Fused filament fabrication (FFF) for oil sands applications

油砂设施的维护非常昂贵，以辛克鲁德公司为例，每年在这些任务上的支出超过17亿美元。有可靠的和改进的金属陶瓷复合材料的磨损应用是必不可少的。增材制造（AM，也称为3D打印）是最近的一项创新，为行业带来了很大的希望。它允许对组件进行重新设计，以获得更高的效率，更轻的部件和更高效的功能。已经开发和测试了许多增材制造工艺。该项目将采用熔丝制造（FFF）工艺，因为它至少比基于激光的系统便宜一个数量级。利用FFF，金属和陶瓷粉末可以嵌入到聚合物基纤维中，并逐层构建组件。随后，聚合物可以被去除，金属-陶瓷复合材料烧结成最终形状。与基于激光的系统相比，这种方法也具有不熔化金属粉末的优势，金属粉末是一种非常昂贵的原材料，并且消除了粉末回收的问题。因此，该提案由四(4)个相互依存的任务组成。首先是制造具有最佳高负载金属和陶瓷粉末的聚合物长丝。第二个将解决实验和建模的印刷过程。任务3将解决脱脂和烧结3D打印样品的重要方面。确定烧结方法和参数将产生完全致密的样品是至关重要的。第四个也是最后一个任务将整合前三个任务产生的知识来打印样品组件并测试其磨损特性。该项目将以合作的方式利用四位同事的专业知识进行。通过结合材料、建模和制造方面的专业知识，我们将确定将FFF应用于金属基体耐磨应用的最佳条件。在这个为期四年的项目中，我们估计将有4到6名研究生在多学科领域接受培训。加拿大将受益于油砂作业中耐磨部件的改进，加拿大中小企业的新市场，以及增材制造中HQP培训的增加。

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.