{"id":31017,"date":"2026-08-19T15:47:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/?p=31017"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:55:34","slug":"with-an-nsf-career-grant-musinski-is-cracking-the-code-of-metal-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/with-an-nsf-career-grant-musinski-is-cracking-the-code-of-metal-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"With an NSF CAREER grant, Musinski is cracking the code of metal fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A metal bridge, automotive, or airplane component may look perfectly smooth and solid on the outside. But zoom way in. Metal is made up of countless tiny crystals, called grains, packed together like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each grain is about the size of a red blood cell and they differ in exact size, shape and orientation. Those microscopic differences can determine how a piece of metal responds to stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understanding those interactions could help explain one of the most costly problems in engineering: metal fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMetal fatigue accounts for the vast majority of mechanical failures in industrial applications,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/engineering\/directory\/musinski-william\/\">William Musinski<\/a>, UWM assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science &amp; engineering. The economic cost of those failures is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-a-three-dimensional-network-of-grains\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A three-dimensional network of grains<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musinski has received a five-year, $608,336 Early CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to investigate how and why tiny cracks form inside metals \u2013 and how those cracks eventually grow large enough to cause a part to fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cracks don&#8217;t necessarily begin where engineers can readily see them, even with existing imaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe local loading conditions of a grain depend on its neighboring grains and whether the grain is at the surface or within the bulk of the material,\u201d Musinski said. In other words, a grain buried deep inside a piece of metal may experience forces differently from one at the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-leveraging-advances-in-imaging\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Leveraging advances in imaging<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musinski and his team will use extremely powerful X-rays produced by synchrotrons to peer inside metal. One facility is at Argonne National Laboratory&#8217;s Advanced Photon Source, just southwest of Chicago; another is at Cornell University&#8217;s High Energy Synchrotron Source in Ithaca, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One technique, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, or XRD, can reveal how the crystals inside a metal are arranged and how they change when the material is stressed. Another, X-ray tomography, works somewhat like a medical CT scan, allowing researchers to create three-dimensional images of tiny cracks and other features without cutting the material open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese synchrotron sources allow us to see both inside of the material and at the surface with unprecedented measurement precision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The technology represents an important step forward. Advances over the past decade have made these powerful experimental techniques more accessible to researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, Musinski says, scientists can use them to test whether computer models accurately predict what happens inside metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-the-role-of-modeling-and-machine-learning\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The role of modeling and machine learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That brings two other tools into the project: computer simulation and machine learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using crystal plasticity finite element modeling, the researchers will create virtual versions of metals and simulate what happens when forces are applied. The models can show how individual grains respond, where stresses become concentrated, and where cracks can form and grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, machine learning will help researchers sift through the enormous amount of information generated by the experiments and simulations. By examining data about grain structures, stresses and crack growth, algorithms may identify patterns that are difficult for humans to recognize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By combining powerful X-ray imaging, computer modeling and machine learning, Musinski hopes to move engineers closer to predicting where metal fatigue will begin \u2013 before a tiny crack becomes a major failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The grant is also designed to integrate the advancement of science with education.\u00a0The project will invest in the next generation of scientists and engineers, Musinski said, through hands-on training in state-of-the-art experimental techniques, modeling, and data analysis. This will strengthen the local materials workforce pipeline and modernize university courses in fatigue by making them more interdisciplinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A metal bridge, automotive, or airplane component may look perfectly smooth and solid on the outside. But zoom way in. Metal is made up of countless tiny crystals, called grains, packed together like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. 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