From the Mines Newsroom: Owen Hildreth, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for work that could speed the commercialization of a low-cost chemical method for the post-processing of 3D-printed metal parts.
Post-processing – the labor intensive, detailed work that must occur after an additively manufactured part is printed before it is ready for use – currently accounts for 46 percent of the cost of metal 3D printing. Overall, metal additive manufacturing is projected to be a $25 billion a year industry by 2025.
Hildreth will receive $500,000 over five years for his project, “Understanding Sensitization and Corrosion Mechanisms in Additively Manufactured Metals for Improved Surface Finish, Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance.” The goal is to generate the fundamental science and understanding necessary to make chemical post-processing controllable and predictable “based on first-principle scientific understanding, instead of just knob twisting.” Read more in the Mines Newsroom »