Fused filament fabrication (FFF) for oil sands applications

油砂设施的维护费用极其昂贵，例如，辛克鲁德每年在这些任务上花费超过17亿美元。具有可靠和改进的金属-陶瓷复合材料用于磨损应用是势在必行的。加法制造(AM，也被称为3D打印)是一项最近的创新，对该行业来说前景光明。它允许对组件进行重新设计，以提高效率、减轻部件重量、提高功能效率。已经开发和测试了许多AM流程。该项目将使用熔丝制造(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，可以将金属和陶瓷粉末嵌入到聚合物基纤维中，并逐层构建组件。随后，可以去除聚合物，并将金属-陶瓷复合材料烧结成最终形状。与基于激光的系统相比，这种方法还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)项相互关联的任务组成。第一种是制备具有最佳高金属和陶瓷粉末载量的聚合物长丝。第二部分将介绍印刷过程的实验和建模。任务3将解决脱脂和烧结3D打印样品的重要方面。关键是要确定能够产生完全致密样品的烧结方法和参数。第四项也是最后一项任务将整合前三项任务产生的知识，以打印样件并测试其磨损特性。该项目将以协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至6名研究生接受多学科领域的培训。对加拿大的好处将来自于油砂业务耐磨部件的改进，加拿大中小企业的新市场，以及更多接受AM培训的HQP

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.