| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/I028331/1 |
| Title: |
Anchorless Selective Laser Melting (ASLM) of high temperature metals |
| Principal Investigator: |
Hopkinson, Professor N |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Mechanical Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
Follow on Fund |
| Starts: |
01 October 2011 |
Ends: |
30 September 2012 |
Value (£): |
184,729
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Construction Ops & Management |
Manufact. Business Strategy |
| Manufacturing Machine & Plant |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
Construction |
| Retail |
Transport Systems and Vehicles |
| Sports and Recreation |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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20 Oct 2010
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Follow On Fund 9
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Announced
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Additive Manufacturing is a family of technologies that are used to build up 3D objects, layer by layer, from 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) files. In many respects Additive Manufacturing can be thought of as a 3D version of 2D printing where 3D objects are created. Additive Manufacturing processes create high added value products across many sectors, the industry was born in the late 1980's and has seen average annual growth of over 10%. The high added value nature of Additive Manufacturing means that it is predominantly used in developed economies and represents an area of potential strategic growth for the UK manufacturing industry. Additive Manufacturing processes have the unique selling point of being automated manufacturing processes that require no tooling. Elimination of tooling provides many advantages including the possibility of creating hitherto impossible geometries. However, most Additive Manufacturing processes require supports or anchors that are added to parts as they are built which restricts geometric freedom. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is an Additive Manufacturing process that creates parts from various metal alloys. The process works by depositing a thin layer of metal powder, typically ~ 0.1mm, onto a metal platform. A laser then scans across selected areas of the powder surface melting powder particles together where it scans. The particles also weld to the platform keeping them fixed in place. The 2D shape scanned by the laser corresponds to the bottom slice of the part being made. The platform drops by the distance of one layer and a fresh layer of powder is deposited on top. The laser then scans the shape of the next slice of the part being made. A 3D object is beginning to grow.If the part being made by SLM includes any overhanging features then the material will quickly cool, solidify and warp upwards. Warping during manufacture causes catastrophic process failure so the part cannot be made. In order to prevent warping, anchors are routinely added to the CAD files of parts and are melted in place. These anchors are made of the same material as the part and they need to be removed when the part has been built. This adds significant labour cost for many geometries, while other geometries simply cannot be made using SLM or indeed any automated metal manufacturing process. We have patented a process that allows SLM parts to be built without anchors including geometries that, without our method, would require anchors - we call our process Anchorless Selective Laser Melting (ASLM). ASLM works by employing a method that is currently under patent application and out of the public domain. We have already succeeded in making hitherto impossible geometries with ASLM using low melt temperature metals. However low melt temperature metals have limited uses and value. In this project we intend to make ASLM parts using metals with higher melt temperatures - in particular we want to make parts based on aluminium. Aluminium alloys can be used in many applications, especially in transport.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |