Research Laboratories

Atom Probe Field Ion Microscopy Laboratory

The Atom Probe Field Ion Microscopy Laboratory is a unique, highly sophisticated research facility for investigating the structure and chemistry of solids on an atomic scale. The installation includes three units for field ion microscopy and atom probe analysis.

Bio Tissues and Complex Fluids Laboratory

The Bio Tissues and Complex Fluids Laboratory is devoted to the characterization and experimental study of complex materials. Much of the work in this laboratory focuses on understanding and quantifying the link between material behavior and structure. These results are used for the development of constitutive equations to model these materials in a predictive fashion. A second focus of the laboratory is the study of the motion and stability of particles in viscous and viscoelastic fluids.

Ceramics Processing Laboratory

The Ceramics Processing Laboratory includes glove box facilities for chemical synthesis of powders and thin films. Powder preparation facilities allow for mixing and milling of powders, Horiba CAPA-300 particle size analyzer, Quantachrome BET surface area analysis, mini spray drier, Brookfield viscometer, uniaxial press and colloidal filtration pressurization unit, cold isostatic press. Firing facilities include a high-temperature sintering dilatometer and various tube and box furnaces for firing ceramics and melting glass at temperatures up to 1700°C in air.

Composite Materials Laboratory

The Composite Materials Laboratory is used mainly for research in penetration and fracture mechanics of composite materials, the characterization of associated dynamic failure modes, and understanding the physics of dynamic failures of new generation of composite materials.

The lab is equipped with a high-performance penetrating and fracturing Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) integrated to a high speed optical/CCD imaging system for high strain rate testing. The system is capable of capturing dynamic fracture, crack propagation, and fragmentation processes during composite materials failure at over 2 million frames per second.

The lab operates a laser Raman Spectroscopy for characterization of residual strengths and micro micromechanical properties of composite materials with 1 mm resolution. Heat, moisture absorption, dynamic impact, or a combination of these factors results in transformation of micro-mechanical properties of composite materials in the region of damage and beyond. Laser Raman spectroscopy is used to directly measure fiber stress at the microscopic level because Raman frequencies or unique atomic vibrational energy levels of the constituent fibers are stress-strain dependent. In many crystalline or paracrystalline materials, the Raman peak position shifts linearly to lower wave numbers under tensile strains and to higher wave number under compressive strains.

Composite materials of interest include woven composites, advanced composite materials, nano-composites, smart composite, and high-temperature materials such as ceramics.

Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory

The primary objective of the Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory is to conduct theoretical research in fluid mechanics, combustion, heat and mass transfer, applied mathematics, and numerical methods. The emphasis of current research in this laboratory is on “understanding physics” rather than “developing numerical algorithms.”

Several areas of current investigations are turbulent mixing, chemically reacting flows, high-speed combustion and propulsion, transition and turbulence, nano-scale heat transfer, magnetohydrodynamics, and plasma physics. The numerical methodologies in use consist of spectral methods (collocation, Galerkin), variety of finite difference, finite volume and finite element schemes, Lagrangian methods, and many hybrid methods such as spectral-finite element and spectral-finite difference schemes.

The laboratory is equipped with high-speed mini-supercomputers, graphic systems, and state-of-the-art hardware and software for "flow visualization." Most computations require the use of off-site supercomputers (mostly parallel platforms), for which high-speed links are available.

Electrical Properties and Dielectric Measurements

The Electrical Characterization Facility contains an LCR meter, impedence analyzers, and a ferroelectric testing system for measuring the dielectric properties of bulk materials and thin films. The facility also includes a microwave cavity and network analyzer used to measure dielectric constants and Q-factors at microwave frequencies.

Gas Turbine Heat Transfer Laboratory

The Gas Turbine Heat Transfer Laboratory is equipped with advanced flow and heat transfer measurement facilities directed toward obtaining fundamental understanding and design strategies of airfoil cooling in advanced gas turbine engines.

Major experimental systems available include a particle imaging velocimetry, a computer-automated liquid crystal thermographic system, a UV-induced phosphor fluorescent thermometric imaging system, and a sublimation-based heat-mass analogous system. Specific projects currently under way include optimal endwall cooling, shaped-hole film cooling, innovative turbulator heat transfer enhancement, advanced concepts in trailing edge cooling, and instrumentation developments for unsteady thermal and pressure sensing.

John A. Swanson Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory

The John A. Swanson Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory is a newly established research and educational facility directed for design, fabrication, and performance characterization of various engineering systems in micro- and nano-scales. This laboratory is built upon the existing capabilities in precision manufacturing, smart materials and transducers, rapid prototyping, and semiconductor fabrication in the School of Engineering.

For the typical silicon-based MEMS processing, the school is already equipped with various workstations and laboratories for lithography, thin-film deposition, wet-etching, bonding, and device characterization. The Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science is currently expanding its research capabilities to both nano-scale devices and non-silicon-based thick-film micro-devices.

New fabrication equipment, such as thick-film deposition/patterning facilities, deep reactive ion etching facilities, and special equipment to develop MEMS devices for biological and medical applications, is being established.

Learn more about the John A. Swanson Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory.

Joint Replacement Biomechanics Laboratory

The Joint Replacement Biomechanics Laboratory focuses on the improvement of both the life span of joint replacements and the design of the components used in joint replacement. The laboratory is equipped for computational and experimental analyses.

Laboratories

A - J

• Atom Probe Field Ion Microscopy Laboratory
• Bio Tissues and Complex Fluids Laboratory
• Ceramics Processing Laboratory
• Composite Materials Laboratory
• Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory
• Electrical Properties and Dielectric Measurements
• Gas Turbine Heat Transfer Laboratory
• John A. Swanson Micro/Nanotechnology Laboratory
• Joint Replacement Biomechanics Laboratory

M - O

• Magnetic Properties and Measurement
• Mechanical Testing Laboratory
• Mechanics of Active Materials Laboratory
• Materials Micro-Characterization Laboratory (MMCL)
• Metals Processing Laboratory
• Micro/Bio Fluidics Laboratory
• Micromechanics and Nano-science Laboratory
• Microsensor and Microactuator Laboratory
• Optical Metallography Laboratories
• Oxidation Laboratory

S - X

• Scanning Probe Microscopy Laboratory
• SEM Laboratory
• Sound, Systems and Structures Laboratory
• TEM Laboratory
• Thermal and Chemical Analysis
• Thermal Science and Imaging Laboratory
• Vibration and Control Laboratory
• XRD Laboratory