Ichiro Takeuchi

Professor, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland
Takeuchi's research interests include: Applications of combinatorial synthesis and characterization methodology to electronic, magnetic and smart materials; fabrication and characterization of novel multilayer thin-film devices; variable temperature scanning probe microscope. He is also the primary investigator at the Keck Lab for Combinatorial Nanosynthesis/Multiscale Characterization.
Talk Title: 
Elastocaloric cooling: mechanisms, materials, and systems
Talk Abstract: 
We are developing elastocaloric/thermoelastic cooling devices based on latent heat generated and absorbed during the stress-induced martensitic transformation of a shape memory alloys (SMAs). Compared to other alternative cooling technologies, the coefficient of performance (COP) of SMAs for elastocaloric cooling is among the highest: for a compression based operation, the material COP of elastocaloric cooling can be as high as 20. Elastocaloric cooling is cost effective and has minimal environmental impact since it completely eliminates the need for high global warming potential greenhouse gases. We show that intrinsic delta T of elastocaloric coolers can be as high as 21 °C, which can be effectively used to run refrigeration cycles. We have recently demonstrated operation of a 400 W compression-based elastocaloric cooler. I will also discuss performance of elastocaloric materials fabricated by additive manufacturing.