Particulate Engineering for industry 4.0 event held

TWI representatives joined members of the academic and industrial communities for a one-day meeting organised by the Particulate Engineering Committee (PEC) of IOM3 at the Cavendish Conference Centre in Marylebone, London.

The event, which took the title ‘Particulate Engineering for Industry 4.0: From Feedstock to End Use,’ was sponsored by Hilti, Quintus, and Floteks, and supported by EPMA, TWI and The Welding Institute.

The event was open to professionals, industrialists, R&D experts, production and procurement specialists, quality control personnel, health and safety staff, as well as entrepreneurs, innovators and investors.

Attendees from the UK and further afield were able to attend a series of presentations focusing on Industry 4.0 and more particularly in the powders/particulates aspects from feedstock to end use, covering different materials systems, manufacturing techniques like additive, HIP and Fast Forging for metals and alloys, as well as other net shape routes like rotational moulding for polymers. There were also contributions detailing advances in non-destructive testing (NDT), automation and machine learning, showing how new systems can be integrated with production and manufacturing lines.

The aim of the event was to unite members of the supply chain and the innovation community to bring new research forward for the benefit of industry and it all began with a welcome from the PEC chair, TWI Business Development Consultant, Cem Selcuk.

The first topics discussed were related to the industrialisation of additive manufacturing (AM), courtesy of Jason Dawes of the MTC in Coventry and James Hunt from the AMRC at Sheffield University. These presentations looked into how AM is being adopted by safety-critical industry sectors such as aerospace and also how AM machines are being coupled with robots for automation and scanners for quality control to promote greater efficiency. While powder feedstock quality, chemistry and handling are all still challenging issues for meeting technical and commercial requirements, several collaborations are underway to address these.

Next, Jim Shipley from Quintus gave a talk about hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technology and high pressure heat treatment (HPHT) as an enabler for AM. This talk demonstrated how HIP is a necessary production step for achieving the mechanical properties and desired fatigue life for industries like aerospace. HIP offers benefits including cost-reduction as a result of advancements that allow for high pressure quenching. The high pressure isostatic atmosphere in HIP has been shown to have significant effect on the phase transformations and cooling curves, which in turn allows for further optimisation of properties such as hardness, and eliminates the need for the traditional heat treatment of materials. In addition, it was shown how recent developments for the in-line processing of parts using HPHT can secure improved process control and quality.

Mihai Iovea from AP2K Romania spoke next on new capabilities for accurate 3D measurement and high resolution NDT of sintered parts. Mihai explained how AP2K’s high resolution X-Ray scanning machines utilised mini/microfocus X-ray tubes and special X-ray detectors for Time Delayed Integration (TDI). The latest of these machines, the XShaper, is a complex in line belt based scanner combining two advanced methods; a laser based system for 3D plate shape measurement (external dimensions) and X-ray digital imaging system for internal defect identification based on a mini-focus X-ray source and two X-ray TDI detectors. The Xshaper is able to scan a sample with typical size of 240x290mm2 in less than 60s, enabled by the fast scanning and defect detection algorithms. The laser profile is able to measure sintered parts with a maximum size of 300x400mm2 with an overall dimensional accuracy of over 98%, while the achievable X-ray image resolution of approximately 70 microns is sufficient for detecting the thinnest possible defects including cracks. The equipment is able to accommodate both green and sintered parts and density variations.

The discussion of the Xshaper continued after lunch when an end user, Cem Sapmaz of Nurol Technology from Ankara Turkey, elaborated on the fabrication and characterisation of near net shape in-situ reaction bonded boron carbide ceramics. Nurol designs, develops and manufactures ballistic protection for security personnel, land vehicles, helicopters and naval fields as part of international defence, safety and security solutions. Ceramic products are commonly produced by sintering a porous compact at high temperatures to achieve densification. Depending on the component size, shape complexity, and surface quality, machining of a sintered ceramic can amount to more than 50% of the production costs, while inhomogeneous shrinkage can result in residual stress generation and cracking in large components. Reducing or eliminating shrinkage creates higher dimensional accuracy and reproducibility, and can be achieved by reaction bonding which presents the possibility and inherent advantages of near net shape manufacturing of components at lower process temperatures (e.g. around 1400^◦C) compared with sintering. Reaction bonding also offers a low cost route to producing composites with effective impact resistance / ballistic behaviour. However, a greater understanding of process-microstructure and property relationships is still required in order to see how this may reduce ceramic mechanical properties and how the the reaction bonding of ceramics for lightweight armour applications can be controlled.

PEC Chairman, Cem Selcuk opening the event

Gavin Baxter of Rolls Royce followed with a talk on the use of laser blown powder directed energy deposition for the repair of aerospace components such as blades and blisks. Having studied the characterisation requirements for metal powders in AM applications, Gavin focused on the effects of powder particle parameters and chemistry on the process as well as the resulting microstructural features underlining the achievable material properties. This research comes due to Gavin’s links with UK universities and 30-40 PhD students who are involved with these areas of investigation.

Cambridge Carbon Capture CEO, Michael Evans, was next to speak as he delivered a talk on a game-changing CO2 capture and mineralisation technology that can transform CO2 into valuable mineral by-products. This has strong implications for tackling climate change with associated applications for power stations and related companies to explore.

Lionel Aboussouan, the Executive Director of EPMA then provided an overview of the Powder Metallurgy Industry (PM). A dynamic and successful industry, European PM has seen an increase in powder and parts production in most industry sectors including, most notably, automotive. This includes the traditional press and sinter technologies along with newer methods such as additive manufacturing that relies on powders, MIM, HIP, and hard metal applications. Lionel noted that this growth is due to sustained European business and revealed that his core mission at EPMA is to promote and develop PM with particulate engineering at its heart, in response to innovations like electrification.

Following a networking session, the next presentation was from Turkish SME, Floteks, an innovator in rotational moulding technology and a tier supplier to the automotive industry. Floteks’ General Manager, Mehmet Beysel spoke on the polymers industry, with a particular focus on industry 4.0 in Polymer Processing as an example from rotomoulding. Rotomoulding (also known as Rotational Moulding) is a process used to form large and complex polymeric parts. While it is not as widely used as blow moulding or injection moulding, this process is still adopted by many industries. Due to the lower mould cost, typically high labour content and longer processing times, it is ideal for smaller production quantities. However, it could certainly benefit from Industry 4.0 as it requires mould changes and process alterations depending on the parts, geometry, and end user requirements. Floteks have already begun to implement many improvements to their productivity and, as a result, have been producing fuel tanks, AdBlue tanks, air ducts and similar parts with an increasing quality and added value for customers including Mercedes and MAN.

Martin Jackson, Director of Aerospace Engineering, at the University of Sheffield followed with a presentation on the development of FAST-forge for developing aerospace components from titanium alloy particulates to near net shape components. FAST-forge is a new solid state hybrid manufacturing route for converting titanium alloy powder into components with wrought properties in just two steps. The process uses field assisted sintering technology (FAST) to produce a shaped preform billet that can then be finished to near net shape by closed die hot forging. A range of titanium alloy powders and particulates have been used to create the near net shapes for items such as brake callipers, rocker arms and blades which are then machined to a finish.

The final presentation of a packed day was from David Rowe of Cedar Metals, who spoke on the factors affecting the particle size of refractory metal powders. David paid particular attention to metals such as tantalum, molybdenum and tungsten, including information on methods to produce spherical molybdenum powder using a spray dryer and free-flowing coarse-grained molybdenum particulates for plasma spraying.

The highly informative event concluded with thanks given to the speakers, delegates and supporters.

For further information on PEC, please visit https://www.iom3.org/particulate-engineering-committee

The event was sponsored by The Welding Institute.

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