Multi-Axial in-situ Monitoring (M.A.I.S.M.) Laser Dilatometer - R. German and C. Binet

R. German and C. Binet lead an effort to build and use a laser dilatometer capable of measuring in-situ the dimensional changes during the debinding step of the injection molding process.
This laser dilatometer permits to evaluate the mechanisms of the debinding step without contact and for multiple axis. The in-situ monitoring of components during debinding will provide guidance to cycle design, component geometry modification and forming process improvement. This new facility is currently under development in the laboratory and its capacities for monitoring dimensional changes reveal many different possibility of unexplored research interest.

The undergraduate student who would join this team would be engaged in following activities:

• Designing an experimental technique to "freeze" the residual polymer during the debinding step at different time and monitoring the dimensional changes using the laser dilatometer
• Characterizing the residual polymer in the components
• Collecting and analyzing data to understand the debinding mechanisms