AME - Construction of the spraying system for functional paints

The Sakaue Lab is developing functional paints for fluid dynamic applications. One of them is a luminescent paint that gives spatiotemporal information in pressure/temperature over an aerodynamic surface. Currently, these paints are manually sprayed over a target surface. However, the uniformity of the paint will impact to the measurement quantity.  

This project focuses on the automation of the spraying to provide a uniform paint application over a target surface. The first step of this project is to design and build a 2-D spraying system. The second step is to create a paint layer with the constructed system and characterize the uniformity of the paint. It will be performed by taking a signal image from the painted surface. The correlation between the uniformity of the paint and the spraying parameters will be studied.

Name of research group, project, or lab
Sakaue Lab
Why join this research group or lab?

We are an interdisciplinary lab combining fluid mechanics and chemistry. Students who are interested in interdisciplinary research are encouraged to apply. We have collaborations with overseas institutions, such as JAXA (Japan), SUBARU (Japan), the University of Tokyo (Japan), Sophia University (Japan), Kanagawa University (Japan), Toyota Technological Institute (Japan), Aichi Institute of Technology (Japan), National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan), German Aerospace Center (Germany), Fraunhofer (Germany), and the Arctic University of Norway (Norway). There will be a chance for you to join one of them.

Logistics Information:
Project categories
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineerng & Earth Sciences
Electrical Engineering
Materials Science & Engineering
Student ranks applicable
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Student qualifications

We are looking for a student who is interested in hands-on research and in analyzing collected data in a scientific manner. A student can apply from various fields, such as mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, and chemical engineering.

Hours per week
1 credit / 3-6 hours
2 credits / 6-12 hours
3 credits / 12+ hours
Compensation
Research for Credit
Number of openings
1
Techniques learned

Design and build of a mechanical system

Characterization of functional paints

Image processing

Project start
beginning of the semester
Contact Information:
Mentor
hsakaue@nd.edu
Associate Professor
Name of project director or principal investigator
Hirotaka Sakaue
Email address of project director or principal investigator
hsakaue@nd.edu
1 sp. | 0 appl.
Hours per week
1 credit / 3-6 hours (+2)
1 credit / 3-6 hours2 credits / 6-12 hours3 credits / 12+ hours
Project categories
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (+3)
Aerospace and Mechanical EngineeringCivil & Environmental Engineerng & Earth SciencesElectrical EngineeringMaterials Science & Engineering