Research Projects
Our laboratory conducts research on spray and combustion control technologies that were originally developed for engines, and we explore their applications in other fields as film formation technology and particle formation method. We also study phase change phenomena between gas and liquid, as well as solid and liquid.
To carry out our experiments, we make extensive use of optical measurement tools such as laser light sources and high-speed video cameras. For numerical simulations, we mainly use the open-source software OpenFOAM to investigate atomization and related spray phenomena.
Flash boiling spray
When a liquid is injected into an environment where the pressure is lower than its vapor pressure, the liquid rapidly evaporates with flash boiling. Our laboratory is working to understand flash boiling phenomena in vacuum conditions where the ambient pressure is much lower than the vapor pressure of the liquid.
Droplet Levitation with Ultra Sonic Wave
For reactive liquid droplets, contact with a solid surface can trigger chemical reactions or changes in state. To study these processes without surface contact, we perform experiments using ultrasonic levitation to suspend droplets.
Erosion with Particles in Dry-Blust
Dry-blast is a surface processing technique in which abrasive particles are accelerated by a jet and collide with a material surface, causing wear. However, the details of particle impacts and wear mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Our laboratory mainly uses numerical simulations to investigate these wear processes with Prof. T. Miyajima (Toyama Pref. Univ.).
Phase Change of Metal Particles in Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM), such as metal 3D printing, is a technology where metal powders are rapidly heated, melted, and solidified to produce parts. One of the challenges in AM is ensuring the quality of the fabricated products. We focus on the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) method and study the phase change processes of metal powders to better understand and improve product reliability with Prof. T.Ito (Toyama Pref. Univ.).
Floating Body Motion induced by Shock wave
We have also developed a technique to levitate objects and interact with them using shock waves. the flow field around suspended objects is investigated with Porf. Y. Sakamura (Toyama Pref. Univ.).