Funds are provided towards the purchase of a vacuum deposition system which will be used to deposit an aluminum film on to a mold for constructing a diffraction grating of 1200 lines/mm on a specimen. This specimen grating is an active component of moire interferometry which will be used to study the structural response of advanced composite laminates. With a strain sensitivity of one millionth mm/mm, such studies could lead to stronger and tougher composite materials.
