Principal investigator: Bryan Webler

University: Carnegie Mellon University

Industry partners: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (Wabtec)

The proposed work represents a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and the Wabtec Corporation to investigate the manufacturing of a heat exchanger component via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM). Wabtec has a component design optimized for fabrication via LPBF. Test components have exhibited variability in surface roughness and benchmark test performance. In this project, we will examine how LPBF process variables influence surface finish, wall thickness, and dimensional stability of parts. There are three tasks to be performed. The work will be conducted by a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon in collaboration with engineers at Wabtec. Wabtec will supply powder and LBPF builds, while characterization activities will be performed at Carnegie Mellon facilities.