Defect detection in additively manufactured AlSi10Mg and Ti6Al4V samples using laser ultrasonics and phase shift migration

Laser ultrasonics (LU) is a non-contact and non-destructive method with a high data acquisition rate, making it a promising candidate for in-situ monitoring of defects in different additive manufacturing (AM) processes, including laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and directed energy deposition, as well as final part inspection. In order to see the effect of various artificial defect types on an LU sub-surface reconstruction, AlSi10Mg samples with side through-holes, as well as Ti6Al4V samples with bottom blind holes and trapped powder were printed using LPBF, and then ultrasound B-scans of the samples were obtained using an LU system. The resulting scan data was processed using a custom frequency domain phase shift migration (PSM) algorithm, to reconstruct the defects and their locations. Novel ways of pre-processing the B-scan, used as an input to PSM, and taking advantage of its frequency representation, are demonstrated. Newton's method was used to find a stationary phase approximation, used to account in the frequency domain for the fixed offset emitter-receiver arrangement within the PSM calculation. The Newton's method calculation time was reduced by 33%, by using an approximation of the phase function to find an initial guess. The smallest defects that were detected using this method were in the size range between 200 to 300μm for the bottom hole defects, using an 8 ns laser pulse duration. The effect of the laser on the surface of a part being built, and the challenges and further work needed to integrate LU in a LPBF machine for in-situ inspection are discussed.

A Microfluidic Contact Lens to Address Contact Lens-Induced Dry Eye

The contact lens (CL) industry has made great strides in improving CL-wearing experiences. However, a large amount of CL wearers continue to experience ocular dryness, known as contact lens-induced dry eye (CLIDE), stemming from the reduction in tear volume, tear film instability, increased tear osmolarity followed by inflammation and resulting in ocular discomfort and visual disturbances. In this article, to address tear film thinning between the CL and the ocular surface, the concept of using a CL with microchannels to deliver the tears from the pre-lens tear film (PrLTF) to the post-lens ocular surface using in vitro eye-blink motion is investigated. This study reports an eye-blink mimicking system with microfluidic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (poly(HEMA)) hydrogel with integrated microchannels to demonstrate eye-blink assisted flow through microchannels. This in vitro experimental study provides a proof-of-concept result that tear transport from PrLTF to post-lens tear film can be enhanced by an artificial eyelid motion in a pressure range of 0.1-5 kPa (similar to human eyelid pressure) through poly(HEMA) microchannels. Simulation is conducted to support the hypothesis. This work demonstrates the feasibility of developing microfluidic CLs with the potential to help prevent or minimize CLIDE and discomfort by the enhanced transport of pre-lens tears to the post-lens ocular surface.

Development of a Novel Tape-Casting Multi-Slurry 3D Printing Technology to Fabricate the Ceramic/Metal Part

Printing ceramic/metal parts increases the number of applications in additive manufacturing technology, but printing different materials on the same object with different mechanical properties will increase the difficulty of printing. Multi-material additive manufacturing technology is a solution. This study develops a novel tape-casting 3D printing technology that uses bottom-up photopolymerization to fabricate the green body for low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) that consist of ceramic and copper. The composition of ceramic and copper slurries is optimized to allow printing without delamination and sintering without cracks. Unlike traditional tape-casting processing, the proposed method deposits two slurries on demand on a transparent film, scrapes it flat, then photopolymerization is induced using a liquid crystal displayer to project the layer pattern beneath the film. The experimental results show that both slurries have good bonding strength, with a weight ratio of powder to resin of 70:30, and print a U-shaped copper volume as a circuit within the LTCC green body. A three-stage sintering parameter is derived using thermogravimetric analysis to ensure good mechanical properties for the sintered part. The SEM images show that the ceramic/copper interface of the LTCC sintered part is well-bonded. The average hardness and flexural strength of the sintered ceramic are 537.1 HV and 126.61 MPa, respectively. Volume shrinkage for the LTCC slurry is 67.97%, which is comparable to the value for a copper slurry of 68.85%. The electrical resistance of the printed copper circuit is 0.175 Ω, which is slightly greater than the theoretical value, hence it has good electrical conductivity. The proposed tape-casting 3D printer is used to print an LTCC benchmark. The sintered benchmark part is validated for the application in the LTCC application.

On the application of sound radiation force for focusing of powder stream in directed energy deposition

One of the challenges in directed energy deposition via powder feeding (DED-PF) is the powder stream divergence that results in low catchment efficiency (i.e., the fraction of particles added to the melt pool). This article introduces a new ultrasound-based powder focusing method referred to as ultrasound particle lensing (UPL), tailored for powder used in DED-PF. The method uses an ultrasound phased array to produce a small volume of high-intensity ultrasound with the required period averaged sound intensity profile. UPL was used to acoustically focus streams of Ti64 and SS 316L particles with an average size of 89μm and a particle speed of 0.6 m/s, exiting from a DED-PF nozzle analog. The e^-1 powder stream widths downstream of the resulting force fields for both materials were reduced by 30%. The experimental results closely match Lagrangian and Eulerian simulations of the process. This novel setup offers the possibility of fast control of the powder stream divergence angle and effective diameter in the process zone during the DED-PF process. This will in turn improve the feature resolution and catchment efficiency of the process.

Additively manufactured metallic biomaterials

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has led to an evolution in the design and fabrication of hard tissue substitutes, enabling personalized implants to address each patient's specific needs. In addition, internal pore architectures integrated within additively manufactured scaffolds, have provided an opportunity to further develop and engineer functional implants for better tissue integration, and long-term durability. In this review, the latest advances in different aspects of the design and manufacturing of additively manufactured metallic biomaterials are highlighted. After introducing metal AM processes, biocompatible metals adapted for integration with AM machines are presented. Then, we elaborate on the tools and approaches undertaken for the design of porous scaffold with engineered internal architecture including, topology optimization techniques, as well as unit cell patterns based on lattice networks, and triply periodic minimal surface. Here, the new possibilities brought by the functionally gradient porous structures to meet the conflicting scaffold design requirements are thoroughly discussed. Subsequently, the design constraints and physical characteristics of the additively manufactured constructs are reviewed in terms of input parameters such as design features and AM processing parameters. We assess the proposed applications of additively manufactured implants for regeneration of different tissue types and the efforts made towards their clinical translation. Finally, we conclude the review with the emerging directions and perspectives for further development of AM in the medical industry.

Non-Destructive Testing Using Eddy Current Sensors for Defect Detection in Additively Manufactured Titanium and Stainless-Steel Parts

In this study, different eddy-current based probe designs (absolute and commercial reflection) are used to detect artificial defects with different sizes and at different depths in parts composed of stainless-steel (316) and titanium (TI-64) made by Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM). The measured defect signal value using the probes is in the range of (20-200) millivolts. Both probes can detect subsurface defects on stainless-steel samples with average surface roughness of 11.6 µm and titanium samples with average surface roughness of 8.7 µm. It is found the signal reading can be improved by adding a coating layer made of thin paper to the bottom of the probes. The layer will decrease the surface roughness effect and smooth out the detected defect signal from any ripples. The smallest subsurface artificial defect size detected by both probes is an artificially made notch with 0.07 mm width and 25 mm length. In addition, both probes detected subsurface artificial blind holes in the range of 0.17 mm-0.3 mm radius. Results show that the absolute probe is more suitable to detect cracks and incomplete fusion holes, whereas the reflection probe is more suitable to detect small diameter blind holes. The setup can be used for defect detection during the additive manufacturing process once the melt pool is solidified.

Development of an Electromagnetic Micromanipulator Levitation System for Metal Additive Manufacturing Applications

Magnetism and magnetic levitation has found significant interest within the field of micromanipulation of objects. Additive manufacturing (AM), which is the computer-controlled process for creating 3D objects through the deposition of materials, has also been relevant within the academic environment. Despite the research conducted individually within the two fields, there has been minimal overlapping research. The non-contact nature of magnetic micromanipulator levitation systems makes it a prime candidate within AM environments. The feasibility of integrating magnetic micromanipulator levitation system, which includes two concentric coils embedded within a high permeability material and carrying currents in opposite directions, for additive manufacturing applications is presented in this article. The working principle, the optimization and relevant design decisions pertaining to the micromanipulator levitation system are discussed. The optimized dimensions of the system allow for 920 turns in the inner coil and 800 turns in the outer coil resulting in a Ninnercoil:Noutercoil ratio of 1.15. Use of principles of free levitation, which is production of levitation and restoration forces with the coils, to levitate non-magnetic conductive materials with compatibility and applications within the AM environment are discussed. The Magnetomotive Force (MMF) ratio of the coils are adjusted by incorporation of an resistor in parallel to the outer coil to facilitate sufficient levitation forces in the axial axis while producing satisfactory restoration forces in the lateral axes resulting in the levitation of an aluminum disc with a levitation height of 4.5 mm. An additional payload of up to 15.2 g (59% of mass of levitated disc) was added to a levitated aluminum disk of 26 g showing the system capability coping with payload variations, which is crucial in AM process to gradually deploy masses. The final envisioned system is expected to have positional stability within the tolerance range of a few μm. The system performance is verified through the use of simulations (ANSYS Maxwell) and experimental analyses. A novel method of using the ratio of conductivity (σ) of the material to density (ρ) of the material to determine the compatibility of the levitation ability of non-magnetic materials with magnetic levitation application is also formulated. The key advantage of this method is that it does not rely on experimental analyses to determine the levitation ability of materials.

Template-Enabled Biofabrication of Thick 3D Tissues with Patterned Perfusable Macrochannels

Interconnected pathways in 3D bioartificial organs are essential to retaining cell activity in thick functional 3D tissues. 3D bioprinting methods have been widely explored in biofabrication of functionally patterned tissues; however, these methods are costly and confined to thin tissue layers due to poor control of low-viscosity bioinks. Here, cell-laden hydrogels that could be precisely patterned via water-soluble gelatin templates are constructed by economical extrusion 3D printed plastic templates. Tortuous co-continuous plastic networks, designed based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS), serve as a sacrificial pattern to shape the secondary sacrificial gelatin templates. These templates are eventually used to form cell-encapsulated gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel scaffolds patterned with the complex interconnected pathways. The proposed fabrication process is compatible with photo-crosslinkable hydrogels wherein prepolymer casting enables incorporation of high cell populations with high viability. The cell-laden hydrogel constructs are characterized by robust mechanical behavior. In vivo studies demonstrate a superior cell ingrowth into the highly permeable constructs compared to the bulk hydrogels. Perfusable complex interconnected networks within cell-encapsulated hydrogels may assist in engineering thick and functional tissue constructs through the permeable internal channels for efficient cellular activities in vivo.

Additively Manufactured Gradient Porous Ti-6Al-4V Hip Replacement Implants Embedded with Cell-Laden Gelatin Methacryloyl Hydrogels

Laser additive manufacturing has led to a paradigm shift in the design of next-generation customized porous implants aiming to integrate better with the surrounding bone. However, conflicting design criteria have limited the development of fully functional porous implants; increasing porosity improves body fluid/cell-laden prepolymer permeability at the expense of compromising mechanical stability. Here, functionally gradient porosity implants and scaffolds designed based on interconnected triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are demonstrated. High local porosity is defined at the implant/tissue interface aiming to improve the biological response. Gradually decreasing porosity from the surface to the center of the porous constructs provides mechanical strength in selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V implants. The effect of unit cell size is studied to discover the printability limit where the specific surface area is maximized. Furthermore, mechanical studies on the unit cell topology effects suggest that the bending-dominated architectures can provide significantly enhanced strength and deformability, compared to stretching-dominated architectures. A finite element (FE) model developed also showed great predictability (within ∼13%) of the mechanical responses of implants to physical activities. Finally, in vitro biocompatibility studies were conducted for two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cases. The results of the 2D in conjunction with surface roughness show favored physical cell attachment on the implant surface. Also, the results of the 3D biocompatibility study for the scaffolds incorporated with a cell-laden gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel show excellent viability. The design procedure proposed here provides new insights into the development of porous hip implants with simultaneous high mechanical and biological responses.

Sacrificial 3D printing of shrinkable silicone elastomers for enhanced feature resolution in flexible tissue scaffolds

Silicone implants and scaffolds are emerging as potential replacement of flexible tissues, cosmetic and biomedical device implants due to their bioinert and flexible characteristics. The state-of-the-art direct-write silicone three-dimensional (3D) printers however cannot easily 3D print structures with sub-millimeter dimensions because of high viscosity and long curing times of their prepolymers. In the present study, a template-assisted 3D printing of ordered porous silicone constructs is demonstrated. The sacrificial molds were fabricated by low-cost and well-accessible material extrusion 3D printers. The 3D printed molds represent interconnected tortuous high specific surface area porous architectures based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) in which the silicone prepolymer is cast and cured. We engineered silicone prepolymer with additives allowing on-demand structural shrinkage upon solvent treatment. This enabled 3D printing at a larger scale compatible with extrusion 3D printer resolution followed by isotropic shrinkage. This procedure led to a volumetric shrinkage of up to ~70% in a highly controllable manner. In this way, pore sizes in the order of 500-600 µm were obtained. The porous constructs were characterized with full strain recovery under extreme compressive deformations of up to 85% of the initial scaffold length. We further demonstrated the ability to infill cell-laden hydrogels such as gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) into the interconnected pores while maintaining the cell viability of ~90%.

Parametric Study on In Situ Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Mo(Si1-x,Alx)2

Mo(Si1-x,Alx)2 composites were produced by a pulsed laser reactive selective laser melting of MoSi2 and 30 wt.% AlSi10Mg powder mixture. The parametric study, altering the laser power between 100 and 300 W and scan speed between 400 and 1500 mm·s-1, has been conducted to estimate the effect of processing parameters on printed coupon samples' quality. It was shown that samples prepared at 150-200 W laser power and 400-500 mm·s-1 scan speed, as well as 250 W laser power along with 700 mm·s-1 scan speed, provide a relatively good surface finish with 6.5 ± 0.5 µm-10.3 ± 0.8 µm roughness at the top of coupons, and 9.3 ± 0.7 µm-13.2 ± 1.1 µm side surface roughness in addition to a remarkable chemical and microstructural homogeneity. An increase in the laser power and a decrease in the scan speed led to an apparent improvement in the densification behavior resulting in printed coupons of up to 99.8% relative density and hardness of ~600 HV1 or ~560 HV5. The printed parts are composed of epitaxially grown columnar dendritic melt pool cores and coarser dendrites beyond the morphological transition zone in overlapped regions. An increase in the scanning speed at a fixed laser power and a decrease in the power at a fixed scan speed prohibited the complete single displacement reaction between MoSi2 and aluminum, leading to unreacted MoSi2 and Al lean hexagonal Mo(Si1-x,Alx)2 phase.

In Situ Mo(Si,Al)2-Based Composite through Selective Laser Melting of a MoSi2-30 wt.% AlSi10Mg Mixture

The laser power bed fusion approach has been successfully employed to manufacture Mo(Si,Al)₂-based composites through the selective laser melting of a MoSi₂-30 wt.% AlSi10Mg mixture for high-temperature structural applications. Composites were manufactured by leveraging the in situ reaction of the components during printing at 150–300 W laser power, 500–1000 mm·s⁻¹ laser scanning speed, and 100–134 J·mm⁻³ volumetric energy density. Microcomputed tomography scans indicated a negligible induced porosity throughout the specimens. The fully dense Mo(Si_1-x,Al_x)₂-based composites, with hardness exceeding 545 HV1 and low roughness for both the top (horizontal) and side (vertical) surfaces, demonstrated that laser-based additive manufacturing can be exploited to create unique structures containing hexagonal Mo(Si_0.67Al_0.33)₂.

Extrusion and Microfluidic-based Bioprinting to Fabricate Biomimetic Tissues and Organs

Next generation engineered tissue constructs with complex and ordered architectures aim to better mimic the native tissue structures, largely due to advances in three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting techniques. Extrusion bioprinting has drawn tremendous attention due to its widespread availability, cost-effectiveness, simplicity, and its facile and rapid processing. However, poor printing resolution and low speed have limited its fidelity and clinical implementation. To circumvent the downsides associated with extrusion printing, microfluidic technologies are increasingly being implemented in 3D bioprinting for engineering living constructs. These technologies enable biofabrication of heterogeneous biomimetic structures made of different types of cells, biomaterials, and biomolecules. Microfluiding bioprinting technology enables highly controlled fabrication of 3D constructs in high resolutions and it has been shown to be useful for building tubular structures and vascularized constructs, which may promote the survival and integration of implanted engineered tissues. Although this field is currently in its early development and the number of bioprinted implants is limited, it is envisioned that it will have a major impact on the production of customized clinical-grade tissue constructs. Further studies are, however, needed to fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology in the lab and its translation to the clinic.

Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer for Gas Sensing

A novel and compact interferometric refractive index (RI) point sensor is developed using hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) and experimentally demonstrated for high sensitivity detection and measurement of pure gases. To construct the device, the sensing element fiber (HC-PCF) was placed between two single-mode fibers with airgaps at each side. Great measurement repeatability was shown in the cyclic test for the detection of various gases. The RI sensitivity of 4629 nm/RIU was demonstrated in the RI range of 1.0000347-1.000436 for the sensor with an HC-PCF length of 3.3 mm. The sensitivity of the proposed Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor increases when the length of the sensing element decreases. It is shown that response and recovery times of the proposed sensor inversely change with the length of HC-PCF. Besides, spatial frequency analysis for a wide range of air-gaps revealed information on the number and power distribution of modes. It is shown that the power is mainly carried by two dominant modes in the proposed structure. The proposed sensors have the potential to improve current technology's ability to detect and quantify pure gases.

3D-Printed Ultra-Robust Surface-Doped Porous Silicone Sensors for Wearable Biomonitoring

Three-dimensional flexible porous conductors have significantly advanced wearable sensors and stretchable devices because of their specific high surface area. Dip coating of porous polymers with graphene is a facile, low cost, and scalable approach to integrate conductive layers with the flexible polymer substrate platforms; however, the products often suffer from nanoparticle delamination and overtime decay. Here, a fabrication scheme based on accessible methods and safe materials is introduced to surface-dope porous silicone sensors with graphene nanoplatelets. The sensors are internally shaped with ordered, interconnected, and tortuous internal geometries (i.e., triply periodic minimal surfaces) using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D-printed sacrificial molds. The molds were dip coated to transfer-embed graphene onto the silicone rubber (SR) surface. The presented procedure exhibited a stable coating on the porous silicone samples with long-term electrical resistance durability over ∼12 months period and high resistance against harsh conditions (exposure to organic solvents). Besides, the sensors retained conductivity upon severe compressive deformations (over 75% compressive strain) with high strain-recoverability and behaved robustly in response to cyclic deformations (over 400 cycles), temperature, and humidity. The sensors exhibited a gauge factor as high as 10 within the compressive strain range of 2-10%. Given the tunable sensitivity, the engineered biocompatible and flexible devices captured movements as rigorous as walking and running to the small deformations resulted by human pulse.

* In Vitro Generated Intervertebral Discs: Toward Engineering Tissue Integration

The intervertebral disc (IVD) is composed of nucleus pulposus (NP) surrounded by multilamellated annulus fibrosus (AF), and is located between the vertebral bodies. Current treatments for chronic neck or low back pain do not completely restore the functionality of degenerated IVDs. Thus, developing biological disc replacements is an approach of great interest. Given the complex structure of the IVD, tissue engineering of the individual IVD components and then combining them together may be the only way to achieve this. The engineered disc must then be able to integrate into the host spine to ensure mechanical stability. The goal of this study was to generate an integrated model of an IVD in vitro. Multilamellated AF tissues were generated in vitro using aligned nanofibrous polycarbonate urethane scaffolds and AF cells. After 3 weeks in culture, it was placed around NP tissue formed on and integrated with a porous bone substitute material (calcium polyphosphate). The two tissues were cocultured to fabricate the IVD model. The AF tissue composed of six lamellae containing type I collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM) and the NP tissue had type II collagen- and aggrecan-rich ECM. Immunofluorescence studies showed both type I and II collagen at the AF-NP interface. There was evidence of integration of the tissues. The peel test for AF lamellae showed an interlamellar shear stress of 0.03 N/mm. The AF and NP were integrated as the pushout test demonstrated that the AF-NP interface had significantly increased mechanical stability by 2 weeks of coculture. To evaluate if these tissues remained integrated, allogeneic IVD model constructs were implanted into defects freshly made in the NP-inner AF and bone of the bovine coccygeal spine. One month postimplantation, the interfaces between the AF lamellae remained intact and there was integration with the host AF tissue. No inflammatory reaction was noted at this time period. In summary, an engineered IVD implant with mechanically stable integration between AF lamellae and AF-NP can be generated in vitro. Further study is required to scale up the size of this construct and evaluate its ability to serve as a biological disc replacement.

Single-step synthesis of graphene quantum dots by femtosecond laser ablation of graphene oxide dispersions

In the last few years, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have attracted the attention of many research groups for their outstanding properties, which include low toxicity, chemical stability and photoluminescence. One of the challenges of GQD synthesis is finding a single-step, cheap and sustainable approach for synthesizing these promising nanomaterials. In this study, we demonstrate that femtosecond laser ablation of graphene oxide (GO) dispersions could be employed as a facile and environmentally friendly synthesis method for GQDs. With the proper control of laser ablation parameters, such as ablation time and laser power, it is possible to produce GQDs with average sizes of 2-5 nm, emitting a blue luminescence at 410 nm. We tested the feasibility of the synthesized GQDs as materials for electronic devices by aerosol-jet printing of an ink that is a mixture of water dispersion of laser synthesized GQDs and silver nanoparticle dispersion, which resulted in lower resistivity of the final printed patterns. Preliminary results showed that femtosecond laser synthesized GQDs can be mixed with silver nanoparticle dispersion to fabricate a hybrid material, which can be employed in printing electronic devices by either printing patterns that are more conductive and/or reducing costs of the ink by decreasing the concentration of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the ink.

Characterizations of additive manufactured porous titanium implants

This article describes physical, chemical, and mechanical characterizations of porous titanium implants made by an additive manufacturing method to gain insight into the correlation of process parameters and final physical properties of implants used in orthopedics. For the manufacturing chain, the powder metallurgy technology was combined with the additive manufacturing to fabricate the porous structure from the pure tanium powder. A 3D printing machine was employed in this study to produce porous bar samples. A number of physical parameters such as titanium powder size, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) amount, sintering temperature and time were investigated to control the mechanical properties and porosity of the structures. The produced samples were characterized through porosity and shrinkage measurements, mechanical compression test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed a level of porosity in the samples in the range of 31-43%, which is within the range of the porosity of the cancelluous bone and approaches the range of the porosity of the cortical bone. The results of the mechanical test showed that the compressive strength is in the wide range of 56-509 MPa implying the effect of the process parameters on the mechanical strengths. This technique of manufacturing of Ti porous structures demonstrated a low level of shrinkage with the shrinkage percentage ranging from 1.5 to 5%.

Mechanical characteristics of solid-freeform-fabricated porous calcium polyphosphate structures with oriented stacked layers

This study addresses the mechanical properties of calcium polyphosphate (CPP) structures formed by stacked layers using a powder-based solid freeform fabrication (SFF) technique. The mechanical properties of the 35% porous structures were characterized by uniaxial compression testing for compressive strength determination and diametral compression testing to determine tensile strength. Fracture cleavage surfaces were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The effects of the fabrication process on the microarchitecture of the CPP samples were also investigated. Results suggest that the orientation of the stacked layers has a substantial influence on the mechanical behavior of the SFF-made CPP samples. The samples with layers stacked parallel to the mechanical compressive load are 48% stronger than those with the layers stacked perpendicular to the load. However, the samples with different stacking orientations are not significantly different in tensile strength. The observed anisotropic mechanical properties were analyzed based on the physical microstructural properties of the CPP structures.