RESEARCH INTERESTS

The RAM (Rau Additive Manufacturing) Lab is working to improve polymer additive manufacturing (AM) to ultimately enable production of multifunctional parts that can help address largescale challenges in healthcare and energy. We are focusing on advancing Direct Ink Write (DIW) and Vat Photopolymerization (VP) AM by working at the intersection of three core areas:

1. Materials innovation
2. Process development
3. Functional applications

In the near term we are working on improving materials available for printing (specifically soft elastomers), improving the process quality/speed/reliability, introducing real time process monitoring systems, and enabling the production of multimaterial and multifunctional parts (specifically multimaterial VP). In the long term, concurrent advancements at the intersection of these three areas will build a deeper fundamental understanding of process physics and ultimately enable robust production of multifunction parts. We are working on identifying broad trends in process behavior and working towards developing a better fundamental understanding of these processes to help transition them into robust, industry-ready technologies. Ultimately these advancements will enable robust production of multifunctional parts that can address larger societal problems including those in healthcare and energy.

 

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech (2022)
• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech (2017)

 

TEACHING

• Undergraduate: Intermediate Mechanics of Materials(ME 3010)

• Graduate: Plasticity and Viscoelasticity (ME 5438)

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

• Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming (2024-Present)
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia (2022-2024)

PUBLICATIONS

[1]      G.F. Godshall, D.A. Rau, C.B. Williams, R.B. Moore, Additive manufacturing of poly (phenylene sulfide) aerogels via simultaneous material extrusion and thermally induced phase separation, Advanced Materials 36 (2024) 2307881.

[2]      M. Kim, S. Nian, D.A. Rau, B. Huang, J. Zhu, G. Freychet, M. Zhernenkov, L.H. Cai, 3D printable modular soft elastomers from physically cross-linked homogeneous associative polymers, ACS Polymers Au (2024). https://doi.org/10.1021/acspolymersau.3c00021.

[3]      D.A. Rau, S.S. Thale, J.R. Kubalak, B. Woods, C.B. Williams, Multi-axis material extrusion: Conformal deposition of a high-performance cyanate ester, Additive Manufacturing Letters 7 (2023) 100160.

[4]      D.A. Rau, C.B. Williams, M.J. Bortner, Rheology and printability: A survey of critical relationships for direct ink write materials design, Prog Mater Sci (2023) 101188.

[5]      J.P. Reynolds, D.A. Rau, C.B. Williams, M.J. Bortner, A rheological method to predict printability of high solids content inks via ultraviolet-assisted material extrusion, Addit Manuf 75 (2023) 103753.

[6]      D.A. Rau, M.J. Bortner, C.B. Williams, A rheology roadmap for evaluating the printability of material extrusion inks, Addit Manuf 75 (2023) 103745.

[7]      D.A. Rau, J.S. Bryant, J.P. Reynolds, M.J. Bortner, C.B. Williams, A dual-cure approach for the ultraviolet-assisted material extrusion of highly loaded opaque suspensions, Addit Manuf 72 (2023) 103616.

[8]      D.A. Rau, J.P. Reynolds, J.S. Bryant, M.J. Bortner, C.B. Williams, A rheological approach for measuring cure depth of filled and unfilled photopolymers at additive manufacturing relevant length scales, Addit Manuf 60 (2022) 103207.

[9]      L.S. Hamachi, D.A. Rau, C.B. Arrington, D.T. Sheppard, D.J. Fortman, T.E. Long, C.B. Williams, W.R. Dichtel, Dissociative Carbamate Exchange Anneals 3D Printed Acrylates, ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 13 (2021) 38680–38687.

[10]    D.A. Rau, M. Forgiarini, C.B. Williams, Hybridizing Direct Ink Write and mask-projection Vat Photopolymerization to enable additive manufacturing of high viscosity photopolymer resins, Addit Manuf 42 (2021) 101996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.101996.

[11]     C.B. Arrington, D.A. Rau, J.A. Vandenbrande, M. Hegde, C.B. Williams, T.E. Long, 3D printing carbonaceous objects from polyimide pyrolysis, ACS Macro Lett 10 (2021) 412–418.

[12]    P.J. Scott, D.A. Rau, J. Wen, M. Nguyen, C.R. Kasprzak, C.B. Williams, T.E. Long, Polymer-inorganic hybrid colloids for ultraviolet-assisted direct ink write of polymer nanocomposites, Addit Manuf 35 (2020) 101393.

[13]    D.A. Rau, J. Herzberger, T.E. Long, C.B. Williams, Ultraviolet-assisted direct ink write to additively manufacture all-aromatic polyimides, ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10 (2018) 34828–34833.