Phill M. Dickens

Characterisation of aluminium alloy 6061 for the ultrasonic consolidation process

Ultrasonic consolidation (UC) is a freeform fabrication technique developed for the layered fabrication of metal parts. The process uses a high intensity ultrasonic energy source to induce combined static and oscillating shear forces within layers of metal foil to produce solid-state bonds. This paper will consider control parameter optimisation and surface preparation issues, for the production of aluminium alloy 6061 specimens. It will assess weld quality through both mechanical testing and optical observation. Aluminium 6061 specimens were successfully welded by the UC machine using both unprepared and surface prepared foils. In the unprepared specimens, thick oxide films exist along the whole specimen length of the weld interface. Results showed that the dynamic interfacial stresses, generated under UC conditions, compact the oxide layer to form brittle, ceramic bonds at the weld interface. A simple cleaning procedure increased metallurgical bonds, within the weld interface, by up to 45%. A general process window was produced for 6061 alloy based on a combination of the peel test data and microstructural analysis.

A model for weld strength in ultrasonically consolidated components

Abstract Ultrasonic consolidation (UC) is a solid freeform fabrication technique developed for the manufacture of metal parts. The mechanisms by which bonds are formed, during the UC process, are based on a combination of the surface effect and the volume effect. Based on the outcomes of peel tests and microstructural analysis, this paper will consider the influence of these two phenomena on the weld strength of specimens. A model is presented to describe how calculations for weld strength may be derived on the basis of the theory of surface and volume effects. Through the application of the model, it was possible to demonstrate that the weld strength may be 7 per cent greater than the tensile strength of the base metal. The identification of the phenomena and the development of a model for weld strength have led to the modification and production of an enhanced test procedure which is described in this paper.

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of pure gold

This work presents an investigation into the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of 24 carat gold (Au) powder with a mean particle size of 24μm. An SLM 100 system was used which is intended for production of highly detailed and intricate parts. Gold powder was tested for its properties such as tap density, Particle Size distribution (PSD) and reflectance etc. A suitable processing window was identified and gold cubes were produced using these parameters. Gold cubes were also checked for their internal porosity and mechanical properties.

The effects and interactions of fabrication parameters on the properties of selective laser sintered hydroxyapatite polyamide composite biomaterials

Purpose – Hydroxyapatite‐polymer composite materials are being researched for the development of low‐load bearing implants because of their bioactive and osteoconductive properties, while avoiding modulus mismatch found in homogenous materials. For the direct production of hydroxyapatite‐polymer composite implants, selective laser sintering (SLS) has been used and various parameters and their effects on the physical properties (micro and macro morphologies) have been investigated. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most influential parameters on the micro and macro pore morphologies of sintered hydroxyapatite‐polymer composites.Design/methodology/approach – A two‐level full factorial experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of the various processing parameters and their effects on the physical properties, including open porosity, average pore width and the percentage of pores which could enable potential bone regeneration and ingrowth of the sintered parts. The density of the sintered par...

Layer thickness and draft angle selection for stereolithography injection mould tooling

The introduction of rapid prototyping has allowed engineers and designers to generate physical models of required parts very early on in the design and development phase. Further to this, the use of stereolithography (SL) cavities as a rapid tooling method has allowed plastic prototype parts to be produced in their most common production manner -- by injection moulding. The process is best suited to small production runs where the high costs of conventionally machined tooling is prohibitive. One of the major drawbacks of the SL injectionmoulding process is the susceptibility of the tools to premature failure. SL tools may break under the force exerted by part ejection when the friction between a moulding and a core is greater than the tensile strength of the core, resulting in tensile failure. Very few justified recommendations exist about the choice of mould design variables that can lower the part ejection force experienced and reduce the risk of SL tool failure. This research investigates the ejection forces resulting from SL injection moulding tools which are identical in all respects except for their build layer thickness and incorporated draft angles in an attempt to identify appropriate evidence for recommendations with respect to these design variables and SL injection moulding. The results show that adjustment of draft angle results in a change of part ejection force as a reasonably linear relationship. An adjustment of the build layer thickness results in a change in part ejection force as a more non-linear relationship. The adjustment of build layer thickness had a greater effect on ejection force than the adjustment of draft angle. The results also show that the surface roughness of all tools remains unchanged after moulding a number of parts in polypropylene. A mathematical model was used in an attempt to predict ejection forces according to the moulding material used. This model reflected the experimental results in terms of relative values but not in absolute values, which may be due to inappropriate specific values used in their calculation. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used in an attempt to identify the factors involved in the ejection process. Results indicate that the effect of draft angle on ejection force is due to elastic deformation of the surface roughness. A fact borne out by the lack of damage to the surface after ejection.

Part shrinkage anomilies from stereolithography injection mould tooling

Abstract The use of stereolithography (SL) tooling allows plastic parts to be produced by injection moulding in a very short time due to the speed of mould production. One of the supposed advantages of the process is that it provides a low volume of parts that are the same as parts that would be produced by the conventional hard tooling in a fraction of the time and cost. However, this work demonstrates different rates of polymer shrinkage are developed by parts produced by SL and conventional tooling methods. These revelations may counter the greatest advantages of the SL injection moulding tooling process as the parts do not replicate those that would be produced by conventional hard tooling. This work identifies the different shrinkage that occurs in mouldings produced by an SL mould as compared to those produced from an aluminium mould. The experiments utilise two very different types of polymers and two mould geometries, which are processed in the same manner so that the heat transfer characteristics of the moulds are isolated as the only experimental variable. The work demonstrates how the two mould materials exhibit very different rates of expansion due to the temperature profiles experienced during moulding. This expansion must be compensated for to establish the total amount of shrinkage incurred by moulded parts. The compensation is derived by a mathematical approach and by modelling using finite element analysis. Both techniques depend upon knowledge of the thermal conditions during moulding. Knowledge of these thermal conditions are obtained by real-time data acquisition and simulated by FEA modeling. The application of the findings provide knowledge of the complete shrinkage values relating to the mould material and polymer used which would enable the production of geometrically accurate parts.

Predicting stereolithography injection mould tool behaviour using models to predict ejection force and tool strength

The work reported involved Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modelling of heat transfer in a stereolithography (SL) tool and then performing a series of experiments to measure true heat transfer in the tool. The results from the practical measurement of heat transfer were used to validate and modify the FEA model. The results from the modified FEA model were then used to predict the tensile strength of the tool at various stages after injection of the thermoplastic melt. Previously developed equations to predict ejection forces were used to estimate the ejection forces required to push the moulding from the SL core. During the practical experiments the true ejection forces were measured. The combination of predicted tool strength and ejection forces were intended to be used a basis for to determine whether certain SL tool designs will fail under tension during part ejection. This would help designers and manufacturers to decide whether SL tooling is suitable for a specific application. The initial FEA heat transfer model required some modifications and the measured ejection forces were higher than the predicted values, possible reasons for these discrepancies are given. For any given processing conditions there was an inherent variance in the ejection forces required however longer cooling periods prior to ejection resulted in higher ejection forces. The paper concludes that, due to the variations in required ejection forces, a reliable tool to predict tensile failure will be difficult to produce however improved performance may be gained by adopting processing conditions contrary to those recommended in the current process guidelines.

Evaluating the use of functionally graded materials inserts produced by selective laser melting on the injection moulding of plastics parts

Abstract The demand for productivity and shape complexity on the injection moulding industry necessitates new research to improve tool design, material, and manufacturing. A research field is the development of functionally graded materials (FGMs) to build injection moulds. For example, moulds built with the FGMs technique can have distinctive regions with higher heat conduction. Higher rates of heat transfers from thicker regions of the injected part can be useful to produce better and cheaper injection moulded polymer parts. It is possible to obtain moulds with differential conductivity by adding locally, during the fabrication of the mould, copper to the mould base material such as tool steel. In this work, an investigation into the effect of FGM copper (Cu)-tool steel mould insert over polymer injected parts is presented. The work is divided in two parts: a numerical thermal analysis comparison between Cu-tool steel graded and tool steel inserts and an injection moulding experiment with comparisons between mould surface temperature and degree of crystallinity of polypropylene parts. The numerical model was used to compare different behaviour of the mould heat transfer according to the mould insert material. Thereafter, a bolster was built to hold FGMs and tool steel inserts obtained by a selective laser fusion process. Polypropylene was injected over the inserts to compare with the numeric results. To observe the effect of the cooling rate in the polypropylene parts using the graded inserts, the degree of crystallinity of the parts was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test. The temperature of the mould was also evaluated during the injection cycles. The results showed that the graded Cu-tool steel inserts tested had lower capacity to store heat energy. As Cu was added to the tool steel, the mixture proved to transfer heat more efficiently but it had less capacity to absorb heat.

Investigation of fully dense laser sintering of tool steel powder using a pulsed Nd: Yag (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet) laser

Abstract A 550W neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) pulsed laser was used in the solid freeform fabrication (SFF) process to form fully dense sintered parts. Tool steel powder was chosen due to its wide acceptance in the tool-making industry. Unlike many processes applying either thermoplastic binder or metals of low melting points in the powder mixture, this process enables a direct fusion of material to solid parts without a further post-processing step. This paper presents a methodology and the results of high-power laser sintering of tool steel powder. The investigation includes the effects of various process parameters on the fully dense laser sintering results on a single bead and single layer and the related scan strategy to build up solid cubes. This process could eventually produce pre-forms with complex material structures rather than finished tools or parts.

Selection of mould design variables in direct stereolithography injection mould tooling

Abstract Stereolithography (SL) can be used rapidly to produce injection moulding tools. The disadvantage of the technique is that it is capable of producing only a small number of parts before failure. Stereolithography tools may break under the force exerted by part ejection when the friction between a moulding and a feature of the tool is greater than the tensile strength of the tool, resulting in tensile failure. Very few justified recommendations exist concerning the choice of mould design variables that can lower the part ejection force experienced and reduce the risk of SL tool failure. This research investigates the ejection forces resulting from the injection moulding of polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and polyamide 66 (PA66) parts from SL tools that are identical in all respects except for their build layer thickness (a process variable when generating the SL tooling cavities) and incorporated draft angles (a tooling design variable). This work attempts to identify appropriate evidence for recommendations with respect to these variables and SL injection moulding. The results show that linear adjustment of draft angle results in a fairly minor linear change in part ejection force according to the moulding material. A linear adjustment of the build layer thickness results in a greater change in part ejection force as a more non-linear relationship. In both cases the greatest ejection forces were experienced by PA66, then ABS and then the PP parts. The results also show that the surface roughness of all tools remains unchanged after moulding a number of parts in all polymers. A mathematical model was used in an attempt to predict ejection forces according to the moulding material used. This model did reflect the experimental results in terms of relative values but not in absolute values, which may be due to the limitations imposed by the development of the expressions and uncertainty about some specific values.