9503727 Lavernia This data analysis system will be dedicated to support materials research in engineering at the University of California, Irvine, in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The purchase of this state-of-the-art equipment will be used to support several ongoing research programs of spray forming processing and controlled droplet deposition manufacturing. This equipment will demonstrate that the advanced studies made possible by the proposed data analysis system are novel and useful for enhancing our understanding of the processing microstructure mechanical properties synergism in spray forming and controlled droplet deposition processing of materials. This is an important area for future advances in spray deposition. %%% This droplet analysis equipment will be used in required junior level laboratory courses for mechanical and civil engineering students. This will allow the students to visualize the complex dynamics associated with deforming droplets during manufacturing, and will directly impact the research activities of approximately fifteen graduate students. Students will utilize the requested data analysis system to study a variety of important fundamental phenomena described as follows. First, the interactions that occur between atomized droplets and ceramic particles during the manufacture of metal matrix composites using spray atomization and deposition. Of particular interest will be the study of the impingement of the composite droplets with the substrate. Also, the data generated will provide very useful insight into the mechanisms of porosity generation in discrete droplet processes, and will be used to conduct parametric studies of droplet solidification and spreading during net form manufacturing using controlled droplet deposition. The details of droplet deformation and impingement are experimentally unknown. The experimental data obtained will be extremely useful il validating existing theoretical models. The information generated will impact a number of discrete droplet manufacturing processes, including but not limited to: plasma spraying, spray atomization and deposition, controlled droplet processes arc spraying, and others. We wil gain insight in to the mechanisms that govern the evolution of porosity during the manufacturing of structural materials using discrete droplet processes. Porosity represents one of the most critical phenomena hindering the commercial exploitation of manufacturing processes that involve discrete droplets. ***
