Advanced Processing

Advanced processing methods comprise multiple disciplines and technologies. Methods such as additive manufacturing (AM), field-assistant sintering technologies (FAST), or freeze-templating methods (FT) are widely applied for the industrial production of individually customized components. The prediction of microstructures resulting from these advanced processing methods is of great interest and can complement time- and cost-expensive experiments. The challenges in our approach reside in an insufficient understanding of the “Process-Microstructure-Property” relations and in the fact that the underlying physical processes cover a broad range of time and length scales.

Objective

This research area aims to enrich the modeling and computational toolkit which is practicable for the simulation of advanced processing methods, and thereby provide transferable insights into the “Process-Microstructure-Property ” relations.

Methods

  • Finite Element/Discrete Element Methods
  • Non-equilibrium Thermodynamic Analysis
  • Algorithm Investigations

Current topics

A unified scenario considering interactions among the heat transfer, melt flow dynamics and microstructure evolution (noted as ‘‘heat–melt–microstructure-coupled processes’’) is essential for a thermodynamically consistent description and thus reliable microstructure prediction for powder bed fusion (PBF). Temperature-gradient-driven effects, notably the thermophoresis and thermocapillary, are naturally involved during the development of this scenario and believed to be the major factor to various phenomena. This topic is hence aimed at investigating those effects on the microstructure evolution as well as resultant properties in PBF.

powder bed fusion (PBF) of alloy materials has shown industries flexibility and rapidness in manufacturing novel and complex geometries. One of the promising applications is to manufacture lattice structures with a high stiffness-to-weight ratio for lightweight usage. However, most of the promising applications, notably lightweight design, demand fine control on the geometry of a single melt track, which directly related to the evolution of the melt pool in time and space. This topic is hence aimed at developing a multiphysics scenario for simulation in controlling melt pool and its evolution during PBF.