Research
Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Applications
Additive manufacturing techniques offer promising methods especially with their rapid turnaround time, potential for part consolidation, and manufacturing complex and innovative parts. It has been proven that parts with moving components, lattice structures, and maleable geometries are possible to print using AM. Potential applications include but are not limited to aerospace, energy, and defense applications.
Currently Funded Projects:
DOE-SETO: Enabling Micro-pin Array Receivers for Power Generation and High-temperature Process Heating Using Metal Additive Manufacturing- Development, Design and De-risk
Previously Funded Projects:
DOE-SETO: Modular Design of High-Temperature and Pressure Heat Exchangers Using 3-D Printing
Characterizing the Complex Process-Structure-Property Relationships in Metal Additive Manufacturing
Due to their unique manufacturing processes that require melting metal in a layer-by-layer fashion, additively manufactured (AM) metal components undergo high solidification rates and heat cycling. All of these result in variability in the underlying microstructure from one build to the next or even within the same build. With the variability of the microstructure, the resulting material properties are also expected to vary within the same build. Therefore, there is an innate need to evaluate the spatial variability of the mechanical properties and the underlying structures of AM metallic components to characterize the complex process-structure-property relationships.
Currently Funded Projects:
DOE-NEUP: Location-specific material characterization of LPBF SS316L & IN718 TCR core structural materials
Preparing the Next-generation Advanced Manufacturing Workforce
Advanced manufacturing has been identified by the National Science and Technology Council as one of the critical and emerging technologies to inform national security-related activities. The advanced manufacturing sector has a growing need for workforce in the State of Utah and Nationwide. This growing need for qualified individuals requires the collaboration of several stakeholders (including academic and industry). AECAM lab works on the preparation of the next-generation of engineers and scientists in the area of advanced manufacturing.
Currently Funded Projects:
