Design of a gas manifold for high pressure applications by Powder Bed Fusion – Laser Beam

Abstract

This thesis report was conducted in the Product Development Master’s Program at Chalmers University of Technology. The project is related to Powder Bed Fusion - Laser Beam, an Additive Manufacturing technology and how its productivity can increase. The report intends to present which printing parameters one can take advantage of, to enable high build rates using the specific technology. The perspective of high productivity was one of the main factors that affected the result of the project since it plays a vital role in modern industry and how attractive AM can be. The whole research was in collaboration with Quintus Technologies, a firm located in Västerås that focuses on Hot Isostatic Pressing equipment design and manufacture. The component that the project was concentrated on was a gas manifold, as an idea for practical usage in Quintus Technologies. The research was initiated by conducting a Generative Flow Analysis aiming to optimize the flow of the manifold and followed by 3D-Modelling. The manifold was designed for AM to account for satisfactory buildability and following post-AM process, HIP. In other words, design iterations needed to be executed since the printing process should be with minimal support structures, aiming in decreasing lead time through reduction in post-processing. Materialise Magics software was used to examine what kind of support structures are necessary and in which spots they are needed. To accomplish this, each design was placed in different orientations and found out the best orientation possible for printing this manifold. Additionally, the trade-off between printing time and density is discussed since controlling porosity levels can contribute to increasing productivity. An attempt of predicting the densification levels in the manifold but also in simpler geometries after HIP was conducted using Simufact Additive software. Occurred errors during the calculations are discussed further in the respective sections. Every difficulty that occurred during the process of the project is described in detail. This work aims to be a steppingstone towards AM industrialization and enable mass production.