Purdue University composites center opens large-scale additive lab, seeks consortium partners

On Oct. 28, Purdue University’s (West Lafayette, Ind., U.S.) Composites Manufacturing and Simulation Center (CMSC) hosted a ribbon cutting event for its Thermwood LSAM Research Laboratory at Purdue University, and announced its Composites Additive Manufacturing & Simulation (CAMS) Consortium.

Located inside the CMSC at the Indiana Manufacturing Institute, the Thermwood LSAM Research Laboratory houses a LSAM 105 large-format, extrusion-based 3D printer and five-axis LSAM Additive Trimmer. According to Thermwood, the two-step system is capable of printing and trimming parts up to 5 x 10 x 4 feet at print rates up to 200 pounds per hour. The system has been modified to enable print temperatures over the typical 450°C, Thermwood says, for experimentation and research purposes.

R. Byron Pipes, executive director of the CMSC of Purdue University, said during the event that the initial focus for the laboratory will be composite tooling.

Ken Susnjara, chairman and CEO of Thermwood Corp. (Dale, Ind., U.S.), noted, “Our goal is to take this technology to new levels, and expand into mainstream markets.”

The CAMS Consortium aims to provide its paid members with access to Additive3D, a physics-based simulation workflow developed by Purdue in conjunction with Dassault Systèmes (Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) software; printing studies using the new laboratory’s LSAM 105 printer or CAMRI, a smaller-scale printer built by Purdue for R&D work; educational materials and training; and technical support from Purdue.

Eduardo Barocio, assistant director of additive manufacturing (AM) at the CMSC, explained during the event that Additive3D system is a simulation workflow that works in conjunction with Dassault software and extrusion deposition additive manufacturing (EDAM) to streamline and digitize the design and printing process for discontinuous fiber composites. Material and machine characteristics and properties are input into the software, and Dassault CATIA and SIMULIA are used to simulate part characteristics like geometry, stress and deformation; process parameters like heat transfer and temperature; and part performance.

Barocio noted that future iterations of Additive3D will expand to other AM processes and material types, including continuous fiber.

These announcements were part of Purdue’s Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing Celebration, which also celebrated the one-year anniversary of the opening of the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab and Education Center of Excellence with partner Dassault Systèmes. The celebration included speakers from Purdue University, Dassault Systèmes, Boeing and Thermwood, and focused on innovations in digital twins and simulation, and these partnerships aiming to propel the technology forward. Purdue’s research in these fields also goes beyond 3D printing. Speakers and researchers at the event spoke about additional digital twin and simulation projects such as Form3D, a project in partnership with Boeing for simulation-based carbon fiber/thermoplastic composite sheet forming, as well as multi-scale modeling of resin transfer molding (RTM), infusion and other processes.