ME Faculty received research funding from NASA
October 27, 2015
Dr. Nima Shamsaei, Dr. Steve Daniewicz, and Dr. Scott Thompson, all faculty members within MSU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a research grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate the fatigue behavior of additively-manufactured (AM) Inconel parts.
The research specifically focuses on fatigue characterization and fractography as it pertains to Inconel specimens fabricated via Selective Laser Melting (SLM) – a powder AM method commonly used for metals “3D printing”. Process-attributed defects, such as inter-layer pores and partially-melted powder, will be investigated as these features typically lead to fatigue failure of parts. The ultimate goal of this research is to increase the ‘trustworthiness’ of AM metals for their use in engineering applications, especially those with public safety concerns (i.e. aerospace industry). Currently, the fatigue behavior of AM parts is not well-characterized; thus, this research aims to accelerate the more rapid adoption of AM parts by the aerospace industry.
The research grant originates from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center – which is the U.S. government’s civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center located in Huntsville, Alabama.