Machine AND MECHANICAL COMPONENT design

Main activities refer to the design and development of mechanical components in different fields of application, such as automotive and automated equipment and machines. Moreover, core activities regard the testing, modelling, and analysis of materials’ behaviour for different applications. The research activities are summarised as follows:

Structural integrity

• Fatigue and fracture characterization of metal additive manufacturing products.
• Design and analysis of structural joints, including welding, adhesive bonding, bolting and riveting and hybrid joints.

• Mechanical characterization of metallic, polymer and composite materials.
• Failure analysis of mechanical components.

Computer Aided Engineering:

• Design and topological optimization of mechanical component.
• Design and topological optimization of mechanical component manufactured with additive manufacturing processes.
• Interactive design of mechanical systems.
• Virtual prototyping and simulations of mechanical components under complex working conditions.
• Virtual prototyping and simulations of injection moulding processes for plastic components.
• Simulation of residual strength of cracked structures subjected to static and fatigue loads.
• Development of micromechanical models to simulate the behaviour of materials.

Product development process:

• Conceptual design and methods for product development in the early design phases.
• Methods and tools for design automation and concurrent engineering.

Experimental Testing

• Strain measurement through Strain Gauges;
• Full field strain measurement for materials and components through the application of the Digital Image Correlation Technique
• Design and Development of tailored specimens and equipment, for material and components testing

METHOD AND TOOLS FOR ENGINEERING DESIGN

Main activities focus on the target design methodologies for engineering design (DfX) and 3D parametric modelling with a specific focus on mechanical products and components used in aeronautical sector, equipment and machines, and household appliances. The research activities are summarised as follows:

Life cycle engineering

• Life cycle analysis and characterization of mechanical products and components.
• Life cycle assessment (LCA) e Life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) + software modelling.
• Product eco-design di prodotto, including disasssembly analysis, energy efficiency, material selection, etc.

Target design methodologies (DfX)

• Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) both at conceptual and detail design phase.
• Design for Disassembly and technical analysis of design solutions to reduce disassembly times.
• Design to cost (DtC) for product/component cost reduction.
• Customised CAD-based software tool for the mentioned methodologies.

METALLURGY

Main activities focus on microstructure analysis and characterization of metallic material for industrial application (i.e., automotive, aerospace, naval, food industry, etc.), developed with innovative (i.e., additive manufacturing) and traditional manufacturing processes. The research activities are summarised as follows:

Additive Manufacturing of metallic materials

• Microstructure analysis with different techniques (i.e., EBSD, X-ray crystallography)
• Mechanical properties optimization with innovative thermal treatments for metallic alloys manufactured with SLM
• Creep behaviour of metallic alloys manufactured with SLM
• Aging analysis and characterization of mechanical properties at different layers of components manufactured with SLM

Innovative coating deposition methods and repair of mechanical components

• Microstructure analysis of wear-resisting coating for Nichel superalloys manufactured with HVOF, Laser Cladding, and Cold Spray.
• Development of repair techniques for aeronautical products via Electro Spark Deposition (ESD).
• Analysis and characterization of surface properties after Friction Stir Processing (FSP).

ProDiMet group performs the research activities in the following laboratories with dedicated equipment:

• Assembly/Disassembly laboratory (fully equipped with standard and non-standard tools)
• Material testing laboratory
  • Servo-hydraulic testing machine MTS 810: load range +/- 250/25kN; extensometer (gauge length 10-50mm); clip-gage +/-3mm; climatic chamber -30°C +80°C
  • Servo-electro-mechanical testing machine Instron: load range +/- 30kN
  • Servo-electro-mechanical testing machine Instron: load range +/- 5/0.5kN
  • Resonance fatigue testing machine: static load range 20kN + dynamic load range +/- 10kN
  • Data Acquisition Conditioner for resistive strain gauges
  • Liquid Penetrant Examination
  • Temperature and moisture controlled conditioning for specimens to be tested
• Other equipment available at SITEIA.PARMA (Tecnopolo di Parma)
  • Drop Tower for impact test of composites and polymers

• Digital Image Correlation System for full field strain measurement

• Metallurgy and Innovative Materials laboratory
  • Sample preparation for microscopy and SEM analysis.
  • Microstructural characterization o metallic materials  
  • Microscopic measures of the metallic grain dimensions, porosity and other features (with LEICA DMi8C)
  • SEM investigation and statistical analysis of metallic grain characteristics
  • Rockwell hardness measures with Rockwell ZWICK 4150BK
  • Vickers micro-hardness measures with Leica VMHT equipment
  • Thermal treatment with Nabertherm equipment (T.max 1100-1200°C)