Digital Manufacturing and Surface Engineering (DMS)
The DMS Research Group performs internationally recognized research in the field of digital manufacturing and surface engineering.
The group is lead and co-lead by Prof. Antti Salminen and Prof. Ashish Ganvir, respectively.
Some of the topics that are covered under the broad umbrella of DMS are for examples:
- Digital materials (metals, ceramics, polymers and composites) processing using laser, plasma, combustion flames, electron-beam etc.;
- Digital robotized liquid (solution precursors, suspensions etc.) and solid (wire as well as powder) processing,
- Digital joining (e.g. welding) & 3D printing of materials
- Digital surface engineering: thin and thick films, tribology and corrosion of surfaces, modern thermal spray techniques, surface modification by thermal and mechanical means
- Process monitoring, modeling and simulations.
DMS as a newly established research group has renowned young and experienced experts working in the above-mentioned fields with combined industrial and academic experience of well over 50 years. The group´s ambition is to conduct applied industrially relevant yet fundamental scientifically driven research and development. Some of the target applications for DMS are biomedical, automotive, power generation, aerospace, space, marine, renewable energy and many more.
Currently the group has two professors, one senior scientist, two PhD students and one research assistant. We are constantly growing and recruiting more researchers, especially post-docs, PhD students and MSc thesis students. Interested candidates who wish to apply for fellowships and work in our group are most welcome to contact us.
Ongoing research projects
Gold mining is very expensive industry and therefore opportunities resulting in low cost gold production are needed, which is spurring the utilization of tailings as well as other secondary resources. Gold is also one of the most wasteful metals where almost 99% ends up as waste and produced tailings are causing huge environmental risks. Therefore, it would be extremely important to enhance the gold recovery from the secondary resources. In this project, novel electrochemical reactors are constructed by using additive manufacturing (AM) and investigated for electrochemical production of chlorine for efficient gold leaching from the solid residues followed by its selective recovery. Especially, closed-loop gold recovery with zero emissions will be obtained. Additive manufacturing provides novel manufacturing method of very complex shapes and geometries, thus enabling manufacturing of totally new design of electrodes by requirements of targeted applications. This freedom in design of electrodes can remarkably enhance efficiency of electrochemical reactors. At the same time, important knowhow via monitoring related to the additive manufacturing of electrodes with versatile and complex geometries from different materials will be achieved. Electro-efficiency of the recovery systems is maximized in order to increase the sustainability of the novel processes.
The ReGold-AM project (2019 - 2023) is funded by Academy of Finland. The PI in University of Turku is Docent Heidi Piili and the project is carried out in tight cooperation with Professor Eveliina Repo from LUT university (LUTSepPur). Project is carried out with national and international collaborators from both academy and industrial sectors.
The GREEN-BAT project is aiming to bring a technological innovation in the field of solid-state-batteries by proposing a novel manufacturing route to produce individual all-solid-state-lithium-batteries (ASSLB) constituents and subsequently explore sequential processing for their facile consolidation into full ASSLB cell; using direct multi-material processing technologies in lieu of the current state-of-the-art ASSLB several-step manufacturing route where different manufacturing technologies are used to produce different ASSLB constituents (current collectors, electrodes and electrolyte). Successful realization of GREEN-BAT will have a significant impact on the ASSLB market serving several industrial sectors, especially transport.
GREEN-BAT project (2022–2025) is funded under M-ERA.NET 2021 which is an EU-funded international network. From Finland the funding organization is Academy of Finland. University of Turku is coordinating this project and the consortium project partners across Europe are University West, Sweden; Fraunhofer IWS, Germany; LiFeSiZE AB, Sweden. Prof. Ashish Ganvir is the project coordinator and PI from University of Turku.
The additive manufacturing techniques get higher interest of the material scientists all over the world. The unique possibilities of printing the complex shapes and tailoring the microstructure and mechanical properties have a great potential for real life applications. This project is focusing on tailoring the microstructure of novel Fe-based alloy by manipulating the processing conditions. Subsequently the project is aiming to gain an in-depth understanding about the deformation behaviour of the 3D printed material and its correlation with the manipulated microstructure. Successful execution of this project will add a new alloy into the list of novel materials for 3D printing using powder bed fusion.
The PI from University of Turku is Prof. Ashish Ganvir and the project is executed in collaboration with Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing technology of which popularity has risen last years. Today, AM is used for manufacturing of demanding components and in serial production, and not just for manufacturing of single series components, like prototypes and visual models. In the DREAMS project, a comprehensive material database will be created. A considerable number of test specimens will be AMed by service providers and research institutes, and analysed in-depth by research institutes. This material database can be utilized in certification of critical components used in e.g., aviation, oil & gas, and nuclear industries. The material database is a must for engineering the critical components for additive manufacturing and certification. Another tangible example of results of this project is the fully determined quality pyramid in which the five quality levels for AMed components are defined.
DREAMS project (2022–2024) is funded under Business Finland. Prof. Antti Salminen is PI of the project on University of Turku's side. The consortium project partners in Finland are University of Oulu, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT and FAME 3d ecosystem, with large number of Finnish industries. The international collaboration in project is planned with Fraunhofer IPK, Germany, Penn State University, U.S.A. and Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland.
The Hit and Sink project will develop a new type of virtual reality-based training method for companies offering and using 3D printing to improve their competitiveness. The content of the training is planned in cooperation with Finnish companies. 3D printing is already used quite widely in the world and the growth in use is anticipated to continue to be strong. Goal is to develop a new method of training and familiarization, the implementation of which utilizes the 360/virtual reality environment. The Hit and Sink training method is a 360-VR technology-based model that supports dialogue, case specificity and micro-learning. The material will contain extensive information about 3D printing, both in terms of theory and practice. It is intended that training material can be integrated into the continuous development of staff to promote the competitiveness of enterprises. The new training method can also be used in the future to promote the use of other new technologies.
Hit and Sink project (2021–2023) is funded by European Social Fund within REACT-EU. The project PI in Mechanical Engineering is Professor Antti Salminen and project is carried out in collaboration with Turku School of Economics at University of Turku. The project is collaborating with 10 local companies.
The project aims to develop know-how and technical preparedness in higher education institutes as well as in industrial companies by development of additive manufacturing of metals.
Digital Manufacturing and Surface Engineering (DMS) coordinates the Manufacturing Research Survey (EMS) on behalf of Finland as a part of the EU-formed consortium. EMS Finland forms a research alliance between 21 EU states. The research is coordinated in the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). EMS research group aims to promote scientific knowledge in the manufacturing sector. In the future, the research group’s activities will include close government-leading project work with the business community and Horizon Europe projects. The projects focus on assessing the manufacturing industry in practical requirements. Accordingly, we will explore how universities should educate future manufacturing professionals to meet the requirements of companies.
