Jonathan Salem

James I. Mueller Memorial Awardee 2023

Jonathan Salem is a Materials Research Engineer in the Ceramic and Polymer Composites Branch at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.  He received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, and has authored or co-authored over 135 archival publications and six national or international standards on mechanical testing of ceramics.  He is a fellow of ASTM International and The American Ceramic Society.

Salem’s work experiences include heat treatment and fracture studies of titanium and steel alloys, project leader for the Toughened Ceramics Life Prediction Program, and development of mechanical testing methods and standards for ceramics. Current interests include mechanical behavior and reliability analysis of ceramics, glasses and optical materials for structural applications, with current emphasis on crack growth behavior of transparent ceramics such as silicates and spinel.  Past and current mission include the Roman Space Telescope and the ICESat-2 satellite. Prior to working at NASA, he worked in Quality Assurance at Powell Valve and Forest City Foundries.

Title: Testing and design of ceramic structural materials and components at NASA

Abstract: Ceramic and glass components are used in manned and unmanned NASA missions.  Hardware examples include specialty windows, mirrors, spectrometer components, laser oscillators and amplifiers, and bearing balls.  Requirements for missions can include resistance to thermal shock, impact, mechanical loads and chemical attack, while maintaining functions such as excellent optical transmission.  Requirements, failure mechanisms, scale effects, design approaches, and test methods will be discussed along with examples of testing difficulties and design challenges.