UND
Sougata Roy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering (center), with his research group. To Roy’s right are Ph.D. research assistants. To the his left are other graduate research assistants along with Sydney Menne, an undergraduate research assistant.
Sougata Roy, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Dakota (UND), has received federal funding to research new manufacturing methods for components used in nuclear reactors.
Roy has been granted around 250,000 USD to study how additive manufacturing processes can be used to make nuclear reactor components. The research project will make use of nitrogen-strengthened austenitic steel, which will function as the feedstock for the manufacturing process.
Once completed, the components will undergo an in-depth investigation into their functionality compared to traditionally manufactured components according to Roy, the principal investigator on the project.
“Different research groups are trying to make the components using additive manufacturing,” said Roy. “Conventionally, these components are made through casting or wrought iron forging, but you cannot tweak the mechanical properties or the microstructure properly. In additive manufacturing, we have a lot more grip on that.”
According to Brian Tande, dean of the UND College of Engineering and Mines, the college has recently made investments to expand work in materials science and advanced manufacturing methods. Tande said: “This work will lead to advancements in metal additive manufacturing and has the potential to contribute to UND’s research efforts in energy and national security.”
In this project, the part fabrication and preliminary material characterisation will take place at UND, with further analysis being conducted using neutron diffraction at Spallation Neutron Source of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. Roy and a doctoral student from his research group at UND will spend the summers of 2024 and 2025 at ORNL.
Funding for this project was awarded through the National Science Foundation. Roy previously received a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study the potential of additive manufacturing for large components to be used on naval vessels. According to UND, Roy is also leading two other AM projects, funded by NASA.
Testing of the nuclear reactor components will focus on the high temperature tribological properties of the components Roy said that tribology, (the science of friction, wear and lubrication) is an inseparable field to surface engineering. The project will explore the relationships between AM, surface engineering and tribology.
“I have been working on these three areas for the previous 13 years, and now I get the opportunity to utilise my interdisciplinary experience in a single project through this NSF award,” said Roy.
In 2021, TCT reported that Oak Ridge National Laboratory was working on the design of a 3D printed nuclear reactor core, which was scheduled to be turned on by 2023.
