The U.S. Department of Energy, through its University Turbine Systems Research program, has awarded researchers at Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering $802,400 to find an effective quality assurance method for additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, of new-generation gas turbine components.
The three-year project has received additional support of $200,600 from Pitt.
Xiayun (Sharon) Zhao, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Pitt, will lead the research, working with Albert To, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and Richard W. Neu, professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical Engineering. The team will use machine learning to develop a cost-effective method for rapidly evaluating, either in-process or offline, the hot gas path turbine components that are created with laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing technology.