Fused filament fabrication (FFF) for oil sands applications

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Maintenance of oil sands facilities is exceedingly expensive with Syncrude for example spending over $1.7 Billion annually on these tasks. It is imperative to have reliable and improved metal-ceramic composites for wear applications. Additive Manufacturing (AM, also known as 3D printing) is a recent innovation that holds much promise for the industry. It allows components to be redesigned for greater efficiency, lighter parts, and functionally more efficient. Numerous AM processes have been developed and tested. This project will utilize Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process as it is at least an order of magnitude cheaper than laser based systems. Using FFF, a metal and ceramic powder can be embedded into the polymer matrix fiber and the component built layer by layer. Subsequently, the polymer can be removed and the metal-ceramic composite sintered to final shape. This approach also has the advantage over laser based systems of not melting the metal powders, a very expensive raw material, as well as eliminating the issue of powder recycling. This proposal is, therefore, composed of four (4) interdependent tasks. The first is the fabrication of polymer filaments having optimum high loading of metal and ceramics powders. The second will address experiments and modeling of the printing process. Task 3 will address the important aspect of debinding and sintering the 3D printed samples. It is critical to determine sintering approaches and parameters that will yield fully dense samples. The fourth and final task will integrate the knowledge generated from the previous three Tasks to print a sample component and test its wear characteristics. This project will be carried out using the expertise of four colleagues in a collaborative manner. By combining the expertise in materials, modelling and manufacturing, we will identify the optimum conditions for applying FFF to metal matrix applications for wear resistance. Over this four year project, we estimate that between 4 and 6 graduate students will be trained in a multi-disciplinary field. The benefits to Canada will stem from improved wear resistant parts for the oil sands operation, new markets for a Canadian SME, and increased HQP trained in AM.