Spraytime

When Donald McMahon received a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., in 2022, he didn’t see graduation as the end of a chapter in his life. He saw it as part of a story that was still in progress.

“I prefer not to leave work incomplete,” McMahon said. “I found that I was sitting on a mountain of data that was shaping up nicely into a great story, and I wanted to be the one to tell it.”

McMahon has continued to tell that story while pursuing a master’s degree in material science and engineering at Stony Brook and as a research assistant in the school’s Center for Thermal Spray Research, where his work involves studying plasma and high velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) spray coating processes. He said receiving a 2022 International Thermal Spray Association (ITSA) scholarship has allowed him to continue his research into the interplay between stoichiometry, standoff distance, and matrix content in HVOF without worrying about whether he would receive funding.

“One of the most interesting aspects of thermal spray is that despite the breadth of knowledge that the industry has gained over the last century, we are still discovering new fundamental theories that continue to drive the technology to its limits and beyond,” he said. “Coupled with this great beyond that we find ourselves entering is the frustration that comes with balancing tried and true practices and specs with new and developing techniques that are discovered thanks to new knowledge of the interplays between physics and chemistry that is the cornerstone of thermal spray.”

Since receiving the scholarship, McMahon has been studying the effects particle kinetic energy and matrix content have on stresses generated in HVOF cermet (a mixture of ceramics and metals) coatings.

“To do this, I have been using ReliaCoat Technologies’s In-situ Coating Property Sensor to correlate evolving stress in the coatings with the velocity of particles sprayed at various standoff distances.”

After he graduates, McMahon plans to work at Metallizing Service Co. in West Hartford, Conn.

“He follows in the footsteps of prior Stony Brook ITSA scholarship winners who have been important contributors to the U.S. and international thermal spray industry,” said Jonathan Gutleber, technical leader of coating and materials development at Oerlikon Metco, Westbury, N.Y. McMahon conducted an experiment with the company last September.

Gutleber continued, “His work on HVOF, especially the role of process gas stoichiometries on carbide coating microstructure evolution and properties . . . is highly significant and important, especially with incorporation of diagnostic tools to make subtle distinctions between coating structures and performance.” 

McMahon is confident he is entering an evolving industry.

“I believe that the future of thermal spray looks bright.”

“My advice [to future students] would be to give thermal spray a chance, and, if you do, always try to think outside the box,” he said. “There are still plenty of improvements to be made, and it takes someone with curiosity to find them.”

McMahon was one of two recipients of the 2022 ITSA scholarship. The other was Tyler Kleinsasser, a student at South Dakota School of Mines and Technologies, Rapid City, S.Dak.

DAVE ROSENBAUM (drmiamiice@aol.com) is a contributor for SPRAYTIME.