Mohammad Malekan

Project title

CRAM: Unveiling Crack-Void Interaction Mechanism for Sustainable Metal Additive Manufacturing Process

What is your project about?

My project explores how waste from conventional manufacturing, like CNC machining, can be transformed into feedstock for metal additive manufacturing. I focus on understanding how defects such as voids and cracks interact when using recycled, contaminated powders.  

What makes the project unique is that it studies these mechanisms under realistic, imperfect conditions. By linking defect formation to material performance, the project aims to enable reliable use of recycled materials in additive manufacturing.

How did you become interested in your particular field of research?

My interest began during my master’s studies, when a fracture mechanics course helped me understand failure patterns I had observed earlier. This connection between theory and real behaviour sparked my curiosity. Later, I worked with conventional manufacturing, and after moving to SDU I shifted to additive manufacturing due to its design freedom. However, I was struck by its reliance on large amounts of expensive virgin powder. This raised a simple question: can we make this process more sustainable? That question led directly to this project. What continues to drive me is understanding how cracks form and evolve, and how microstructural features influence the lifetime of components.

What are the scientific challenges and perspectives in your project?

The key challenge is predicting defect formation and failure when using contaminated recycled powder. Such materials introduce high variability, and we currently lack models to understand how this affects void formation and crack behaviour. The project addresses this by linking powder characteristics, microstructural defects, and structural failure across scales. If successful, it will provide new insight into how imperfections can be understood and managed, rather than avoided.

What is your estimate of the impact, which your project may have to society in the long term?

The project can contribute to making additive manufacturing both greener and more cost-effective by reducing reliance on virgin materials. Manufacturing industries, especially those combining machining and additive technologies, can benefit by reusing their own waste as feedstock. At the same time, the project supports circular economy principles and advances fundamental understanding of material failure. In the long term, it could change how factories view waste, turning it into a valuable resource.

Which impact do you expect the Sapere Aude programme will have on your career as a researcher?

I aim to build an interdisciplinary group combining experiments, simulations, and materials characterization. A key strength will be the ability to study the full chain from powder to failure that will help us optimize structural components. I enjoy mentoring researchers and developing strong experimental environments, while connecting fundamental science with real industrial problems. What distinguishes my group is this integrated approach, combining simulation and experiment in a single research loop.