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| I spent a ton of time with the SEM looking at the fracture surface of fatigue samples (Spring 2017) |
Official jargon
Check out this article where I'm featured with some other NASA interns: "Paul Chao, intern at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio, worked with a scanning electron microscope to analyze fractured surfaces of Alloy 718 mechanical test bars. These test bars were fabricated from 18 different Alloy 718 powders using selective laser melting as part of the Additive Manufacturing Structural Integrity Initiative project supported by the Space Launch System Liquid Engine Office. Paul’s project helps NASA better understand the effect of powder feedstock variability on additive manufacturing process for the metal parts being used in the RS25 rocket engines."
This is a photo of me holding the meatball from the front of the building because we love NASA. I am sitting next to a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which I use during my Spring internship to analyze the fracture surfaces of Alloy 718 mechanical test bars fabricated using Selective Laser Melting as part of the Additive Manufacturing Structural Integrity Initiative. The funny looking glasses I am wearing can be used to observe the the SEM images using a stereoscopic 3D effect to better understand the fractography and failure mechanism.
This is a photo of me holding the meatball from the front of the building because we love NASA. I am sitting next to a Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), which I use during my Spring internship to analyze the fracture surfaces of Alloy 718 mechanical test bars fabricated using Selective Laser Melting as part of the Additive Manufacturing Structural Integrity Initiative. The funny looking glasses I am wearing can be used to observe the the SEM images using a stereoscopic 3D effect to better understand the fractography and failure mechanism.
Whew, that was too dense
Ok, all the jargon above is very dense. It's really an art to be specific and technically accurate describing my work and balancing it to be understandable. So here goes the version for the regular folks:
At NASA, they want to make rocket engines by 3D printing (relatively new technology). But how can they know it'll be competent with the engines they make now? Well, this is where Glenn Research Center comes in - a facility equipped with test rigs and big expensive microscopes, we can test laboratory specimens and compare it's strength with the the material's existing data.
Ok, so what part did I do? I sat in front of the microscope and looked at the fracture surface - aka the place where it broke. Experts at NASA break apart the samples in all sorts of ways - then they pass these broken samples to me and I stick it into the Scanning Electron Microscope. Which, by the way, is a really old piece of equipment - I felt like I was captaining a spaceship with all the knobs and buttons on the control panel.
It was a lot of fun learning about how to take very high quality photos with the SEM. It was my first time observing fracture surfaces as well and the on-the-job learning was a very good experience.
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| An SEM image where I highlighted features I observed |
It was a lot of fun learning about how to take very high quality photos with the SEM. It was my first time observing fracture surfaces as well and the on-the-job learning was a very good experience.