Caractérisation et optimisation de structures treillis fabriquées par EBM

The recent development of Additive Manufacturing for the fabrication of metallic parts allows structures to be directly manufactured from 3D models. In particular, the "Electron Beam Melting" (EBM) technology is a suitable process which selectively melts a powder bed layer by layer. It can build very complex geometries but brings new limitations that have to be quantified.This work focuses on the structural and mechanical characterization of lattice structures produced by such technology. The structural characterization mainly rely on X-ray tomography whereas mechanical properties are assessed by uni-axial compression. The geometry and related properties of the fabricated structures are compared with the designed ones. For small strut size, the difference between the designed structure and the produced one is large enough to impact the desired mechanical properties. The concept of mechanical efficient volume is introduced. For the purpose of simulation, this concept is taken into account by replacing the struts by a cylinder with a textit{mechanical equivalent diameter}. After validation, it has been used into "realistic" simulation and optimization procedures, thus taking into account the process constraints.Post-treatments (Chemical Etching and Electro-Chemical Polishing) were applied on lattice structures to get rid of the inefficient matter by decreasing the surface roughness. The control of the size of the fabricated struts was improved by tuning the process strategies and parameters.Le récent développement de la Fabrication Additive de pièces métalliques permet d'élaborer directement des structures à partir de modèles 3D. En particulier, la technologie "Electron Beam Melting" (EBM) permet la fusion sélective, couche par couche, de poudres métalliques. Elle autorise la réalisation de géométries très complexes mais apporte de nouvelles contraintes de fabrication.Ce travail se concentre sur la caractérisation géométrique et mécanique de structures treillis produites par cette méthode. Les pièces fabriquées sont comparées au design initial à travers des caractérisations par tomographie aux rayons X. Les propriétés mécaniques sont testées en compression uni-axiale. Pour les poutres de faibles épaisseur, la différence entre la structure numérique et celle fabriquée devient significative. Les écarts au design initial se traduisent pour chaque poutre par un concept de matière mécaniquement efficace. D'un point de vue modélisation, ce concept est pris en compte en remplaçant la poutre fabriquée par un cylindre avec un diamètre mécaniquement équivalent. Ce diamètre équivalent est utilisé dans des simulations et optimisations "réalistes" intégrant ainsi les contraintes de fabrication de la technologie EBM.Différentes stratégies sont aussi proposées pour réduire la proportion de volume "inefficace" et améliorer le contrôle de la taille des poutres, soit en jouant sur les paramètres procédé et les stratégies de fusion, soit en effectuant des post-traitements

Caractérisation et optimisation de structures treillis fabriquées par EBM

The recent development of Additive Manufacturing for the fabrication of metallic parts allows structures to be directly manufactured from 3D models. In particular, the "Electron Beam Melting" (EBM) technology is a suitable process which selectively melts a powder bed layer by layer. It can build very complex geometries but brings new limitations that have to be quantified.This work focuses on the structural and mechanical characterization of lattice structures produced by such technology. The structural characterization mainly rely on X-ray tomography whereas mechanical properties are assessed by uni-axial compression. The geometry and related properties of the fabricated structures are compared with the designed ones. For small strut size, the difference between the designed structure and the produced one is large enough to impact the desired mechanical properties. The concept of mechanical efficient volume is introduced. For the purpose of simulation, this concept is taken into account by replacing the struts by a cylinder with a textit{mechanical equivalent diameter}. After validation, it has been used into "realistic" simulation and optimization procedures, thus taking into account the process constraints.Post-treatments (Chemical Etching and Electro-Chemical Polishing) were applied on lattice structures to get rid of the inefficient matter by decreasing the surface roughness. The control of the size of the fabricated struts was improved by tuning the process strategies and parameters.Le récent développement de la Fabrication Additive de pièces métalliques permet d'élaborer directement des structures à partir de modèles 3D. En particulier, la technologie "Electron Beam Melting" (EBM) permet la fusion sélective, couche par couche, de poudres métalliques. Elle autorise la réalisation de géométries très complexes mais apporte de nouvelles contraintes de fabrication.Ce travail se concentre sur la caractérisation géométrique et mécanique de structures treillis produites par cette méthode. Les pièces fabriquées sont comparées au design initial à travers des caractérisations par tomographie aux rayons X. Les propriétés mécaniques sont testées en compression uni-axiale. Pour les poutres de faibles épaisseur, la différence entre la structure numérique et celle fabriquée devient significative. Les écarts au design initial se traduisent pour chaque poutre par un concept de matière mécaniquement efficace. D'un point de vue modélisation, ce concept est pris en compte en remplaçant la poutre fabriquée par un cylindre avec un diamètre mécaniquement équivalent. Ce diamètre équivalent est utilisé dans des simulations et optimisations "réalistes" intégrant ainsi les contraintes de fabrication de la technologie EBM.Différentes stratégies sont aussi proposées pour réduire la proportion de volume "inefficace" et améliorer le contrôle de la taille des poutres, soit en jouant sur les paramètres procédé et les stratégies de fusion, soit en effectuant des post-traitements

Building new entities from existing titanium part by electron beam melting: microstructures and mechanical properties

International audienceElectron beam melting (EBM) has been recognized as an emerging additive manufacturing technology, which allows the production of fully dense parts from various metals. The technique builds parts using an electron beam to melt metal powder, layer by layer, in a powder bed. Thus, complex parts, including internal structures, can be made directly from 3D CAD models without special fixtures and cutting tools. Much research is conducted to study the microstructure and mechanical properties of EBM-built parts or to investigate the effects of EBM process parameters on the quality of parts. However, using EBM for building new features on an existing part has received little attention from the research community. Due to its performance, EBM seems able to transform an end-of-life (EoL) part/existing part into a new part without returning to the level of raw material. The aim of this study is to validate such principle. In this paper, an EBM machine was used to produce new Ti-6Al-4V features on a Ti-6Al-4V plate, which was considered as a useful core retrieved from an EoL product. The built samples, including EBM-built features and Ti-6Al-4V plate, were investigated in terms of their microstructure and mechanical properties. The results showed that EBM technique allows new features with a suitable microstructure and controlled mechanical properties to be built on an existing part. Moreover, the EBM-built features have a strong bond with the existing part leading to the same mechanical characteristics as original part. These demonstrate that the EBM technology has a promising potential for producing new parts from EoL parts/existing parts

Feasibility and Limitations of High-Voltage Lithium-Iron-Manganese Spinels

Positive electrodes with high energy densities for Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) almost exclusively rely on toxic and costly transition metals. Iron based high voltage spinels can be feasible alternatives, but the phase stabilities and optimal chemistries for LIB applications are not fully understood yet. In this study, LiFe$_{x}$Mn$_{2-x}$O$_{4}$ spinels with x = 0.2 to 0.9 were synthesized by solid-state reaction at 800 °C. High-resolution diffraction methods reveal gradual increasing partial spinel inversion as a function of x and early secondary phase formation. Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to identify the Fe valences, spin states and coordination. The unexpected increasing lattice parameters with Fe substitution for Mn was explained considering the anion-cation average bond lengths determined by Rietveld analysis and Mn$^{3+}$ overstoichiometries revealed by cyclic voltammetry. Finally, galvanostatic cycling of Li-Fe-Mn-spinels shows that the capacity fading is correlated to increased cell polarization for higher upper charging cut-off voltage, Fe-content and C-rate. The electrolyte may also contribute significantly to the cycling limitations

The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss1. Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity2. Here, using 1,816 time series of freshwater invertebrate communities collected across 22 European countries between 1968 and 2020, we quantified temporal trends in taxonomic and functional diversity and their responses to environmental pressures and gradients. We observed overall increases in taxon richness (0.73% per year), functional richness (2.4% per year) and abundance (1.17% per year). However, these increases primarily occurred before the 2010s, and have since plateaued. Freshwater communities downstream of dams, urban areas and cropland were less likely to experience recovery. Communities at sites with faster rates of warming had fewer gains in taxon richness, functional richness and abundance. Although biodiversity gains in the 1990s and 2000s probably reflect the effectiveness of water-quality improvements and restoration projects, the decelerating trajectory in the 2010s suggests that the current measures offer diminishing returns. Given new and persistent pressures on freshwater ecosystems, including emerging pollutants, climate change and the spread of invasive species, we call for additional mitigation to revive the recovery of freshwater biodiversity.publishedVersio

The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss1. Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity2. Here, using 1,816 time series of freshwater invertebrate communities collected across 22 European countries between 1968 and 2020, we quantified temporal trends in taxonomic and functional diversity and their responses to environmental pressures and gradients. We observed overall increases in taxon richness (0.73% per year), functional richness (2.4% per year) and abundance (1.17% per year). However, these increases primarily occurred before the 2010s, and have since plateaued. Freshwater communities downstream of dams, urban areas and cropland were less likely to experience recovery. Communities at sites with faster rates of warming had fewer gains in taxon richness, functional richness and abundance. Although biodiversity gains in the 1990s and 2000s probably reflect the effectiveness of water-quality improvements and restoration projects, the decelerating trajectory in the 2010s suggests that the current measures offer diminishing returns. Given new and persistent pressures on freshwater ecosystems, including emerging pollutants, climate change and the spread of invasive species, we call for additional mitigation to revive the recovery of freshwater biodiversity.N. Kaffenberger helped with initial data compilation. Funding for authors and data collection and processing was provided by the EU Horizon 2020 project eLTER PLUS (grant agreement no. 871128); the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; 033W034A); the German Research Foundation (DFG FZT 118, 202548816); Czech Republic project no. P505-20-17305S; the Leibniz Competition (J45/2018, P74/2018); the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad—Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the European Regional Development Fund (MECODISPER project CTM 2017-89295-P); Ramón y Cajal contracts and the project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC2019-027446-I, RYC2020-029829-I, PID2020-115830GB-100); the Danish Environment Agency; the Norwegian Environment Agency; SOMINCOR—Lundin mining & FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant PP00P3_179089); the EU LIFE programme (DIVAQUA project, LIFE18 NAT/ES/000121); the UK Natural Environment Research Council (GLiTRS project NE/V006886/1 and NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme); the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Italy); and the Estonian Research Council (grant no. PRG1266), Estonian National Program ‘Humanitarian and natural science collections’. The Environment Agency of England, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Wales provided publicly available data. We acknowledge the members of the Flanders Environment Agency for providing data. This article is a contribution of the Alliance for Freshwater Life (www.allianceforfreshwaterlife.org).Peer reviewe

Surface Defects Sensitivity during the Unfolding of Corrugated Struts Made by Powder‐Bed Additive Manufacturing

International audienceCorrugated struts as part of lattice structures can lead to novel mechanical behavior by a combination of material and geometrical hardening. The unfolding behavior of such struts offers a potential of large macroscopic straining. However, their ability to be unfolded is impacted by the surface characteristics inherited from the additive manufacturing process. This study evaluates the unfolding sensitivity to these surface characteristics. Corrugated struts with varying surface roughness have been produced using a combination of Electron Beam Powder-Bed Fusion to produce corrugated samples with different nominal diameters, and chemical etching assisted by micro-CT to achieve a given final diameter. In-situ micro-CT tensile tests have been carried out to track the evolution of the struts morphology under loading. Surface defects play a significant role in the unfolding ability of such struts. They are characterized either by a global roughness or by a local notch depth. A quite broad unfolding dispersion remains for samples with the same level of roughness. A finer description of notch depth and location within the gauge length allows a more accurate prediction of the unfolding ability. A model for predicting the probability of failure during unfolding is presented

Surface defects sensitivity during the unfolding of corrugated struts made by powder-bed Additive Manufacturing

International audienceCorrugated struts as part of lattice structures can lead to novel mechanical behavior by a combination of material and geometrical hardening. The unfolding behavior of such struts offers a potential of large macroscopic straining. However, their ability to be unfolded is impacted by the surface characteristics inherited from the additive manufacturing process. This study evaluates the unfolding sensitivity to these surface characteristics. Corrugated struts with varying surface roughness have been produced using a combination of Electron Beam Powder-Bed Fusion to produce corrugated samples with different nominal diameters, and chemical etching assisted by micro-CT to achieve a given final diameter. In-situ micro-CT tensile tests have been carried out to track the evolution of the struts morphology under loading. Surface defects play a significant role in the unfolding ability of such struts. They are characterized either by a global roughness or by a local notch depth. A quite broad unfolding dispersion remains for samples with the same level of roughness. A finer description of notch depth and location within the gauge length allows a more accurate prediction of the unfolding ability. A model for predicting the probability of failure during unfolding is presented

Influence of manufacturing orientations on the morphology of alloy 718 single struts manufactured by selective laser melting

International audienceSelective laser melting (SLM) is of great interest for manufacturing lightweight structures such as lattices. It allows a broad range of lattice topologies to be created. However, when manufacturing small struts, roughness, lack of dimensional accuracy, and porosity level can decrease their mechanical properties and thus affect the mechanical response of the entire structure. This study focuses on the high-resolution characterization of alloy 718 (UNS N07718) single struts (constitutive elements of the lattice) manufactured by SLM. Process parameters, strategy, and post-treatments remain constant while varying strut positions on the build plate and orientations. A methodology for the systematic characterization of 19 struts with high-resolution X-ray tomography has been developed. Different features related to the strut size, shape, waviness, roughness, and porosity are extracted. The analysis of those features when varying strut positions and orientations highlights the influence of each parameter. The build orientation is a first-order parameter influencing strut morphology as already referenced in the literature. This systematic study reveals also the influence of the in-plane orientation for inclined struts that alters their roughness, shape, and size