Jesse Romero

The main goal of the Consortium enabling In- and Ex-Situ-Quality Control of Additive Manufacturing (QCAM) is to establish a sustainable pipeline of under-represented students in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from Minority Serving Institutes with advanced knowledge and experience to serve the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) National Labs and Plants

Some areas we will cover:

• CAD (design)

• Simulation (AM simulation/structural)

• Metal AM (Machine operation/maintenance and safety)

• Machining (EDM/CNC)

• Metrology (CMM, CT Scanning)

• Materials testing (Tensile testing and DIC)

• Materials characterization (Microscopy)

The goal of this project is to understand the impact of particle size distribution on SLS prints. There are a variety of ways to modify SLS prints by altering the powder itself, but little is understood about how particle size can impact final part properties like density. There are hypotheses that a different distribution of powder sizes can improve packing density, thus altering the density of the final part.

Using a model material, powder will be printed with an “as is” print to act as an initial control. Afterwards, the powder will be sieved into multiple size distributions to compare factors such as printability, mechanical properties, density, etc.

• Analyzed problems and worked with teams to develop solutions.
• Sorted and organized files, spreadsheets, and reports.
• Participated in workshops and presentations related to projects to gain knowledge.
• Interacted with customers by phone, email, or in-person to provide information.