Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Multiple impacts of small high speed solid particles can cause surfaces to wear away in a process known as solid particle erosion (SPE). Destructive SPE occurs in the many industrial processes where particulates are carried by a gas or liquid to impact components such as turbine blades, cyclones, ducts, pipelines, pumps, valves, etc. SPE can also be constructive, such as when abrasive particle jets are used to machine surfaces or remove coatings and contaminants. The proposed research will develop new models that can be used to predict SPE for both constructive and destructive applications. The models we develop will be used to improve the wear resistance of particle reinforced, polymer matrix composites (PRPMCs), i.e., materials that contain both a polymer matrix and ceramic reinforcement particles. PRPMCs are used as protect a wide variety of components in industry. For example, they can be applied to components impacted by fly ash during the treatment of flue gases from combustion processes, or to protect wind turbine blades. Similar materials are also used as lightweight armours for military vehicles. The models will also be used to predict the shape of fins and pillars that can be rapidly and efficiently machined into metals using abrasive waterjet (AWJM) and slurry jet micro-machining  (ASJM). Such fins and pillars can be used in heat sinks used to cool micro-electronic devices. We will also develop ways that they can be used as micro-molds to mass produce microfluidic devices. Such devices employ micro-channels to mix or separate fluids, or to sort different types of cells suspended in the fluids in a variety of bio-analytical applications. The next generation of these devices will be 3D, with channels at different depths, and AWJM and ASJM are uniquely suited to allow the machining of such features. Finally, the models will be used to allow ASJM of novel microfluidic devices on rods. The channels in microfluidic devices are normally etched into flat plates. This limits the length of the channels, and thus the amount of time the fluid mixing, separation, or cell sorting can occur. Micro-machining tightly packed helical channels on thin rods would result in much longer channels for the same device footprint, thus greatly increasing device efficiency. However, traditional cutting tools cannot be used to machine thin rods without bending or fracturing them, and chemical etching based methods are difficult to use because of the difficulty in making stencil masks to define the channels. ASJM, however, can directly machine the rods, without fracturing or bending them. Overall, the models will allow new types of erosion resistant materials to be made, thus reducing costs associated with shutdowns to repair worn components at Canadian industrial plants. They will also allow new types of 3D and rod-based devices to be made for start-up companies in the growing Canadian micro-technology sector.