Metal Powder Calibration
Problem statement
While Additive manufacturing (AM) allows for the fabrication of parts with complex designs and multiple materials, its development process requires the understanding of mechanical properties and dynamics of materials involved. Professor Pfefferkorn’s group is developing a multi-metal AM 3D printing technology using metal powders of specific type. To aid the group’s development process, mechanical characteristics, such as dynamic angle of repose, of chosen metal powders are requisite for the design of high-performance printer nozzles for flow control. In specific, the unknown dynamic behavior is important in configuring critical printer parameters like powder deposition velocity through the nozzle. Although previously researchers have developed labor and cost intensive experiment methods to obtain such information (Al-Hashemi & Al-Amoudi, 2018), we propose an accessible solution combining the advantage of the accuracy of physical experiments and the convenience of computational models. This project creates an experimental device that provides data to calibrate the widely used computational software (EDEM) used to simulate and generate bulk material properties and dynamics of metal powders. A challenge the group may come across when getting the data to calibrate will be collecting the data and ensuring the image is high enough contrast to get a clear, solid line of the angle. Literature references and certified engineering standards will be used to ensure the rigor and reliability of our solution. The calibrated computational model can also be used to simulate powder behaviors and their mechanical interactions with the selective laser melting (SLM) system of the nozzle of the printer to provide insights to design. In the future, this application provides a valuable baseline and reference for future study in dynamic angle of repose for AM applications. It can also potentially open space for research in studying granular material properties with simulation methods to solve real life challenges such as improving safety of tunnels on construction sites. Reference: Beakawi Al-Hashemi, H. M., & Baghabra Al-Amoudi, O. S. (2018). A review on the angle of repose of granular materials. Powder Technology, 330, 397–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2018.02.003
Team members
Echo Xu – leader
Hallie Jones – communicator
Justin Moore – accountant
Matthew Laluzerne – admin
Client
Frank Pfefferkorn, UW-Madison