On March 2017 will start the project SIMSOLIDAM aimed to the enhancement of tools of numerical simulation for the metal deposition process, focusing on analysis of temperature evolution and solidification behaviour of material during the Additive Manufacturing process.

SIMSOLIDAM is a two-years duration project funded by the European Commission within the H2020 Framework (MSCA-Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions).

New approach of Metal Deposition processes

A different approach to the simulation of Metal Deposition processes is proposed: the implementation of a new solidification formulation for the evaluation of microstructures and mechanical properties of the products.

The accurate simulation of the dynamics of solidification and solid state cooling during the overall process allows for the estimation of final microstructures and properties of the product by means of not coupled models or/and experimental correlations, with big advantages in terms of computational costs. The proposed models will incorporate also empirical coefficients derived from experimental characterizations, with a practical approach to the problem and minimizing computational costs. The final challenge will be to obtain simulation tools of practical industrial interest that can be used to optimize Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes (efficiency, costs, timing) and the final quality of fabricated products (microstructures and properties).

The research will propose new experimental approaches for validation of results with a particular interest in the evaluation of microstructural and mechanical properties of products. End users (software houses, mechanical industries) will be strongly interested in the results: enhancing of simulation accuracy and computational costs, process optimisation in terms of cost, time and product quality. The impact of the development of reliable, cost-effective components leads to clear benefits not only for the end-users but for society in general.

Previous experiences

CIMNE has a long experience in the study of additive manufacturing processes with COMET, a Finite Element-based framework for the solution of research problems in both academic and industrial environment. The software, written in Fortran-90, allows optimal CPU-time performance and easy-to-use R&D framework.

It has being used by the workgroup leaded by Prof. Miguel Cervera in the framework of the research line Computational Solid and Structural Mechanics for European Projects, like CAxMAN (Computer Aided Technologies for Additive Manufacturing) or EMUSIC (Efficient Manufacturing for Aerospace Components USing Additive Manufacturing, Net Shape HIP and Investment Casting).

Principal Investigator

The Principal Investigator of SIMSOLIDAM project is Dr. Emilio Salsi, who previously has worked with Prof. Michele Chiumenti, co-leader of the Industrial Processes Group, at the project FLEXICAST (Robust, and FLEXible CAST iron manufacturing) on solidification of metals and microstructures. Dr. Emilio Salsi's previous research experiences have been in the field of simulation and optimization of foundry processes and other industrial manufacturing processes, with particular interest in the forecast of the microstructure of the product.