Manufacturing: 1) Sustainable Manufacturing (Life Cycle Engineering), and 2) Metal Forming.

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Research is proposed under the heading of Manufacturing, as two related but distinct areas: 1) Sustainable Manufacturing, and 2) Metal Forming. The objective of the proposed work is to conduct research in Manufacturing: 1) Sustainable Manufacturing, or Life Cycle Engineering (LCE), specifically, recycling lithium-ion batteries and 2) Metal Forming, specifically Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) of sheet metal as a rapid prototyping and production technique. Recycling Lithium ion batteries. Recycling is part of Sustainable Manufacturing. Recycling lithium-ion batteries is currently done only to recover high value materials such as cobalt. Although a major report in 2012 did not identify lithium as being in critical supply mode, future design and manufacturing needs have already changed rapidly, and in the foreseeable future there will be a need to include recycled lithium from lithium-ion batteries, if demand for inexpensive supplies of lithium are to be met. An example is the recent appearance of lithium-ion powerwalls and the exponentially increasing demand for electric vehicles. The short term goal is to find the simplest way to recycle large lithium-ion batteries. The long term goal is to determine the most financially viable way to recycle large, vehicle lithium-ion batteries. This has the potential to be a game changer in the lithium supply chain and will benefit Canada in making it a leader in lithium recycling, whose use is expanding exponentially as shown in the November 2015 National Geographic. Single point incremental forming (SPIF) is a sheet metal forming Manufacturing process used to fabricate non-uniform sheet metal rapid prototypes “dieless” forming. The finished parts can be used directly in products. The process does not require a forming die to make complicated sheet metal parts. Although SPIF is used to make rapid prototypes, many issues still exist, including: the possibility of using this process to make parts in larger production quantities; using exotic materials; increasing the accuracy of SPIF-made parts; reducing tool wear. Our research shows that high currents, in electrically assisted forming (EAF), increases the formability of exotic materials; this will be examined further. In the work proposed, we will examine the effect of temperature on SPIF and on the deformed grain structure that is a result of the process. The introduction of SPIF into the manufacturing community will be pursued. The possibility of combining SPIF with additive manufacturing (AM), thereby bringing together two rapid prototyping techniques, which will give greater rapid prototyping and structural possibilities, will be researched. The research work will benefit industry: Enabling working rapid prototypes for immediate use; Medical parts, such as titanium protective plates, for post brain surgery; Small production runs of sheet metal parts at low cost.