Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Garrett J. Pataky
Committee Member
Dilpuneet Aidhy
Committee Member
Gang Li
Committee Member
Enrique Martinez Saez
Abstract
Modern designs, such as commercial jet turbines, are reliant on the high temperature performance of their constituent materials. Improvements to the strength-at-temperature of materials are critical to the continued advancement of efficiency and payload capacity in these advanced applications. This dissertation presents studies that progress towards this goal through the construction of a new experimental setup for complex temperature and force profiles that also accurately captures deformation behavior through non-contact measurements. Using this setup, studies into two specialty titanium alloys were executed: discovering the microscopic mechanisms responsible for the macroscale behavior and testing in conditions closely replicating aircraft turbine operating cycles. Additional electron microscopy investigations were carried out to directly observe the microstructure changes that are the foundation of macroscale behavior. The output of this dissertation is a replicable experimental setup for advanced materials testing in high temperature environments and critical information for future material development.
Recommended Citation
Elbrecht, Benjamin, "Interplay Between Phase Instability and Deformation Mechanisms in Beta Titanium Alloys in Aggressive Environments" (2026). All Dissertations. 4225.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4225
Author ORCID Identifier
0009-0007-8807-6366