ERI: Manufacturability of Novel High Temperature Aluminum Alloys Through Additive Manufacturing Cycle

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。金属增材制造，也称为金属3D打印，在制造高度复杂或定制的部件方面提供了前所未有的能力。金属增材制造在航空航天、汽车和能源行业有许多应用，并有可能彻底改变未来的制造业。然而，增材制造后的大多数金属显示出不期望的缺陷，这降低了可靠性并缩短了部件的寿命。这项工程研究启动（ERI）拨款将支持基础研究，这些研究将有助于了解如何在新型高温铝合金的增材制造和后处理过程中减少缺陷。该研究的结果将能够改善对增材制造金属部件缺陷的控制，并为开发铝合金提供新的合金设计方法。该研究涉及先进制造和材料科学相结合的活动，为研究生提供培训机会，促进本科生研究，并为不同的年轻学生群体提供外展活动。这项研究将通过促进金属增材制造的实施和提高其一致性，同时培养学生成为先进制造业的未来领导者，对制造业产生广泛影响。轻质铝合金的增材制造一直是一个重大挑战，因为它们容易形成缺陷。具体地，在大多数传统铝合金的激光粉末床熔合期间，尽管优化了处理参数，但仍观察到孔隙和/或裂纹。因此，后处理是不可避免的，以减少或消除材料中的缺陷，这些缺陷会使材料的微观结构粗糙化，降低其机械性能。因此，本研究的目标是从根本上了解增材制造及其后处理过程中缺陷的产生和消除机制，并开发出具有高度可制造性的新型高温轻质铝合金。结合制造，先进的表征和高温蠕变测试的实验将在专门为添加剂和后处理周期设计的抗粗化铝合金上进行。研究将建立缺陷与工艺参数之间的关系，建立后处理过程中孔隙闭合动力学的力学模型，并确定新型铝合金的蠕变性能和变形机制。该研究将解决开发专门适用于增材制造的金属合金所需的知识，并填补对增材制造金属合金蠕变机制理解方面的知识空白。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用该基金会的知识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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Metal additive manufacturing, also known as metal 3D-printing, offers unprecedented capabilities in manufacturing highly complex or customized components. Metal additive manufacturing finds many applications in the aerospace, automotive and energy industries and has the potential to revolutionize future manufacturing. However, most metals after additive manufacturing show undesired defects, which deteriorate the reliability and shorten the lifetime of the components. This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) grant will support fundamental research that will contribute to new knowledge in how to reduce defects during the additive manufacturing and post-processing of a new high temperature aluminum alloy. The outcome of the research will enable an improved control of defects in additively manufactured metallic components and provide a new alloy design method for developing aluminum alloys. The research involves activities combining advanced manufacturing and materials science, which offers training opportunities to graduate students, promotes undergraduate research and provides outreach activities to diverse groups of younger students. This research will broadly impact the manufacturing industry by facilitating the implementation of metal additive manufacturing and promoting its consistency, all the while training students as future leaders in advanced manufacturing.Additive manufacturing of lightweight aluminum alloys has been a major challenge due to their propensity for formation of defects. Specifically, during the laser powder bed fusion of most traditional aluminum alloys, pores and/or cracks are observed despite optimization of the processing parameters. Post-processing is therefore inevitable to reduce or eliminate the defects in the materials, which can coarsen their microstructure and reduce their mechanical performance. The goal of this research is therefore to fundamentally understand the defect generation and elimination mechanisms during additive manufacturing and its post-processing and develop novel high temperature lightweight aluminum alloys that are highly manufacturable. Experiments combining manufacturing, advanced characterization and high temperature creep testing will be performed on a coarsening-resistant aluminum alloy specifically designed for the additive and post-processing cycle. The research will establish the relationship between the defects and processing parameters, develop a mechanistic model for the pore closure kinetics during the post-processing, and determine the creep property and deformation mechanisms of the new aluminum alloy. The research will address the knowledge needed to develop metallic alloys specifically amenable to additive manufacturing and fill the knowledge gap in the understanding of creep mechanisms in additively manufactured metallic alloys.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.