POWDERSOLVE additive manufacturing software.
LPW Technology, a developer, processor and supplier of metal powders for additive manufacturing, has created a new research division focused on the design of alloys and microstructures.
The LPW/ Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair will look to capitalise on the potential data mining and alloy design for additive layer manufacturing for the development of high performance metal powders.
It comes after a sustained period of growth in the metal additive manufacturing market, accompanied by an existing promise to enhance manufacturing workflows with high-performance alloys for critical applications. LPW wants to provide some much needed data and information regarding complex metallurgical processes, which in theory would lead to greater adoption of the technology.
LPW believes by developing statistical models which consider powder size, composition and atmospheric conditions, as well as component properties, like strength and ductility, robust processing parameter can be developed. The company hopes it all culminates in the fulfilment of metal additive manufacturing’s potential as vital industrial tool.
“In understanding how metal powder composition can affect the end material microstructure we can begin to design and create parts where the composition across the component varies,” said Dr Phil Carroll, the MD and Founder of LPW Technology. “The opportunity to design localised properties in a single part opens up tremendous possibilities. Imagine high temperature aerospace parts where the exterior is hard whilst the interior is lightweight, prosthetic joints delivering surface biocompatibility with low density interiors.”
“AM offers incredible design freedom to manufacture parts unable to be created by such established methods as forging and casting,” added Professor Pedro Rivera, who has been appointed to the LPW/ Royal Academy of Engineering Chair at Lancaster University. “Conventional alloys used for AM can be extremely sensitive to parameters such as oxygen content where the variation in intrinsic to the AM process. This research will create truly novel metal powders by controlling the microstructures and compositions so critical for high-performing AM-specific alloys.”
Professor Rivera transfers from his position as Assistant Director of Research, SKF University Technology Centre, Cambridge University. Here, he has been involved with the sophisticated modelling to generate new alloys. With LPW he will conduct research into the engineering of new, high-performance materials, harnessing thermodynamic and kinetic modelling with neural networking and genetic algorithms. He will be joined by other researchers from LPW Technology and Lancaster University at the company’s AM PowderLab.
At the AM PowderLab, the researchers will lean on the AM PowderSolve traceability software tool so as to ensure maximum intelligence in powder performance. The metal powder alloys at the centre of the research will be fully characterised, collated, tested, and the resulting data will be used to gauge their performance.
