Title: Modeling and Control of Manufacturing Processes

5^th December, Thursday, seminar room, A420, starting from 10am.  

This presentation will provide an overview of the graduate student opportunities at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and cover some of the manufacturing process modeling and control work being conducted in Dr. Landers’ research laboratories at Missouri S&T. In particular, this talk will focus on the following three manufacturing processes: Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) of steels, Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of aluminum, and Freeze-form Extrusion Fabrication (FEF) of ceramics. In the LMD process, metal power is fed to a molten pool of metal to form a bead. As the substrate moves, the bead solidifies and complex metal parts are fabricated with this additive manufacturing technology. We will discuss the issues encountered when modeling and controlling the physics of bead morphology formation and melt pool temperature generation, and the effect on in-process control on the part quality. In the FSW process a rotating pin is plunged into the joint between two sheets of metal. The pin moves along the joint locally plasticizing the material and leaving a welded joint. We will discuss the issues encountered when modeling and controlling the physics of the forces generated during the FSW process and the effects regulating the welding force has on part quality. In the FEF process, an aqueous-based ceramic slurry is extruded on a substrate that moves back and forth, We will discuss the issues encountered when modeling and controlling the physics of the extrusion force generated during the FEF process and the effect regulating this force has on the resulting part morphology.

Dr. Robert G. Landers (landersr@mst.edu) is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Associate Chair for Graduate Affairs in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). He received his B.S. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1990, M.E. degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 1992, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 1997, all in Mechanical Engineering. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of modeling, analysis, monitoring, and control of manufacturing processes (metal cutting, friction stir welding, laser metal deposition, and freeze extrusion fabrication), control of alternative energy systems (hydrogen fuel cells and advanced batteries) and electro–hydraulic systems, and digital control applications. He has over one hundred twenty refereed technical publications, including fifty–two journal articles and five book chapters, and has been the principle investigator for more than $2.5M in funding from the National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy, Air Force Research Laboratory, US Department of Education, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Missouri Research Board, and various companies. He received the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ M. Eugene Merchant Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award in 2004 and nine faculty research and teaching excellence awards from Missouri S&T, is a member of ASEE and ASME, and a senior member of IEEE and SME. He is currently an associate editor for the ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, and served in that role for the IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology from 2006–2012 and the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control from 2009–2012.