Application Map
A route through the site from the engineering problem to the physical process, the hardware that has to realise it, the measurements that can validate it, and the industrial or research landscape behind it.
This is not a catalogue of technologies. I use the map to keep one question visible: what has to work on the real component or test system, and what evidence would be sufficient to say that it does?
How I move through a problem
Where to enter the map
Electric propulsion & TVAC
Thruster operation and chamber behaviour have to be read as one coupled system: propellant flow, pumping speed, pressure, contamination, diagnostics and acceptance data.
- Vacuum test environment
- Gas load and pumping
- Thruster/cathode interfaces
- Measurement interpretation
Neutralization & cathodes
For hollow-cathode work, startup is a system event rather than a single voltage value. Gas state, breakdown location, keeper/main-discharge sequence and thermal balance all matter.
- Ignition and restart
- Self-heating / heaterless concepts
- Keeper and main discharge
- Lifetime and erosion evidence
Plasma sources & surface processes
The process name is not enough. Source architecture, pressure, power coupling, ion energy, temperature and geometry determine whether the intended surface state can actually be produced.
- PVD / magnetron / HiPIMS
- Plasma and ion nitriding
- Internal-surface treatment
- Duplex routes
Diagnostics & vacuum acceptance
Pressure, leak rate, pump-down, mass flow, voltage/current traces and plasma diagnostics become useful only when they are tied to a defined process state and acceptance question.
- Pressure-time behaviour
- Leak and outgassing separation
- Electrical traces
- Optical / process diagnostics
Materials & surface engineering
The useful comparison is between functional surface states, not just between process labels. Layer profile, substrate support, adhesion, dimensional change and tribological pair have to be considered together.
- Nitriding and diffusion layers
- PVD/CVD/PECVD coatings
- LPC / heat-treatment routes
- Wear and friction validation
Control, qualification & transfer
Equipment becomes a process platform only when recipes, sensors, utilities, interlocks, calibration and acceptance logic are connected to the physical result on the part.
- Process-control architecture
- Supplier FAT / acceptance
- Recipe transfer and reproducibility
- Failure-mode driven verification
Sector application matrix
The same technology can serve very different functions. I therefore map the component or system first, then the plausible process route, the failure mode that matters, and the first measurement that can falsify the proposed solution.
| Application field | Typical technical route | Primary function / risk | First validation focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace / turbomachinery | PVD/CVD/PECVD, diffusion treatment, internal-surface processing | Erosion, oxidation, fretting, thermal cycling, complex geometry | Layer architecture, adhesion, erosion/thermal exposure, geometry access |
| Power engineering | Hard/functional coatings, nitriding, vacuum heat treatment | Wear, steam/particle erosion, seizure, fatigue | Surface state, contact pair, dimensional stability, fatigue/wear test |
| Engines / transport machinery | Nitriding, LPC, coatings, duplex routes | Contact fatigue, scuffing, wear, dimensional change | Case profile, microstructure, tribology, distortion |
| Hydraulics / precision mechanics | Precision nitriding, low-friction coating, duplex treatment | Friction, seizure, leakage, tolerance loss | Dimensions, roughness, pair friction/wear, edge condition |
| Tools / dies | PVD/HiPIMS, nitriding + coating | Abrasive/adhesive wear, edge failure, thermal load | Substrate support, adhesion, edge preparation, tool-life test |
| Oil & gas / chemical process | Corrosion/wear coatings, diffusion layers, vacuum processing | Corrosion-wear, galling, aggressive media | Material compatibility, coating defects, corrosion/tribology test |
| Powders / porous parts / filters | Vacuum sintering, thermal-vacuum processing, surface functionalization | Porosity, contamination, densification, permeability | Mass/geometry change, pore structure, contamination and process gas record |
| Microelectronics / optics | PVD/CVD/PECVD/ALD, plasma cleaning | Uniformity, contamination, interface quality | Thickness/uniformity, surface chemistry, particle/contamination control |
| Vacuum / plasma equipment | Pumps, sources, power, diagnostics, chambers, gas control | Process stability and reproducibility | Pump-down, pressure rise, leak, flow, electrical/process traces |
| Space / EP / TVAC | High-vacuum test, cathodes, thrusters, thermal-vacuum systems | Gas-load coupling, ignition, contamination, test interpretation | Flow-pressure balance, electrical sequence, diagnostics, chamber state |
| Additive / high-temperature materials | Post-processing, nitriding, coating, vacuum heat treatment | Surface state, residual stress, oxidation/wear | Microstructure, surface layer, dimensions and representative loading |
This map deliberately excludes household vacuum and unrelated suction applications; it is focused on industrial vacuum, plasma, thermal-vacuum and surface-engineering systems.
Where the map connects to the registry
When a technical route is defined, I use the public landscapes to look outward: which equipment families exist, which companies occupy each part of the chain, where the patent activity sits, and which publications or research groups are relevant.
The public website shows only aggregates and a deliberately limited sample. Detailed source trails, company relationship graphs and internal assessment fields remain private.