Design for multi-material additive manufacturing

Functie

3D printing (or additive manufacturing) is a manufacturing process which is gaining popularity within the aerospace sector thanks to the possibilities offered by this technology to manufacture highly optimized and efficient, lightweight structures.
One of the most promising metal additive manufacturing methods is Directed Energy Deposition (DED), in which a laser selectively heats and melts powder in a powder stream that is directed directly at the print. By adding material tracks layer by layer a metal part is built. DED has the possibility to print multiple materials (our current machine has the possibility to use up to four different materials). This possibility raises the challenge of design for multi material DED additive manufacturing.

   

Description
The aim of the research is to investigate multi-material uses in aircraft structures. You will investigate the possible benefits of multi-material 3D printing in aircraft structures and will define possible use-cases where multiple materials can benefit the structure. This investigation will start with a literature study. It is possible to pick one of these use-cases and perform a simple optimization method to come up with a design that benefits from being multi-material. For this, different types of software can be used, Abaqus, Simufact, or a MATLAB-based in-house tool. The simulations can be verified/validated with literature, thermal measurement data or thermal camera imaging data (if feasible) from the build job.

Duration and place
The duration of this assignment can vary between 3 and 9 months.

The location for this assignment is:
NLR Marknesse
Voorsterweg 31
8316 PR Marknesse, Netherlands

Profiel

Requirements
Study direction: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Structures and Materials, Material Science, Data Science

NLR requires a recent certificate of conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) from the applicant.

Arbeidsvoorwaarden

What do we offer?

• A challenging internship in a high-tech result orientated work environment
• Weekly supervision and availability of the technical staff for support
• Informal company culture with room for initiative, valuing a result-oriented and committed attitude
• An internship compensation
• NLR can support in finding accommodation in the vicinity of Marknesse if necessary

Informatie

About NLR
The Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre NLR is the research organization in the Netherlands in the field of aerospace engineering. Around 700 employees highly educated from aircraft engineers to psychologists and from mathematicians to application experts. Visit our NLR media channel on YouTube for a good impression of the organization.

Solliciteren

Contact person
ir. Jos Vroon, R&D Engineer
Jos.vroon@nlr.nl
+31 88 511 47 16