Labs and Equipment

The Laser Diagnostics Laboratory is outfitted with advanced equipment for conducting laser systems experiments. Laser diagnostic techniques have been proven as some of the best tools available for characterizing droplet size, volume anv velocity distributions in sprays. The understanding of sprays is critical to those industries relying heavily on paints and coatings of finished products.

The 1,200 square-foot Laser Diagnostics Laboratory contains several systems critical to conducting spray research. Among the lab’s features are a Phase Doppler Particle Analyzwer (PDPA), a Partical Image Velocimetry (PIV), and a Holographic INterferometer (HI).

Wet Spray Paint Laboratory is a woking evnironmental control facility with a booth for air flow testing as well as a high speed bell head spray gun for use in coating experiemtns. In conjunction with the Laser Diagnostic Laboratory, research conducted in this laboratory will encompass booth overspray capturing performance studies, transfer efficiency studies of paint spray equipment, and booth airflow performance studies.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Simulation Laboratory employs the use of complex compuatational resources to create computational models that can simulate the processes of paoint spray atomization, paint transfer efficiency, air flow containing over-sprayed paint particles, and painted surface curing. With IBM clusters and super computers, computational models, based on fluid dynamics, heat transfer and chemical reactions, can be solved within reasonable time scales. These computational results help improve performances of over sprayed paint capturing, paint transfer efficiency, and paint curing efficiency, among other things.