This summer, more than 80 students and faculty kept campus abuzz with the hum of hands-on field and lab research. The Seaver Summer Research Community’s work covered topics in biology, health and human sciences, mechanical engineering, computer science and more disciplines across the college. With such a diversity of research projects to choose from, we spoke to some of the students about their unique summer experience. Today, we spotlight Ashley Kobylinski ‘26, mechanical engineering graduate student working under the mentorship of professor Omar Es-Said.
Describe your research in a way that a high school student would understand it.
Fatigue is the failure of a component when it experiences fluctuating stresses that are repeated a large number of times. The objective of my research is to evaluate the fatigue knockdowns of chromic and non-chromic anodizing on three alloys. When the fatigue knockdown is greater than 1, the alloy presents an improvement in fatigue life. Each alloy 7050-T7451, 2195-T8, and 2050-T84 was tested at different anodizing conditions: as-received, chromic, tartaric-sulfuric, and boric-sulfuric. These alloys are in aerospace applications, and the anodizing acts as a protective coating on the alloy. Using a rotating-beam R.R. Moore machine, each alloy was tested at stress levels of 30 ksi and 50 ksi to avoid runout for the control specimens. The machine is fully reversed, therefore the alloy fluctuates between tension and compression until fracture occurs. The greater stress (50 ksi) shows low fatigue life and the smaller stress (30 ksi) shows high fatigue life; these stresses helped analyze two scenarios the alloys could experience. Following testing, chromic anodizing has improved the fatigue life of 2050-T84 at 50 ksi and 2195-T8 at 30 ksi.
Why would someone outside your field be interested in your project?
My project is interesting for someone outside my field of mechanical engineering, because it provides more information on the effects of anodizing. Anodizing is used to protect the surface of aluminum alloys by improving different properties, like corrosion resistance. It is expected that the anodized specimens will have shorter lives than the controls. Following experimental testing, chromic anodizing showed longer lives for some alloys. The fatigue improvement from the chromic anodizing presents interest, since it was expected that the as-received (control) specimens would have the greatest fatigue life. This project is being conducted with Northrop Grumman, Weber Metals, and The Aerospace Corporation.
What are some of the lessons students learn while working on research?
While working on research, students learn how to organize and plan a project. Research requires many aspects and steps: understanding background, experimental testing, discussing results through optical microscopy and/or SEM, discussing results using literature, etc. By having a plan and working with advisors, students can form research with a good foundation. As a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, I have learned that organization is important for achieving goals in the research process- especially when leading a team of researchers.
How does doing research complement coursework?
As a graduate student, I am utilizing coursework from undergraduate studies- specifically materials science and physical metallurgy. My undergraduate coursework gave me the foundation to understand the basics of my research: material properties and fatigue. Since attending LMU, I have taken fatigue and metallurgical & materials engineering. These courses directly compliment my research, and have helped me understand the specifics and “why?” of my research.
What advice would you give to someone on the fence about doing research?
For someone on the fence about doing research, I would advise them to just give it a shot! As a graduate student, I have worked with some wonderful undergraduate students, freshmen to seniors. Every student is able to participate and learn from research, even if they are early in their academic careers. Research helps give insight on topics that you may find interesting, and everyone can learn something new. From my experiences in research, I have enjoyed learning more about the importance of fatigue- specifically when alloys experience different conditions.
