A novel approach to the circular production of sustainable powders for metal additive manufacturing

Cardiff University is offering a 3-year PhD project focused on sustainable production and recycling of metal powders for additive manufacturing. The research involves synthesizing metal powders from recycled machining chips and optimizing processes for their use in metal AM. Candidates should have a relevant degree and demonstrate English proficiency. The project provides hands-on experience with advanced metal binder jetting technology, aiming to reduce the energy footprint in powder production.
3 Year Self funded project

This PhD project will ignite an exciting new research area for the sustainable production, consumption and recycling of metallic materials for use in Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes. Building on a strong track-record of AM research at Cardiff University, dating back to the mid-1990s, the research will initially investigate the synthesis of metal powders from recycled machining chips/production scarp obtained from conventional machining processes, followed by process optimisation to allow this powder to be used for producing components by metal AM processes, such as powder bed fusion and binder jetting. The conventional production of metal powders for AM (via gas or water atomisation) requires a series of extraction and cleaning processes which use enormous quantities of energy. The powder compositions must also be tailored when they are synthesised from crude metals/metal alloys.

With the proposed research route, the energy footprint of producing metal powders will be dramatically reduced. Chips will be collected after machining from titanium blocks/bars whose compositions are already tailored during casting/forging. Thus, the processing time to produce tailor-made powders will also be considerably reduced. The resulting AM parts will be characterised for surface and mechanical integrity and will be validated via performance test. The impact of the research will underpin cost effective waste management of metallic chips and their recycling for the use in powder form when producing high-value AM components.

The High-Value Manufacturing (HVM) Research Group of Cardiff University has recently acquired a state-of-the-art metal binder jetting machine. Through this project, the student will have an exceptional opportunity to gain experience on the novel metal binder jetting AM technology.

Academic Criteria

Candidates should hold a good bachelor’s degree (first or upper second-class honours degree) or an MEng/MSc degree in a relevant engineering/science subject.

Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate proficiency in the English language (IELTS 6.5 or equivalent)

Contact for further information

Dr Debajyoti Bhaduri (BhaduriD@cardiff.ac.uk)

How to apply

Applicants should submit an application for postgraduate study via the Cardiff University webpages (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/programmes/programme/engineering ) including;

· an upload of your CV

· a personal statement/covering letter

· two references (applicants are recommended to have a third academic referee, if the two academic referees are within the same department/school)

· Current academic transcripts

Applicants should select Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), with a start date of

PLEASE CHOOSE -1st April 2025, 1st July 2025 or 1st October 2025.

In the research proposal section of your application, please specify the project title and supervisors of this project and copy the project description in the text box provided. In the funding section, please select 'I will be applying for a scholarship / grant' and specify that you are applying for advertised funding, reference DB3-SF-2024

Deadline for applications

There is no deadline to apply - We will close this opportunity once a suitable candidate is identified.