Henry D. Young

Department:
Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Title:
Associate Professor, Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Address:
Russ Engineering Center 130, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy., Dayton, OH 45435-0001

I'm an associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Wright State University. My research is primarily focused on developing novel materials processing methods, is often interdisciplinary, and regularly crosses the lines of traditional engineering fields. The specific fields where I have made long-lasting contributions include: growth of thin-film oxide heterostructures, development of novel electronic packaging materials, additive manufacturing of electronic materials, the study of fast laser-fluid interactions,  rapid prototyping of biological and living materials, and laser powder bed fusion of metals. I have also worked to push the limits of existing materials properties in the research areas of polymeric nanofibers, ultralow-temperature consolidation of silver nanocomposites, and high-performance working fluids for heat engine applications. As you can see, my interests are pretty broad. 

    Curriculum Vitae

    CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

    Laser powder bed fusion of metal alloys

    Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a new and rapidly growing field. It's become clear that metal AM methods are going to change the way that many components are manufactured, both at the new cutting edge, where otherwise impossible geometries and materials become accessible, and in the area of legacy tehcnology, where unavailable replacement parts can be easily manufactured without the need for expensive tooling. However, there are still many questions regarding microstructure and mechanical properties that arise as a result of local thermal history during AM. I study the effect of part size on the mechanical, fatigue and microstructure of Nickel-based superalloys, the effect of microstructure on high-speed deformation of AM structures, and the use of metal additive manufacturing to enhance traditional forging methods in nickel and steel alloys. 

    Nanosilver composite materials for electronic packaging applications

    Nanosilver consolidated at 200 celcius, 93% dense, fully ductile fracture

    Silver is a really interesting metal. It has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity, and it very corrosion and oxidation resistant. Why isn't it used in more electronics and thermal management applications? The answer: traditionally, silver is avoided because of the high cost. However, modern technology has become so complex that the raw materials cost is often a tiny fraction of the total. It's time to re-evaluate silver for many electronics technologies. I'm especially interested in a) nanosilver-based electronics materials and b) silver as a cavity infill material for chiplet-based electronics packages. While the melting point of solid silver is 962 C, silver nanoparticles can melt at temperatures as low as 100 C (or even lower) and exhibit enhanced surface diffusion. This is fascinating from a scientific perspective. Practically, it means that silver nanopastes can be easily shaped and then consolidated to solid silver at temperatures achievable with a typical soldering iron. Thus, nanosilver could find use as a solder alternative, a high-performance semiconductor chip glue, and many other applications. I study the consolidation phenomena in these materials, their thermomechanical creep behavior at temperatures relevant to power electronics applications, and ways to achieve silver pastes with extremely low shringage during curing. In the future, I'd like to study the effect of alloying elements on nanosilver consolidation behavior, as a way of controlling the zero-stress point in electronics packages. 

    Thermochemical enhancement of natural wood materials

    Natural wood. The enhanced wood is denser and much stronger.

    Natural wood is an ancient material. While we think of wood as low-tech, it actually has surprisingly good stiffness-to-weight and strength-to-weight ratios, even when compared to advanced composites. In recent years, there's been a breakthrough (Hu et. al., https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25476) in the form of a thermo-chemo-mechanical treatment that can enhance the properties of natural wood by a factor of 6 or 7. This treatment involves the careful removal of a controlled amount of lignin, followed by a heat-and-pressure treatment to align and enhance bonding between the cellulose fibers that give the wood its strength. There are many aspects of this process that remain to be studied. We use microscopy, x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to study the processing-property relationships in these enhanced wood materials, and to understand the cellulose crystallization phenomena that occur during enhancement.  

    Novel materials for removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances

    Everyone understands the importance of being able to remove contaminents from water. While lead has recieved the most attention in the media, another class of chemicals has become a concern. Recently, we've come to understand that per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals, while extremely useful, persist in our drinking water supply for a very long time, and can be harmful to humans. The search is on for materials that could be used to selectively absorb these chemicals.  This project focuses on the use of several classes of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials as potential PFAS absorbers. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a large part of this project, allowing us to study the chemistry and kinetics of PFAS/MOF interactions. 

    TEACHING AND TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

    My teaching is primarily focused on training undergraduate engineers in both Materials and Mechanical fields. I regularly teach classes in Metallography, Mechanical Testing, Mechanical Properties of Materials, Introduction to Materials Engineering, Mechanical Metallurgy, Thermodynamics of Materials, Kinetics and Diffusion of Materials, and Powder Processing of Materials. I have also taught Solid Modeling and Solidworks, and have served as the organizer for the College of Engineering and Computer Science Ph.D. Seminar series. When I teach, I strive to present the proper ratio of theory and engineering practice. This ratio varies widely depending on the specific engineering topic. For example, Thermodynamics of Materials is probably 80% theory, while Powder Processing of Materials is the opposite. My lecture style involves a large amount of in-person board work, using both traditional whiteboard and tablet-projection approaches. Computer presentation software is used for graphical information, but is otherwise kept to a minimum. I query my classes frequently so that I can dynamically adjust my lecture content. I also use software-based engineering examples whenever appropriate. In practice, this means that my lectures often switch back and forth between computer and whiteboard. While this may be a staid approach, I've found that students vastly prefer this to other up-and-coming teaching strategies, and it seems to keep them effectively engaged. I welcome the time when online learning, MOOCs, flipped classrooms, gamified classes, etc. become more effective than the traditional university classroom. However, when it comes to teaching in-depth engineering, my impression is that these other methods aren't quite there yet. 

    RECENT PUBLICATIONS

    1. R. Tullis, A. Dunn, D. Young, N. Klingbeil, J. Gockel, “Additive Manufacturing Bulk Parameter’s Influence on Surface Roughness, Microstructure, and Fatigue” JOM, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05779-6.
    2. Abdelal, N., Dib, N., Young, D., “Electromagnetic interference shielding and dielectric properties of graphene nanoplatelets/epoxy composites in the x-band frequency range,” J. Mater. Sci. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07475-3
    3. J. R. McCoppin, M. S. Hanchak, L. J. Elston, D. Young, “Boil-Off Calorimetry Enthalpy Measurements and Equation of State of an Aqueous Pyridine Azeotrope,” Intl. Journal of Refrigeration (2021), doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2021.04.006
    4. J.R. McCoppin and D. Young, “Mass Transport, Creep and Zero-Stress-Point Shifting in a Nano-Silver Die Attach Material During Thermal Cycling,” Journal of Electronic Materials, 49 (2020) 3982-3989.
    5. J. McCoppin, T. Reitz, R. Miller, H. Jijwani, S. Mukhopadhyay, D. Young, “Low Temperature Consolidation of Micro/Nanosilver Die-Attach Preforms,” Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 43 (2014) 3379-3388.

    RESEARCH GROUP - 2023

    Left to right: Thomas Taylor, Showmik Ahsan, Eniya Karunamurthy, Ted Autore, Gaspard Matondo, Dan Young
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