| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Melt Processing, Casting and Recycling
|
| Presentation Title |
Smart Sensors for Additive Manufacturing and Aluminum Foundry 4.0 Initiatives |
| Author(s) |
Koustav Dey, Grant Whitham, Ben Hilgers, Laura N. Bartlett, Rony Saha, Jie Huang, Ronald O'Malley, Jeffrey Smith |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Laura N. Bartlett |
| Abstract Scope |
The direct 3D printing of investment shells and sand casting molds offers substantial opportunities to streamline the production process for low-volume, high-complexity aluminum castings, particularly for aerospace and military applications. Nevertheless, a thorough modeling and thermal mapping of the shells and the molds are necessary given that the thermomechanical characteristics of these materials are not well understood. Here, we demonstrated the employment of the novel Rayleigh Backscattering-based fiber optic sensors for real-time, distributed measurement of temperature with higher spatial resolution within various 3D-printed shells and molds during laboratory trials of an A3A56 aluminum alloy. The optical fiber technology-enabled distributed temperature measurement within the mold and molten aluminum during the pouring and solidification processes, offering a spatial resolution of 0.65mm for temperatures up to 800°C. The capability to differentiate between closely spaced temperature variations, which generates detailed and information-rich thermal maps, unlocks numerous applications within additive manufacturing. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Light Metals |
| Keywords |
Aluminum, Process Technology, Additive Manufacturing |