The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have acquired three new additive manufacturing (AM) machines as part of a contractual arrangement.
The machines are two Concept Laser X Line systems and one EOS M400. Each machine uses a version of additive manufacturing known as laser powder bed fusion to convert metal powder into liquid rocket engine (LRE) components.
Having such an advanced piece of equipment will allow the continued growth of UT’s expertise in that focus, said
‘This particular technology is going to allow us to open up new opportunities in the design and manufacturing of aluminum alloy components for LREs,’ said Professor Suresh Babu, the UT-ORNL governor’s chair in advanced manufacturing. ‘The importance of having access to such a cutting-edge machine can’t be overstated.’
‘While the primary goal is to develop liquid rocket engine parts, the expanded goals of the program will be to demonstrate other applications to see how much potential these machines will have for the US industrial base,’ said Jeff Haynes, program manager for Aerojet Rocketdyne’s additive manufacturing efforts. ‘Since we can now build large parts in rapid speed and our production needs are relatively low volume, these machines will have some excess capacity to help build new industrial base applications.’
This story is reprinted from material from ORNL, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
