Processing Microstructure Properties Relationship in Additive Manufactured Materials (Dr. Amir Hadadzadeh)

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a breakthrough for the fabrication of near-net shaped, complex-shaped, and advanced components directly from a feedstock. Among the common metal AM processes, powder bed fusion (PBF) techniques including selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) have shown a promising trend in the fabrication of advanced materials and components, with enhanced mechanical properties. The strength of SLM and EBM materials can be studied from two points of view; structural integrity and metallurgical behavior of the material. The former perspective is dealing with the reduction and/or elimination of defects, residual stresses, and surface irregularities. The latter perspective is considering the microstructure of the material resulted from complex metallurgical phenomena occurring during the process.

At the Processing-Microstructure-Properties (PMP) lab at the University of Memphis, we are investigating the hierarchical microstructures developed in the AM metallic materials using multi-scale characterization techniques. The hierarchical features are then correlated to the strengthening mechanisms using the fundamentals of materials science and engineering. The outcome of this research is a comprehensive understanding of the processing-microstructure-properties relationship at different microstructural length scales. The goal of our research is the development of AM metallic materials with emphasis on tailoring hierarchical microstructures to enhance the strengthening mechanisms at different length scales and obtain superior mechanical properties.