6 of the 7 operating beamlines at CHESS.
Revealing Filler Morphology in 3D-Printed Thermoset Nanocomposites by Scanning Microbeam X-ray Scattering
Recent advances have enabled room-temperature additive manufacturing (AM) of carbon fiber composite parts with high stiffness and strength. An AM method called direct ink write (DIW) is used, wherein a self-supporting fluid material – in this case, an epoxy resin composite – is extruded through a nozzle to print parts with custom shapes, which are thermally cured after printing. To achieve the superior properties required by aerospace applications, characterization of the morphology is crucial, but has proven exceedingly difficult to date.