Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a layer-by-layer manufacturing process where powder or wire is fused to form a part. This process typically uses energy-intensive means to fuse feedstock, leading to stochastic defect formation and high energy consumption. For Zn-based alloys, those commonly used AM technologies lead to elemental evaporation, due to the Zn low boiling point, thus affecting alloy composition, microstructure and therefore mechanical properties. One solution to this could lie in a new and less turbulent AM technology, named Metal Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (MEAM), that is currently under development at the LMM. In this process, a metallic wire is fed through a nozzle and resistively melted in order to produce a liquid stream which bonds and solidifies onto the previous manufactured layer, as is now practiced with thermoplastic polymers in Fusion Deposition Modelling.
The goal of this semester project is to explore the application of this new technology to the additive manufacturing of pure Zn, a material of interest for biomedical applications, to cite one example. The student will explore and define viable printing parameters to produce single track thin walls, which she/he will then characterize for its microstructure and link it with the process parameters, with particular interest in mechanisms for defect formation in the manufactured samples. The students will use experimental techniques including metallographic preparation and optical microscopy, amongst others.
Responsible supervisors: Abdellah Abdesselam, Ignacio Rodriguez Barber and Julie Gheysen
Contact: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] in a single email.