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FAQ​

1. ​What gave rise to this research project? In other words, was there a problem you were trying to solve, or a question you were trying to answer? Was it related to other research you'd done before?
​ Why AM Center at AUC? 
  • Manufacturing globally is shifting towards and figuring out how best to adopt industry 3.0 & 4.0 
  • ​ Additive Manufacturing is now the leading technology worldwide for producing difficult to manufacture parts using conventional techniques 
  • Wire Feed and Powder Feed Metallic Additive Manufacturing are fairly new and seeing great  advances Worldwide. 
  • WAAM: Wire feed AM is much cheaper compared to Powder Feed AM systems, in relation to  infrastructure and running costs 
  • Currently there is an obvious industrial expansion based on large investments in Egypt,  examples of which are General Electric, SEIMENS, defense, aviation, military, steel & Al manufacturing, automotive, oil & gas, desalination, architectural designs and medical industries,  
  • Egypt has a broad traditional manufacturing industry, a solid entrepreneurial scene as well as an  advanced relevant engineering and computer science talent pool 
  • The necessity for preparing generations of scientists and engineers equipped with practical  experience and knowledge necessary for partaking in the evolving AM technology for serving  the various industries locally, regionally and internationally.  
  • AUC has the scholarly researchers and the strong core programs (electronics, mechanical,  chemistry, design, architecture, computer science and engineering, physics) and a strong new  direction at the university to encourage multi-disciplinary research and programs which resulted  in programs such as, mechatronics and data science). Solid research infrastructure and support  systems, world class researchers 
  • AUC is well positioned to play a global leading role in this space, through focus on research on  the subject from the angle of research and adaptation for industry in developing countries
  •  Therefore, establishing an AM center that creates knowledge, transfers the know-how and  technology to the various industrial sectors becomes mandatory to serve Egypt and the region.
2. Describe the scope of the project. How long is it projected to last? How many students (graduate  or undergraduate) or colleagues are involved? ​
See attached PPT presentation slides  
Additive manufacturing (AM) provides an efficient high-value manufacturing approach to produce  complex net shape (NS) structures, associated with considerable reduction in materials waste  compared to other manufacturing processes (e.g. machining). Manufacturing has been identified by  the industries in the developed countries as an initiative for growing the manufacturing output. AM  is a process of joining materials to produce objects from 3D model data. This is carried out by  deposition of layer upon layer, which is opposite to the subtractive manufacturing methodologies  such as traditional machining. AM has a number of advantages and benefits which include: (a) 3D  CAD drawing of a component to a shape to be converted directly into physical part, (b) Reduction in  design constraints, (c) reduction in complex assembly efforts, (d) increases design flexibility, (e) allows  near net shapes, and efficient material utilization, (f) lower pollution, and (g) reduced time-to-market  needs and hence (h) allows production at a relatively lower cost than traditional manufacturing. AM  is classified in terms of the materials feed stock, energy source, build volume, Manufacturing systems  are divided into three main categories (although there are many more): (i) powder bed systems, (ii)  powder feed (PF) and (iii) wire feed (WF) systems. The energy source are categorized in to electron  beam, laser, arc, etc.. 
Wire based additive manufacturing has been introduced as a technology for manufacturing and repair  of medium-to-large metallic parts and components with very high precision, high production rate,  high mechanical properties and integrity associated with high cost savings compared to conventional  techniques such as machining, forging and casting. At AUC, the wire feed additive manufacturing  system (November 2016) was acquired and the expertise necessary to operate the system with very  high precision has been developed. Using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) allows for  
(i) increasing the deposition rate and components’ size up to 4kg/h  
(ii) unlimited build volume and 100% dense parts as deposited with no defects, which makes  it more economical process. 
(iii) Facilitates innovated complicated designs using 6+2 axis of motion that are suitable for  advanced and conventional metallic and nonmetallic materials.  
(iv) Used both for manufacturing and repairing of load bearing and non-load-bearing  components for all industrial sectors including,  
Industrial sectors: automotive, aviation, military, gas and oil, molding and dies, consumer goods, heavy  industry as well as biomedical metallic implants. 
Additive Manufacturing/Repair Ultimate Objective at AUC 
∙ Establish A Leading Research and Innovation Center in Additive Manufacturing In Egypt  and The Region.  
∙ Prepare Generations of Scientists And Engineers Equipped With Practical Experience and  Knowledge For Partaking in The Evolving AM Technology 
∙ Boosting The Egyptian Industry Through Networking of Key Player In The Field of AM  Locally, Regionally And Internationally
∙ A Center That Creates Knowledge, Transfers The Know-how And Technology To The  Various Industrial Sectors. 
To Know More see the attached PPT 
Additive Manufacturing Centennial Lab Current Status:  
⮚ First Wire Arc Additive Subtractive Robotic Manufacturing System in the Middle East and  Africa. 
⮚ Facilities are  
o Additive Manufacturing Robot (6-Axis of motion) 
o Subtractive Robot (6-Axis of motion) 
o Positioner (3- axis rotating table) 
⮚ Expertise for process manipulation, process Design for validation (deposition parameters design)  based on predictive modeling using state of the art modeling and simulation software  ⮚ Expertise in manufacturing and repair of different parts using different alloys  ⮚ Collaboration with the Advanced Materials & Processing Laboratory at the University of  Birmingham.  
⮚ Expertise in Selective laser melting (metal powder-feed AM) through collaboration with Prof. M.  Attallah, Advanced Manufacturing Center, Birmingham University, UK. He is a pioneer in Metal  AM especially Powder feed systems 
Examples of WAAM/R parts 
Race Car Spindle: Parts are produced based request of an industrial partner such Fin Tools (A  company for producing dies, molds, automotive spare parts as well as spare parts for Gas and Oil). In agreement with Fin Tools, a race car spindle was designed, and manufactured using WAAM with  excellent precision. See presentation and video attached. 
The video describes the steps taken starting from and Engineering drawing of a part to full  manufacturing. (see slide 14) 
Other parts including blades and water dies, a rocket base, etc.: were also manufactured  separately using Al-alloys and Stainless steel as well as steels shown in the attached presentation to  develop the expertise in the field and for use as a showcase to the industrial sectors. (see Slide 13) 
Al-Flange: A group of senior project students fabricated a Flange from a non-weldable Al-Alloy and  their achievement was presented in TMS annual meeting and Exhibition, San Diego US, the largest  Materials and Manufacturing Conferences held worldwide in the field. Moreover, a publication was  generated based on their work which was published at the conference proceedings.  
Radial Engine assembled parts: A group of senior project student are currently designing and  manufacturing a radial Engine using WAAM technology. Their project started Fall 2019-and should  be completed by the end of Spring 2020.
A helicopter severely worn out skids received from the Egyptian AirForce Central workshop were  repaired by WAAM technology in our lab. Knowing that the skid’s alloy is a non-weldable alloy, yet  we were successful in using an Al-alloy wire which produced well repaired surfaces with high  integrity and excellent cohesion. This is a project once optimized will open the venue for the repair  of the helicopter skids at much lower cost compared to their replacement. A poster was presented  at an International Conference MS&T annual meeting, October 2019 at Portland, OR, USA. 
Gears and Fans  
Turbine blades  
Patenting: Proof of Concept project on a filed Patent submitted for review February 2019: in  collaboration with Prof. A. Nassef a pioneer faculty in optimization, Mechanical Engineering  Department a patent was filed on “Wire Arc additive Manufacturing (WAAM) Material Waste  Optimization during the final Finish: Bead Overlapping Model”. This Project involves an  undergraduate senior student as an RA. 

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3. In terms that a non-scientist (like me!) would understand, talk about the potential impact of this  research. Why is it important? Whom will it affect? 
Establishing an Additive Manufacturing facility locally will have a profound Industrial Impact in which  remanufacturing, repair and maintenance of high-value parts will not be influenced by internal  financial factors, or political relations with supplying nations, and will be accomplished over much  shorter durations and at a much lower cost. This in turn will positively reflect on the national economy through domestic production and repair of parts serving the heavy industry sector and most  importantly the biomedical sector. With regards to employment & social Impact, historically,  revolutionary technological advances have presented opportunities that push the boundaries of  societal progress. Additive manufacturing offers a unique proposal; the freedom of design to create  more, to inspire innovation, and to better the society. By embracing AM’s full potential and integrating  it into traditional manufacturing and product development processes, we will begin to see new  applications scaling almost to every industry. Additive manufacturing has given companies a way to  limit outsourcing to third parties by developing concepts in house, as well as creating an advantage  over competitors by shortening the product development cycle. Last but not least, AM will have a  significant environmental impact through reduced emissions and waste compared to other  manufacturing processes. This in turn has a positive impact on the health and safety of the workers  as well as the Egyptian environment at large. AM process also almost eliminates the machining chips  resulting from the excessive machining of large blocks into the required parts’ dimensions, except for  the minor chipping resulting from the final finishing operations in case of the wire based process. This  in turn classifies this process as a green process with minimum scrap or waste. It is also an energy efficient manufacturing approach, compared with energy-intensive manufacturing techniques (e.g.  metal casting). 
Moreover, AM at AUC facilitates the development of Knowhow by researchers who will develop  Innovative component design that replaces conventional multi assembled heavy parts and  components with a single lighter weight ones, which provides higher performance associated with  higher durability and reliability in service. Who will develop innovative materials and composites 
using a combination of the wire and powder feed AM systems for the low cost production of parts  and components with superior physical, mechanical properties with higher durability for high  performance applications. 

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4. Why is AUC an especially good place to conduct this research? In what ways is AUC built to solve  tomorrow's problems? 
⮚ Faculty: Expertise in AM Technology, Materials and process Design, Materials & Process  Selection, D & NDT and structural characterization, Design, Computational Mechanics,  multiscale modeling and micromechanics  
⮚ High Caliber Technical Liaison with aviation & industrial sector 
⮚ Qualified highly trained engineers for System Operation, Structural and mechanical properties  Characterization 
⮚ State of the art Characterization Facilities: MENG, YJSTRC 
⮚ Support offices at AUC: Technology Transfer Office, Office of Sponsored Programs OSP, Office  of Equipment procumbent and Budget office, Safety office, etc. 
⮚ AUC is well positioned to play a global leading role in this space, through focus on research on  the subject from the angle of research and adaptation for industry in developing countries

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  • Overview
  • About
    • Mission / Vision
    • Lab Facilities
    • Team
  • Case Studies
  • News
  • FAQ
  • Contact