The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Seminar Series, “Smart Additive Manufacturing” Presented by Dr. Prahalada Rao
About the event
Born qualified quality assurance of additively manufactured parts using modeling, real-time monitoring, and machine learning
Presented by
Dr. Prahalada Rao, Associate Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering Virginia Tech
Abstract:
The goal of my research is to realize the flaw-free, industrial-scale production of metal parts made using additive manufacturing processes (metal AM/3D printing). In pursuit of this goal, my research integrates the following five aspects: (1) modeling to understand and predict the causal process phenomena that influence part quality; (2) materials science to understand the link between thermal physics of the process, flaw formation and microstructure; (3) monitoring the process using in-situ sensor arrays; (4) machine learning (analytics) to detect flaw formation by combining insights from physical models and sensor data; (5) process control to prevent poor part quality.
In my talk I will discuss results from industry-based projects exemplifying the integration of the above five aspects for Born Qualified quality assurance in metal AM.
Biography:
Prahalada Rao’s scholastic passion is captured in three words: Manufacturing, Sensing, and Analytics. Rao has published nearly 80 peer-reviewed archival journal papers. His research has garnered funding from federal agencies, such as NSF (including CAREER award), DOE, NIST, and Office of Naval Research. He earned the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2017), and the University of Nebraska, College of Engineering Research and Creativity Award (2019).