Materials Characterization in conjunction with light weighting through the use of surface coating, carbon fiber and hybrid Fiber

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Automotive manufacturers continue to push the performance of motor engines for reducing greenhouse gas emission that are responsible for global warming. This is performed through new materials development for improving fuel combustion efficiency as well as reducing the weight of the engine parts, both aspects leading to less fuel consumption. Ford Motor Canada in its research lab in Windsor, Canada, has 16 specialized rooms to test motors with new materials being developed. Often, many new components fail during the testing and the cause of failure must be determined. Because of the microscopic nature of the failure processes, the scanning electron microscope is the tool of choice to characterize failure processes of materials. Since there is a strong connection between the properties of materials and their microstructure, the electron microscope is the tool of choice to characterize materials down to the nanometer level. This project aims to develop new techniques to characterize fracture surfaces and microstructures of materials being developed by Ford Motors Canada, with the state-of-the-art scanning electron microscopes of Pr. Gauvin Research group that have a set of unique detection capabilities. This will lead to better materials development (composites polymeric materials, ceramic coatings on metals) and to more efficient engines that will emit significantly less greenhouse gas.