This industry-sponsored laboratory supports particulate processing research by Manufacturing and Materials Science faculty and students. The laboratory is equipped with a variety of powder preparation, processing and characterization equipment, as well as equipment for green body consolidation and sintering. The laboratory has computational resources to support analysis and process design work. A specially equipped room also houses an electric discharge machining facility. The laboratory has close ties to its industrial sponsors and students frequently work directly with engineers from the sponsoring companies.
Students also have access to equipment housed at industrial sponsors' facilities.
In addition, a variety of software has been developed to utilize these instruments effectively. Currently, background modeling, peak searching, and curve fitting with deconvolution, are in use for quantitative phase analysis and residual stress analysis. Additional support software is shared with the Electron Microscopy Facility to generate diffraction patterns for any crystal system in any desired orientation. These facilities are used primarily for microstructural analysis and determination of crystal structures of fine phases present in metals and ceramics. Mechanical Testing Laboratories Experimental mechanical testing laboratories are available for teaching and research related to mechanical properties and deformation of metals, ceramics, and composite materials.