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

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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.