MateriAlZ Seminar: Tao Sun
Friday, October 29, 2021, 11:00 am MST
Tao Sun
Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
University of Virginia
"X-ray Vision of Metal 3D Printing"
Zoom link. Passcode: 185006
MateriAlZ Seminar website | YouTube | Twitter
Abstract
Metal additive manufacturing (AM) refers to a group of disruptive technologies that build metallic three-dimensional objects by adding feedstock materials layer by layer based on digital designs. AM not only unleashes the design freedom by allowing the build of geometrically complex parts but also opens opportunities for processing materials under conditions far from equilibrium. AM holds the promise of completely revolutionizing the way we make metal components but building defect-free products with precisely controlled microstructures and properties remains challenging. Indeed, many fundamental issues associated with AM processes and materials need to be addressed, and many new directions need to be explored. At the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory, we applied high-speed x-ray imaging and diffraction techniques to in situ characterize laser fusion and binder jetting AM processes. The superior penetration power of high-energy x-rays makes it possible to investigate dense metallic materials and watch their dynamic structural evolution during the complex energy-matter interaction involved in metal AM. A variety of highly transient phenomena in metal AM were directly observed with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. In the presentation, I will introduce the new understanding gained from operando synchrotron x-ray experiments, with a focus on the laser powder bed fusion process. I will highlight how the quantitative measurements enabled by the high-speed x-ray imaging technique facilitate the development of high-fidelity numerical models and other real-time monitoring
techniques.
Bio
Tao Sun is an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Virginia. Dr. Sun received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in MSE from Tsinghua University, and a Ph.D. degree in MSE from Northwestern University. Sun did his postdoc research at Argonne National Laboratory and then served as a beamline scientist at the Advanced Photon Source. In 2019, Sun relocated to UVA to become a faculty member. Sun has extensive research experience in material structure characterization and metal additive manufacturing (AM). During his Argonne period, Sun developed a program on applying high-speed synchrotron x-ray techniques for operando studies of various metal AM processes. His UVA team is currently applying and studying laser powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, binder jetting, and material extrusion AM processes for building metal, ceramic, and composition materials.