Problem statement
Upon completion of the additive manufacturing laser powder bed fusion process, the excess powders are removed from the build chamber. Certain laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) powders are a precise mixture of two different materials. Our client is using varying mixtures of 316 stainless steel, copper, and iron silicon for research purposes. These expensive powder mixtures have now become waste material unless separated back into two different powders. With the growth of LPBF in multiple industries such as the aerospace industry, held to strict regulations for materials used, creating a device to precisely recycle these powders is an ever-growing need. Recycling these costly powders will save thousands of dollars and aid in the continuation of industry-leading research and development. An existing separation method using magnetic forces has been developed and marketed as a successful way to sort magnetic and non-magnetic powders. However, this process is offered as a service instead of a product to be sold. Because of the added costs and dangers of transporting these highly flammable materials across the country, the use of this service in the UW ADD lab is undesirable. In addition to this, this device is incapable of separating powder mixtures not containing magnetic materials, which is insufficient for client requests. Therefore developing a device that makes use of material density or chemical separation would much better align with the client’s needs of processing all material mixtures.
Team members
Aaron Lindorfer – facilitator
Garrett Luepke – communicator
Jaden Halom – accountant
Joey Moran – admin
Client
Buzz Rankouhi
ADD Lab (UW-Madison)