Multidisciplinary faculty teams at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in collaboration with colleagues from Mississippi State University, are using a $5 million award to apply their expertise in advanced manufacturing, metallurgy, and welding to create new steels for the United States Navy.
“The Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research knew the country needed to revitalize its capability to develop military-grade steel for submarines and ship hulls,” said Eric Lass, assistant professor of materials science in UT’s Tickle College of Engineering. “For several decades, the US offshored this work; we will be creating new steel technology that can improve national security and be produced domestically.”
While initial processing and validation of materials will begin on the campuses of UT and Mississippi State, larger-scale production will be located at a Rapid Applied Materials Processing lab on Navy property at President’s Island in Memphis, Tennessee.
“This $5 million award can really move the needle on research in these areas,” said James Andes, UT’s director of national security research initiatives. “Combined with the opportunities of the RAMP lab, it allows for instrumentation and facilities we couldn’t develop on our own.”