Penn State Engineering receives US army grant to advance high-strength steel Additive Manufacturing
March 5, 2021
Researchers at Penn State College of Engineering, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, have received a grant of $434,000 from the United States Army to develop Additive Manufacturing techniques for high-strength steels and alloys.
These materials can be difficult to manufacture traditionally but are well-suited to, and currently used in, many defence-adjacent applications such as personal armour, armoured vehicles, specialised facilities for blast & ballistic protection and ship hulls.
“These steels exhibit much higher cracking sensitivities and lower overall weldability, which make them notoriously challenging to produce,” stated Todd Palmer, professor of Engineering Science & Mechanics and Materials Science & Engineering, who will act as principal investigator of the project.
Palmer, along with co-principal investigator Amrita Basak, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, plan to use AM to expand the functions of these high-strength materials in order to save costs and increase utility
The laser-based directed energy deposition (DED) AM process could allow engineers to design more intricate pieces; however, the properties of the steel and their manufacturing process need to be better understood and controlled.
“These materials are a completely new class for Additive Manufacturing,” commented Basak. “What we find can help the research community pursue this further, and perhaps the Army will discover new ways to use these materials to further their mission.”
The researchers will specifically study wire-based DED, which they suggest could increase cost-effectiveness by producing fewer wasted materials.
While a large part of the project will be based around computer models to test and refine the parameters, the team will not be limited to solely creating simulations. The researchers plan to manufacture large-scale components to provide impactful experimental data.
Combined with the abilities of the faculty and students, the laboratories at Penn State — such as the Materials Research Institute, the Applied Research Laboratory, Center for Innovative Materials Processing Through Direct Digital Deposition and the Center for Innovative Sintered Products — lead the researchers to believe they will be able to push the current boundary of Additive Manufacturing.
“In this project, we are exploring very large structures. If we didn’t have 3D printers large enough to create these, we couldn’t do much,” Basak added. “But we have many, and we will use them all to successfully complete this project.”
Palmer concluded, “A real strength of Penn State is our vertical integration around Additive Manufacturing. We have experts on the experimental side and also on materials, numerical methods and machine learning. That’s what sets us apart: We can bring these people across disciplines together.”
