MRI: Acquisition of an Ultrasonic Atomization and Alloying Platform for Additive Manufacturing Research and Education

该重大研究仪器 (MRI) 奖项支持购买位于路易斯维尔大学增材制造科学技术研究所内的金属粉末生产和合金化仪器。该仪器将能够生产适用于各种增材制造技术的定制金属粉末。该仪器使用独特的超声波方法可以用传统的原材料形式制造金属粉末。即使是含有极高熔点温度的难熔元素的原料也可以用来制造粉末。该仪器的增加将通过解决与这些材料用于先进制造研究的可用性相关的关键国家供应链问题，促进新型耐火合金成分的开发。通过该项目进行的教育推广包括与该仪器相关的模块集成，用于行业培训、本科教育和业务推广。行业劳动力培训将通过金属粉末生产和安全材料处理的短期课程进行。本科生的实践培训将通过历史悠久的速度工程学院合作项目进行。该工具还将有利于支持少数族裔企业先进制造指导的新校园举措。仪器的使用将通过肯塔基州多尺度制造和纳米集成节点进行协调，该节点是国家纳米技术协调基础设施 (NNCI) 网络的一部分。增材制造的复杂几何形状与该设备支持的非常规高温弹性材料相结合，与从高超音速到节能工业热交换器的应用直接相关。全面实现此类技术需要对这些先进材料系统的发现、加工和后续增材制造进行基础研究。该超声波雾化和合金化系统实现的主要研究重点领域将集中于当前难熔高熵合金增材制造的障碍。具体来说，该系统将用于（i）研究耐火材料增材制造沉积过程中的应力演变，（ii）发现并快速筛选基于粉末的增材制造合金，（iii）设计基于晶格的超材料系统，（iv）探测耐火合金的高温性能行为，以及（v）研究耐火金属粉末颗粒形成的物理原理。包括几位外部合作者在内的跨学科研究人员团队已承诺参与这项工作，预计通过会议参与、期刊出版物和可公开访问的材料特性数据库广泛传播研究成果，为更广泛的科学知识体系做出重大贡献。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a metal powder production and alloying instrument to be located within the Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science and Technology at the University of Louisville. This instrument will enable production of custom metal powders compatible for use in a variety of additive manufacturing technologies. The unique ultrasonic method used by this instrument allows fabrication of metal powders from traditional raw material forms. Even raw materials containing extremely high melting point temperature refractory elements can be used to make powders. This instrumentation addition will facilitate the development of new refractory-based alloy compositions by addressing critical national supply chain issues related to the availability of these materials for advanced manufacturing research. Educational outreach through this project includes integration of modules related to this instrument for industry training, undergraduate education, and business outreach. Industry workforce training will be conducted through short courses on metal powder production and safe material handling. Hands-on training of undergraduate student will occur through the long-established Speed School of Engineering co-op program. This instrument will also benefit new campus initiatives supporting advanced manufacturing guidance for minority-owned businesses. Instrument use will be coordinated through the Kentucky Multi-Scale Manufacturing and NanoIntegration Node, part of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) network.The complex geometries of additive manufacturing coupled with unconventional high-temperature resilient materials enabled by this equipment has direct relevance to applications from hypersonics to energy efficient industrial heat exchangers. Full realization of such technologies requires fundamental studies into the discovery, processing, and subsequent additive manufacturing of these advanced material systems. This, primary research thrust areas enabled by this ultrasonic atomization and alloying system will focus on current barriers to additive manufacturing of refractory high entropy alloys. Specifically, this system will be used to (i) investigate stress evolution during additive manufacturing deposition of refractory materials, (ii) discover and rapidly screen powder-based additive manufactured alloys, (iii) design lattice-based metamaterial systems, (iv) probe the high-temperature performance behavior of refractory alloys, and (v) study the physics of refractory metal powder particulate formation. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, including several external collaborators, have committed to participating in this effort, which is expected to contribute significantly to the greater scientific body of knowledge via widespread dissemination of research findings through conference participation, journal publications, and publicly accessible material properties databases.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.