The mission of CREDDS is to raise future leaders in stewardship science through fundamental research on advanced metallic materials under mechanical loading conditions at extreme strain rates, pressures, and strains.
Following the termination of nuclear testing in the United States, research directed towards understanding the effects of harsh conditions on components made of metals and alloys became indispensable for maintaining the safety and reliability of the stockpile.
Our vision is for CREDDS students to:
- Use advanced characterization techniques to discover the impact of dynamically evolving metal microstructures on rate-, pressure-, and strain-dependent mechanical behavior.
- Construct and validate constitutive models that predict microstructural changes in time under these conditions in terms of microscopic constituents.
- Understand how far-from-equilibrium processing and aging determine performance under extreme rates, pressures, and strains through their effect on the dynamics of metastable microstructures.
- Collaborate with each other across CREDDS institutions, with technical staff at NNSA laboratories, and with leading US research facilities.
CREDDS is a collaboration between Texas A&M University (lead institution), University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Michigan, and University of Connecticut. It is funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under contract number DE-NA0003857. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Nuclear Security Administration.