In-Situ Monitoring of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process Anomalies via a Comprehensive Analysis of Off-Axis Camera Data

In-situ monitoring of a Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process is crucial in enhancing the process efficiency and ensuring the built part integrity. In this work, we present an in-situ monitoring method using an off-axis camera for monitoring layer-wise process anomalies. The in-situ monitoring is performed with a spatial resolution of 512 × 512 pixels, with each pixel representing 250 × 250 μm and a relatively high data acquisition rate of 500 Hz. An experimental study is conducted by using the developed in-situ off-axis method for monitoring the build process for a standard tensile bar. Real-time video data is acquired for each printed layer. Data analytics methods are developed to identify layer-wise anomalies, observe powder bed characteristics, reconstruct 3D part structure, and track the spatter dynamics. A deep neural network architecture is trained using the acquired layer-wise images and tested by images embedded with artificial anomalies. The real-time video data is also used to perform a preliminary spatter analysis along the laser scan path. The developed methodology is aimed to extract as much information as possible from a single set of camera video data. It will provide the AM community with an efficient and capable process monitoring tool for process control and quality assurance while using LPBF to produce high-standard components in industrial (such as, aerospace and biomedical industries) applications.

Study on Forming Behaviour of Friction Stir Welded Blanks During Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) Process

The automobile, transportation and shipbuilding industries are aiming at fuel efficient products. In order to enhance the fuel efficiency, the overall weight of the product should be brought down. This requirement has increased the use of material like aluminium and its alloys. But, it is difficult to weld aluminium using conventional welding processes. This problem can be solved by inventions like friction stir welding (FSW) process. During fabrication of product, FSW joints are subjected to many different processes and forming is one of them. During conventional forming, the formability of the welded blanks is found to be lower than the formability of the parent blank involved in it. One of the major reasons for reduction in formability is the global deformation provided on the blank during forming process. In order to improve the formability of homogeneous blanks, Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is found to be giving excellent results. So, in this work formability of the welded blanks is investigated during the SPIF process. Friction Stir Welding is used to fabricate the welded blanks using AA 6061 T6 as base material. Welded blanks are formed in to truncated cone through SPIF process. CNC milling machine is used as SPIF machine tool to perform the experimental work. In order to avoid direct contact between weld seam and forming tool, a dummy sheet was used between them. As responses forming limit curve (FLC), surface roughness, and thinning are investigated. It was found that use of dummy sheet leads to improve the surface finish of the formed blank. The formability of the blank was found less in comparison to the parent metal involved in it. Uneven distribution of mechanical properties in the welded blanks leads to decrease the formability of the welded blanks.

Uncertainty Quantification in Metallic Additive Manufacturing Through Data-Driven Modelling Based on Multi-Scale Multi-Physics Models and Limited Experiment Data

One of significant challenges in the metallic additive manufacturing (AM) is the presence of many sources of uncertainty that leads to variability in microstructure and properties of AM parts. Consequently, it is extremely challenging to repeat the manufacturing of a high-quality product in mass production. A trial-and-error approach usually needs to be employed to attain a product with high quality. To achieve a comprehensive uncertainty quantification (UQ) study of AM processes, we present a physics-informed data-driven modeling framework, in which multi-level data-driven surrogate models are constructed based on extensive computational data obtained by multi-scale multi-physical AM models. It starts with computationally inexpensive metamodels, followed by experimental calibration of as-built metamodels and then efficient UQ analysis of AM process. For illustration purpose, this study specifically uses the thermal level of AM process as an example, by choosing the temperature field and melt pool as quantity of interest. We have clearly showed the surrogate modeling in the presence of high-dimensional response (e.g. temperature field) during AM process, and illustrated the parameter calibration and model correction of an as-built surrogate model for reliable uncertainty quantification. The experimental calibration especially takes advantage of the high-quality AM benchmark data from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This study demonstrates the potential of the proposed data-driven UQ framework for efficiently investigating uncertainty propagation from process parameters to material microstructures, and then to macro-level mechanical properties through a combination of advanced AM multi-physics simulations, data-driven surrogate modeling and experimental calibration.

Method for Obtaining Light Curing Printing Condition Based on New Theoretical Description

Digital light processing (DLP) is widely used in tissue engineering in recent years. High resolution and high speed are the advantages of this printing method. The method of determining DLP process printing conditions by forming experiments is restricted by the formability of the material and it is difficult to apply to soft materials and materials that are not easily formed. In this study, through theoretical analysis that the concept of absorbances and gel point is introduced into the relationship between exposure time and forming thickness. This allows the forming conditions to be obtained by measurement of only physical quantities related to the nature of the material itself rather than through forming experiments. Which facilitates high-precision DLP printing of biomaterials.

Experimental Investigation of Effects of Extrusion Pressure on Cell Growth of Bioprinted Algae Cells in Green Bioprinting

In bioprinting, biomaterials are deposited layer-by-layer to fabricate structures. Bioprinting has many potential applications in drug screening, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Both animal cells and plant cells can be used to synthesize bioinks. Green bioprinting uses bioinks that have been synthesized using plant cells. Constructs fabricated via green bioprinting contain immobilized plant cells, with these cells arranged at desired locations. The constructs provide scaffolds for cell growth. Printing parameters affecting the growth of cells in green bioprinted constructs include print speed, needle diameter, extrusion temperature, and extrusion pressure. This paper reports a study to examine effects of extrusion pressure on cell growth (measured by cell count) in bioprinted constructs, using bioink containing Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae cells. Three levels of extrusion pressure were used: 3, 5, and 7 bar. Cell counts in the bioprinted constructs were measured on the third and sixth days after bioprinting. It was found that, as extrusion pressure increased, cell count decreased on both the third and sixth days after bioprinting. Furthermore, the difference in cell counts between the third and the sixth days decreased as extrusion pressure increased. These trends suggest that increasing extrusion pressure during green bioprinting negatively affects cell growth. A possible reason for these trends is physical damage to or death of cells in the bioprinted constructs when extrusion pressure became higher.

Effects of Shield Gas Flow on Meltpool Variability and Signature in Scanned Laser Melting

In laser powder bed fusion metal additive manufacturing, insufficient shield gas flow allows accumulation of condensate and ejecta above the build plane and in the beam path. These process byproducts are associated with beam obstruction, attenuation, and thermal lensing, which then lead to lack of fusion and other defects. Furthermore, lack of gas flow can allow excessive amounts of ejecta to redeposit onto the build surface or powder bed, causing further part defects. The current investigation was a preliminary study on how gas flow velocity and direction affect laser delivery to a bare substrate of Nickel Alloy 625 (IN625) in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT). Melt tracks were formed under several gas flow speeds, gas flow directions, and energy densities. The tracks were then cross-sectioned and measured. The melt track aspect ratio and aspect ratio coefficient of variation (CV) were reported as a function of gas flow speed and direction. It was found that a mean gas flow velocity of 6.7 m/s from a nozzle 6.35 mm in diameter was sufficient to reduce meltpool aspect ratio CV to less than 15 %. Real-time inline hotspot area and its CV were evaluated as a process monitoring signature for identifying poor laser delivery due to inadequate gas flow. It was found that inline hotspot size could be used to distinguish between conduction mode and transition mode processes, but became diminishingly sensitive as applied laser energy density increased toward keyhole mode. Increased hotspot size CV (associated with inadequate gas flow) was associated with an increased meltpool aspect ratio CV. Finally, it was found that use of the inline hotspot CV showed a bias toward higher CV values when the laser was scanned nominally toward the gas flow, which indicates that this bias must be considered in order to use hotspot area CV as a process monitoring signature. This study concludes that gas flow speed and direction have important ramifications for both laser delivery and process monitoring.

Novel Sprue Designs to Reduce Casting Defects in Nickel-Aluminum Bronze: A Computational Study

As 3D Sand-Printing technology becomes more widely available to the casting market, the search for opportunities to take advantage of its freedom of design is critical for its rapid adoption by the casting community. This original research investigates casting design principles towards defect-free alloy Nickel-Aluminum Bronze (NAB). This is an alloy of interest for marine applications due to its corrosion resistance, mechanical strength and good castability. Numerical modeling of flow within a casting is examined, and rigging redesigns are proposed to improve casting quality by controlling flow behavior. It has been demonstrated that turbulence and filling velocity are determining factors that seriously impact casting performance due to the generation of casting defects. Among these are bifilm formations, gas and sand entrapment and cold shut. This work examines the effectiveness of mathematically designed rigging components in controlling mold filling and compares the results to a conventional casting rig. Design solutions are proposed using 3DSP that can be directly applied to casting operations of Nickel-Aluminum Bronze. The results from this study demonstrate the effectiveness of mathematically designed sprues to reduce filling velocity of Nickel-Aluminum Bronze. The procedure followed here can be extended to marine casting production environments. Findings from this study can be seamlessly transferred to castings of any geometry, alloy and pouring conditions.

A Robotic Cell for Embedding Prefabricated Components in Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing

By attaching a material extrusion system to a robotic arm, we can deposit materials onto complex surfaces. Robotic manipulators can also maximize the task utility by performing other tasks such as assembly or surface polishing when they are not in use for the AM process. We present a robotic cell for embedding prefabricated components in extrusion-based AM. The robotic cell consists of two 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) robots, an extrusion system, and a gripper. One robot is used for printing a part, and the other robot takes a support role to pick and place the prefabricated component and embed it into the part being printed. After the component is embedded, AM process resumes, and the material is deposited onto the prefabricated components and previously printed layers. We illustrate the capabilities of the system by fabricating three objects.

Corrosion Evolution in Al/Steel Dissimilar Joints

Al/steel joints are increasingly used in the automotive industry to meet the requirement of energy saving and emission reduction. Among various joining technologies, self-pierce riveting (SPR) and resistance spot welding (RSW) are two promising technologies to fabricate dissimilar joints with stable and high mechanical performance. However, corrosion will occur in these joints inevitably due to different electrochemical properties, which can degrade the surface quality and the mechanical performance, including strength, ductility, etc. In this paper, 1.2 mm AA6022 and 2.0mm HDG HSLA340 are joined by SPR and RSW. After the fabrication of these Al/steel joints, cyclic corrosion tests are performed, which lasts 26 cycles and 48 cycles. By comparing the microstructure of the joints with and without corrosion, different corrosion mechanisms in SPR and RSW are revealed, including the corrosion initiation and propagation.

Feasibility and Characterization of Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing With Long Fiber Reinforced Composites

A new additive manufacturing (AM) approach to fabricate long fiber reinforced composites (LFRC) was proposed in this study. A high deposition rate was achieved by the implementation of a single-screw extruder, which directly used thermoplastic pellets and continuous fiber tows as feedstock materials. Thus, the proposed method was also used as a large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) method for printing large-volume components. Using polylactic acid (PLA) pellets and continuous carbon fiber tows, the feasibility of the proposed AM method was investigated through printing LFRC samples and further demonstrated by fabricating large-volume components with complex geometries. The printed LFRC samples were compared with pure thermoplastic and continuous fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) counterparts via mechanical tests and microstructural analyses. With comparable flexural modulus, the flexural strength of the LFRC samples was slightly lower than that of the CFRC samples. An average improvement of 28% in flexural strength and 50% in flexural modulus were achieved compared to those of pure PLA parts, respectively. Discontinuous long carbon fibers, with an average fiber length of 20.1 mm, were successfully incorporated into the printed LFRC samples. The carbon fiber orientation, distribution of carbon fiber length, and dispersion of carbon fiber as well as porosity were further studied. The carbon fibers were highly oriented along the printing direction with a relatively uniformly distributed fiber reinforcement across the LFRC cross section. With high deposition rate (up to 0.8 kg/hr) and low material costs (< $10/kg), this study demonstrated the potentials of the proposed printing method in LSAM of high strength polymer composites reinforced with long carbon fibers.