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Frank Pfefferkorn

Frank Pfefferkorn

Professor
Associate Chair for Graduate Studies

I am a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My teaching and research are focused on discrete metal part manufacturing processes, and heat transfer as it applies to manufacturing processes. My goals are to: (1) educate/develop manufacturing engineers/workforce, and (2) build a scientific understanding of advanced manufacturing processes, develop physics-based models that can be used to improve and control these processes, and to transfer this fundamental knowledge to industry. In my lab we conduct research with a focus on where the tool meets the workpiece, whether that tool is a laser, mechanical cutting tool, friction stir tool, etc. Currently, my lab is conducting research on: friction stir welding and processing, placing sensors in the coatings of cutting tools for smart manufacturing, solid-state metal additive-subtractive manufacturing (including friction surfacing), and laser remelting surfaces for polishing, structuring, and hardening.

In addition to being an Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering I serve as the Director of the Manufacturing Systems Engineering Program at UW-Madison.
During the 2015-2016 academic year, I was on leave from UW-Madison and served as an ASME Foundation Swanson Fellow in the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO) that is hosted by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. You can see what the AMNPO does by going to http://manufacturing.gov.

While I work full-time at UW-Madison, I also have an appointment at TU Wien (Austria) as a Visiting Professor, funded by the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation. This visiting professorship has me spending some time every year in Vienna building a strong research collaboration in advanced manufacturing research between TU Wien and UW-Madison.

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Contact

1031, Mechanical Engineering Bldg
1513 University Ave
Madison, WI

Professor Frank Pfefferkorn, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • PhD 2002, Purdue University
  • M.S. M.E. 1997, Purdue University
  • BS 1994, Univ. of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

  • Laser remelting-based polishing and structuring of metal alloys
  • Friction stir welding and processing
  • Friction surfacing / additive friction stir
  • Temperature measurement and control in manufacturing
  • Instrumentation of cutting tools (e.g., measure tool-chip interface temperature)
  • Additive-subtractive manufacturing of metal parts
  • Energy consumption in manufacturing processes
  • Heat and mass transfer

  • 2023 ASME, Fellow
  • 2022 2022 ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2022), 3rd Place, Best Paper Award
  • 2021 International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP), Fellow
  • 2018 Manufacturing Engineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Dedicated Service Award
  • 2016 2016 ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2016), Best Paper Award
  • 2015 ASME Foundation, Swanson Fellow: Advanced Manufacturing
  • 2012 ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Best Reviewer
  • 2011 6th International Conference on MicroManufacturing, Best Paper Award
  • 2007 Society of Manufacturing Engineers , K.K. Wang Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer
  • 2002 Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Outstanding Graduate Student
  • 2001 Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Ingersoll-Rand Fellow
  • 1998 Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Laura Winkelman Fellow
  • 1994 Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, HVAC Award for Best Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • Deshpande, A., Baumann, C., Faue, P., Mayer, M., Ressel, G., Bleicher, F., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2024). Fully Consolidated Deposits from Oxide Dispersion Strengthened and Silicon Steel Powders via Friction Surfacing. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 146(10).
  • Agiwal, H., Yeom, H., Sridharan, K., Rudraraju, S., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2024). Radius of Contact During Friction Surfacing of Stainless Steel 304L: Effect of Spindle Speed and Rod Diameter. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 146(2).
  • Newman, D., & Engineer, R. E. (2023). Eric,“. In Solid high-speed synchronous reluctance rotor enabled by multi-material additive manufacturing,” in 2023 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 1–8).
  • Newman, D., Faue, P., Nishanth, F., Rankouhi, B., Pfefferkorn, F., Thoma, D. J., & Severson, E. (2023). Solid high-speed synchronous reluctance rotor enabled by multi-material additive manufacturing. In 2023 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) (pp. 3965–3972).
  • Faue, P., Rathmann, L., M"oller, Marius,, Hassan, M., Clark, S. J., Fezzaa, K., Klingbeil, K., Richter, B., Volpp, J., Radel, T., & others, (2023). High-speed X-ray study of process dynamics caused by surface features during continuous-wave laser polishing. CIRP annals, 72(1), 201--204.
  • Jackson, M. A., Thoma, D. J., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2023). Investigation of remanufacturing methods utilizing mechanically-generated and gas-atomized feedstock production for directed energy deposition processing through specific energy consumption modeling. International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology, 10(3), 675--691.
  • Ansari, M. A., Agiwal, H., Franke, D., Zinn, M., Pfefferkorn, F., & Rudraraju, S. (2023). Numerical Investigation Into the Influence of Alloy Type and Thermo-Mechanics on Void Formation in Friction Stir Welding of Aluminum Alloys. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 145(9), 091001.
  • Deshpande, A., Agiwal, H., Baumann, C., Krall, S., Bleicher, F., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2023). Recycling metal cutting chips into a consolidated deposition with friction surfacing. Manufacturing Letters, 35, 743--749.
  • Agiwal, H., Baumann, C., Krall, S., Yeom, H., Sridharan, K., Bleicher, F., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2023). Towards Multilayered Coatings of 304L Stainless Steels Using Friction Surfacing. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 145(1), 011001.
  • Rathmann, L., Beste, L., Faue, P., Richter, B., Klingbeil, K., Radel, T., & Pfefferkorn, F. (2022). Macro-pore free sub-surface PBF-LB/M components through laser polishing. In LAF 2022: Proceedings of the 12th Laser Applications Forum.

  • M E 352 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects II (Spring 2025)
  • M E 449 - Redesign and Prototype Fabrication (Spring 2025)
  • M E 492 - Mechanical Engineering Projects II (Spring 2025)
  • M E 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Spring 2025)
  • M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • M E 311 - Manufacturing: Metals and Automation (Fall 2024)
  • M E 351 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects I (Fall 2024)
  • M E 491 - Mechanical Engineering Projects I (Fall 2024)
  • M E 529 - Design & Applications of Smart Manufacturing Processes (Fall 2024)
  • M E 601 - Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering (Fall 2024)
  • M E 699 - Advanced Independent Study (Fall 2024)
  • M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • M E 999 - Advanced Independent Study (Fall 2024)
  • M E 449 - Redesign and Prototype Fabrication (Summer 2024)
  • M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • M E 352 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects II (Spring 2024)
  • M E 449 - Redesign and Prototype Fabrication (Spring 2024)
  • M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • M E 351 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects I (Fall 2023)
  • M E 352 - Interdisciplinary Experiential Design Projects II (Fall 2023)
  • M E 491 - Mechanical Engineering Projects I (Fall 2023)
  • M E 529 - Design & Applications of Smart Manufacturing Processes (Fall 2023)
  • M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • M E 890 - PhD Research and Thesis (Summer 2023)
  • M E 990 - Dissertator Research and Thesis (Summer 2023)