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Experimental Study on Closed Loop Laser Power Control in Selective Laser Melting of Ceramics
Instability during laser processing is one of the main issues for SLM of ceramics. The project will start with an analysis of the influence of the laser power and scan speed on laser melting of ceramics. The final aim is to build a setup, which adapt the power in order to keep a stable melt-pool siz
**Introduction**
Additive manufacturing is a fast growing field: it started with processing of plastic materials in the 80s and it was extended to metals in the late 90s. Ceramics, such as alumina and zirconia, are the next challenge for engineers and researchers and this is the reason why a joint project between ETH Zürich, EMPA and PSI started recently. There are multiple applications for which the introduction of additive manufacturing of ceramics may be disruptive, including medical, dental and aerospace industry. This work is aimed at experiment innovative setups for Selective Laser Melting of ceramics, including spe-cial laser sources and tailored starting material.
**Content**
Instability during laser processing is one of the main issues for SLM of ceramics. The project is a continuation of a previous bachelor thesis and it will start with analyzing the influence of the laser power and scan speed on laser melting of ceramics. The final aim is to build a setup, which adapt the laser power on the basis of the melt pool size, in order to deliver a stable process and maximize the density of the final part. Important challenges to be considered are the realization of a good setup and later the evaluation and quantitative analysis of the experiments.
**Tasks**
- Literature review
- Setup preparation of a closed loop control in the laser laboratory at ETH Technopark
- Conduction of experiments of laser power closed loop control during laser melting
- Analysis of the results, including microscope or other measurements
**Requirements**
- Motivated and proactive working attitude
- Interest/knowledge in additive manufacturing and control theory
- Hands-on approach
**Outlook**
Workload: 10% Theory, 50% Experiments/Measurements, 40% Analysis und Documentation
Location: ETH Technopark
Start date: negotiable
**Introduction** Additive manufacturing is a fast growing field: it started with processing of plastic materials in the 80s and it was extended to metals in the late 90s. Ceramics, such as alumina and zirconia, are the next challenge for engineers and researchers and this is the reason why a joint project between ETH Zürich, EMPA and PSI started recently. There are multiple applications for which the introduction of additive manufacturing of ceramics may be disruptive, including medical, dental and aerospace industry. This work is aimed at experiment innovative setups for Selective Laser Melting of ceramics, including spe-cial laser sources and tailored starting material.
**Content** Instability during laser processing is one of the main issues for SLM of ceramics. The project is a continuation of a previous bachelor thesis and it will start with analyzing the influence of the laser power and scan speed on laser melting of ceramics. The final aim is to build a setup, which adapt the laser power on the basis of the melt pool size, in order to deliver a stable process and maximize the density of the final part. Important challenges to be considered are the realization of a good setup and later the evaluation and quantitative analysis of the experiments.
**Tasks** - Literature review - Setup preparation of a closed loop control in the laser laboratory at ETH Technopark - Conduction of experiments of laser power closed loop control during laser melting - Analysis of the results, including microscope or other measurements
**Requirements** - Motivated and proactive working attitude - Interest/knowledge in additive manufacturing and control theory - Hands-on approach
**Outlook** Workload: 10% Theory, 50% Experiments/Measurements, 40% Analysis und Documentation Location: ETH Technopark Start date: negotiable