Next generation additive manufacturing using novel 3D printing (MMAM)

Recently awarded EPSRC grants (a £3m capital grant and an £0.8m novel instrumentation grant) have enabled our researchers to design and fabricate a novel new MMAM system at the University of Southampton by employing the next generation of additive manufacturing technology.

This new MMAM equipment includes two laser systems and a novel multiple materials recoating system. The two lasers can be operated independently (as a standalone SLS or SLM AM machine) or simultaneously (for multiple materials).

The multiple scanning mechanism means the equipment is capable of carrying out many scanning tasks, including group direction steering scanning, chessboard scanning, tape scanning and rotational scanning. This has enabled us to print a combination of different metallic materials in 3D, including stainless steel, Ti alloys, inconel, tool steels, CoCr alloys, polymers, ceramics, and other designed alloys.

Using this new MMAM equipment, the University’s Materials Research Group will be able to carry out advanced research in collaboration with colleagues from the Computational Engineering Design Group and the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), to manufacture a combination of different MMAM materials, and investigate their microstructure, mechanical properties and fatigue behaviour.

This novel research is set to open up a completely new manufacturing regime in which products can be designed with far fewer constraints than if they were manufactured from a single material, and offers a revolutionary approach for manufacturing ‘designed materials’ with properties and functions not currently in existence.

The outcome of our project will lead to a breakthrough in next generation additive manufacturing technology. The application of MMAM processes is expected to create many new future technological opportunities.

We used the following facilities within the University - Multiple materials additive manufacturing (MMAM) system.

Find out more about the Engineering and Environment Faculty's many world class facilities.

This research is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Engineering and the University's Optoelectronics Research Centre.

The project is also a part collaboration with Lloyds Register and TWI .

1. Mohd Yusuf, S. Y. B., & Gao, N. (2017). Influence of energy density on metallurgy and properties in metal additive manufacturing . Materials Science and Technology, 33(11), 1269-1289. DOI: 10.1080/02670836.2017.1289444

2. Mohd Yusuf, S., Chen, Y., Boardman, R., Yang, S., & Gao, N. (2017). Investigation on porosity and microhardness of 316L stainless steel fabricated by selective laser melting . Metals, 7(2), [64]. DOI: 10.3390/met7020064

3. Zhong, G., Vaezi, M., Liu, P., Pan, L., & Yang, S. (2017). Characterization approach on the extrusion process of bioceramics for the 3D printing of bone tissue engineering scaffolds . Ceramics International, 43(16), 13860-13868. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.07.109

4. Oreffo, R., Yang, S., Cidonio, G., Dawson, J., Ahlfeld, T., Kilian, D., ... Gelinsky, M. (2017). Development of a clay based bioink for 3D cell printing for skeletal application . Biofabrication, 1-24. DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/aa7e96

5. Vaezi, M., Black, C., Gibbs, D. M. R., Oreffo, R. O. C., Brady, M., Moshrefi-Torbati, M., & Yang, S. (2016). Characterization of new PEEK/HA composites with 3D HA network fabricated by extrusion freeforming . Molecules, 21(6), 1-21. DOI: 10.3390/molecules21060687