Page 20 - 3D Metal Printing Fall 2019

3D AM Challenges
intelligence to draw correlations.
“In our lab we set the knobs in many different ways,” Brice explains, “run sam- ples through, analyze those samples in a high-throughput manner and then let algorithms make empirical correlations that connect settings to outcome prop-
erties.”
Early on, ADAPT employed character-
ization equipment, but with no 3D print- ers on hand, relied on partners to provide material from their printers. From the data, ADAPT has begun building models that offer predictive capability, reports Brice.
ADAPT’s 20-some member companies and organizations gain access to lab find- ings and collaborate on joint research, primarily in metals, to accelerate the material-qualification process. Ceramics also attract attention, says Brice no sur- prise given that Golden is home to CoorsTek, considered the largest engi- neered ceramics company in the world. Mines’ strength in ceramic engineering also drives research on that front.
AM Education Reaches Across Disciplines
From ADAPT grew a new education program at Mines, with the realization that AM requires competence across a variety of disciplines.
“AM requires disciplines that don't reside within traditional educational tracks such as mechanical, materials or electrical engineering, but draws from many of those,” says Brice, commenting on challenges in developing an ideal AM curriculum that accommodates AM while extending beyond to other leading-edge methods of building things. Hence the initiative’s name: the Advanced Manufac- turing Program (AMP).
The program recognizes the evolution of manufacturing, including AM along with agile business practices such as just- in-time manufacturing and mass cus- tomization. These disruptive concepts, as the program’s website describes, become difficult to implement with legacy man- ufacturing techniques. Recognizing the need for companies to adapt to these new
practices to remain competitive and expand their markets, Mines created the program as a means to provide interdisciplinary training. The goal: serve the next generation of manu- facturing engineers that must work with these disruptive technologies. The pro- gram includes the aforementioned 10- course non-thesis Master of Science and four-course Certificate programs, with both expected to be fully online for the
2020-21 academic year.
The online 30-credit-hour master’s pro-
gram consists of four core courses for the AM track—students select at least three program-approved elective courses with an option to replace six credit hours with project-based work via internship. The current 12-credit-hour online certificate program, focusing on AM, includes four-
This multi-color printer represents one of many new investments at Mines designed
to support AM education and research.
core courses, with students choosing at least three with the option of taking an elective course. A new certificate program now under development by Jenifer Black- lock, AMP associate director, and expected to go online for the 2020-21 academic year, focuses on smart manufacturing. This program is based on learned opti- mization skill sets such as lean, lifecycle assessment, linear optimization modeling and implementation plans.
“The master’s non-thesis track is very targeted,” Brice explains. “While most of our students arrive straight from their bachelor's degrees, we’re hoping to target the working community recent hires and those looking to expand their understand- ing of advanced-manufacturing tech- niques. Additive doesn't solve every prob- lem, but is another tool in the toolbox. Every engineer should know AM’s capa- bilities and limitations, and that is what we’re trying to offer.”
The certificate program also targets working professionals, according to Black- lock, who expanded on course offerings provided through AMP.
“Everything will be online to best serve working professionals,” she says, “and I’ll
How ADAPT Helps ‘Optimize for Additive’
The Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT) at the Colorado School of Mines, an industry-academia consor- tium, leverages the latest developments in materials characterization and machine learning to enable members to, as ADAPT’s tagline reads, Optimize for Additive.
ADAPT explores complex process-structure-property relationships unique to AM methods, with a goal of increasing fundamental understanding about how the process variables impact the material microstructure and final part properties.
Also, ADAPT employs high-throughput characterization and materials infor- matics to model the complex melting thermal histories that occur in AM processes. And, to optimize parts for AM, ADAPT uses data informatics to integrate part quality, microstructure and topology in the design process.
Members include Colorado School of Mines, Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Mar- tin, Boeing, Moog, 3D Systems, Elementum 3D, GE Additive, Sciaky, EOS of North America and others. See the full member list, and learn more about ADAPT and its research projects at www.adapt.mines.edu.
18 | 3D METAL PRINTING • FALL 2019
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