Researchers at the 小蝌蚪APP will develop and analyze new 3-D printing materials and processes as part of a five-university project funded by a $20 million National Science Foundation grant.
The grant established the Louisiana Material Design Alliance, a consortium comprised of UL Lafayette, LSU, and Louisiana Tech, Southern and Tulane universities. The universities will conduct research that will be shared with federal agencies and industry to address a growing reliance on 3-D printing in manufacturing. UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 portion of the grant is $2.7 million.
小蝌蚪APP淟AMDA provides a framework for research that will include opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students,小蝌蚪APP said Dr. Miao Jin, an associate professor in UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 . Jin is leading the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 research for the project.
小蝌蚪APP淟AMDA was also created to help universities enhance curriculums and hire faculty members to educate and train students who will help fill workforce needs. It小蝌蚪APP檚 a comprehensive, balanced approach designed to benefit the entire state,小蝌蚪APP she added.
3-D printing, which is also known as additive manufacturing, involves creating an object from a three-dimensional digital model by 小蝌蚪APP渓aying down小蝌蚪APP many thin layers of a material, such as metal or plastic.
The process was developed in the 1980s, and became common in industrial manufacturing the following decade. It is becoming popular in many industries now, said Dr. Jonathan Raush, an assistant professor in the .
3-D printing is used to make everything from prosthetics and jewelry, to automobile parts and computer components. It is increasingly being implemented for biomedical, energy and aerospace applications.
小蝌蚪APP淎ccompanying the growth of 3-D printing is a need to develop materials with a broader range of compositions and properties that make them more durable, or lighter, or otherwise tailored to specific products and applications,小蝌蚪APP Raush explained.
UL Lafayette researchers will do that by integrating elements of computer science and engineering.
Researchers will design and analyze complex alloys and polymers. Complex alloys are created by combining two or more metallic elements. All plastics are comprised of polymers, which are long chains of bonded molecules. Not all polymers, however, are plastics.
Researchers will also test materials to see how they react to factors such as heat and pressure to gauge 小蝌蚪APP渇atigue小蝌蚪APP limits, or the highest level of stress a material can withstand.
The process of discovering optimal processes and new materials for specific functions will be guided by machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence, Jin explained.
Machine learning models are capable of 小蝌蚪APP渓earning小蝌蚪APP from data and making predictions 小蝌蚪APP about which 3-D printing processes or new materials are best suited for a particular application, for example.
Researchers in the School of Computing and Informatics will develop machine learning models based on information gleaned from research into 3-D printing processes and materials.
小蝌蚪APP淐omponents can be manufactured with more complicated shapes at much lower weights with 3-D printing than with traditional manufacturing methods. The problem is a lack of existing 3-D printing materials that provide a desired fatigue life. Data analysis and machine learning will guide us to new materials or processes that are optimal for specific applications,小蝌蚪APP Jin said.
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