America Makes Issues Rapid Innovation Call to Advance Qualification and Certification of Additive Manufactured Products

America Makes, the Manufacturing USA Institute focused on additive manufacturing, based in Youngstown, Ohio, has issued a new Rapid Innovation Call (RIC) addressing three technical topic areas to advance qualification and certification of additive manufactured products. The RIC will award $185K in total funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to advance qualification and certification (Q&C) of additive manufacturing (AM) materials, processes, and products throughout the supply chain.

The three topic areas are: (1) Characterization of Metal AM Process Surface Features; (2) AM Part Families for Product Qualification & Certification (Q&C); and (3) Development of Test Artifacts for the Characterization of AM In-situ Process Monitoring Systems.

All participants must be members of America Makes. Applications are due March 1, 2020. There will be an informational webinar today, February 15 at 2:00 PM EST (registration is required).

A full description of topic areas is included below:

Topic 1: Characterization of Metal AM Process Surface Features

The technical focus of this project is the development and demonstration of in-situ process monitoring for metal AM surface features. The goal is to expand the industry understanding of metal AM and establish a quantitative data set to refine best practices, which will subsequently contribute to Q&C standards. As this is a Member Driven RIC, there is no cost share requirement for this project call.

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, medicine, and aviation where Q&C of AM parts is critically needed. As this is a Government Driven RIC, this call has a cost share requirement of 25 percent.

Topic 3: Development of Test Artifacts for the Characterization of AM In-situ Process Monitoring Systems

The technical focus of this project is to use test artifacts or geometric feature sets to evaluate the performance of in-situ process monitoring in metals-based AM commercial systems. The goal is to increase AM fabrication and AM parts quality in real-time instead of quality analysis after fabrication. As this is a Government Driven RIC, this call has a cost share requirement of 25 percent.

For more information, please view the full RIC.