Material properties may not be top of mind for many, but they play an integral part in every aspect of our lives. Everything around us is made of materials, and the qualities of those materials can impact product longevity, quality and most importantly, our safety.
Professor Joey Kish (’92, ’99), a materials science and engineering expert, is part of a team at McMaster University engaging in applied research to enhance structural materials performance in automotive applications and, more recently, small modular reactors (SMRs).
“Materials are important to every person’s daily life,” Kish explains. “Transportation, energy systems, pipelines and buildings are just some of the many things we rely on every single day that depend on materials science and engineering to ensure they are created with safety and sustainability in mind.”
Kish is the director of the Centre for Automotive Materials and Corrosion (CAMC) at McMaster, which plays an integral role in advancing this research. The centre specializes in exploring the intricacies of materials, developing high-strength metals and preventing corrosion.
Lighten the load to go further on the road
With the national focus on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, a key contributor to this goal lies in the automotive industry, specifically regarding a car’s weight. Improving fuel economy by lowering the carbon footprint in our vehicles can be achieved by using lighter materials in their manufacturing. A lighter car needs less force and fuel, meaning it can drive farther on a given tank of gas.
But lighter doesn’t necessarily mean weaker, explains Kish. “We’re particularly concerned with mechanical properties and corrosion protection. We are looking at lighter car materials that don’t compromise the driver’s safety but will elevate it.”
The CAMC focuses on developing high-strength steel and aluminum alloys. These materials weigh less than those traditionally used in current cars and are tested to prevent conditions that weaken their performance, such as corrosion. It’s not just about lightweighting; it’s also about implementing higher standards of safety for passengers.
As the automotive industry moves towards more hybrid and electric cars, one of the biggest challenges is creating strong, corrosion-resistant multi-material lightweight assemblies to offset high battery mass to improve range and prevent intrusion into battery tray in crash to enhance safety and reliability.
“Our research at CAMC adapts to reflect the realities of the industry we are focusing on,” says Kish. “With the increase of hybrid and electric vehicles on the market and road, the manufacturing and corrosion protection of lightweight materials for these zero emission cars is a major barrier we are working to engineer solutions for.”
Expanding the scope to nuclear
The future of Canada is moving towards greener energy, but the transition is not limited to the automotive industry. In recent years, the focus has also shifted to developing infrastructure for alternative clean energy sources like nuclear.
Nuclear is at the core of research at McMaster, literally. With a nuclear reactor on campus since 1959, research surrounding the implementation of SMRs is an area the Faculty has been working towards across all disciplines of engineering, including Kish and his research team.
Branching out from the automotive area, Kish and his team are developing strong, corrosion-resistant metallic heat transfer components and fuel claddings subjected to corrosive coolants, radiation fields and elevated temperatures for enhance operating safety and reliability.
“There are many pathways to achieving a net-zero emission goal, and focusing on nuclear energy is just as crucial as the automotive industry.”
The team is also examining the viability of using existing gas and oil pipelines in the distribution of hydrogen to support Canada’s green energy mix. . They are exploring the possibility of using those existing systems to start pumping enriched hydrogen gas streams and what the consequences of materials performance would be as a result.
Next steps in advancing materials research
As the breadth of materials research at McMaster Engineering expands, the research team at CAMC is working towards adopting computational modeling as a method of expediting material assessments and creating new materials.
The goal is to establish a computational system that can model damage accumulation events. By capturing information through simulations, the data can then be used to predict changes in the materials composition or the way the material is processed to make them less susceptible to damage. The final stage of the modeling would then design and dictate the elements and processing that should be used to create the most efficient and durable material for the project for which it is being used.
When materials are designed and put into service, whether in a car, power plant or pipeline, they age and accumulate damage in various forms, such as mechanical stress, temperature or corrosion.
Materials in every use case accumulate damage that adversely affects their performance, meaning the application of Kish’s research is limitless. The potential of computational modeling would support improved performance to decrease accumulated damage and lay the foundation for innovation in material design that could revolutionize several industries, Kish says.
“Automotive and nuclear power plants are the tip of the iceberg of what we would enhance through our research.”
