This three-year award will support U.S.-France cooperative research in manufacturing processes. The investigators are Sanjay Sampath, Herbert Herman and Christopher Berndt of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Pierre Fauchais and Armelle Vardelle of the University of Limoges. The investigators will study the process-structure-property relationship associated with plasma spray processing. The process is currently being used to produce high performance coatings on a wide range of materials. It has potential as a new manufacturing technology for aerospace, automotive, energy, chemical and biomedical industries. The objective of the U.S.-France research project is to characterize powder particles as they melt in a plasma flame. Using plasma spray technology, the investigators will study processing of metal/ceramic materials and determine the microstructure and properties of the coatings. The U.S. investigators bring to this collaboration their expertise in modeling, microstructure development and material characterization. This is complemented by the French investigators' expertise in thermo-chemical modeling, plasma diagnostics, and particle characterization. Both these areas will advance fundamental understanding of plasma spray processing and its potential as an emerging materials processing and manufacturing technology.
