Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PADICTON (Part distortion prediction, design for minimized distortion, additive manufactured polymer aerospace parts)
Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2022-11-30
The high-level challenge PADICTON project will be addressing is to develop accurate and functional distortion prediction models for Additive Manufacturing (AM) of polymeric and composite parts that can be utilised in conjunction with other design tools to produce parts adjusted to account for distortion effect. The efforts will focus on Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), with or without fibre reinforcement, and the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) EOS P810/P396 process.
To meet those challenges PADICTON project has set the following objectives:
1. To develop a high-fidelity reference process simulation method
2. To develop a rapid process simulation method for above process and material combinations
3. To develop an optimisation module (topology or shape optimisation are considered) for the AM produced parts.
4. To implement the PADICTON design tools in MSC Software products and couple them with widely used commercial software
5. To experimentally verify and validate the developments at different scale and complexity levels.
Conclusion for RP2
1.High-fidelity methodology for FFF and SLS rely on Digimat-AM which itself uses the MSC Marc nonlinear multi-physics finite element solver. An extensive study has been conducted over a large example database which showed that, for this new iterative solver, thermal simulation times were reduced by 30% with identical results while thermomechanical results were more contrasted.
2.For rapid process simulation, a thermal simulation of the complete build, and second, a thermo-mechanical simulation of a part on which the thermal history is mapped. In order to decrease the CPU time of the low-fidelity method compared to the high-fidelity one, two simplifications are done during the thermo-mechanical analysis.
3.The optimisation capabilities of HxGN Emendate with the distortion analysis of DigimatAM to iteratively approach a better print-optimised candidate in HxGN Emendate.
4. The Padicton design tool has been successfully implemented in DIGIMAT
5. Experimentally verify and validate the developed process which includes both the distortion prediction and optimisation was utilised to optimise a selected demonstrator.
To meet those challenges PADICTON project has set the following objectives:
1. To develop a high-fidelity reference process simulation method
2. To develop a rapid process simulation method for above process and material combinations
3. To develop an optimisation module (topology or shape optimisation are considered) for the AM produced parts.
4. To implement the PADICTON design tools in MSC Software products and couple them with widely used commercial software
5. To experimentally verify and validate the developments at different scale and complexity levels.
Conclusion for RP2
1.High-fidelity methodology for FFF and SLS rely on Digimat-AM which itself uses the MSC Marc nonlinear multi-physics finite element solver. An extensive study has been conducted over a large example database which showed that, for this new iterative solver, thermal simulation times were reduced by 30% with identical results while thermomechanical results were more contrasted.
2.For rapid process simulation, a thermal simulation of the complete build, and second, a thermo-mechanical simulation of a part on which the thermal history is mapped. In order to decrease the CPU time of the low-fidelity method compared to the high-fidelity one, two simplifications are done during the thermo-mechanical analysis.
3.The optimisation capabilities of HxGN Emendate with the distortion analysis of DigimatAM to iteratively approach a better print-optimised candidate in HxGN Emendate.
4. The Padicton design tool has been successfully implemented in DIGIMAT
5. Experimentally verify and validate the developed process which includes both the distortion prediction and optimisation was utilised to optimise a selected demonstrator.
The first reporting period of PADICTON project has finished with significant progress performed by all the partners. More precisely, partner TWI along with BU have worked actively on the material characterisation testing activities, which are part of work package 2 – Development of a HIGH fidelity distortion prediction model. Different types of characterisation such as Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) etc, were carried out and the results were analysed accordingly.
The second and final reporting period have successfully finished all the Padicton final objectives
a. Development of a novel AM design tool that would accurately include distortion prediction and compensation capabilities.: The tool was developed and databases for four materials were created.
b. Reduce the lead-time to compensate for part distortion.: The software is capable of predicting the distortions before the print takes place. This enables the designer to optimise the parts within the accepted tolerances without the need of iterative trial and error approach.
c. Develop part shape optimisation for AM that accounts for distortion.: The optimiser developed in this project is fully coupled with the distortion prediction model. Hence it can optimise part geometry while taking into account the distortions.
d. Implement the PADICTON design tools in MSC Software products and couple them with widely used commercial software as well as to validate the design methodology.: The developments done in the project were integrated in a commercial software, Digimat.
Work package 6: exploitation and dissemination has been completed at the end of Padicton and all the objectives including a dedicated market research and five force analysis.
The second and final reporting period have successfully finished all the Padicton final objectives
a. Development of a novel AM design tool that would accurately include distortion prediction and compensation capabilities.: The tool was developed and databases for four materials were created.
b. Reduce the lead-time to compensate for part distortion.: The software is capable of predicting the distortions before the print takes place. This enables the designer to optimise the parts within the accepted tolerances without the need of iterative trial and error approach.
c. Develop part shape optimisation for AM that accounts for distortion.: The optimiser developed in this project is fully coupled with the distortion prediction model. Hence it can optimise part geometry while taking into account the distortions.
d. Implement the PADICTON design tools in MSC Software products and couple them with widely used commercial software as well as to validate the design methodology.: The developments done in the project were integrated in a commercial software, Digimat.
Work package 6: exploitation and dissemination has been completed at the end of Padicton and all the objectives including a dedicated market research and five force analysis.
Currently, AM composite components are designed using established “rules of thumb” and “trial and error” approaches to minimize effects of process induced distortion. Despite these measures, induced distortion in AM parts is still a major problem which can incur substantial costs both in initial part development and process tuning, and during later assembly of subsystems. The risks related to production time and cost involved with such distortions are one major barrier to manufacturers using weight saving composite parts more often in the design of advanced integrated structures.
The models and methodologies developed within PADICTON will provide a means to accurately and quickly predict induced distortions, and to pro-actively design to minimize their occurrence. This will result in a lower level of risk in designing integrates and complex shaped AM components and reduce the cost of designing and manufacturing optimised polymeric components. A reliable method for accurately predicting and preventing distortion will enable the reduction in design and development cost through reduction of scrapped components and expensive design alteration during prototype based development cycles. This is in line with ‘Flightpath 2050’ goal that “the whole European aviation industry is strongly competitive and has a share of more than 40% of its global market.”
Further reduction in design and development time through will be achieved through the increased use of simulation in the early design phase and reduced need for prototype manufacture and iterative process adjustment. This addresses another objective of ‘Flightpath 2050’ regarding “streamlined systems engineering, design, manufacturing, certification and significantly reduced development costs”.
As a first step, PADICTON will combine and improve the most state-of-the-art models for AM composite distortion prediction. This will result in a significant step forward in understanding and avoidance of AM part distortion, which is critical for the wider adoption of weight saving components in aerospace structures.
The chief ecological impacts derive from the efficiency of the PADICTON system. The developed methodologies will allow scrap reduction by 50 to 80% at due to better product conformity. Except from the financial aspect, this will result in significant positive ecological benefit as the raw materials for AM manufacturing are derived from energy intensive petroleum processing. Polymer based and especially carbon fibre composites are 3-5 times more energy intensive than conventional steel on a weight basis.
Both the aircraft production and airline operation industries are active on the most globalized markets; therefore, the conservation and future expansion of employment will necessitate a highly increased competitiveness. The project results will play a key role in addressing this issue, both by generating added product value for aircraft manufacturers and reduced cost and time investments for production and ground operations. Another important aspect will be the increased safety and eco-friendliness resulting from more reliable components and processes. This is one of the major criteria for the European aerospace industry to belong to the market leaders within this business sector.
The models and methodologies developed within PADICTON will provide a means to accurately and quickly predict induced distortions, and to pro-actively design to minimize their occurrence. This will result in a lower level of risk in designing integrates and complex shaped AM components and reduce the cost of designing and manufacturing optimised polymeric components. A reliable method for accurately predicting and preventing distortion will enable the reduction in design and development cost through reduction of scrapped components and expensive design alteration during prototype based development cycles. This is in line with ‘Flightpath 2050’ goal that “the whole European aviation industry is strongly competitive and has a share of more than 40% of its global market.”
Further reduction in design and development time through will be achieved through the increased use of simulation in the early design phase and reduced need for prototype manufacture and iterative process adjustment. This addresses another objective of ‘Flightpath 2050’ regarding “streamlined systems engineering, design, manufacturing, certification and significantly reduced development costs”.
As a first step, PADICTON will combine and improve the most state-of-the-art models for AM composite distortion prediction. This will result in a significant step forward in understanding and avoidance of AM part distortion, which is critical for the wider adoption of weight saving components in aerospace structures.
The chief ecological impacts derive from the efficiency of the PADICTON system. The developed methodologies will allow scrap reduction by 50 to 80% at due to better product conformity. Except from the financial aspect, this will result in significant positive ecological benefit as the raw materials for AM manufacturing are derived from energy intensive petroleum processing. Polymer based and especially carbon fibre composites are 3-5 times more energy intensive than conventional steel on a weight basis.
Both the aircraft production and airline operation industries are active on the most globalized markets; therefore, the conservation and future expansion of employment will necessitate a highly increased competitiveness. The project results will play a key role in addressing this issue, both by generating added product value for aircraft manufacturers and reduced cost and time investments for production and ground operations. Another important aspect will be the increased safety and eco-friendliness resulting from more reliable components and processes. This is one of the major criteria for the European aerospace industry to belong to the market leaders within this business sector.