Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is a process for fabricating parts directly from 3-D digital models which has tremendous potential for producing high-value, complex, individually customized parts. Companies across the globe are using AM to reduce time-to-market, improve product quality, and reduce the cost to manufacture products. Polymers are attractive materials in this regard because they are economical, they provide for a large range of properties, and they are amenable to many low energy fabrication technologies. In the industrial sector, polymers are being used in a wide range of part applications including aerospace, defense, automotive, sports, telecommunications, and medical devices.

While the use of polymeric materials for AM has been growing, challenges impede its more widespread adoption and commercialization. In many cases, new measurement methods, standards, data, and models are needed to overcome these challenges. We are interested in the rheological, chemical, mechanical, and processing aspects of additive manufacturing because their critical importance to producing strong and reproducible parts.

In the Materials Science and Engineering Division, opportunities include (1) development of in-situ x-ray measurements to measure the crystallization kinetics during polymers extrusion additive manufacturing (also called fused deposition modelling) and (2) measurements of gelation and solidification kinetics during photopolymerization (stereolithography) using the newly developed rheo-Raman microscope.

Further research areas are available in the use of Raman Microscopy to measure alignment of extruded strands. These are described under a separate posting listed for NRC advisor Hight Walker, Angela.

 

key words

Polymers; Semi-crystalline polymers; Polymer processing-structure relationships; Rheology; X-ray scattering; Fused Deposition Modelling; FDM; Stereolithography; SLA; 3D printing; 3-D printing;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants