The project will focus on high rate production of 3D plastic and metal parts using holographic beam shaping (HBS) to perform selective laser sintering (SLS). Current additive manufacturing (AM) techniques are reliant upon electron and laser beam technologies to selectively melt a small area.
StudentSupervisor |
Project overview
Dissimilar cooling induces thermal stresses with associated mechanical issues and there overall throughput rates are low. This project aims to improve on both of these areas by using HBS to melt an entire layer of material in a single pass, greatly increasing production rates and limiting the thermal gradients encountered and fixturing required. Work will be in the form of a collaboration between Professor Tim Wilkinson as supervisor and director of the Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics and Professor Bill O'Neill as advisor and director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Ultra Precision. An additional focus of this project will be in multi-material manufacture using HBS, reducing the number of support structures and fixtures required.