MSE professor and chair quoted in Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers publication

Wojciech Z. Misiolek, Loewy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and department chair, was quoted in the June 2021 issue of Tribology & Lubrication Technology (TLT), a monthly publication of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE).

Misiolek, an expert in materials forming and processing, discusses 3D metal printing processes in the article, "Hybrid additive manufacturing in the factory of the future." The article details the hybrid approach, which "combines additive and subtractive approaches to metalworking" and "enables new production efficiencies and greater complexity in surface engineering."

In the piece, Misiolek explains current powder-based metal metal 3D printing processes: “Powders are melted by lasers, or mixed with binders, and then the binders are removed and the metal sintered. There are techniques where powders are injected into the plasma flame and deposited into the substrate.”

He also comments on questions that are being investigated in regard to applications of hybrid manufacturing for surface engineering. According to the article: 

This topic is taken one step further by Misiolek, who says that the most interesting questions remaining are about how various materials respond to the 3D printing process. “We are running a lot of tests, wear tests, looking into how long these materials are going to last at elevated temperatures,” says Misiolek. Some metals that would make great contenders for part production are difficult to render in powder form. Even materials that seem perfectly suited to the printing setup can run into technical issues in combination with other layers of the finished part. “The question is, ‘Can we do it right in the physics, in terms of getting the thermal expansion coefficients close enough so that they can work together?’” says Misiolek.

Read the full "Lubrication Fundamentals" article on the STLE website