dhruvbhate Arizona State University, Education

Additive Manufacturing Courses at Arizona State University

Over a year ago, I wrote a blog post discussing the Additive Manufacturing (AM) equipment we have at Arizona State University (ASU), most of it part of a $2M (and since growing) investment at the Polytechnic School’s Innovation Hub. This post introduces a lesser-known aspect of our overall AM effort at ASU, and that is the curriculum around AM that we have developed rather organically over the past 2 years. Today, several students at ASU are stringing these courses together based on their interests, at the BS, MS and PhD levels. Over 200 students have enrolled in these courses so far.

Additive Manufacturing Courses

We have 5 courses at ASU that are specific to AM (i.e. they have AM in the title of the course). Two of these are offered in the Fall, and 3 in the Spring semester, as shown in Figure 1. Three different faculty members teach these courses, enriching the learning process with their own research and industry experiences.

Figure 1: AM-specific courses at ASU: 2 in the Fall, 3 in the Spring
  • MFG 472: Additive Manufacturing (Instructor: Dhruv Bhate) This was the very first AM course developed at ASU and offered for the first time in 2015. Today the course has morphed into a flipped classroom format – students watch pre-recorded lectures and how-to videos, complete an online quiz, and classroom time is used for hands-on 3D printing. Students print parts in groups of 5 on six different 3D printing processes (see Figure 2) over a 12-week period (2 weeks per process). This includes build preparation, machine setup and post-processing and this year we also included metal 3D printing (on our Concept Laser MLab Laser Powder Bed Fusion system). This course serves as a hands-on introduction to AM and allows students to reflect on the different processes and their relative merits.
Figure 2. Students in ASU’s MFG 472 get 2 weeks of hands-on time each, on 6 different 3D printing processes (4 polymer, 1 metal, 1 composite)
  • MFG 598: Micro and Nano Additive Manufacturing (Instructor: Xiangfan Chen) In this course, first offered in the Fall of 2018, students learn the importance of AM at the micro- and nanoscales, and its role in development and innovation of micro-/nano-engineering. Students develop a rich knowledge of micro-/nanotechnologies, devices, capabilities, materials and applications. They explore the broad range of micro- /nano- AM applications, including biomedical, optical, consumer products, and creative artistry. And finally, they learn the latest trends and opportunities in micro-/nano- AM.
  • MFG 598: Design for Additive Manufacturing (Instructor: Dhruv Bhate)
    The DFAM course at ASU, first offered in the Spring of 2018, focuses on five different aspects of designing for AM: (i) an understanding of constraints imposed by AM processes and the expected properties, (ii) methods to determine what parts are good candidates for AM, (iii) topology optimization, (iv) cellular materials design, and (v) implementation realities such as the need for certification and qualification. This class also uses a flipped classroom format, with pre-recorded lectures (Figure 3), using classroom time for students to work in groups on a combination of projects and a final research poster to be delivered at the Annual SFF Symposium in August (over the past 2 years, 4 groups have made presentations at this conference, and 25 students have collectively been co-authors on a conference publication).
Figure 3. Video lectures and software demos, followed by hands-on design projects (in this case, using nTopology to optimize stiffness for a cantilever problem)
  • MFG 598: Polymer Science in Additive Manufacturing (Instructor: Kenan Song) This course is the first of two AM courses that takes a process-structure-property approach to AM. This particular course focuses on the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of polymers used in AM, with regard to the underlying physics and physical chemistry of polymers in melt, solution, and solid state. Topics include conformation and molecular dimensions of polymer chains in solutions, melts, blends, and block copolymers; an examination of the structure of glassy, crystalline, and rubbery elastic states of polymers; thermodynamics of polymer solutions, blends, crystallization; nanocomposites; mechanical, thermal and electrical properties in polymeric materials; lab sessions in 3D printing.
  • MFG 598: Metal Additive Manufacturing (Instructor: Dhruv Bhate)
    This course, offered for the first time in the Spring of 2020, provides an overview of different metal 3D printing processes, and an in-depth look at the most widely used one: the laser powder bed fusion process. For this process, the course is divided into 4 modules: process development (hands-on metal 3D printing), properties (characterization and testing), design for metal AM (use of design, and build preparation software), and process simulation (use of simulation software) – see Figure 4. This course too is taught with the flipped model, reserving classroom time for hands-on activities.
Figure 4. The four modules for the new Metal Additive Manufacturing class at ASU

Other Related Courses

There are several courses at ASU that are not limited to AM in scope, but allow for a deeper dive into the underlying fundamentals that are relevant to AM and design for AM. Some of these courses are (this is a partial list):

  1. MSE 598: Introduction to Powder Processing
  2. EGR 598: Simulating Manufacturing Systems
  3. EGR 598: Manufacturing Systems Management

To learn more about these and other courses at ASU, visit ASU’s course catalog: https://catalog.asu.edu/

dhruvbhate Arizona State University, Biomimicry, Cellular Materials, Design for Additive Manufacturing, Education, Jobs, Metal Additive Manufacturing

FILLED! Two PhD Positions Open in Additive Manufacturing, Bio-Inspired Design and Cellular Materials

March 25, 2020 Update:
Both these positions have been filled. Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in this position.

December 3, 2019
Our group (www.3DXResearch.com) has two PhD positions open. Please review the details of each position below, and send an email with your CV (and research/design portfolio, if available) to dhruv.bhate[at]asu.edu with the Subject “PhD Position: Bio-Inspired Design” or “PhD Position: Metallic Cellular Materials,” as appropriate. Both positions are only open to students with a Master’s degree in a relevant field, and are subject to receiving admission into a PhD program at ASU.

Cellular material types in nature: what are the underlying design principles that enable functional performance?

PhD in Bio-Inspired Design of Cellular Materials [Spring or Fall 2020]

This position involves designing, manufacturing and testing cellular materials such as lattices, foams and honeycombs, using nature as an inspiration. Specifically, you will digitize a range of natural cellular materials and translate the resulting data into usable design principles and relationships. These design principles will then form the basis of a design optimization tool, the results of which will be validated using Additive Manufacturing, characterization and functional testing. At a deeper level, we are seeking to understand how structural patterns in cellular materials influence behavior, and how these can be translated into application. This project will involve collaboration with members from industry, academia and NASA. Applicants must have a passion for nature, and an interest in seeking out and studying biological patterns (very important!), and demonstrated skills in FEA and design optimization. Experience with cellular material design, mechanical testing, and materials characterization are plus points.

FEA of a TPMS unit cell under compression: how should this be modeled in the presence of uncertainty of geometry and behavior? (Courtesy Mandar Shinde)

PhD in the Failure Modeling of Metallic Cellular Materials [Fall 2020]

A key challenge in the implementation of cellular materials such as lattices, honeycombs and foams with Additive Manufacturing is in regard to their reliability. This project aims at understanding those aspects of the constitutive behavior in cellular materials that are relevant to failure modeling, and then the development, implementation and validation of the failure model itself. A deeper goal is to establish design methods that can improve reliability of these structures, using the developed model as a design tool. Demonstrated experience with the development and implementation of fracture and/or damage mechanics models in FEA is a minimum requirement for this position. Experience with cellular material design, Metal Additive Manufacturing (in particular Laser Powder Bed Fusion), mechanical testing and materials characterization, are all plus points.

To learn more about our group, visit http://www.3DXResearch.com