America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) have announced the winners of the $1.2 million Open Project Call.
This project call was funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD(R&E)) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Throughout the execution of these projects, regular updates will be provided at America Makes Technical Review and Exchange, highlighting the collaborative commitment to advancing additive manufacturing and fostering innovation within the industry, says the company.
“The continuous progress made in research, development, and implementation of AM innovations in the areas of design, materials, processes, genome, and value chain that result from these funded projects is paramount to our nation’s competitive advantage,” says Brandon Ribic, Technology Director at America Makes.
AM innovations take root with strategic funding
One of the winning projects falls under Topic 1, “Design for Dimensional Inspection of Internal Features via In-Situ Process Monitoring.” Titled “Inspection Using In-Situ Height Mapping Data,” the initiative is led by RTX Technology Research Center (RTRC) in collaboration with Velo3D. The project’s objective is to improve dimensional inspection of internal features by utilizing in-situ height mapping.
Focusing on “Thermal Manipulations for Processing Improvements,” Topic 2 features the project “Fast scanning mirror Wobble Enabled Build Schema (Fast-WEBS)” led by GE Research. Collaborating with Johns Hopkins University, the project aims to explore thermal manipulations for enhancing additive manufacturing processes.
Under Topic 4, addressing “Frameworks for Utilizing Process Monitoring in Conjunction with Ex-Situ Inspection for Qualification,” R3 Digital Sciences takes the lead. The project team, comprising Macy Consulting, The Ohio State University Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, and the University of Louisville Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science & Technology, strives to establish effective frameworks for process monitoring and ex-situ inspection to ensure additive manufacturing qualification.
Lastly, Topic 6 introduces the “America Makes Methods and Approaches for Sustainable Operations” project, led by Deloitte Consulting. This initiative focuses on developing sustainable methodologies within additive manufacturing.
“Forecasts suggest a continued surge in AM in the coming years as more traditional manufacturing industries are expected to shift towards 3D printing for production, due to its ability to create complex, high-performance parts at lower costs and faster speeds. The work currently being facilitated by these awardees is instrumental to the technological advancements of tomorrow and can be integrated across diverse industries, including those still utilizing traditional manufacturing,” added Ribic.
America Makes facilitated workshops in 2021 and 2022, convening leaders in the AM industry, along with Institute members and advisory group participants, that ultimately resulted in the continued curation of the Additive Manufacturing Technology Roadmap. The roadmap was used to identify and formulate the topical areas for the project call.
America Makes fuels the next wave of AM advancements
Working with NCDMM, America Makes launched two project calls totaling $11.75 million. Funded by the OSD (R&E) and the AFRL, these calls focus on advancing high-temperature metals for additive manufacturing and enhancing additive manufacturing material datasets.
The first call, Powder Alloy Development for Additive Manufacturing (PADAM), with $6 million from AFRL, focused on advancing high-temperature metals for additive manufacturing. The second call, Proliferation of AM Material Datasets, supported by OSD(R&E) and AFRL, aimed to enhance documented AM material datasets, with $5.75 million in funding.
America Makes collaborated with OSD ManTech and Manufacturing Innovation Institutes for the DoD Point of Need Manufacturing challenge project call. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) provided up to $1.5 million for projects aligned with the MII Point of Need Challenge. Managed by America Makes, the initiative focused on dual-use applications for DoD and domestic manufacturing needs.
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Featured image shows the America Makes logo. Photo via America Makes.
