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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Additive Manufacturing for Powering the Blue Economy Applications: A Tidal Turbine Blade Case Study: Preprint

As the marine renewable energy industry continues to expand, innovation in the manufacturing space must grow accordingly to reduce costs and ensure the economic feasibility of new technologies. Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, provides an alternative for rapid prototyping of marine hydrokinetic technologies, particularly supporting Powering the Blue Economy initiatives of the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office. This study explores the application of additive manufacturing in the development of marine hydrokinetic structures, focusing on material and printing method selection, design, and analysis of a 3D-printed spar for an axial-flow tidal turbine blade. Corrosion-resistant metals were deemed ideal due to the loads and harsh marine environment the blade would experience. Laser metal deposition methods were determined to be the most effective and scalable for the considered scale. The designed spar adapts its geometry to the blade - a feature uniquely suited to additive manufacturing - and is intended to serve as the blade's primary structural component. A finite element model was used to study stresses and deformations under loading conditions. The spar was manufactured using 316L stainless steel through direct energy deposition, and defects were assessed and recorded. Future efforts will include mechanical testing of the spar. This research establishes a benchmark process for using additive manufacturing in developing marine hydrokinetic structures, paving the way for future optimization and techno-economic analysis.

additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2020

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Miniature Additively Manufactured Vortex Tube

Ranque–Hilsch vortex tubes are simple devices that can produce a cooling effect using compressed air. A key advantage of vortex tubes is the lack of moving solid parts; however, their efficiencies are relatively low. The present study focuses on the development of a miniature variable-diameter tube using additive manufacturing. A metal-based 3D printing technique was utilized to fabricate this vortex tube monolithically. Computational fluid dynamics simulations employing software STAR-CCM + with a compressible Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approach and the elliptic-blending lag k-epsilon turbulence model have been applied to model thermofluid processes inside the vortex tube, to good agreement with the experiment. In conclusion, a temperature decrease of 13.3 °C and a cooling power of approximately 4 W were experimentally achieved with a pressure ratio of 4 in the air at normal conditions. This result shows promise for the goal of utilizing additive manufacturing to design and build complex-geometry vortex tubes intended for use with cryogenic fluids.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Kinematics of a Cable-Driven Robotic Platform for Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing

Concrete additive manufacturing (AM) is a growing field of research. However, on-site, large-scale concrete additive manufacturing requires motion platforms that are difficult to implement with conventional rigid-link robotic systems. This article presents a new kinematic arrangement for a deployable cable-driven robot intended for on-site AM. The kinematics of this robot are examined to determine if they meet the requirements for this application, the wrench feasible workspace (WFW) is examined, and the physical implementation of a prototype is also presented. Data collected from the physical implementation of the proposed system are analyzed, and the results support its suitability for the intended application. The success of this system demonstrates that this kinematic arrangement is promising for future deployable AM systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Defects and anomalies in powder bed fusion metal additive manufacturing

Metal additive manufacturing is a disruptive technology that is revolutionizing the manufacturing industry. Despite its unrivaled capability for directly fabricating metal parts with complex geometries, the wide realization of the technology is currently limited by microstructural defects and anomalies, which could significantly degrade the structural integrity and service performance of the product. Accurate detection, characterization, and prediction of these defects and anomalies have an important and immediate impact in manufacturing fully-dense and defect-free builds. As such, this review seeks to elucidate common defects/anomalies and their formation mechanisms in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes. They could arise from raw materials, processing conditions, and post-processing. While defects/anomalies in laser welding have been studied extensively, their formation and evolution remain unclear. Additionally, the existence of powder in powder bed fusion techniques may generate new types of defects, e.g., porosity transferring from powder to builds. Practical strategies to mitigate defects are also addressed through fundamental understanding of their formation. Such explorations enable the validation and calibration of models and ease the process qualification without costly trial-and-error experimentation.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Traction Motor Design Trade-Offs with Additively Manufactured Anisotropic Bonded Magnets

Extrusion based big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) has been previously demonstrated for the fabrication of dense anisotropic bonded magnets. This paper reports on design trade-offs when such magnets are employed in a motor designed for electric vehicle applications. An external rotor fractional slot permanent magnet synchronous machine designed with sintered dysprosium free magnets rated for 100kW peak and 50kW continuous power is used as the baseline. The impact of using the bonded BAAM magnets on the motor and inverter volumes, motor loss and cooling systems as well as demagnetization margins is evaluated. It is found that although the motor power density reduces due to the lower energy product of the BAAM magnets, there are other system level benefits including reductions in the cooling system requirement, lower inverter rating and volume, decrease in short circuit current and improved demagnetization marains.

additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2022

Analysis of Conduction Cooling Strategies for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) processing consists of numerous parameters which take time to optimize for various geometries. One aspect of the metal AM process that continues to be explored is the control of thermal energy accumulation during component manufacturing due to the melting and solidification of the feedstock. Excessive energy accumulation causes thermal failure of the component while minimal energy accumulation causes lack of fusion with the build plate or previous layer. The ability to simulate the thermal response of an AM component can increase research efficiency by reducing the time to optimize thermal energy accumulation. This paper presents an effective implementation of finite element analysis to determine the thermal response of a wire arc additive manufactured component with various build plate sizes and cooling methods including, integral build plate cooling, oversized build plates with passive cooling, and non-integral build plate cooling. The use of integral build plate cooling channels was shown to decrease the interpass temperature at the conclusion of the build process by 55% and build plate temperature by 96% compared to the conventionally deposited sample with 20 second dwell time. The use of a tall build plate with passive cooling was shown to reduce the interpass temperature by 32% as compared to the conventionally deposited sample with 20 second dwell time. Each cooling strategy evaluated decreased the interpass temperature within a range of 20–55% which enables higher deposition rates and decreased dwell times during depositions. The cooling strategies are designed to be implemented in a hybrid or retrofit AM platform to mitigate concerns of the thermal input from the additive process having detrimental effects on the precision of the machining process. This paper shows that accurate simulations of all strategies can be used to accurately predict the thermal response of the various strategies discussed. These cooling strategies will allow for increased deposition rates with comparable interpass temperature and decreased dwell time, increasing deposition efficiency. This model and these simulations are verified by experimental results. It is concluded that passive strategies, such as the over-sized tall build plate, can be used when liquid coolant in the AM environment could negatively affect the deposition process. Active cooling strategies, such as the integral build plate cooling could be used if low thermal conductivity materials are deposited or higher material deposition rates are desired. This paper discusses the use of active and passive cooling used during AM and shows how a simulation model can be used to make design choices for cooling strategies. The model also enables verification of select critical process parameters such as dwell times for a desired interpass temperature.

Heinrich, Lauren↗
DOE OSTI2020

Relationship between ductility and the porosity of additively manufactured AlSi10Mg

Additive manufacturing via selective laser melting can result in variable levels of internal porosity both between build plates and within components from the same build. In this work, sample porosity levels were compared to tensile properties for 176 samples spanning eight different build plates. Sample porosity was measured both by Archimedes density, which provided an estimation of overall porosity, and by observation of voids in the fracture surface, which provided an estimation of the porosity at the failure plane. The porosity observed at the fracture surface consistently demonstrated higher porosity than that suggested by Archimedes density. The porosity values obtained from both methods were compared against the mechanical results. Sample porosity appears to have some correlation to the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and modulus, but the strongest relationship is observed between porosity and ductility. Three different models were used to relate the fracture surface porosity to the ductility. The first method was a simple linear regression analysis, while the other two models have been used to relate porosity to ductility in cast alloys. It is shown that all three models fit the data well over the observed porosity ranges, suggesting that the models taken from casting theory can extend to additively manufactured metals. Finally, it is proposed that the non-destructive Archimedes method could be used to estimate an approximate sample ductility through the use of correlations realized here. Such a relationship could prove useful for design and for a deeper understanding of the impact of pores on tensile behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Uncertainty Quantification of Metal Additive Manufacturing Processing Conditions Through the use of Exascale Computing

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a disruptive manufacturing technology that opens the design space for parts outside those possible from traditional manufacturing methods. In order to accelerate industry and R&D needs to certify AM parts, the Exascale Additive Manufacturing project (ExaAM) has developed a suite of exascale-ready computational tools to model the process-to-structure-to-properties (PSP) relationship for additively manufactured metal components. One such tool is an uncertainty quantification (UQ) pipeline to quantify the effect that uncertainty in processing conditions has on local mechanical responses. We present an overview of this pipeline and its required simulation and workflow codes. Using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) exascale computer, Frontier, we utilize this pipeline to cross multiple length and time scales to predict the local mechanical response of a location within a complex AM bridge part, AMB2018-01 produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as part of their 2018 AM-Bench test series. Our results are then compared to experimental mechanical tests of parts from the NIST build to quantify the error in the ExaAM UQ workflow.

Carson, Robert↗
DOE OSTI2022

Joining technique for in-oven/autoclave molds manufactured by large scale polymer additive manufacturing

Large scale additive manufacturing (AM) of fiber-reinforced polymer composites has gained traction in the mold and die community over the last decade, largely due to reduced material cost and lead time. However, limitations in mold size remain present due to printer volume constraints and costs associated with large format machines. Here, this paper describes a method for producing additively manufactured polymer molds in segments with an O-ring joint design, which can be machined and subsequently assembled for autoclave applications. The developed joining mechanism allows for maintaining the vacuum integrity during the cure cycle while accounting for the anisotropic nature of the additively manufactured polymer molds. Over a range of tested temperatures, 20–200 °C, the multi-part mold joining design was able to achieve full vacuum of ∼73.7 cmHg (29 inchHg) and maintain a vacuum integrity with vacuum losses less than 1.5 cmHg/5min (0.6 inchHg).

Joining↗
DOE OSTI2023

Using defects as a ‘fossil record’ to help interpret complex processes during additive manufacturing: as applied to raster-scanned electron beam powder bed additively manufactured Ti–6Al–4V

Abstract Defects in parts produced by additive manufacturing, instead of simply being perceived as deleterious, can act as important sources of information associated with the complex physical processes that occur during materials deposition and subsequent thermal cycles. Indeed, they act as materials-state ‘fossil’ records of the dynamic AM process. The approach of using defects as epoch-like records of prior history has been developed while studying additively manufactured Ti–6Al–4V and has given new insights into processes that may otherwise remain either obscured or unquantified. Analogous to ‘epochs,’ the evolution of these defects often is characterized by physics that span across a temporal length scale. To demonstrate this approach, a broad range of analyses including optical and electron microscopy, X-ray computed tomography, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction have been used to characterize a raster-scanned electron beam Ti–6Al–4V sample. These analysis techniques provide key characteristics of defects such as their morphology, location within the part, complex compositional fields interacting with the defects, and structures on the free surfaces of defects. Observed defects have been classified as banding, spherical porosity, and lack of fusion. Banding is directly related to preferential evaporation of Al, which has an influence on mechanical properties. Lack-of-fusion defects can be used to understand columnar grain growth, fluid flow of melt pools, humping, and spattering events. Graphical abstract

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Timing in the Design Process on Students’ Application of Design for Additive Manufacturing Heuristics

The goal of this work is to study the way student designers use design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) rules or heuristics. It can be challenging for novice designers to create successful designs for additive manufacturing (AM), due to its recent surge in popularity and lack of formal education or training. A study was carried out to investigate the way novices apply DfAM heuristics when they receive them at different points in the design process. A design problem was presented to students, and three different groups of student participants were given a lecture on DfAM heuristics at three different points in the design process: before the initial design, between the initial design and redesign, and after the redesign. The novelty and quality of each of the resulting designs were evaluated. Results indicate that although the DfAM heuristics lecture had no impact on the overall quality of the designs generated, participants who were given the heuristics lecture after the initial design session produced designs that were better-suited for 3D printing in the second phase of the design activity. However, receiving this additional information appears to prevent students from creatively iterating upon their initial designs, as participants who received heuristic information between the design sessions experienced a decrease in novelty between the two sessions. Additionally, receiving the heuristics lecture increased all students’ perceptions of their ability to perform DfAM-related tasks. Furthermore, these results validate the practicality of design heuristics in lecture form as AM training tools while also emphasizing the importance of iteration in the design process.

computer-aided design↗
DOE OSTI2021

AFRL Additive Manufacturing Modeling Series: Challenge 1, Characterization of Residual Strain Distribution in Additively-Manufactured Metal Parts Using Energy-Dispersive Diffraction

A machine component fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) of metal powders often possesses steep residual stress gradients with significant magnitudes due to large temperature gradients that transpire within a localized area during fabrication. These processing-induced residual stresses can cause distortion of the part, and if they are of significant magnitude, they could induce cracking of the component, degrade printability, and/or diminish subsequent mechanical performance. The ability to predict these residual stresses imparted by AM is an important step in permeating AM technology for advanced manufacturing. Calibration and validation of AM process models used for prediction are, therefore, a critical step in understanding the origin and mitigating the challenges associated with residual stresses inherent to the AM process. In the present work, the residual strain distributions in components with simple geometries fabricated by a laser powder bed fusion (LBPF) process were characterized non-destructively using energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction in support of the US Air Force Research Laboratory Additive Manufacturing Modeling Challenge Series Groeber et al. (JOM 70:441-448, 2018). The measurement setup and approach are described in detail so that the data can be used as a benchmark to calibrate and validate models for the prediction of macro-scale residual stresses due to the LPBF process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Heat Transfer Coefficients of Additively Manufactured Tubes with Internal Pin Fins for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycle Recuperators

This paper describes the measurement of convective heat transfer coefficients and friction factors for sCO 2 flowing in additively manufactured tubes with internal pin fins at the US DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, WV. The measurement procedures were validated by conducting benchmark tests with smooth stainless-steel tube and comparing the results with published correlations for Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor. Over Reynolds numbers (ReD) ranging from 5 × 10 4 to 2.5 × 10 5 , measured Nu was within 5% of the Dittus-Boelter correlation and measured friction factors were within 5% of the McAdams correlation for smooth tube flow. The candidate pin fin patterned pipes were additively manufactured (AM) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The pins were circular or elliptical in cross-section and were printed at a 30⁰ angle relative to the inner wall (to meet AM constraints). The pin arrangement was helical to promote enhanced heat transfer due to swirl flow. Pin length to diameter aspect ratio was 1.33, 2, and 8, while the pin diameter to tube diameter ratio was 0.188, 0.125, and 0.063. Tests were performed for ReD varying from 6.9 × 10 4 to 2.2 × 10 5 and at conditions equivalent to the low pressure (LP) outlet (8.69 MPa, 361 K) and the high pressure (HP) inlet (20.7 MPa, 350 K) of the low temperature recuperator (LTR) in an indirect sCO 2 cycle. The Wilson plot technique was utilized to measure the bulk heat transfer coefficients. For the best performing design (tube A, pin length to tube diameter ratio: 1.33, pin diameter to tube diameter ratio: 0.19), the local heat transfer coefficient increased by 136% relative to the Dittus-Boelter correlation at the LTR low pressure outlet and 194% at the LTR high pressure inlet. These correspond to a 282% and a 271% increase in the product of the heat transfer coefficient and surface area (adjusted for fin efficiency) product, respectively. Large pressure drops across the test articles were observed. For Tube Design A, the average friction factor, across the range of ReD considered, was significantly larger than the McAdams correlation at both the LTR LP outlet and the LTR HP inlet. A thermal performance factor was utilized to express the ratio of material required to build a finned heat exchanger relative to a finless heat exchanger with the same heat duty and pumping power. Tube Design A was estimated to decrease the required heat exchanger material by 13%.

Searle, Matthew↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design optimization of an additively manufactured prototype recuperator for supercritical CO 2 power cycles

Supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) power cycles are being developed due to their potential for high efficiency and reduced capital cost. It is necessary that these recuperators operate at high pressures and temperatures, up to 30 MPa and 900 K, with effectiveness values > 95% and pressure drops <1% to achieve high cycle efficiencies. Moreover, it is also necessary to have reasonable cost recuperators to control the capital costs of the sCO 2 power cycles. In this study, a Plate Pin-Fin (PPF) heat exchanger has been proposed as an sCO 2 recuperator. This preliminary recuperator design leverages capabilities enabled by additive manufacturing. Although the PPF design has characteristics similar to those of a plate heat exchanger, small diameter and relatively long fins are used to increase surface area, enhance heat transfer, and provide structural support for the partition plates that separate the fluid streams. Existing correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop were adapted for the PPF heat exchanger. These correlations were implemented in a 1D analytical model and used for the optimization of a 5-kW th high temperature recuperator for an indirect sCO 2 cycle by varying the design parameters to minimize the quantity of material required. A 3D conjugate heat transfer numerical simulations were conducted to validate the heat transfer and pressure loss correlations. A steepest descent method was used to minimize heat exchanger mass for a 5-kW prototype recuperator subject to a maximum specified pressure drop. Additionally, the design analysis indicated that an optimum PPF recuperator would be attained for the minimum allowable pin transverse spacing, minimum pin width, minimum pin height and near maximum cell aspect ratio. Moreover, at a low material requirement of 0.216 kg/kW and a pressure drop, which is almost five times lower than the allowable pressure drop design target, the optimized PPF heat exchanger has the high potential to be an alternative to a printed circuit heat exchanger, which is a conservative design basis for the current state-of-the-art sCO 2 recuperators.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Optimizing Multi-Robot Placements for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

Wire arc additive manufacturing is a metal additive manufacturing process in which the material is deposited using arc welding technology. It is gaining popularity due to high material deposition rates and faster build time. It is en-abled using robotic manipulators and can build relatively large-scale parts faster when compared with other metal additive manufacturing processes. However, the size of the large-scale parts is limited by the size of the industrial manipulator being used for the process. This limitation is overcome by using a fixed configuration multi-robot cell in which manipulators work cooperatively to build large-scale parts quickly. A fixed multi-robot cell with closely spaced industrial manipulators has high flexibility, but it restricts the part size that can be built. If the manipulators are spread out, the cell loses its flexibility but can build relatively larger parts. This issue can be avoided by using larger size manipulators, which are expensive, or by moving the modest size manipulators based on the part geometries. This paper presents a novel algorithm to generate multi-robot placements for different part geometries to be built using wire arc additive manufacturing. Furthermore, the algorithm hierarchically optimizes the build time and the inverse kinematics consistency in robot paths to improve the process efficiency and part quality. We compare the results with fixed multi-robot cells and provide insights to users to make an informed decision on whether to use a fixed or a flexible multi-robot cell for wire arc additive manufacturing.

Bhatt, Prahar↗
DOE OSTI2023

Heat Transfer Characteristics of Particle and Air Flow Through Additively Manufactured Lattice Frame Material Based on Octet-Shape Topology

Particle-to-supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) heat exchanger is a critical component in next-generation concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. The inherently low heat transfer between falling particles and sCO 2 imposes a challenge toward economic justification of levelized cost of electricity produced through solar energy. Introduction of integrated porous media with the walls bounding particle flow has the potential to enhance the overall particle-to-sCO 2 heat exchanger performance. Here, this paper presents an experimental study on heat transfer characterization of additively manufactured lattice frame material based on Octet-shaped unit cell with particles and air as working fluids. The lattice structures were additively manufactured in stainless steel (SS) 316L and SS420 (with 40% bronze infiltration) via Binder jetting process, where the lattice porosities were varied between 0.75 and 0.9. The mean particle diameters were varied from 266 μm to 966 μm. The effective thermal conductivity and averaged heat transfer coefficient were determined through steady-state experiments. It was found that the presence of lattice enhances the effective thermal conductivity by 2–4 times when compared to packed bed of particles alone. Furthermore, for gravity-assisted particle flow through lattice panel, significantly high convective heat transfer coefficients ranging from 200 W/m2K to 400 W/m2K were obtained for the range of particle diameters tested. The superior thermal transport properties of Octet-shape-based lattice frame for particle flow makes it a very promising candidate for particle-to-sCO 2 heat exchanger for CSP application.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗