Additive manufacturing of metallic materials

Additive Manufacturing (AM) of metallic materials is an integral part of modern manufacturing. AM allows to produce complex engineering products from a powder stock using a layer-by-layer deposition. This unit will provide an overview of existing additive manufacturing processes such as 'selective laser melting', 'electron beam melting' and 'direct energy deposition'.

The first part of the unit will focus on powder metallurgy covering aspects of powder production, blending and characterisation. The second part of the unit will investigate different additive manufacturing processes and establish a relationship between processing parameters, resulting in microstructure and mechanical properties of 3D printed materials. Furthermore, various post-processing techniques for additive manufactured products will be reviewed.

Examples of the use of these technologies for the design and fabrication of production parts for aerospace and biomedical application will be critically assessed. The students will undertake a 3D printing project and obtain practical skills in computer-aided design and 3D printing of metals.