Director: Prof. K.W. White, Mech. Engineering / Materials Engineering, University of Houston.

CHARTER:

    Center will develop the science and technology necessary for the advancement of engineering structures comprised of ceramic materials. A specific goal of each project under this center will ultimately contribute to a formal methodology for the prediction of engineering serviceability from microstructural and materials quantities, thereby, circumventing the inherent limitations of state-of-the-art statistical methods. The uniqueness of this approach lies in the incorporation of material/microstructural quantities as an integral constituent of the reliability predictions. As such, reducing the various failure mechanisms to their elements permits the implementation of the various microstructurally based models, developed at the University of Houston, to predict component reliability. This approach, then attempts to link the component scale design parameters to the microstructural scale material properties. The blend of university and industrial participants, reflected in the list below, is intended to provide a firm scientific basis for the wide range of issues germane to this task, while maintaining engineering relevance to current and future applications. The spectrum of disciplines invited to participate in this effort, ranging from chemistry to materials and mechanical engineering to component design, provides sufficient expertise for crosspollination of new ideas for the development of novel solutions to those engineering and science problems which currently restrict the commercialization of ceramic components and products.