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Soyama-Nakai Lab
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A lab that uses the force of collapsing bubbles to strengthen metal and extend the life of equipment.
AboutAbout the lab
Strengthening metal by hammering it with bubbles
The Soyama-Nakai Lab studies the comprehensive evaluation of the integrity and functionality of equipment and structures, with the aim of extending their service life.
The core of its work is surface modification that uses the force released when bubbles collapse in water.
Because metal can be strengthened simply by treating its surface, without changing the material or its shape, the lab is working to extend the technique to cars, aircraft, and industrial plants.
Students can learn, hands-on through experiments, the strength of materials and fluid mechanics that are required for jobs in mechanical engineering.
Key terms
- Cavitation
- A phenomenon in which fast-flowing liquid drops in pressure and gas bubbles form within the liquid.
- Surface modification
- Treating only the surface of a material to change its properties, while leaving its interior and shape unchanged.
- Fatigue strength
- The strength of a material to withstand repeated loading without breaking.
NewsLab news
Succeeded in turning coffee grounds into a resource using cavitation
Professor Soyama receives the FY2024 (Reiwa 6) Prize for Science and Technology in the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Structure of vortex cavitation that generates powerful force elucidated
ResearchResearch themes
Developing components, equipment, and structures and using them safely requires comprehensive property evaluation that is not bound by conventional methods. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the lab aims at comprehensive evaluation of the integrity and functionality of equipment and structures, and at extending their service life.
*Illustrative imageVisualizing solid-gas-liquid phenomena with X-rays
In international joint research with the European XFEL, the University of Oxford, SPring-8, and others, the lab uses X-ray free-electron lasers and synchrotron radiation for four-dimensional visualization to clarify phenomena involving solids, gases, and liquids.
*Illustrative imageImproving the fatigue strength of 3D-printed materials
Additively manufactured materials, commonly known as 3D-printed materials, are attractive for aircraft parts and biomedical implants, but they have the weakness of markedly low fatigue strength. The lab researches how to improve it by cavitation peening.
*Illustrative imageRealizing a sustainable society
The lab works in three areas: materials, zero emissions, and the water environment. Its pillars are strengthening materials by surface modification to make transport equipment lighter, strengthening metal with water alone so that no industrial waste is produced, and water treatment using bubbles.
*Illustrative imageStrengthening metal materials with lasers
A nanosecond pulsed laser is aimed at metal underwater, and the recoil from the blown-off surface hammers the metal and strengthens it. Depending on the purpose, the lab chooses between a wavelength that water does not absorb and one that efficiently produces water vapor bubbles.
MembersFaculty
The Soyama-Nakai Lab consists of faculty members, students, and technical assistants.As of 2026
- ProfessorHitoshi Soyama
- Assistant ProfessorMichio Nakai
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Cavitating-prop” U.S. Navy / Public domain (cropped)
- Visualizing solid-gas-liquid phenomena with X-rays: “SPring- img pano” Artorius / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Improving the fatigue strength of 3D-printed materials: “FZU 3Dprinting 1” René Volfík / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Realizing a sustainable society: “DillingenAluminiumSchrott” Lokilech / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Strengthening metal materials with lasers: “Femtosecond laser filament” Onlywww / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tohmyoh-Kimura Lab): “2N4957 wire bonding” Mister rf / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shirasu Lab): “Woven carbon fiber fabric” Acheolg / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Gao-Sato (Ryo) Lab): “Prototype Imaging Density Interferometer is on the Optical table in the foreground” notnef from Canberra, Australia / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Matsukuma Lab): “Femtosecond laser spark” Smirnov Semen / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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