The model of the sedan car B-pillar panel developed was analyzed for impact and crush simulation. It concluded that a composite can be used for the outer panel of B-pillar, which results in reduced vehicle weight and fuel consumption and increased energy absorption.
First and foremost, we would like to thank God. It was your blessing that provided us with the strength to believe in passion and hard work and to pursue our dreams. We thank our families for having the patience with us for taking yet another challenge that decreased the amount of time we could spend with them. They are our inspiration and motivation. We would like to thank our parents and grandparents for allowing us to follow our ambitions. We would like to thank all the contributing authors, as they are the pillars of this structure. We would also like to thank them for believing in us. We would like to thank all of our colleagues and friends in different parts of the world for sharing their ideas helping us to shape our thoughts. We will be satisfied with our efforts when the professionals concerned with all the fields related to lightweight materials are benefitted.
We owe a huge thanks to all of our technical reviewers, Editorial Advisory Board members, Book Development Editor and the team at ISTE Ltd for their availability to work on this huge project. All of their efforts helped us to complete this book, and we could not have done it without them.
Last, but definitely not least, we would like to thank all of the individuals who have taken time out and helped us during the process of editing this book. Without their support and encouragement, we would have probably given up the project.
Kaushik KUMAR
Bathini SRIDHAR BABU
J. Paulo DAVIM
September 2020
1
Additive Manufacturing: Technology, Materials and Applications in Aerospace
Additive manufacturing (AM), predominantly known as 3D printing, is transmuting product design, production and service. AM assists us in achieving on-demand production without dedicated apparatus or tooling, unlocks digital design tools, and leads to breakthrough performance and supreme flexibility in industries. Knowledge acts as a barrier to this technique since the selection process for various materials and their applications and requirements differ from each individualized processes. The aerospace industry is the primary user of AM, as it enables it to create complex user-defined part design and fabricate with different materials without wastage of raw materials, reducing the time and cost of production.
This research work promotes the clarity of AM technology by providing in-depth knowledge about its classification and selection process for various applications required by engineering industries, especially in the aerospace industry. Several 3D printing methods and the use of different materials and their applications in the aerospace industry are discussed in detail.
1.1. Introduction
Additive manufacturing technology enables a variety of innovative and economically reliable components when compared to conventional manufacturing methods. The term “rapid prototyping” (RP) is defined as the emphasis of generating a design for a prototype or a base model at a faster rate to promote the end product for manufacturing. It is used in various industries to rapidly develop various peripherals with intricate user-defined models into a commercialized product (Devadiga 2017). RP technology emerged as the first methodology for making user-defined models, but it lags behind modern methodology due to its inadequate efficiency to effectively create products within the time limit and cost of production. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology developed from RP technology to enhance the quality of the output product. AM acts as a basic principle of creating three-dimensional (3D) objects generated through computer-aided design (CAD) systems. In AM technology, the components are produced from CAD data and slicing software to create a specified part geometry rather than complex tooling and additional fixtures that are used in conventional manufacturing methodologies. In AM technology, the structures are built in a layer-by-layer fashion with a specified cross-section, which is not only used in manufacturing industries to fabricate automobile components and dynamic mechanical structures but is also used in tissue engineering with the capacity of bioprinting to create biomedical implants, artificial human organs and drug delivery systems (Herzog 2016). AM technology acts as a key to solving environmental and engineering issues since it has free-form fabrication (FFF) that facilitates producing user-defined geometries with all classes of raw materials without any limitations, unlike metals, non-metals, alloys and synthetic polymers, with no wastage of materials. This technology can be further improved by increasing its applications across the engineering industry (Dhinakaran 2019). There are numerous stages involved in product development, initially from generating a CAD model to the conversion of the STL file format to make the end product (DebRoy 2018). As AM is a multi-purpose method, it is used not only for producing new components but also to simplify and alter the existing components.
Figure 1.1. Additive manufacturing process (Tofail 2018). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/kumar/materials.zip
1.2. Additive manufacturing configuration
AM technology uses specialized designing software to produce CAD models with user-defined cross-sections and process constraints such as material restraints, source of energy, timings and layer thickness. The computed CAD design is then formatted into an STL (stereolithographic) file format. The STL file displays the peripherally closed external surface of the CAD geometry and performs the slice calculation using a slicing software, and then it is sent to the AM machine which is verified for its build orientation and position (Brandsmeier 2017). The construction of the material is automatically carried out in a layered fashion by the machine (3D printer) without any human supervision. The 3D printer needs manpower to only monitor the availability of raw materials and to check for any run-time errors. After completing the product, the interaction of the part with the machine is cut down by adjusting the machine temperature and then detached. In post-processing, the part is cleaned before use and treated mechanically for surface finish and the required texture (Scheck 2016).
Figure 1.2. Additive manufacturing procedure. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/kumar/materials.zip
1.3. Classification of AM technology
The diversity of materials has convoluted the 3D structures being fabricated with a distinct class of functional time and assembly. AM technology emerged as a great boon over conventional methodologies for creating complex geometries (Ngo 2018). The prominent process of AM is classified into the following seven types:
– laser beam melting;
– electron beam melting;
– selective laser melting;
