NASA-UVA light aerospace alloy and structures technology program (LA2ST)

The NASA-UVa Light Aerospace Alloy and Structures Technology (LA2ST) Program was initiated in 1986 and continues with a high level of activity. Projects are being conducted by graduate students and faculty advisors in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as in the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, at the University of Virginia. Here, we report on progress achieved between July 1 and December 31, 1994. The objective of the LA2ST Program is to conduct interdisciplinary graduate student research on the performance of next generation, light-weight aerospace alloys, composites and thermal gradient structures in collaboration with NASA-Langley researchers. Specific technical objectives are presented for each research project. We generally aim to produce relevant data and basic understanding of material mechanical response, environmental/corrosion behavior, and microstructure; new monolithic and composite alloys; advanced processing methods; new solid and fluid mechanics analyses; measurement and modeling advances; and a pool of educated graduate students for aerospace technologies.