Mechanical properties of materials with nanometer scale dimensions and microstructures

Abstract

The three-year grant for which this final report is required extends from 2011 to 2015, including a one-year, no-cost extension. But this is just the latest in a long series of grants from the Division of Materials Sciences of DOE and its predecessor offices and agencies. These include contracts or grants from: the Metallurgy Branch of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s), the Materials Science Program of the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration (from the mid- to late- 1970s), and the Division of Materials Science of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy (from the early 1980s to the present time). Taken all together, these offices have provided nearly continuous support for our research for nearly 50 years. As we have said on many occasions, this research support has been the best we have ever had, by far. As we look back on the nearly five decades of support from the Division of Materials Sciences and the predecessor offices, we find that the continuity of support that we have enjoyed has allowed us to be most productive and terms of papers published, doctoral students graduated and influence onmore » the field of materials science. This report will, of course, cover the three-year period of the present grant, in summary form, but will also make reference to the output that resulted from support of previous grants from the Division of Materials Sciences and its predecessor offices.« less