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Subramanian Ramakrishnan,Ph.D. with his 3D printer at the the High Performance Materials Institute
Grad student and Ph.D. candidate Roneisha Haney and professor Subramanian Ramakrishnan,Ph.D.researches complex fluids and nanomaterials in chemical and biomedical engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida.
FAMU-FSU College of Engineering 3D research has been showcased in the Additive Manufacturing journal, according to FAMU News. The publication provides an outlet for engineers, materials scientists, and practitioners in academia as these technologies are incorporated in new products and medical implant design and manufacturing.
Subramanian Ramakrishnan, a professor in chemical and biomedical engineering at the college, is the lead investigator studying thermal interface materials, shielding materials for electronic devices, and light-emitting devices.
Grad student and Ph.D. candidate Roneisha Haney and Professor Ramakrishnan research complex fluids and nanomaterials in chemical and biomedical engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida.
“Our aim is to 3D print lightweight conductive composites and to study the effect of printing conditions on particle orientation and final composite performance,” Ramakrishnan told FAMU News. “The combination of epoxy resins and graphene nano-platelets is of interest in several applications for the Air Force, such as thermal interface materials, heat sinks, and electromagnetic shielding materials.”
The researchers use direct ink writing, an additive manufacturing technique that can assess the qualities of the composites.
“We are using direct ink writing, an extrusion-based additive manufacturing process where we are working with materials on a micro-scale,” Roneisha Haney, a doctoral student researcher on the project, said. “The liquid phase ink is dispensed out of small nozzles under controlled flow rates along digitally defined paths to fabricate a 3D structure, layer by layer.”
Ramakrishnan is collaborating with researchers from industrial and manufacturing engineering and the Air Force research laboratory to conduct the work. Funding from the project is supported in part by a 5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, FAMUsaid.