Abstract

The US Navy is concerned about the resupply of forces in a contested environment should a conflict with a near-peer adversary arise. Subsequently, evaluation of expeditionary metal additive manufacturing (AM) has accelerated. A part of this effort has been in evaluating “containerized” 3D metal printers based on laser powder bed fusion, laser powder directed energy deposition, or cold spray AM all of which use powder feedstock. In this talk, focus will be given in the powder development for cold spraying of advanced coatings or near net-shape parts. First, the cold spraying of functionally graded AA7075 nanocomposite coatings will be highlighted and include the processing of composite powders, microscopy and tribology of the sprayed microstructures. Then coverage of the work done in expeditionary cold spraying of Cu-Ni parts will be given and will include discussion on the production of metal powders in an expeditionary setting, using the XM-175 metal powder maker. Smaller scale investigations in metal AM including the printing of hydrophobic steel surfaces and other topics will be touched on during the conversation. The talk will end with a discussion on potential avenues for research in the development of advanced powders.

Bio

Dr. Troy Ansell is currently an Associate Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He teaches courses in corrosion, failure analysis, and advanced materials characterization. Dr. Ansell’s research group has worked on spraying functionally graded metal matrix composite (MMC) coatings by gas dynamic cold spray. His research interests include the development of new MMCs for cold spray, electron microscopy, investigation of ultra-high temperature ceramics for hypersonic platforms and gas turbine engines, and the development of new ferroelectric materials. All of these interests are bound together by a common theme, powder development and characterization.
Before NPS, Dr. Ansell taught college physics and chemistry at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) in Las Vegas. Before CSN, Dr. Ansell was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University where he investigated new ferroelectric ceramics and single crystals for use in high temperature piezoelectric applications (e.g. piezoelectric transducers in sonar arrays). He also explored the use of high-density ferroelectric ceramics as seeds for growth of relaxor ferroelectric single crystals with the same chemistry.

https://nps.edu/faculty-profiles/-/cv/troy.ansell
https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-ansell-82740835/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Troy-Ansell-2?ev=hdr_xprf

Hosted by Dan Oropeza.