RIC Focuses on the Maturation of AM Technologies
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO. During its annual Technical Review and Exchange (TRX) event yesterday, America Makes announced a new Rapid Innovation Call (RIC) for projects worth $500K in total funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division, to further advance the maturation of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies.
“Today’s RIC announcement is incredibly exciting as it represents a concerted effort by our membership community at all levels—from members to our Roadmap Advisory Group and our Executive Committee—to strategically prioritize our investment in the RIC technical topics to what will best benefit our industry the most next,” said Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division , Ph.D., America Makes Technology Director. “The America Makes membership community is truly working together to drive the direction we take to mature and advance AM technologies. We anticipate the outcomes of this RIC to make a significant impact in addressing critical areas of need.”
This RIC will address the needs of the membership in six topic domains:
Topic 1: Understanding Build Interruptions via AM Monitoring Methods
The technical focus of this project is to understand AM build interruptions via in-situ monitoring methods as current monitoring research often focuses on “continuous” operations of AM processes. The goal is to gain a better understanding and quantify processing conditions when AM processes encounter various forms of interruptions.
Topic 2: AM Part Families for Product Qualification & Certification (Q&C)
The technical focus is to leverage existing AM data to create AM part families to increase the amount validated AM data within the public domain and develop Q&C standards. The goal is to drive broader adoption of AM in such specific industries as aerospace, medical, and aviation where Q&C of AM parts is critically needed. There is a minimum cost share requirement of 25%.
Topic 3: Defect Detection and Mitigation via Hybrid AM
The technical focus of this project is to apply such hybrid AM approaches as additive and subtractive manufacturing operations to remedy various AM material and product defects. The goal is to develop and demonstrate reliable methods to mitigating defect formation during the AM processes, as well explore and validate methods to remedying defects as built.
Topic 4: Characterization of Transient Phenomena Impacting In-situ Molten Pool Temperature Measurement for AM of Reactive Metals
The technical focus of this project is to advance in-situ molten pool temperature measurement for AM of reactive metals. The goal is to measure molten pool surface temperatures accurately and reliably as a method to correlate processing parameters to material microstructure for metal AM.
Topic 5: Advancing Lightweight Design for AM of Thin Walls and Struts
The technical focus of this project is to support lightweight design methods of AM thin walls and struts by advancing the processability of these structures. The goal is to foster a deeper understanding of the manufacturability of lightweight designs and structures to advance their adoption in the automotive, aerospace, medical, and energy industries.
Topic 6: Internet of Things (IoT) Technologies to Enhance AM Product Performance
The technical focus of this project is to gain a greater understanding of how to best leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to benefit AM processes. The goal is to use IoT technologies on digital data extracted from AM process to quantify, assess, and improve AM product performance and quantify AM product pedigree.
***RIC Timeline and Details***
Launch: August 3, 2021
Eligibility: All participants (lead and sub proposers) must be America Makes members.
Submission Deadline: Thursday, September 2, 2021 before 5 p.m. EDT
Anticipated Award(s) Announcement: Monday, September 20, 2021
At least five awards are anticipated with an associated maximum federal funding available for each award of $100K.
More RIC information, details and participant guidelines can be found at americamakes.us/project-calls.
About America Makes
America Makes is the nation’s leading public-private partnership for additive manufacturing (AM) technology and education. America Makes members from industry, academia, government, workforce and economic development organizations, work together to accelerate the adoption of AM and the nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness. Founded in 2012 as the Department of Defense’s national manufacturing innovation institute for AM and first of the Manufacturing USA network, America Makes is based in Youngstown, Ohio and managed by the not-for-profit National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). Visit americamakes.us to learn more.
About Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
AFRL leads the discovery, development, and delivery of warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. AFRL is headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, home to the Wright brothers and recognized as the birthplace of aviation. AFRL is comprised of Technology Directorates, Functional Directorates, 711th Human Performance Wing and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. For more information about AFRL, visit afresearchlab.com.
Source: America Makes
