Linking production variabilities and geometrical imperfections to the performance of 3D-printed locally resonant metamaterials (APRIORI DC4)

This PhD is part of the Horizon Europe MSCA doctoral network APRIORI (Active PRoduct-to-Process LearnIng fOR Improving Critical Components Performance). APRIORI is an international consortium of high-profile universities, research institutions and companies located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Slovenia. The European manufacturing sector is experiencing and will continue experience a transition, characterized by the exponential growth of additive manufacturing, the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) and an increasing demand of customization of the manufactured products. The ambition of the APRIORI training network is to fully support this evolution by training 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) and future innovators to deal with two key technical challenges within the manufacturing sector: the uncertainty induced by the production process and the increasing complexity of the manufactured goods characterized by the critical parts or components. This will be achieved by developing the skills and new technologies that will enable for the first time the development of a unique integrated product design strategy that will drastically improve the performance of critical parts or components under uncertainties.

As DC4 in the APRIORI training network you will develop strategies to quantify the effects of local variations in e.g. density or geometry, compared to the nominal design, on the stopband behavior of 3D printed locally resonant metamaterials. By quantifying the uncertainties on geometry, density and stiffness distributions and by assessing the spread on the designed stopband location and width for different (vibro-)acoustic metamaterial designs, you will derive design rules linking nominal dimensions via the production process to a quantified spread on the expected result, accounting for uncertainties. These will allow ensuring a minimal performance for metamaterial designs, taking into account the effects of manufacturing uncertainties, and provide a leap forward towards the widespread use of locally resonant metamaterials as NVH solutions for industrial applications.

The research is hosted by the Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics division (LMSD), which currently counts >100 researchers and is part of the department of mechanical engineering of KU Leuven. The research group has a long track record of combining excellent fundamental academic research with industrially relevant applications, leading to dissemination in both highly ranked academic journals as well as on industrial fora. More information on the research group can be found on the website: https: // www. mech.kuleuven.be/en/research/mod/about and our linkedIn page: https: // www. linkedin.com/showcase/lmsd-kuleuven/.