Laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes are one important category of additive manufacturing processes for metal parts. They are used for the production of high-value components with complex geometries across the medical, aerospace, and automotive industries. This award will support fundamental research that contributes to new models of the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process, which can be used to improve the real-time control of the processes on commercial systems. Outcomes of this project will improve part quality and process consistence, reduce part rejections and material waste, and thus have the potential to increase economic competitiveness of the manufacturing industry of the United States. This award will support the integration of education and research, and outreach activities to help bridge the gap between academic research and industrial end uses of additive manufacturing processes, and to train the next generation of workforce for innovations in the manufacturing industry.
The main contribution of this project lies in the novel first-principle, control-oriented multiscale model for the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes, from the fine scale to the layer scale and then to the part scale. This multiscale model is able to capture the essential physics of the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes, but with a significantly reduced computation complexity compared to finite element models. More importantly, it enables the derivation of an analytical expression of feed-forward or feedback controller of laser power to regulate the melt-pool geometry and thus to improve the build quality. In addition to developing the multiscale model, the research team will also perform experimental validation of the modeling effort and demonstration of the control implementation on a commercial laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing system.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
