An equipment award will support the acquisition of advanced acoustic emission and video imaging equipment to be used to study damage development in thermal barrier coatings. The equipment will permit in-situ observation of microscale damage and deformation during controlled high temperature experiments. The results will be used to validate an existing model. The equipment will also be used in studies of low temperature plasticity and of damage mechanisms in metal matrix composites, and for general non-contact strain measurement in research and laboratory classes.
