AFRL Transfers Fully Automated 3-D Microstructure Characterization Technology to Industry Published June 4, 2007 By Materials & Manufacturing Directorate AFRL/ML WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- AFRL researchers developed a fully automated three-dimensional (3-D) microstructure characterization device, known as Robo-Met.3D. The custom-built robotic device enables 3-D characterization of advanced metallic and composite materials. AFRL subsequently transferred the technology to UES, Inc., and since the time of that successful transfer, UES has licensed the technology and built two units--one for use at the company's Beavercreek, Ohio, facility and a second for The Ohio State University. There are also four Air Force (AF) patent applications pending. The Robo-Met.3D technology decreases the time researchers must wait to receive important information regarding the 3-D microstructures of advanced materials, reducing the typical waiting period from months to days. The set of tools the device provides for characterizing microstructural specimens is both more complete than previously available tool sets and more conducive to probing more deeply into areas of growing interest, such as 3-D microstructure-based finite element modeling and multiscalar microstructural characterization. AFRL scientists initially created Robo-Met.3D to quantify the spatial distribution of silicon carbide in aluminum. Scientists use silicon carbide (a ceramic particle) to reinforce a number of aluminum components used in current AF aircraft systems (e.g., the F-16 and B-1), a usage that significantly increases the material's specific stiffness over that of an unreinforced alloy. Through research, scientists discovered that the silicon carbide's spatial distribution within the aluminum determined both the ductility and the strength of the material. However, because the process of measuring spatial distribution in two-dimensional sections made exact answers difficult to obtain, researchers conceived and built the fully automated Robo-Met.3D device to achieve both higher efficiency and higher precision. The Robo-Met.3D system comprises several integrated components: a precision polisher, a washing station, an optical microscope, and a robot. The robot represents the premiere breakthrough in the system. It moves the specimen from station to station and allows the scientists to run the process continuously. Using AFRL-developed custom software, the system produces 3-D micrographs of the material specimen, providing scientists a complete picture of the chosen material's spatial distribution and condensing the time spent awaiting results from months to mere days. From conceiving the technology to performing material specimen polishing trials, AFRL scientists completed the initial Robo Met.3D development effort in just 18 months.