Register now After registration you will be able to apply for this opportunity online.
This opportunity is not published. No applications will be accepted.
Multi-physics process modeling of gas atomization powder production
The Advanced Manufacturing Lab at ETH Zurich (am|z) conducts cutting-edge research around modern manufacturing and materials processing technologies, mainly on 3D printing (or additive manufacturing: AM) processes. One of particular interests is the powder production with the gas atomization (GA) technique, which is an alternative and ceramic-free melting approach in place of the conventional directly contacting melting method. GA is generally recognized by its comparatively higher efficiency, large output, and small powder size. Hence, it is especially suited for the preparation of high-purity, refractory and reactive metal powders for 3D printing. Modeling and simulation of the entire GA process is far from trivial as it entails an elaborate mathematical formulation and requires coupling between different complex physical phenomena. As a preliminary but essential step toward that end, this project aims at establishing a basic understanding of the GA through modeling the melting process of metal powders with high fidelities. Some supporting experiments will also be conducted to help validate the computational model and provide the digital framework with more realistic data.
Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Powder production; Gas atomization; Multi-physics process modeling; Numerical methods
The rapid growth of metal additive manufacturing (AM) techniques in recent years, particularly in the aerospace and automotive industries, has stimulated a strong demand for producing large metal powders featuring fine particles and high sphericity. The energy efficiency of existing metal powder making approaches is realized to be extremely low, (less than 10%). The sustainability and future of AM is largely jeopardized by such a low energy efficiency. A widely-applied and cost-effective method to produce metal powders is gas atomization (GA), seeing attached file for a graphical illustration.
The am|z lab acquires a high-quality metal powder ultrasonic atomizer machine. It works in Ar atmosphere and is capable of producing a wide range of alloys, including steel, aluminum, and titanium. The formation process of metal powder droplets can be well reproduced with the present setup. On the other hand, the iMFREE software developed at ETH Zurich, which is a versatile meshfree numerical simulation tool for various manufacturing processes, is under constant development for modeling AM processes at am|z, seeing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWGg99XXKbU. It can effectively simulate the melt pool of metal powders in laser processing application like laser powder bed fusion, seeing attached file. With the combination of advanced numerical and experimental approaches, we offer a unique research opportunity that could have a substantial impact on the process understanding and optimization of GA in the powder production field.
In this project, we will take the first step towards a Digital Twin representation of GA powder production processes in AM by: 1) numerically simulating the metal droplet melting in the gas atomization, 2) conducting experiments for validation purposes, and 3) exploring key underlying physical mechanisms and their interplay with the process parameters.
The rapid growth of metal additive manufacturing (AM) techniques in recent years, particularly in the aerospace and automotive industries, has stimulated a strong demand for producing large metal powders featuring fine particles and high sphericity. The energy efficiency of existing metal powder making approaches is realized to be extremely low, (less than 10%). The sustainability and future of AM is largely jeopardized by such a low energy efficiency. A widely-applied and cost-effective method to produce metal powders is gas atomization (GA), seeing attached file for a graphical illustration.
The am|z lab acquires a high-quality metal powder ultrasonic atomizer machine. It works in Ar atmosphere and is capable of producing a wide range of alloys, including steel, aluminum, and titanium. The formation process of metal powder droplets can be well reproduced with the present setup. On the other hand, the iMFREE software developed at ETH Zurich, which is a versatile meshfree numerical simulation tool for various manufacturing processes, is under constant development for modeling AM processes at am|z, seeing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWGg99XXKbU. It can effectively simulate the melt pool of metal powders in laser processing application like laser powder bed fusion, seeing attached file. With the combination of advanced numerical and experimental approaches, we offer a unique research opportunity that could have a substantial impact on the process understanding and optimization of GA in the powder production field.
In this project, we will take the first step towards a Digital Twin representation of GA powder production processes in AM by: 1) numerically simulating the metal droplet melting in the gas atomization, 2) conducting experiments for validation purposes, and 3) exploring key underlying physical mechanisms and their interplay with the process parameters.
Efficient and high-fidelity simulation of gas atomization to generate insights into better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, and ultimately, into process design and optimization.
Efficient and high-fidelity simulation of gas atomization to generate insights into better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, and ultimately, into process design and optimization.
Please send your resume/CV (including lists of relevant publications/projects) and transcript of records in PDF format via email to Dr. Zhang (zhilzhang@ethz.ch)
Please send your resume/CV (including lists of relevant publications/projects) and transcript of records in PDF format via email to Dr. Zhang (zhilzhang@ethz.ch)
Project Description-GA.pdf
