Accelerated development of aluminum alloys for additive manufacturing

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Additive manufacturing (AM), a.k.a. 3D printing, refers to technologies that convert a computer aided drawing directly into a finished product in a layer-by-layer fashion; commonly, this involves a powdered feed stock that is consolidated with the aid of a laser. Viewed by many as technology that will soon disrupt the entire manufacturing enterprise, valuation of the global market for AM products is soaring upward with the annual economic impact of AM expected to surpass $250B by 2025. As a pioneering force in AM of metallic products, Canada is poised to be one of the major benefactors of this growth such that our national AM market will mature to $14B/yr over this same time frame. Confidence in such predictions is certainly warranted as Canada's influence on AM continues to expand aggressively. For instance, it is now home to a series of leading metal powder producers, AM equipment manufacturers, firms that are commercially producing metallic products via AM, and a growing list of world-class AM research facilities. To fully capitalize on Canada's momentum in AM and maximize national capacity to exploit the opportunities that exist, research is needed on several fronts. Of these, alloy development is exceptionally critical and timely. For instance, in the case of aluminum AM, only a single alloy (AlSi10Mg) has achieved ASTM recognition yet mature aluminum forming technologies (wrought, cast) can access over 600. HQP shall strive to address this technology gap by developing advanced aluminum alloys for AM in an accelerated fashion. Here, HQP will be empowered with the capacity to complete hands-on experiments at all stages of production - powder fabrication (gas atomization), powder consolidation (laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), laser directed energy deposition (L-DED)), post-AM processing, and material characterization. The pace of alloy discovery will be intensified by utilizing a combinatorial-type of approach that leverages the capacity of the L-DED to produce numerous test specimens with unique chemistries under wide ranges of process parameters in a single build cycle. HQP shall also investigate a fundamental constraint that has dampened industry uptake of aluminum AM (heightened laser reflectivity). Dr. Bishop is very well versed in the development and commercialization of innovative aluminum powders for the related field of powder metallurgy (PM). Several of the outcomes patented by his team are now exploited in the industrial fabrication of a growing number of ground-breaking automotive components. Two of these have received prolific industry awards, ushered in completely new forums of growth for the PM sector, and facilitated tangible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Coupling his comprehensive experience with aluminum powders together with his recent launch of a new facility for AM research, he is in an excellent position to now develop and commercialize innovative aluminum powders for his latest challenge - the AM sector.