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Metal Additive Manufacturing Application: Technological Advances, Metal Design and Process Optimization

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Manufacturing Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 7652

Special Issue Editor

Department of Innovative Technologies (DTI), Institute of System and Technologies for Sustainable Production (ISTePS), SUPSI, via Cantonale 2c, 6925 Manno, Switzerland
Interests: metal additive manufacturing; laser metal deposition; selective laser melting; high carbon steel; metals for additive manufacturing; design for additive manufacturing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are becoming real means for cost-effective part productions. In recent years, a growing number of companies have been relying on AM solutions for the manufacturing of highly complex metal components exhibiting functional geometrical shapes and optimized mechanical performance driven by industrial applications, discovering metal AM processes as cost-effective solutions to reduce both the actual resources involved for component development and the production time for part fabrication and delivery. Despite the huge advantages that such innovative techniques exhibit in industrial sectors such as aerospace, oil and gas, automotive, power generation, and biomedical as well, significant technological challenges concerning final product quality and process performance still exist, limiting a wider uptake and exploitation of metal AM at industrial level. Today, the lack of effective methodologies for process optimization, the absence of reliable modelling tools for process simulation and engineering, the need of in-line monitoring and control systems to increase process robustness and repeatability, and the development of AM-friendly metal material as well represent the major critical challenges to be faced in order to increase product quality, process reliability, and system performance.

This Special Issue aims to highlight research contributions such as reviews and scientific papers, focusing on the latest advances in the field of metal additive manufacturing, emphasizing the most innovative research topics related to AM simulation model design, process optimization, advancements in AM hardware solutions, in-line control system development and implementation, and new generation metal material for AM applications.

The topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Innovative methodologies and procedures for metal AM process design and optimization;
  • AM process modeling and process engineering;
  • In-line monitoring solutions for improved metal AM printing;
  • Design, development, and implementation of closed-loop control solution for the enhancement of both metal AM process performance and robustness;
  • Design, development, and characterization of innovative metal alloys for high-quality AM metal component;
  • Innovative hardware and software solutions aiming to increase metal AM process performance and product quality;
  • Advancements in AM techniques and applications.

Dr. Federico Mazzucato
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • metal additive manufacturing
  • AM technologies
  • new metal alloys for AM
  • process modeling
  • process monitoring and control
  • process optimization
  • AM applications

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 6136 KiB  
Article
An Experimental Analysis to Determine the Load-Bearing Capacity of 3D Printed Metals
by Bridget Kogo, Chao Xu, Bin Wang, Mahmoud Chizari, Kazem Reza Kashyzadeh and Siamak Ghorbani
Materials 2022, 15(12), 4333; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15124333 - 19 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1800
Abstract
Reverse engineering is conducted based on the analysis of an already existing product. The results of such an analysis can be used to improve the functioning of the product or develop new organizational, economic, information technology, and other solutions that increase the efficiency [...] Read more.
Reverse engineering is conducted based on the analysis of an already existing product. The results of such an analysis can be used to improve the functioning of the product or develop new organizational, economic, information technology, and other solutions that increase the efficiency of the entire business system, in particular 3D printed products. Therefore, the main aim of this research is to focus on evaluation of the load-bearing capacity of already existing 3D printed metals in order to see their suitability for the intended application and to obtain their relevant mechanical properties. To this end, 3D printed metallic bars with almost square cross-sections were acquired from an external company in China without any known processing parameters, apart from the assumption that specimens No. 1–3 are printed horizontally, and specimens No. 4–7 are printed vertically. Various experiments were conducted to study microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of 3D printed metals. It was observed that specimens No. 1–6, were almost similar in hardness, while specimen No. 7 was reduced by about 4.5% due to the uneven surface. The average value of hardness for the specimens was found to be approximately 450 HV, whereas the load-extension graphs assessed prior point towards the conclusion that the specimens’ fractured in a brittle status, is due to the lack of plastic deformation. For different specimens of the 3D printed materials, the main defects were identified, namely, lack of fusion and porosity are directly responsible for the cracks and layer delamination, prevalent in SLM printed metals. An extensive presence of cracks and layer delamination prove that the printing of these metallic bars was completed in a quick and inaccurate manner, which led to higher percentages of lack of fusion due to either low laser power, high scan speed, or the wrong scan strategy. Full article
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17 pages, 3225 KiB  
Article
Uncertainties Induced by Processing Parameter Variation in Selective Laser Melting of Ti6Al4V Revealed by In-Situ X-ray Imaging
by Zachary A. Young, Meelap M. Coday, Qilin Guo, Minglei Qu, S. Mohammad H. Hojjatzadeh, Luis I. Escano, Kamel Fezzaa, Tao Sun and Lianyi Chen
Materials 2022, 15(2), 530; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15020530 - 11 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2126
Abstract
Selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing (AM) exhibits uncertainties, where variations in build quality are present despite utilizing the same optimized processing parameters. In this work, we identify the sources of uncertainty in SLM process by in-situ characterization of SLM dynamics induced by [...] Read more.
Selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing (AM) exhibits uncertainties, where variations in build quality are present despite utilizing the same optimized processing parameters. In this work, we identify the sources of uncertainty in SLM process by in-situ characterization of SLM dynamics induced by small variations in processing parameters. We show that variations in the laser beam size, laser power, laser scan speed, and powder layer thickness result in significant variations in the depression zone, melt pool, and spatter behavior. On average, a small deviation of only ~5% from the optimized/reference laser processing parameter resulted in a ~10% or greater change in the depression zone and melt pool geometries. For spatter dynamics, small variation (10 μm, 11%) of the laser beam size could lead to over 40% change in the overall volume of the spatter generated. The responses of the SLM dynamics to small variations of processing parameters revealed in this work are useful for understanding the process uncertainties in the SLM process. Full article
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21 pages, 14482 KiB  
Article
Laser Metal Deposition of Inconel 718 Alloy and As-built Mechanical Properties Compared to Casting
by Federico Mazzucato, Daniele Forni, Anna Valente and Ezio Cadoni
Materials 2021, 14(2), 437; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14020437 - 17 Jan 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2924
Abstract
In the last years, powder-based Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) has been attracting attention as a disruptive Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique for both the fabrication and restoration of Inconel 718 components, enabling to overcome current limitations faced by conventional manufacturing processes in terms of [...] Read more.
In the last years, powder-based Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) has been attracting attention as a disruptive Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique for both the fabrication and restoration of Inconel 718 components, enabling to overcome current limitations faced by conventional manufacturing processes in terms of manufacturing costs, tool wear, and lead time. Nevertheless, the uncertainty related to the final mechanical performance of the as-built LMD parts limits a wider adoption of such technology at industrial level. This research work focuses on the mechanical characterization of as-built Inconel 718 specimens through split Hopkinson tensile bar tests performed at different strain rate conditions. The influence of laser power on the final mechanical behavior of the as-built tensile samples is discussed and compared with the mechanical response of as-cast ones. The as-built specimens exhibit a high internal density (i.e., 99.92% and 99.90% for 300 W and 400 W, respectively) and a more ductile behavior compared to the as-cast ones for every evaluated strain rate condition. The strain hardening capacity of the as-built samples increases with the laser power involved in the LMD process, reaching an average Yield Strength of 703 MPa for specimens realized at 400 W and tested at 800/s. Full article
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