America Makes has announced the five organizations who will be funded by its Advanced Tools for Rapid Qualification (ATRQ) project, which is aimed at reducing corrosion and defects in additive manufactured (AM) parts for defense and commercial applications.
Some US$3.9 million will be available to fund multiple awards with at least US$1.95 million in matching funds.
‘The Department of Defense (DoDs) need for rapid qualification and certification of AM processes and materials is great,’ said executive director of America Makes, Rob Gorham. ‘The outcomes of the ATRQ Directed Projects from the selected awardees certainly have the potential to be game-changers for the DoD’s wider adoption of AM, particularly using laser powder bed fusion technology and materials.’
The award winners researching metal AM are:
- Northrop Grumman Systems and the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), will focus on the corrosion mechanisms of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) manufactured components using AlSi10Mg aluminum powder alloy.
- 3D Systems, Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), the University of Akron and Northrup Grumman Innovation Services (NGIS) will develop a corrosion performance design guide for AM Nickel-base alloy 625 in an effort to minimize saltwater corrosion of components made from this superalloy in DoD weapon systems, especially in US Navy ship components.
- The Ohio State University, Rolls-Royce Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Proto Precision Additive, and BlueQuartz Software LLC will look into ways to overcome the qualification hurdles related to the formation of AM manufacturing defects.
- Pennsylvania State University, 3D Systems, Northrop Grumman, and Applied Optimization, Inc will demonstrate methods for the generation and characterization of defects representative of those formed during LPBF of the titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V.
‘These five project teams outlined what we believe are the best approaches to identifying and solving the corrosion induced defects and failures of LPBF manufactured parts, as well as the overall degradation of AM components due to harsh environments,’ said John Wilczynski, America Makes technology director. ‘The impact of these projects will certainly increase the collective knowledge in understanding the root causes of the defects, failures, and degradation of parts and thus, significantly improving the designs of components and further innovating the processes used to make them.’
This story uses material from America Makes, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
