High pressure die casting (HPDC) and additive manufacturing (AM) are two manufacturing processes that have transformed the manufacturing paradigm for building engineering components. While with HPDC, mass production with excellent surface finish is possible, AM provides unparalleled design freedom. However, due to extreme processing conditions and multi-physics involved, these processes are subjected to various defects, mechanics of which are still unclear. High brilliance X-ray beam coupled with state-of-the-art detectors and suitable scaled process replicators have enabled imaging of these defect mechanisms in real time. In this talk we will showcase some of these process replicators in our group and discuss three case studies, namely, understanding the porosity and shear band formation mechanism in HPDC, bubble dynamics in laser direct energy deposition and keyhole dynamics and enhanced near infra-red absorption in laser powder bed fusion of copper.

Keywords: Synchrotron Imaging, Laser Additive Manufacturing, High Pressure Die Casting

Dr. Bhagavath is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London (UCL). He completed his PhD from IIT Bombay in 2022.