Project AHMAP - Analysis of Heterogeneous Multi-scale Material Properties for Metal Additive Manufacturing Structures

Metal additive manufacturing is the process of building up parts in a layerwise process, rather than machining them from initial homogeneous bulk material. By selectively adjusting the machine parameters it is possible to include multiple material properties within a single part, enabling a wider range of more optimised designs than has previously been possible. There is an ever-expanding range of Additive processes and materials, enabling totally new performing parts that are lighter and have novel functions.

Additive Flow is the leading software provider for multi-property optimisation and has the capability of generating new ways of manufacturing with multi-properties, and multiple process parameters. This is a fresh new area for growth within engineering in the UK and internationally. In order to unlock the potential of this multi-property optimisation, new ways of testing and gathering data for components that have multiple material properties are needed.

We generate in collaboration with NPL a series of multi-property components, which will then be tested and the data will be fed back into the existing software that will improve engineering performance and cost savings for manufacturing. Additional benefits include reducing complexity for users within a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary engineering design space increasing accessibility and adoption of new technologies.

Additive Flow's optimisation software determines trade-offs between manufacturing speed and cost against the function and performance of the final part. This can allow more novel parts to be produced quicker and more cost-effectively, enabling greater exploitation of the benefits of AM. However, many of the resulting designs result in inhomogeneous material for which accurate material property data is lacking. The lack of data has resulted in sub-optimal optimisation due to the need to be sufficiently cautious to avoid part failure and subsequently the certification is also expensive.

This project will take approaches to measure and evaluate the physical material properties of heterogeneous structures and use this data to validate processing parameters predicted by the digital simulation. This has benefits to the development of the UK industry, where the solution would greatly improve design optimisation processes, have positive economic, social and environmental implications because material wastage is minimised and process failure is avoided.