4
Final Remarks
To close out the workshop, Andrew Minor from the National Center for Electron Microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory listed what he considered to be the main themes and the key takeaway messages from the entire 2 days. He offered four themes from Day 1.
- First, data-driven approaches must start with data. There is a need for materials properties databases that are well curated and accessible as well as a need for the researchers to build these databases.
- Simulations and theory provide new methods to bridge time and length scales that are inaccessible with experiments.
- We need to build capabilities to measure and observe the conditions of relevant materials and state of evolution in a material.
- Understanding mechanisms is the key to going beyond incremental improvements.
From Day 2, Minor gathered seven main themes:
- The development of materials testing methods for extreme environments has made exciting progress, but there is still much further to go. Examples of current state-of-the-art capabilities include small-scale testing methods; in situ transmission electron microscopy; multimodal X-ray scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray transmission electron microscopy; the visualization of mechanisms; in situ imaging of various types; and shock
- Standards need to be maintained, and data and uncertainties need to be reported. Knowledge transfer about standards and calibration is needed, as well as innovation in methods to measure properties.
- It is important to consider sustainability and resource constraints relevant for manufacturing for and in extreme environments.
- Machine learning approaches can work to improve data analysis, and it is even possible to include physics in order to improve the models.
- Forward simulation is critical—if we cannot simulate it, we cannot understand it.
- There is progress on multimodal characterization and simulations, but matching length and timescales continues to be major challenge.
- Data science is moving fast, with new approaches to data handling and automation, but more interdisciplinary approaches are needed.
and optical pyrometry. The current gaps include imaging at high temperatures (>2,000°C) and high-pressure testing and the fact that defect analysis, imaging, and mechanical testing are limited at the extremes.
Last, Minor offered what he found to be the four most important takeaways from the workshop:
- There is a need for materials discovery and development for extreme environments for the benefit of society.
- Data-based approaches need data, and we do not actually have most of the data. We must align our incentives with our goals.
- While there are exciting new tools for materials testing and simulation, extensive development is needed to fill the gaps and push the limits.
- Understanding the science behind mechanisms is still critical for overcoming barriers in materials performance.