THE ADDED VALUE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

ONDERZOEK IN DE KIJKER

Under the motto ‘Additive is Addictive’, the technology federation Agoria and the Sirris technology centre organised the first 3D-Printing Student & Young Potentials Challenge in 2020. Mirko Sinico, doctoral researcher from Group T Leuven Campus and his team ‘Bionic-A-Mold’ won the award in the category ‘Tackle a company-owned challenge’ with brio.

Agoria and Sirris launched the 3D-Printing Challenge to stimulate the creativity of young researchers and professionals while embracing 3D-printing techniques. The challenge was to design and create an object composed exclusively from 3D printed material. “Different 3D-printing techniques are at the basis of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) world”, explains Mirko. “AM refers to a group of production techniques in which parts are made from 3D model data by joining materials layer by layer. AM offers many advantages compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing, such as its almost unlimited design freedom, enabling unprecedented levels of functional shapes, and the capability to produce personalised parts with improved material usage. This has evoked a true revolution in manufacturing and a rapid growth of the AM sector, representing a unique opportunity for the strongly-needed return of the manufacturing industry to Europe”.

“Few people know that Belgium is actually a pioneer and a frontrunner in the development of 3D-printing, as quite a lot of early adopters are situated here”, Mirko continues. “It is therefore no coincidence that my interest in AM brought me to Belgium three years ago”.

Mirko Sinico

©Julie Feyaerts

Doctoral research

Mirko studied Materials Engineering at the University of Padova (Italy) and then specialized in AM at the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics. In 2017, he came to Leuven to work as a research associate on the project PAM² coordinated by Dr. Ir. Ann Witvrouw, Research & Innovation Manager at the KU Leuven Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“PAM² stands for Precision Additive Metal Manufacturing”, says Mirko. “It was a three-year project that has now ended, funded by the EU Programme for Research and Innovation – Horizon 2020, in which a consortium of academic and industrial partners collaborated. The overall objective of PAM² was to ensure the availability of high-precision AM processes and computational design procedures. You have to know that AM of metals is a complex process with dozens of sensitive and interrelated process parameters, making it susceptible to thermal distortions, defects and process drift. The agile modelling of those processes is beyond current computational power and new methods are needed to practically predict performance and inform design. In addition, metal AM produces highly textured surfaces and complex surface features that stretch the limits of contemporary metrology. The aim of PAM² was to improve precision by enhancing robustness, predictability and metrology and by developing CAE methods that empower rather than limit AM design”.

During his work as research associate at PAM², Mirko joined the ‘Additive Manufacturing’ and the ‘Manufacturing Metrology’ research groups in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, under the supervision of prof. Wim Dewulf at Group T Leuven Campus and Dr. ir. Ann Witvrouw. He is preparing a PhD on improving the surface quality and inspection of selective laser melted tool steel parts, with a focus on industrial tooling and molding components.

Video pitch

For the 3D-Printing Challenge, a 5-minutes video pitch was required from the candidates with a presentation of the 3D-object and an explanation of the design process and its usability for the 3D-printing manufacturing industry.

Mirko and his teammates Ranjan Rajit and Moshiri Mandaná presented an original topology-optimised mold insert for an injection molding machine. In this device, heated liquid plastic is injected at high pressure into the mold where the material is given its final shape. “Thanks to the employment of a Design for AM-approach, our insert was significantly lighter and yet robust”, says Mirko. “We saved up to 50% of the material cost and gained more than 40% in production time considering a standard selective laser melting machine”. The jury praised the originality of the work, the creativity of the researchers and the market opportunity of the product. Prof. Wim Dewulf, Mirko’s promotor, was also quite impressed: “Rightful recognition for excellent and passionate academics with strong affinity for industrial application. A true ambassador of the PhD programme of KU Leuven Faculty of Engineering Technology”.

Yves Persoons