Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2022

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M. Eng.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Program

JB Speed School of Engineering

Committee Chair

Atre, Sundar

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Kate, Kunal

Committee Member

Kate, Kunal

Committee Member

Gupta, Gautam

Author's Keywords

aluminum alloy; additive manufacturing; metal fused filament; MF3

Abstract

This research studies metal-fused filament fabrication (MF3) for manufacturing aluminum alloy parts. An aluminum alloy powder-based feedstock with a polymer-binder system was extruded via capillary rheometry to form a filament. The filament was used to print green parts that were involved in a two-step debinding process combining solvent and thermal extraction of the polymer binder, then sintered in a partial vacuum. Resulting grain structure, sintered density, and mechanical properties will be characterized and compared to metal injection molded (MIM) specimens. The main objective is to gain an understanding of the MF3 process characteristics and the ensuing material properties and microstructure through carefully designed experiments and computer simulations, therefore creating additive manufactured components from a common lightweight metal. The overarching goal is to enable rapid, predictable, reproducible, low cost, and accurate production of metal parts with 3D features, thereby significantly expanding the current additive manufacturing capability.

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