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Equipment and Modeling Capabilities

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Cai Research Lab (top)

  • Newly-built 100 sq meter (1080 sq ft) modern lab space.
  • Two 6 feet Premier fume hood and two sinks.
  • Glass door/window from both sides of the lab.

Student Office and Lounge Areas (bottom)

  • Open-space student working and louge area, right next to (outside of) the research lab with gorgenous view of the VT blacksburg campus. 
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3-Point Bending SCC Tester in Liquid Cell

  • In-situ force-displacement, and electrochemical current/potential measurements.
  • 2D strain field, crack initiation and propagation is measured in-situ using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system.
  • Suitable for testing fibers, wires, plates, bars, etc. in liquid solution.  
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Q-Fog SSP-600 cyclic corrosion test chamber

  • Cyclic corrosion testing provides the best possible laboratory simulation of natural atmospheric corrosion, performance is similar to outdoors in resulting structure, morphology, and relative corrosion rates.
  • Q-FOG cyclic corrosion chambers can run salt spray, Prohesion, and most cyclic automotive tests with temperature control up to 70 oC. 
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Potentiostat/Galvanostat/Zero Resistance Ammeter

  • Corrosion testing and electrochemical measurement. Electrochemical Noise Experiment, Electrochemical Frequency Modulation, Pulse Voltammetry, Electrochemical Impedance, and Electrochemical Signal Analyzer.
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fs-LSP system (in collaboration w/ Prof. Vinh)

  • Ultra-fast laser shock peening system. 
  • Suitable for enhancing surface proeperties such as wear, corrosion, stress-corrosion, and fatigue resistance.
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Rtec MFT‐5000 multifunctional tribometer

  • Micro-Macro wear and scratch test:  The standard test to determine wear rate and friction coefficients of thin films, coatings, 2D and bulk materials. 2D force senor (mN-N) and z-displacement sensor (nm-micron), 10x camera, ball and pin tip holder.
  • Tribocorrosion Test: Determines tribocorrosion, erosion corrosion of materials at room temperature – 80 oC in liquid cell w/ in-situ corrosion current/potential monitoring. Testing standard: ASTM G119.
  • High-Temp Tribology Test:  Linear oscillating test, room temp – 1000 oC in air. Testing standard: ASTM D5706, D5707, D6425, D7217, D7420, D7594,D7421,DIN51834 /2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9.
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Tensile and Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) Testing 

  • In-situ stress-strain, and electrochemical current/potential measurements. Load Capacity: 300 lbf [1.5 kN].
  • 2D strain field, crack initiation and propagation is measured in-situ using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system.
  • Suitable for tensile and compact tension specimens.  
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Vacuum Induction Melting System

  • Melting temperature up to ~ 2000oC.
  • Output power: 2 - 25 KW.
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Multiphysics FEA Modeling

  • Finite element based multiphysics modeling (stress, corrosion, wear, thermal, fluid etc.)
  • Tribocorrosion, stressed corrosion, complex electrochemical modeling with the coupling of thermal, fluid dynamics, solid mechanics, and electrochemical kinetics. 
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Crystal Plasticity and Fracture Modeling

  • Crystal plasticity modeling of texture evolution during plastic deformation.
  • Fracture mechanics modeling via cohesive zone models.