Landon Lemmons – Mechanical Engineering Honors Research Student
Author: Landon Lemmons | Major: Mechanical Engineering
During the Spring Semester of 2022 I worked in Dr. Han Hu’s Nano Energy and Data-Driven Discovery Laboratory. I am a current Mechanical Engineering Major at the University of Arkansas and I have been eager to start using my Engineering knowledge to get hands on experience through research. Along with my team of other talented students and the help of the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium as well as the Honors College at the University of Arkansas we were able to explore different manufacturing methods specifically within Microgravity environments.
At the start of this semester I collaborated with the other member of the groups manufacturing sub team. We began by analyzing the manufacturing needs in either microgravity or zero gravity environments. After doing a deep dive into engineering literature and previously published research papers, as a team we realized that through 3-D printing we would be able to achieve a few of our key manufacturing goals. The printer qualities which we wanted to shoot for were as follows. The printer should have decent build resolution, use thermoplastics which have a higher melting point, and have a large build plate volume capability which would be optimal. These parameters would allow us to also test and optimize a 3-D printer in the lab which could potentially use for solar power testing. From here we landed on the Creality CR-30 with its infinite Z axis capabilities. This 3-D printer effectively allows for manufacturing of infinite length in any one direction. Additionally its two-nozzle extruder would allow for the possibility of the direct use of the light source as a source of thermal energy used in extrusion.
After deciding on this printer, our team with the help of Dr. Hu, immediately obtained, set up, and started analyzing the components of the 3-D printer. The printer was then analyzed to determine which parts would need to be changed to be solar powered. We looked at the heating requirements needed to heat the 100-micron layers as well as the power consumed in the actuators on the nozzle along with the power required and heat source necessary to power the print belt. However from here we needed to gather data on the solar collection capabilities from the other half of the team.
In order to support this other half of the ASGC team I have taken over management and technical operation of the 3-D printer in our lab and supported the ASGC-SIT team by designing new mounts and devices which enable data measurements to be collected. Using this 3-D printer I have manufactured two different lens mounting systems for the SIT team and am currently working on a test stand system for the team to use to do comparative data collection on materials at different distances.
Through this semester of research, I have realized my interest in additive manufacturing and its many new uses in the industry of mechanical engineering. I plan to continue my work with 3-D printing and additive manufacturing and its applications within design and mechanical engineering here at the University of Arkansas. By combining my research in additive manufacturing and thermal data analysis with continued research on custom designed thermoplastic parts within new additive manufacturing practices, I hope to be able to apply many new innovative solutions in my future career.
This experience will prove to be valuable as I learned many things about how to design with the goal of 3-D printing. I learned how to account for print error and device error tolerance. Through this I also gathered knowledge on ways to design a part to be reliable based on print orientation and scaling. I want to say thank you to Dr. Hu for inviting me to join the NED 3 lab and for providing me with a place to explore engineering design and the areas of engineering which I’m passionate about. His ambition and constant communication have helped me continue to stay motivated and passionate about my research. I am very excited for the future of the lab and hope to be able to produce more interesting engineering research which will lead the way in engineering innovation at the University of Arkansas.