PhD position on solid-state additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminum alloys

Are you interested in additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminum alloys? The Production Technology chair is currently seeking a PhD candidate to dive into this topic. The goal of the 4-year project is to develop fundamental understanding of the process-microstructure-properties relationship using our recently created solid-state approach.

The Production Technology chair is part of the Department Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces & Systems (MS3) of the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) at the University of Twente. We address the technical issues of new products and new processes in close collaboration with scientific and industrial partners. We focus on the optimization of both the manufacturing and the performance of lightweight materials in structural applications.

The challenge

In recent years various fusion based approaches have been developed for additive manufacturing of metals and alloys that rely on heating the material to above the melting point followed by solidification. However, many of the high-strength aluminum alloys cannot be processed in this way due to metallurgical problems. Additive manufacturing in the solid state may be a useful alternative.

Within the chair a new solid-state additive manufacturing process, applying a patented screw-based design, is being developed. It relies on the generation of heat and pressure through friction and plastic deformation in a way similar to solid-state joining of metals through friction stir welding. Promising first results have been acquired, paving the way to a more in-depth analysis of the process and the resulting properties of the processed materials. The emphasis in the PhD project is on the full characterization of the process and the in-depth analysis of the relation between the additive manufacturing process, the material microstructure, and the material properties.

The project aims at the manufacturing of high-quality aluminum parts with a tailored microstructure and optimal mechanical properties providing high-strength and light-weight solutions for a variety of products.