Solid Freeform Fabrication from Gas Precursors Using Laser Processing

Table of Contents:

  1. Principal Investigator.
  2. Productivity Measures.
  3. Summary of Objectives and Approach.
  4. Detailed Summary of Technical Progress.
  5. Transitions and DOD Interactions.
  6. Software and Hardware Prototypes.
  7. List of Publications.
  8. Invited and Contributed Presentations.
  9. Honors, Prizes or Awards Received.
  10. Project Personnel Promotions.
  11. Project Staff.
  12. Multimedia URL.
  13. Keywords.
  14. Business Office.
  15. Expenditures.
  16. Students.
  17. Book Plans.
  18. Sabbatical Plans.
  19. Related Research.
  20. History.

Harris Marcus

Productivity Measures.

Summary of Objectives and Approach.

  1. Selective Area Laser Deposition (SALD) and Selective Area Laser Deposition Vapor Infiltration (SALDVI)
  2. Selection and use of materials for deposition
  3. Laser Approaches

Detailed Summary of Technical Progress.>

  1. A Solid Freeform Fabrication laboratory was designed and assembled, with a starting point of an empty room. Three SFF systems are presently in place, with two operational at the moment and a third in the process of assembly and testing. Two systems have Powder Delivery System (PDS) units for spreading out a powder substrate, necessary for the SALDVI process. One system offers a four inch by four and a half inch target area for large part production, while the other system has a one inch diameter target area. The third system will be used for SALD/SALD joining. The large PDS sits in a 28 inch diameter, 15 inch tall vacuum system with a double-walled cooling jacket. The two other systems are eight inch diameter, eight inch tall vacuum chambers that have been nickel-plated to protect against the corrosive environments of some precursors and reaction by-products. Three lasers are operational, a 50 watt continuous wave CO2 (l = 10.6 microns), a 150 watt continuous wave Nd:YAG (l = 1.064 microns), and a 6 watt harmonic generating pulsed Nd:YAG (l =1.064, .532, .355, .266 microns at the fundamental and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonic wavelengths, respectively). X-Y translational equipment, optics, electronic comonents, three computers and associated software are all utilized in laser scanning. Ancillary laboratory equipment needed for proper laboratory procedures and safety has also been acquired and put to use, including a glove box for liquid precursor handling, a micron filter vacuum for powder cleanup, and compressed gas cylinder equipment.
  2. Fabrication of parts and shapes has recently begun in a focused effort. Some examples of deposited parts can be viewed at the University of Connecticut Solid Freeform Fabrication homepage.
  3. An integrated temperature closed loop and scanning motion control computer program has been designed and refined in-house for the SFF systems. The program was written in Visual Basic. The closed loop uses the output from an emissivity-measuring infrared pyrometer to monitor temperature at the reaction zone of the laser beam. The program compares this readout to a user-defined temperature and makes adjustments in laser power by altering the input voltage to the laser controller with an analog voltage output card. Concurrent with this operation, the Visual Basic program directs the motion control hardware. Custom motion programs can be designed and inputed into the program. Future plans include direct translation from 3-D models to 2-D scan patterns.

Transitions and DOD Interactions.

  1. Briefing on SFF applications to future naval operations to Fellows of the Chief of Naval Operations' Strategic Studies Group, Capt. T.D. Glass USN, Capt. D.R. Ellison USN, and LCDR S.L. Kruppa USN, at Newport, RI April, 1996
  2. Presentation on "Laser Solid Freeform Fabrication: SLS, SALD, SALDVI" at the ONR review meeting in Woods Hole, MA, May 29th-30th, 1996

    Software and Hardware Prototypes.

    List of Publications.

    1. "Solid Freeform Fabrication at The University of Connecticut" by S. Harrison, J.E. Crocker, T. Manzur, and H.L. Marcus, Proceedings of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium 1996, edited by . J. Beaman, H. L. Marcus, D. L. Bourell, J. W. Barlow, and R. H. Crawford, pgs. 345-348
    2. "Solid Freeform Fabrication: An Overview" by H.L. Marcus, S. Harrison, and J.E. Crocker, Proceedings of the Symposium on Rapid Response Manufacturing 1996, sponsored by Manufacturing Engineering Division/ASME-to be published
    3. "Recent Advances in SALD and SALDVI", by K. Jakubenas, B.R. Birmingham, S. Harrison, J.E. Crocker, J. Sanchez, and H.L. Marcus, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Rapid Prototyping 1997-to be published

    Invited and Contributed Presentations.

    1. Presentations on "Selective Area Laser Deposition: A Gas Phase Solid Freeform Fabrication Approach" and "Solid Freeform Fabrication Processing Using Gas Phase Approaches" ath the ASM/TMS Materials Week conference, Cleveland, OH, October 30th-November 2nd, 1995
    2. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication Using Powder and Gas Precursors" at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanics Colloquium series, Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, November 17th, 1995
    3. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication" at the Institute of Materials Science Associate Program Annual Meeting, University of Connecticut, May 23rd, 1996
    4. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication at The University of Connecticut" at the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium at The University of Texas at Austin, August 12th-14th, 1996
    5. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication of Powders Using Laser Processing" at the PM2TEC conference, Washington, D.C., June 19th, 1996
    6. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication of Ceramics" at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers conference, Newton, MA, October 23rd, 1996
    7. Presentation on "Solid Freeform Fabrication: An Overview" at the ASME/MED Symposium on Rapid Response Manufacturing, Atlanta, GA, November, 1996

    Honors, Prizes or Awards Received.

    Project Personnel Promotions.

    Project Staff.

    Multimedia URL.

    1. EOYL FY95
    2. QUAD FY95

    Keywords.

    1. Gas-Phase Solid Freeform Fabrication
    2. Selective Area Laser Deposition (SALD)
    3. Selective Area Laser Deposition Vapor Infiltration (SALDVI)
    4. Decomposition by thermal laser energy
    5. Diode laser
    6. Temperature closed loop control

    Business Office

    Expenditures

    1. Est. FY97: 100%
    2. FY96: 100%
    3. FY95: 100%
    4. FY94: 100%
    5. FY93: 100%

    Current and Former Students

    1. Name: Mr. Shay Harrison
      • Position: Graduate Research Assistant
      • Nationality: United States
      • Task: Laboratory equipment acquisition and assembly, fabricating shapes/parts with the SFF systems
      • Thesis: Gas-Phase SFF, with a focus on boron nitride deposition (expected)
      • Graduated: PhD, estimated summer, 1998
    2. Name: Mr. James E. Crocker
      • Position: Graduate Research Assistant
      • Nationality: United States
      • Task: Perform research experiments on SALD/SALDVI materials systems to develop shapes and embedded devices
      • Thesis: Silicon carbide shapes with embedded devices by SALD/SALDVI (expected)
      • Graduated: Masters, estimated May, 1997
    3. : Name: Mr. Chris F. Costa
      • Position: Graduate Research Assistant
      • Nationality: United States
      • Task: Computer programming of SFF system controls, electronic assembly, calibration, and enhancement of temperature closed loop and motion control system components
      • Thesis: none expected at this time-assigned to flight school for Connecticut Army National Guard commitment beginning in March, 1997
    4. : Name: Mr. Erik Geiss
      • Position: Graduate Research Assistant
      • Nationality: United States
      • Task: New student-likely will pursue building a gas flow SFF system
      • Thesis:

    Book Plans

    1. Title: Proceeding of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium 1996 edited by D.L. Bourell, J.J. Beaman, H.L. Marcus, R.H. Crawford, and J.W. Barlow
      • Publisher: University of Texas at Austin
      • Publication Year: 1996
      • Type of Publication: SFF conference proceeding
      • Additional Support: No
    2. Title: Solid Freeform Fabrication: A New Direction in Manufacturing by J.J. Beaman, J.W. Barlow , D.L. Bourell, R.H. Crawford, H.L. Marcus, and K.P. McAlea
      • Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
      • Publication Year: 1997
      • Type of Publication: Textbook
      • Additional Support: No

    Sabbatical Plans

    Related Research

    1. The Concurrent Design and Manufacturing Simulation Laboratory (CDMS Lab), Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut
    2. University of Texas at Austin
    3. Massachusettes Institute of Technology (MIT)
    4. Rutgers University
    5. Stanford University

    History