Welding engineering senior benefits from research, NSF funding
Sydney Coates is a senior in the welding engineering program. She learned about the program through a friend and is now part of the spring 2021 graduating class. She was drawn to the program, in part, because of the program's physical setting. The cluster of professors' offices, classrooms and labs is tucked away in a building bordering the future Innovation District on west campus. Miss Coates' experience as a welding engineering undergrad has afforded her rich experiences that benefit both industry and her resume.
Sydney is performing experimental weldability tests to determine the effect nitrogen has on the solidification cracking resistance of high-chromium, nickel-based filler metals used in repair welding in the nuclear industry. The project originated with the Manufacturing and Materials Joining Innovation Center (Ma2JIC), an Industry and University Cooperative Research Center based at Ohio State. A former welding engineering graduate student developed a hypothesis based on computational materials modeling. Prior to his graduation, he detailed how nitrogen interacts with other alloying elements in these filler metals to cause weld solidification cracking. Professor Carolin Fink secured REU (NSF) supplemental funding to cover the cost of an undergraduate student, enabling the research to continue.
Sydney's role is to test the former student's hypothesis experimentally by preparing samples containing different amounts of chromium or titanium to the filler metal composition. Nitrogen is then introduced through the shielding gas while tungsten arc melting the filler metal and elements into a button shape. Testing the hypothesis is completed after Sydney performs a solidification crack test using a cast pin tear test machine and examines the sample under a stereomicroscope to measure circumferential cracking.
The goal of her research is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how nitrogen effects solidification cracking in these weld filler metals. "We are aiming to publish results from this previous Ma2JIC project and Sydney’s work," shares Dr. Fink. "Another REU-funded student in my research group currently does cast pin tear testing on some alloys that we received from Lehigh University, another Ma2JIC partner, in order to compare the results of different weldability test techniques." The results of Sydney's research will also be provided to and discussed with their collaborator at Lehigh University. Dr. Fink hopes this will lead to future projects within Ma2JIC and enable filler metal manufacturers to modify their alloy specifications in order to reliably avoid solidifications cracking.
Miss Coates seamlessly applies her education to the research, "Different strains can be tested by increasing the pin length. The last pin length before cracking occurs is known as the lower cracking threshold. We can compare different materials’ susceptibility to solidification cracking with this value. Three of my welding engineering classes have gone into this cracking phenomena and the different materials that are susceptible to it. One class introduced the concept of solidification on the microscopic level. Another class focused on nickel-based alloys, and the third class explained more about the cast pin tear test." Directly applying the concepts taught by the world-renowned faculty in Ohio State's welding engineering program proved to be the most beneficial aspect of Sydney's research, "I had the ability to apply everything I learned to a real-life, industry project, even at a microscopic level. Labs within classes were certainly helpful, but having an extensive project that applied what I was learning in my classes and allowed me to go deeper in my education is something I will never take for granted."
Brooke Felts, Program Manager with Ma2JIC explains the importance of NSF support for undergraduate student research and its effect on education and industry, "NSF supports undergraduate research, like Sydney's, to enrich the undergraduate experience and encourage more students, especially those from underrepresented groups in STEM, to continue towards an advanced degree and career in research. Sydney's participation in this research provides her with a unique opportunity and skill set which will serve her well, even if she choose to go directly into industry."
The ratio of females to males in STEM fields is becoming more balanced, as reflected by a 35% increase in the number of female undergraduate engineering students at Ohio State over the past six years1. Sydney encourages young women to consider welding engineering, "Look into all the different classes that are being offered in the program, especially the technical electives. You will see the different specializations that welding engineering offers. Many educational studies explain different topics related to welding engineering, too." 2020 marked the highest number of females in the history of Ohio State's welding engineering program with 24 women or 18% of students in the program1.
Sydney's research has been selected to be presented at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum in April 2021. The annual event unites disciplines across the university by selecting 200 research projects conducted by soon-to-graduate students. "It means so much that the undergraduate research forum has selected me to post a video presenting my research in welding engineering. I think hosting an event that allows people to learn more about the different research going on across the university, and on every Ohio State campus, is very special."
Her research contributions as an undergraduate student will help scientists, researchers, academia, and industry better understand how nitrogen effects solidification cracking in high-chromium, nickel-based filler metals. The test results have the potential to impact how alloys are combined and used to make more reliable, sustainable equipment used in the nuclear industry. Sydney joins thousands of Buckeyes who will graduate in the spring amidst uncertain circumstances, but she knows her experience as a student and researcher will not be in vain. "Because of how much I enjoyed doing research, I hope to be able to continue doing research once I graduate. I am still deciding if I would like to do this in industry or if I want to continue my education and earn a masters degree or a PhD."
By Libby Culley, Communications Coordinator, Department of Materials Science and Engineering | culley.36@osu.edu
