Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lab Home  |  Phone
 
 

MST  Structure/Property Relations, MST-8

CONTACTS

MST-8 People

Name William (Bill) Blumenthal
Team Characterization and Modeling of Mechanical Properties
Position Team Leader
Phone (505) 667-0986
E-Mail blumenthal@lanl.gov
Research Interests Quantifying the strength, fracture toughness, and deformation response of a wide variety of materials under extreme conditions of strain rates and temperatures.  Materials experience includes ceramics (oxides, carbide, boride, single crystals (YAG), and high temperature superconductors) hazardous radioactive metals (beryllium, uranium, plutonium) polymers (estane, silicone foams, teflon, nylon, and PMMA) and composites (plastic bonded explosives, filled elastomers, and boron carbide-aluminum cermets).  Mechanical behavior data are used for process development, the development of predictive constitutive models for simulations of performance, and evaluation of aging effects.  Novel techniques have been developed to measure a) the tensile properties of ultra-strong ceramic single crystal fibers, superconducting wire, and electrically-conducting polymer fibers b) the frictional properties of ceramic powders, metal-die materials, and polymers used for ceramic powder processin!  g, and c) the high-strain-rate uniaxial compression strength of high strength, brittle ceramics for armor applications.
Research Highlights
  • "High Strain Rate Compression Testing of Ceramics and Ceramic Composites," W. R. Blumenthal, in Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings. Eds. J.J. Swab, D. Zhu, and W.M. Kriven. Columbus, OH, Americam Ceramic Society. 26, pp. 89-96 (2005).
  • "Intermediate Strain Rate Strength of Plutonium (U)," W.R. Blumenthal, P. J. Contreras, et al., Defense Research Review, 12, (1) pp. 1-20 (2004).
  • “Evolution of Crystallographic Texture and Strength in Beryllium,” W.R. Blumenthal, D. W. Brown, et al., Shock Compression of Condensed Matter-2003, eds. M. D. Furnish, Y. M. Gupta and J. W. Forbes. Melville, NY, AIP Conf. Proc. CP706, pp. 525-528 (2004).
  • “Influence of Temperature and Strain Rate on the Compressive Behavior of PMMA and Polycarbonate Polymers,” W.R. Blumenthal, C. M. Cady, et al., Shock Compression of Condensed Matter-2001, eds. M. D. Furnish, N. N. Thadhani and Y. Hori. Melville, NY, AIP Conf. Proc. 620, pp. 665-668 (2002).
  • "Influence of Temperature and Strain Rate on the Mechanical Behavior of PBX 9502 and Kel-F 800TM", W.R. Blumenthal, G.T. Gray III, D.J. Idar, M.D. Holmes, P.D. Scott, C.M. Cady and D.D. Cannon, in Shock Compression of Condensed Matter-1999, eds. M.D. Furnish, L.C. Chhabildas and R.S. Hixson, Am. Inst. Physics, Melville, NY, pp 671-674 (2000).
  • "Mechanical Properties of Plastic- bonded Explosive Binder Materials as a Function of Strain Rate and Temperature, " C.M. Cady, W.R. Blumenthal, G.T. Gray III, D.J. Idar, in proceedings of EXPLOMET 2000, June 19-23, 2000 Albuquerque, NM.
  • "The Mechanical Response of Boron Carbide-Aluminum Composites During Compressive Loading", W.J. Palfey, D.A. Koss, W.R. Blumenthal, in proceedings of 1st Int. Conf. on Adv. Materials Processing (ICAMP 2000), Nov 19-23, 2000, Rotorua, New Zealand.
  • "Dynamic Behavior of Beryllium as a Function of Texture," W.R. Blumenthal, S.P. Abeln, M.C. Mataya, G.T. Gray III, and D.D. Cannon, 7th International Symposium on Plasticity, Jan 5-13, 1999, Cancun, Mexico.
  • “Influence of Strain Rate and Temperature on the Mechanical Behavior of Beryllium,” W.R. Blumenthal, S.P. Abeln, D.D. Cannon, G.T. Gray III, and R.W. Carpenter in Shock Compression of Condensed Matter - 1997, eds. S.C. Schmidt, D.P. Dandekar, and J.W. Forbes, AIP Press, NY, 1998.
  • “High- and Low-Strain Rate Compression Properties of Several Energetic Material Composites as a Function of Strain Rate and Temperature,” G.T. Gray III, D.J. Idar, W.R. Blumenthal, C.M. Cady, and P.D. Peterson, in proceedings of 11th Detonation Symposium, eds.  J. M. Short and J. E. Kennedy, pp.76-84 (1998).
  • “The Tensile Strength of Short-Fiber Reinforced Composites”, Y.T. Zhu, W.R. Blumenthal, and T.C. Lowe, J. Mat. Sci., 32, no. 8, pp. 2037-2043 (1997).
  • “High Temperature Fracture Toughness of Single Crystal Yttrium-Aluminum Garnet”, W.R. Blumenthal and S.T. Taylor, Acta Mater., 45, no. 7 (1997) pp. 3071-3078.
Education
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science,  University of California,  Davis, CA
  • M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering,  University of California,  Berkeley, CA
Curriculum Vitæ View the PDF document

 

Los Alamos National Laboratory • Est 1943

Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's NNSA

Inside | © Copyright 2007-8 Los Alamos National Security, LLC All rights reserved | Disclaimer/Privacy | Web Contact