Additive Manufacturing of Automotive Components

As an additive manufacturing (AM) technique, the laser powder-bed fusion (L-PBF) process produces metal objects layer-by-layer using a laser source. This project aims at increasing and improving the implementation of additive manufacturing (AM) technology in the automotive industry for producing lightweight heat exchangers. The proposed research is focused on developing technologies for designing automotive components with the aid of integrating topology optimization into the design process while exploiting the capabilities of metal additive manufacturing. The project also aims at monitoring part defects during the laser powder-bed fusion of metals using acoustic emission technique. Weight minimization and topology optimization subject to constraints on mechanical and thermal loads are major research issues in this project. The overall research objective of this proposal is to develop a comprehensive approach for the production of lightweight automotive components by integrating topology optimization with novel additive manufacturing technologies using L-PBF.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mo Elbestawi

Student:

Mahmoud Seyam;Shekhar Rammohan Singh Tandel;Evgenia Tifbenkel

Partner:

FCA Canada

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

McMaster University