The identification of a requirement for an advanced, user friendly high speed, short exposure (50-100nsec) electronic CCD Camera system to improve and further the investigation of thermal spray methods through detailed and accurate analysis encourages and accelerates the opportunity to develop a state of the art multiple exposure high speed video camera. This proposal is intended to enable the research and development to provide necessary advanced materials for defense, aerospace, automotive, packaging, printing and other civilian process improvements. This video camera system will allow multiple exposures per video frame with effective exposure times as short as 50nsec. Framing rates will conform to standard video (30fps) or slower as required. This capability will permit measurement and diagnostic studies of dynamic phenomena within material spray equipment including particle size and velocity and how these are distributed within the spray pattern. Spatial resolution will be 10 m or better with focal length sufficient to insure that the harsh processing environment will not damage the optical components: long distance microscope lens. The system hardware is designed for an industrial materials processing environment. The cost to industry is less than $45,000.00. Commercial applications:Once the proposed technology has been developed, a wide range of commercial applications demanding some or all of these innovations can be addressed with convenience, accuracy and cost effectiveness. These areas include ink-jet spray phenomena analysis, spray nozzle refinement, fuel injection and combustion engine efficiency, dairy product and other liquefied food product processing and packaging, liquid hazardous chemical delivery systems improvement, particle size analysis of the distribution of pneumatically and electrostatically driven paint systems and particle movement in wind tunnels.
