Rowan University unveils metal AM lab powered by supercomputer
Rowan University, based in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA, has shared that its Digital Engineering Hub (DEHub) is combining smart technology and advanced manufacturing methods in a new laboratory. Housed at the Henry M Rowan College of Engineering’s Rowan Hall, and directed by Antonios Kontsos, PhD, the DEHub lab is capable of digitising real-world objects, as well as creating new objects based on human- or machine-engineered designs.
The lab features polymer and metal Additive Manufacturing machines, 3D scanners for digitising existing objects, and devices for mechanical sensing and testing. For metal AM, DEHub has obtained a DMG MORI LASERTEC 30 SLM US.
Designed and assembled in the United States, the LASERTEC 30 SLM US features adaptive beam control, improved production process and interconnectivity, allowing for the detection and correction of flaws in real-time during the construction process.
The lab’s processing power is fuelled by a computer cluster named Pythia, which is purpose-built for the lab and processes terabytes of data in real time.
“We are the first academic research group in the world to connect a supercomputer for this type of machine,” said Kontsos, the Henry M Rowan Foundation Endowed Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “The data we’re collecting – such as part temperature and laser information – is in the order of terabytes, so we need the computational power coupled with live-streaming capabilities to synchronously store and process this information.”
Focused first on federally funded research for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DEHub aims to work across a wide range of manufacturing sectors, including the defence, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, energy and civil infrastructure, as well as robotics industries.
Interest is said to already be high. DEHub’s recent launch event reportedly attracted representatives from companies in California, Texas and Australia.
“Our horizon is not to improve the Glassboro economy only,” Kontsos shared, “We want to improve it by being a resource worldwide.”
