Part-scale thermal control to improve build quality of additive manufactured parts

Principal investigator: Wang, Qian

University: Pennsylvania State University

Industry partners: PanOptimization LLC

We aim to support the manufacturing industry’s needs in fabricating sizable parts with a laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) process by proposing part-scale thermal control to eliminate overheating during the build process by directly controlling the layer surface temperature. Our proposed control entails optimizing process parameters such as laser power, interlayer dwell time, or a combination of both control knobs. If we are successful, we will help significantly improve the build quality of L-PBF manufactured parts. The PI will collaborate with PanOptimization LLC located in State College Pennsylvania. We expect results of this project will help advance the current capabilities of the company’s PanX software, a multigrid AM simulation software, towards real-time build control. We hope that partnering Penn State with a PA-based AM company will help bridge the gap between academic research and industrial use in the AM society and help position the PA Commonwealth at the frontier of additive manufacturing.