CAREER: Solid Freeform Fabrication of Heterogeneous Multifunctional Devices

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to create a next-generation solid freeform fabrication (SFF) technique that will enable the construction of a broad variety of heterogeneous multifunctional devices. The approach will focus on concurrently developing new techniques for patterned powder deposition and laser materials processing that will together enable the layer-by-layer construction of such devices. Powder deposition techniques will be based on experimental correlations of powder flow through miniature hoppers and on the physics of granular multiphase flow. Laser processing techniques for sintering or melting patterned powders will be developed on an experimental workstation, aided by numerical models to simulate transport phenomena in heterogeneous powder compositions. The educational goal is to prepare the next generation of mechanical engineers with knowledge of SFF, computational design synthesis, and internet-enabled electronic collaboration methods. SFF and electronic collaboration methods will be introduced into a core undergraduate course. A new graduate course on SFF including a future international design competition and special focus journal issue will be developed. Finally, a multidisciplinary seminar series on multifunctional materials design and synthesis will be introduced. If successful, the primary impact of this research will be a next-generation heterogeneous SFF method. A consequential impact is the ability to fabricate novel, multifunctional devices that will have great potential social, commercial, and military value, notably bioimplants for surgical reconstruction, engineered tissue scaffolds and drug delivery, and devices for energy storage, production or conversion. Complementary long-term scientific and technical impacts will include: 1) novel scientific approaches to synthesizing structures with tailored material compositions and properties from the macro- to nano-scale; and 2) integration of digital design and digital fabrication, enabling realization of complex designs derived from physics-based computational optimization in materials of choice.