Towards Using Bulk Metallic Glasses for Spacecraft Components

Wednesday, September 15, 2021: 1:20 PM
227 (America's Center)
Dr. Punnathat Bordeenithikasem , NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
High-performance parts such as those used for spacecraft components require advanced manufacturing of novel materials to push the state-of-the-art. Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are metallic alloys that lack a crystalline structure. From the unique microstructure, BMGs possess superlative mechanical properties as well as the processability of thermoplastics. With this unique combination of properties, BMGs are therefore the material-of-choice to produce spacecraft parts. In this talk, recent work involving prototyping, characterization, and qualifying BMG components for space will be discussed.