End-use Products Research Articles

Data-driven multi-scale multi-physics models to derive process–structure–property relationships for additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) possesses appealing potential for manipulating material compositions, structures and properties in end-use products with arbitrary shapes without the need for specialized tooling. Since the physical process is difficult to experimentally measure, numerical modeling is a powerful tool to understand the underlying physical mechanisms. This paper presents our latest work in this regard based on comprehensive material modeling of process---structure---property relationships for AM materials. The numerous influencing factors that emerge from the AM process motivate the need for novel rapid design and optimization approaches. For this, we propose data-mining as an effective solution. Such methods--used in the process---structure, structure---properties and the design phase that connects them--would allow for a design loop for AM processing and materials. We hope this article will provide a road map to enable AM fundamental understanding for the monitoring and advanced diagnostics of AM processing.

Process Capability Comparison of Fused Deposition Modelling for ABS and Fe-Nylon (6) Feedstock Filaments

Additive manufacturing (AM) is growing at a fast pace as one of the newer manufacturing technique in which the manufactured component can be put to direct use. In the category of AM, fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the most common technology in which the end user product can be used directly for the purpose of evaluation. This present work is taken up to study the process capability of Fe-Nylon (6) composite based feedstock filament for investigating its stability for manufacturing. Comparison has been made between the Fe-Nylon (6) composite with the existing Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) material. It was observed that the FDM process is equally capable for ABS and Fe-Nylon (6) composite as process capability indices (Cp and Cpk) are found to be greater than one for both the materials. The calculation of process capability of the FDM machine by using both the materials is 4.5σ or higher within the specification limits specified as per the DIN standards. Control charts and the International tolerance (IT) grades as per ISO-286 indicate that the Fe-Nylon (6) composite is equally capable of manufacturing parts within the specified tolerances.

Social Communities of Design and Makers and their Impact on Learning

The past two decades have seen a rapid growth in the Maker communities and Communities of Enquiry. Unlike social media, these communities have a unique goal of sharing special skills as well as enquiring about special knowledge areas. Advancements in web technologies and models of delivery, in particular, cloud computing (CC), enables the communities to thrive virtually. The authors focus on the technocratic communities interested in designing and making things. These are also known as hobbyists or hackers, in their respective scientific or engineering disciplines. Various online platforms continue to surface, modelled around the Maker concept. The article scrutinizes the value and impact of these communities in learning. A new model for inspiring innovation in knowledge-based economies and building communities of industry and end-user ready product maker is presented and discussed.

The effect of texture on the low cycle fatigue property of Inconel 718 by selective laser melting

In recent decades, additive manufacturing (AM) technology has shown its great advantages to produce end-use products with complex design and high-added value. However, the AM-specific characters, such as inherent material anomalies (porosity, lack of fusion defects, or inclusions), anisotropy, location-specific properties and residual stresses, prevent AM from widely adoption in safety-critical parts. Therefore, the damage tolerance assessment of AM parts is desperately necessary. In this study, the impact of residual stress and the induced texture (columnar/equiax grain structure) after different heat treatment on the low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of Inconel 718 fabricated through selective laser melting (SLM) is investigated. The results showed that the texture of AMed parts can be controlled by suitable heat treatment, based on the residual stress during AM processing acting as the drive force to recrystallization. For SLMed Inconel 718 samples with columnar grains, anisotropic LCF properties exist, while no obvious sensitivity to orientations is shown for samples with equiaxed grains. This work is significantly meaningful to speed up the design-to-product transformation of safety-critical AM parts and optimize the orientation of components for various applications.

Comparative Analysis of Supply Risk-Mitigation Strategies for Critical Byproduct Minerals: A Case Study of Tellurium.

Materials criticality assessment is a screening framework increasingly applied to identify materials of importance that face scarcity risks. Although these assessments highlight materials for the implicit purpose of informing future action, the aggregated nature of their findings make them difficult to use for guidance in developing nuanced mitigation strategy and policy response. As a first step in the selection of mitigation strategies, the present work proposes a modeling framework and accompanying set of metrics to directly compare strategies by measuring effectiveness of risk reduction as a function of the features of projected supply demand balance over time. The work focuses on byproduct materials, whose criticality is particularly important to understand because their supplies are inherently less responsive to market balancing forces, i.e., price feedbacks. Tellurium, a byproduct of copper refining, which is critical to solar photovoltaics, is chosen as a case study, and three commonly discussed byproduct-relevant strategies are selected: dematerialization of end-use product, byproduct yield improvement, and end-of-life recycling rate improvement. Results suggest that dematerialization will be nearly twice as effective at reducing supply risk as the next best option, yield improvement. Finally, due to its infrequent use at present and its dependence upon long product lifespans, recycling end-of-life products is expected to be the least effective option despite potentially offering other benefits (e.g., cost savings and environmental impact reduction).

Planting Date, Maturity, and Temperature Effects on Soybean Seed Yield and Composition

Core Ideas Planting date and maturity group decisions can greatly affect yield and composition. Temperature had a significant effect on seed yield and composition. Planting date × maturity group should be chosen based on the product's end use. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production has greatly increased in the upper U.S. Midwest over the last decade, but little information exists regarding the interactive effects of environment and spring management decisions on soybean seed yield and composition. Our objective was to assess the effect of four planting dates (PDs), four cultivar maturity groups (MGs), and ambient temperature between R5 to R8 (T5–T8) on soybean seed yield and composition. Field studies were established between 2014 and 2016 at three locations in Wisconsin and one in Minnesota. Across environmental conditions and management decisions, greater seed yield was positively correlated with protein and oil contents but negatively correlated with linoleic, linolenic, and sucrose contents. Multivariate data analysis showed positive synergies between early planting (late April–early May) and MG 2 for yield, oil, and oleic acid across the examined region. A MG 2 was the highest yielding and a ∼1200 kg ha−1 yield difference was observed between early and late PDs. These results underline the complexity of the soybean yield‐composition relationships. Additionally, the large variability in the responses of constituents to management decisions and temperature variations highlights the importance of a producer knowing the product's end use (e.g., high yield vs. high protein) and accordingly modifying the growing environment by selecting an appropriate PD and MG for the respective region. To provide more accurate recommendations to a broader range of producers, multi‐environment studies are imperative to capture large environmental variability in important soybean production areas across the United States.

Redesigning a Reaction Control Thruster for Metal-Based Additive Manufacturing: A Case Study in Design for Additive Manufacturing

Prior research has shown that powder-bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) can be used to make functional, end-use components from powdered metallic alloys, such as Inconel® 718 superalloy. However, these end-use components and products are often based on designs developed for more traditional subtractive manufacturing processes and do not take advantage of the unique design freedoms afforded by AM. In this paper, we present a case study involving the redesign of NASA’s existing “pencil” thruster used for spacecraft attitude control. The initial pencil thruster was designed for and manufactured using traditional subtractive methods. The main focus in this paper is to (a) identify the need for and use of both opportunistic and restrictive design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) concepts and considerations in redesigning the thruster for fabrication with PBF AM and (b) compare the resulting DfAM thruster with a parallel development effort redesigning the original thruster to be manufactured more effectively using subtractive manufacturing processes. The results from this case study show how developing end-use AM components using specific DfAM guidelines can significantly reduce manufacturing time and costs while enabling new and novel design geometries.

A Comprehensive Review of H2S Scavenger Technologies from Oil and Gas Streams

AbstractSour crudes containing > 0.5 % sulfur are of low quality and cause harm to equipment, the environment, and to humans. Therefore, sustainable measures for crude oil sweetening are of significant importance. Removal of H2S directly at the wellhead before the transport increases the value of crude oil and may be necessary to adhere to legal transport laws. Chemical agents known as scavengers are used to scrub H2S from crude oils. Scavengers are either of the regenerative or non‐regenerative type and are used depending on the pH or water content of the crude stream. The literature has been surveyed to reveal those absorbents that allow the most effective scavenging of H2S at wellhead applications. The chemical processing, including recovery of scavenger or end use of products, is discussed for decision‐making at the confluence of chemistry and chemical engineering for H2S removal. This work investigates how and why some scavengers perform better for some crudes and environmental conditions than others with the intent to develop designer scavengers and processing conditions for the crude oil industry.

Achieving improved dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties of additive manufactured parts via filament modification using OMMT-based nanocomposite

Additive manufacturing (AM) is as an emerging technique which can fabricate any complex shapes and is currently being used to directly manufacture end-use products. However, further progress in AM greatly relies on the advancements in materials that can be processed by this technique. Polymer nanocomposites are known for their superior properties compared to pristine polymer. Organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) is a versatile nanoparticle which has the potential to significantly alter various polymer properties. The present work discusses about utilizing OMMT-based polymer nanocomposite for AM via fused deposition modeling (FDM). The acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament was modified by coating it with OMMT/ABS nanocomposite solution and further exposed to microwave irradiation before AM process. A fused network of nanocomposite coating with core polymer was developed over the entire part during AM. Dielectric properties of FDM parts were altered because of the presence of OMMT nanoparticles, as their ionic nature provided addition polarization mechanism. A significant improvement in thermal behavior, tensile modulus, and hardness was also observed. The presented approach provides an efficient way to improve the desired properties of FDM parts.

Overview of ISM Bands and Software-Defined Radio Experimentation

Wireless systems using low-power wireless communication protocol are rapidly gain popularity in the license-free industrial scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency bands. One such emerging trend in ISM frequency bands is home automation. Historically, all the home devices were once unconnected, today are now being connected either by a wired or wireless connection. The low-power wireless communication protocols enable integration of all the digital home devices into a single system and enhance end user product experience. The rapid prototyping of these end user product using programmable radio system such as software-defined radio (SDR) has been the game-changer in the field of home automation. In this article, we present an overview of popular ISM bands in different regions of the world. Furthermore, we analyze the signals from the wireless electric switch using a software-defined radio in 433 MHz ISM band.

How Looking for Celiac-Safe Wheat Can Influence Its Technological Properties.

Because of the continuous increase in the prevalence of gluten-related disorders, selection of wheat with a low content of immunogenic gluten epitopes could be an innovative alternative for prevention. In this review, the focus is on literature data concerning the deallergenization tools of wheat, which are mainly related to breeding approaches (classic and advanced) and processing operations (germination and fermentation). Until now, no safe wheat genotype has been identified, whereas decreasing wheat allergenicity is possible. On the other hand, the decrease of gluten or some of its epitopes can strongly affect technological properties. Thus, obtaining celiac-safe gluten without affecting the technological properties of wheat could be considered as a new challenge that scientists will be facing. Celiac-safe wheat-based product development could be a great revolution in the market of foods for special medical purposes. The present paper is aiming to: (a) review the strategies and the approaches used, or that can be used, for developing low allergenic wheat: their utilities and limits were also discussed and (b) screen the impact of gluten reduction or removal on the quality of wheat end-use products.

"Green Economy" as the Country's Development Strategy with a High Share of the Commodity Sector in the Context of Globalization

The "Green economy" is a economy, aimed at preserving a well-being of society through the effective use of natural resources and ensuring return of end-use products in the production cycle. First of all, the "green" economy focused on economic use of the resources that are currently subject to depletion (natural resources-oil, gas) and the rational use of inexhaustible resources. The "Green economy" is one of the important tools for ensuring sustainable development of the country. Development of the "green economy" will allow Kazakhstan to avoid the ecological crisis, which has affected many post-industrial countries. The major objective of this study is to determine the readiness of the country to a path of the "green growth" reform, based on the principles of the sustainable development. In order to determine the country's place in the world, the methods of multivariate statistical analysis applied to establish criteria in relation to global indicators. As a result, on the basis of this criteria the share of investment for certain developed and developing countries was calculated, which should be directed to the economy transformation. According to our calculations, the countries with a high share of mining sector require a radical restructuring of the economy. Thus, developed countries and countries with high human development index and low levels of corruption have a better chance for a successful implementation of the reforms on the path of the "Green growth". Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries with low economic, social and political indicators of readiness to the "Green Economy" transition have a long way to socio-economic and political transformation towards efficient economy, civil society and development of the state.

Alternative production strategies based on the comparison of additive and traditional manufacturing technologies

Additive manufacturing technology has been evolving for several years. New material options, better processing speeds and greater autonomy are some of the characteristics of this technology that are still under research. However, in its current state, many commercially available 3D printers are competing with traditional manufacturing techniques in the fabrication of end-use products. In this paper, different additive manufacturing technologies are compared with injection moulding in a real-world case study. The comparison is conducted in terms of lead time and total production cost. From the case under study, it becomes obvious that none of the additive manufacturing technologies examined is yet able to practically replace injection moulding for medium- and high production volumes. However, when considering low-volume production, both rapid tooling and additive manufacturing may offer an alternative that could result into shorter lead times and decreased total production costs. In addition, the introduction of Additive Manufacturing in a producer’s production portfolio can increase flexibility, reduce warehousing costs and assist the company towards the adoption of a mass customisation business strategy.

Evaluation of wheat products with high flavonoid content: justification of importance of marker-assisted development and production of flavonoid-rich wheat cultivars

In the structure of the global commodity supply in the food market in modern conditions it is necessary to note the emergence of a broad group of new high-tech products, and specialized functional food with high value added. The creation of varieties with a high content of flavonoids (plant compounds that can have a positive effect on human health) is one of the important directions of plant breeding oriented on the functional foods development. Currently, however, there is a significant gap between the well-studied role of flavonoids and the genetic control of their synthesis, on the one hand, and development of the actual product of wheat with new properties, evaluation of the nutritional value of the end-use bakery products for consumption, on the other hand. In the present study we produced and investigated bakery products from wheat synthesizing bioflavonoid pigments anthocyanins in the grain pericarp. The grains of this wheat have dark purple color. Red-grained bread wheat was a control. These two wheat lines have almost similar genomes with the exception of a small part of chromosome 2A, which contains the Pp3/TaMyc1 gene regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. The use of such an accurate model has allowed relating the observed differences precisely with anthocyanin biosynthesis. The important task was to evaluate the resistance of anthocyanins to the backing process. Therefore anthocyanin content was evaluated not only in the end-use product, but also in mixtures of flour and bran used for baking and separately in the bran. As a result, significant differences were detected in samples obtained from purple grains, compared with the control including the products that had passed a full processing cycle, including baking at elevated temperature. For the extraction of anthocyanins conditions were simulated most similar to those in the process of digestion in the stomach, in order to assess the amount of assimilable anthocyanins. By our estimates one can get up to 1.03 mg of assimilable anthocyanins with 100 g of whole-grained bread produced from anthocyanincolored grains. With 100 g of bran, the body will get up to 3.32 g of anthocyanins. In parallel with the evaluation of the anthocyanins content in all samples, the mass fraction of antioxidants was measured by using the amperometric method. The highest antioxidant capacity was shown for bran, while the least one was demonstrated for flour. Adding bran to the flour as well as the backing process increased the antioxidant capacity of wheat products. The contribution of anthocyanins to increased antioxidant capacity is not significant. It was shown that bread-making quality and organoleptic properties of bakery products made from anthocyanin-colored grains did not concede, or in some cases were higher than the corresponding properties of products obtained from control NIL grains. It was found that the presence of anthocyanin increases the shelf life of bakery products and their resistance to molding in provocative conditions. These results, combined with the known data about the beneficial health effects of anthocyanins, suggest that wheat bakery products made from anthocyanin-rich grains can be included to the list for dietary food. Marker-assisted selection accelerating the creation of new forms of crops with a high level of flavonoids can be proposed as a new direction for the expansion of domestic and export grain market potential due to the new possibilities of obtaining products of increased nutritional value and making a good profit.

Inclusion of Users with Special Needs in the Human-Centered Design of a Web-Portal

Human-Centered Design focuses on the analysis, specification and involvement of a product's end users as driving elements in the design process. The primary research objective of the case-study presented in this paper is to illustrate that it is essential to include users with special needs into all major steps of designing a web-portal that provides services to these special users. But how can this be accomplished in the case of users with special cognitive and affective needs? Would the “classical” Human-Centered Design Process (HCD) be sufficient or would it need to be adapted and complemented with special procedures and tools? In this paper the design team shares the strategies they adopted and the experiences they gained by including users with dyslexia in the design of the LITERACY Web-Portal. Besides providing insight into the special effort and steps needed to adapt HCD for users with special needs, the paper encourages application designers to include end-users even though - or particularly because - they have needs that are special and critical for the adoption of the product.

Utilising dynamic simulation in design, development, and optimisation of a centrifugal-powered transmission apparatus

The use of the centrifugal force and its wide range of applications in industry and end-user products have been recently investigated and reported. Additionally, different physical mechanisms using the centrifugal power transmission have been developed and tested. Owing to the high cost for developing such mechanisms, dynamic simulation has been used to study the design factors and to evaluate the optimised mechanism. This paper presents the results of an investigation that uses dynamic simulation to test the behaviour of a mechanism under an imposed motion or force for both two and four gears design models. Additionally, it illustrates the correlation between factors such as rotation speed and the generated torque in different design models. Product design, development, and test are presented as well.

Nanocomposites for Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is one of several technological breakthroughs that is expected to lead the factories of the future, where conventional equipment will be transformed into smart and flexible systems, run by computers that will allow the fabrication of customized parts. Some authors have called AM the third industrial revolution, as it enables the accurate manufacture of pieces of virtually any shape in different scales, ranging from visual prototypes to specific functional end-use products at relatively short periods of time. Medical applications of AM is one of the key industries driving the innovations in the field, especially because of the possibility to fabricate products individually tailored to the patient’s specific needs. The integration of nanomaterials in the area of AM has a lot of potential and there is a growing interest in academia and industry to explore for new developments. In this section, we examine some successful uses of nanocomposites in additive manufacturing processes.

Environmental Impact of Additive Manufacturing Processes: Does AM Contribute to a More Sustainable Way of Part Manufacturing?

While additive manufacturing applications are progressing from rapid prototyping to the production of end-use products, the environmental impacts caused by these manufacturing processes and related material flows are still a rather open question. Therefore, this paper will provide an overview of available life cycle inventory data and compare the environmental impact caused by a series of additive manufacturing processes: selective laser melting, selective laser sintering, electron beam melting, fused deposition modelling and stereolithography. Next to the energy and resource consumption of the AM unit processes itself, also the impact caused during the (powder) material production and part post treatment are addressed. From environmental perspective it is clear that the additionally generated impacts during manufacturing should be compensated by functional improvements during the use phase of the AM manufactured part. As example, the case of lightweight components is discussed.

Genetic dissection of sorghum grain quality traits using diverse and segregating populations

Key messageCoordinated association and linkage mapping identified 25 grain quality QTLs in multiple environments, and fine mapping of theWxlocus supports the use of high-density genetic markers in linkage mapping.There is a wide range of end-use products made from cereal grains, and these products often demand different grain characteristics. Fortunately, cereal crop species including sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] contain high phenotypic variation for traits influencing grain quality. Identifying genetic variants underlying this phenotypic variation allows plant breeders to develop genotypes with grain attributes optimized for their intended usage. Multiple sorghum mapping populations were rigorously phenotyped across two environments (SC Coastal Plain and Central TX) in 2 years for five major grain quality traits: amylose, starch, crude protein, crude fat, and gross energy. Coordinated association and linkage mapping revealed several robust QTLs that make prime targets to improve grain quality for food, feed, and fuel products. Although the amylose QTL interval spanned many megabases, the marker with greatest significance was located just 12 kb from waxy (Wx), the primary gene regulating amylose production in cereal grains. This suggests higher resolution mapping in recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations can be obtained when genotyped at a high marker density. The major QTL for crude fat content, identified in both a RIL population and grain sorghum diversity panel, encompassed the DGAT1 locus, a critical gene involved in maize lipid biosynthesis. Another QTL on chromosome 1 was consistently mapped in both RIL populations for multiple grain quality traits including starch, crude protein, and gross energy. Collectively, these genetic regions offer excellent opportunities to manipulate grain composition and set up future studies for gene validation.

Comparative Analysis of Phenolic Compound Characterization and Their Biosynthesis Genes between Two Diverse Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Varieties Differing for Chapatti (Unleavened Flat Bread) Quality.

Phenolic compounds (PCs) affect the bread quality and can also affect the other types of end-use food products such as chapatti (unleavened flat bread), now globally recognized wheat-based food product. The detailed analysis of PCs and their biosynthesis genes in diverse bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties differing for chapatti quality have not been studied. In this study, the identification and quantification of PCs using UPLC-QTOF-MS and/or MS/MS and functional genomics techniques such as microarrays and qRT-PCR of their biosynthesis genes have been studied in a good chapatti variety, “C 306” and a poor chapatti variety, “Sonalika.” About 80% (69/87) of plant phenolic compounds were tentatively identified in these varieties. Nine PCs (hinokinin, coutaric acid, fertaric acid, p-coumaroylqunic acid, kaempferide, isorhamnetin, epigallocatechin gallate, methyl isoorientin-2′-O-rhamnoside, and cyanidin-3-rutinoside) were identified only in the good chapatti variety and four PCs (tricin, apigenindin, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, and myricetin-3-glucoside) in the poor chapatti variety. Therefore, about 20% of the identified PCs are unique to each other and may be “variety or genotype” specific PCs. Fourteen PCs used for quantification showed high variation between the varieties. The microarray data of 44 phenolic compound biosynthesis genes and 17 of them on qRT-PCR showed variation in expression level during seed development and majority of them showed low expression in the good chapatti variety. The expression pattern in the good chapatti variety was largely in agreement with that of phenolic compounds. The level of variation of 12 genes was high between the good and poor chapatti quality varieties and has potential in development of markers. The information generated in this study can be extended onto a larger germplasm set for development of molecular markers using QTL and/or association mapping approaches for their application in wheat breeding.