Seminar Speaker: Dr. Andy Nieto, Naval Postgraduate School

Speaker Dr. Andy Nieto, Naval Postgraduate School

Title “Designing Materials for Extreme Environments: Functionally Graded Composites and Coatings using Nanomaterial Reinforcement”

Additive manufacturing (AM) has garnered significant attention over the last decade due to its promise to revolutionize manufacturing as we know it. From a materials science perspective, AM encompasses a broad field of additive processing techniques that can rapidly realize materials and provide a realistic path for technological transition to applications. AM techniques can enable the realization of advanced nanomaterial reinforced composites designed to be utilized in applications encountering extreme conditions, such as corrosive and high-temperature environments with simultaneous mechanical load-bearing. Selective laser melting (SLM) and cold spraying (CS) are two techniques that are ideal for fabricating novel composites due to the feedstocks being powdered metals. In this talk, I present how powder metallurgy techniques can be utilized and adapted to synthesize nanoparticle reinforced metal matrix composite feedstocks in order to additively process coatings and composites for use in extreme environments. The talk will focus on the processing of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced Ti-6Al-4V composites produced by SLM, envisioned for gas turbine engine applications. Briefly, the emerging concept of dual-reinforced composites will be discussed, as recently applied to boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) and nano boron carbide (B4C) reinforced aluminum composite coatings deposited by CS that exhibited enhanced hardness and superior corrosion resistance, a material system envisioned for marine applications requiring high specific strength and high corrosion resistance.

Prof. Andy Nieto is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, USA. Current research interests focus on the development of advanced ceramic and metallic matrix composites and coatings for use in extreme environments. Additive processing of these systems thru cold spray and selective laser melting is a key focus. Prior to joining NPS, Dr. Nieto was an Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, where he worked on the development of high-temperature ceramics and coatings, and the understanding of environmental particulate attack mechanisms. Other past and present research interests include nanomaterials (synthesis, mechanical/functional behavior), scalable processing (thermal spray, sintering), novel biomaterials (structural, tissue engineering), tribology (low wear/friction materials), nanomechanics, UHTCs, and MAX phases, and nanoparticle reinforced composites (polymer/metal/ceramic matrix). Dr. Nieto has served as a reviewer for ~40 international journals. He has published >50 technical articles and his research has received over 1900 citations. Dr. Nieto co-authored the journal publication awarded the 2017 Nanomaterials & Energy Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the Office of Naval Research (ONR) prestigious Young Investigator Program (YIP) award. Dr. Nieto earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) from the University of California Davis in 2016, and his M.S. in MSE from Florida International University in 2013. Dr. Nieto received an undergraduate degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of Miami in 2011. Learn more about Prof. Nieto on LinkedIn or faculty profile.