NIST
NIST
part of the housing of the first engine support made on a 3D printer printed with powder metals. the method of direct laser cultivation
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded 3.7 million USD in grants to help address current and future barriers to widespread adoption of metals-based AM, through measurement science research.
“The U.S. can take a leading role in developing the measurements and international standards that will help accelerate adoption of these important 3D-printing technologies,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio.
Through research and the grants, NIST aims to address barriers to adoption of additive manufacturing. It also aims to advance U.S. competitiveness in the industry.
Locasio said: “Additive manufacturing offers advantages such as reduced material waste, lower energy intensity, reduced time to market, and just-in-time production that could bolster supply chains in the U.S.”
The funding from the grant will be awarded to four different organisations, to be spent over two years.
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York will receive 957,706 USD. The project at the university in Albany aims to demonstrate an enhanced non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique that can determine key material properties, such as oxide thicknesses, splatter percentage, grain size and defect detection.
Colorado School of Mines will be given 956,888 USD, which will go towards a project to examine new optical metrologies. The aim is to enable real-time process feedback and control to achieve process-based qualification and certification of metallic parts made by AM.
Another 949,075 USD will be awarded to Auburn University. This is for a project that will aim to establish a data-driven framework with computer vision and machine learning for the non-destructive qualification of AM materials and parts for applications that cannot afford failures due to fatigue.
The GE Research department of General Electric, based in Niskayuna, New York will receive 873,999 USD. GE Research has started a collaboration with the University of Texas at El Paso to establish the Intelligent Stitch Integration for Testing and Evaluation (I-SITE) program. This aims to extend existing standardised methods and build correlations between sensor response, material behaviour and mechanical properties.
