I am passionate about additive manufacturing, I have worked on polymers as well as metal additive manufacturing processes. 3D printing is my main forte in additive manufacturing and I also had a chance to work on welding computational modeling during my time at UNC Charlotte. For my master's thesis, I worked on computationally modeling the metal 3d printing process' first and most important step called powder spreading.
Powder Spreading is the first process in selective laser sintering. The process consists of a blade or spreader which is used to spread the powder. After the powder is spread, a laser is used to fuse the powder such that it satisfies the shape of the required component. The powder is spread again on the fused metal for the next layer. This layer-by-layer process is continued to produce the desired component. The quality of the product manufactured using SLS depends on how the powder is spread and the bed quality.
My thesis proved a strong starting point in our department's research on the metal 3d printing process - SLS or selective laser sintering. I developed the computational model using DEM or discrete element method process on Altair's software - EDEM. Developing a computational required over a year's research on the DEM and SLS process.
With this parametric study, we were able to point out the important parameters for a good surface finish on the 3d printed component. This study saved thousands in machinery and operating costs which would have been required to obtain the same results. My computational model is verified based on the published experiments performed worldwide.
The copy of my thesis and the paper I published can be found the links below:
- Thesis: Discrete Element Simulations of Powder Spreading in Additive Manufacturing
- Discrete Element Modeling of Scraping Process and Quantification of Powder Bed Quality for SLM. Conference paper published in MSEC: ASME 2020 15th International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference