NEWS & EVENTS

America Makes Announces its Next Directed Project Opportunity

November 1, 2018

Youngstown, Ohio — October 24, 2018. America Makes proudly announces its next Directed Project Opportunity made available today to its members for additive manufacturing (AM) applied research and development (R&D) projects for Advanced Tools for Rapid Qualification (ATRQ), funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy Office (OSD/MIBP) through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity seeks to promote and accelerate the development and deployment of innovative, cost effective, energy-efficient AM technologies with the objective of meeting defense and/or commercial needs.

“For our partners at the DoD, the anticipated outcomes of the America Makes ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are of the utmost importance,” said Rob Gorham, America Makes Executive Director. “The DoD’s need for rapid qualification and certification of AM processes and materials is great. These projects will be instrumental in resolving the current deterrents that are hindering the wider adoption and deployment of AM technologies within the DoD and its supply chain.”

Driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), America Makes and OSD/AFRL are targeting to make available approximately $3.9M to fund multiple awards with at least $1.95M in matching funds from the awarded project teams for total funding worth roughly $5.9M.

As with all America Makes project calls, the technical requirements of the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity directly relate to the America Makes Technology Roadmap, which identifies measurable and meaningful challenges that, when met, promote inquiry, knowledge-sharing, and technical advancements across the AM industry. ATRQ aligns to multiple swim lanes of the Technology Roadmap, including Design, Material, and Process. America Makes members can access the Technology Roadmap via the America Makes Digital Storefront for more information.

In addition, the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity also supports the Integrated DoD AM Roadmap, which America Makes facilitated the development of in 2016 in order to provide a foundation and framework for focusing desired collaboration and coordination of the DoD’s activities in AM to systematically and efficiently mature the technology for multiple DoD applications. Specific requirements from the DoD AM Roadmap can also be found on the America Makes website.

During its upcoming Members Meeting & Exchange (MMX) next week, America Makes will be holding an Industry Day announcement beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31, 2018. The Industry Day announcement will be held in lieu of the traditional project call Webinar. There’s still time to attend MMX. Registration for MMX closes tomorrow, Thursday, October 25, 2018. The Industry Day announcement will be live recorded and will be made available on the America Makes website on Monday, November 5, 2018.

 

Technical Topics

The three (3) technical topics for the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are as follows.

Topic Area 1 – Surrogate Damage Generation for LPBF Defects

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) has demonstrated the ability to repeatability create geometrically complex parts from a number of useful metal alloys. As with any process, however, there are defects that are potentially generated during the course of processing, many of which have a unique context within the LPBF process, including, but not limited to, lack of fusion defects, keyhole porosity, clusters of aligned porosity, powder short feed, and delaminations.

The goal of this topic area is to gain an understanding of the key failure modes and material anomalies in LPBF as it is crucial to making progress in model-informed and analysis-based qualification approaches. To that end, the DoD seeks proposals to identify processes and methods to introduce reproducible, controlled, and representative defects into specific locations of otherwise high-quality AM material. Factors that must be defined and controlled for these surrogate defects include, but are not limited to, flaw type, flaw size, flaw orientation, and flaw location. Demonstration of the correlation in mechanical debits between these surrogate defects and experienced defects in production material, as well as the comparative inspection response of the surrogate defect when compared to the naturally occurring defect, are desired.

Material systems of interest include nickel superalloys, high-strength steels and stainless steels, and aerospace grade titaniums.

America Makes is anticipating multiple awards, up to $800K per project.

 

Topic Area 2 – Degradation of Polymer Parts Deployed in Harsh Environments

The performance limitations of AM materials subjected to the demanding environments detected in-theater and in-service have constrained the adoption of novel technologies and solutions, such as AM that could increase operational readiness and capability. Some challenges already observed for deployed additively manufactured parts include unique corrosion performance; unusual wear and fatigue properties in service; and ultraviolet exposure and/or thermal degradation.

The goal of this topic area is to evaluate degradation mechanisms for additively manufactured polymer-based parts exposed to harsh environmental conditions that may be experienced in-theater, such as in shipboard or desert deployments. Specifically, the OSD/MIBP and the Joint Additive Manufacturing Working Group (JAMWG) seek to quantify material property debits and service life estimates for polymer-based AM materials and processes and provide DoD personnel with improved assessment capability of the risks and trade-offs of using polymer AM parts when deployed in field use or harsh service environments. Documented service limits, service life, and mitigation approaches that can prolong part life and improve part performance are of interest in this topic area with the desired outcome being a service guide for AM materials.

The following prioritized list of AM materials has been identified as high priorities by the JAMWG for further study:

PET-G

ABS

Ultem 9085

Nylon-11/12

America Makes is anticipating multiple awards, up to $800K per project.

 

Topic Area 3 – Corrosion Mechanisms of LPBF Materials

The performance limitations of AM materials subjected to the demanding environments detected in-theater and in-service have constrained the adoption of novel technologies and solutions, such as AM that could increase operational readiness and capability. Some challenges already observed for deployed additively manufactured parts include unique corrosion performance of AM materials and novel geometries. The high cooling rates that produce microstructures and non-equilibrium phases in AM materials have raised concerns about localized corrosion modes in a range of applications.

The goal of this topic area is test and evaluate localized corrosion issues in 17-4PH steel, In 625, or AlSi10Mg because of their pervasive use in a variety of DoD hardware applications. Proposals should choose what corrosion modes to characterize (galvanic, stress corrosion cracking, pitting, erosion corrosion, crevice corrosion, corrosion fatigue, etc.) as a function of alloy microstructure, porosity, surface roughness, and/or corrosive environment. Such characterization should advance understanding of AM vs. traditional service life of the selected alloy subjected to similar environments and conditions; establish authoritative AM materials property data; and support DoD efforts to generate AM metal corrosion guidance and industry accepted standards and specifications.

America Makes is anticipating multiple awards, up to $800K per project.

 

“The three technical focus areas of the America Makes ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are targeting a very specific set of needs as identified by the DoD and JAMWG,” said John Wilczynski, America Makes Technology Director. “For proposal teams, it is critical that they consider tech transition and supply chain impacts, as well as identify application spaces that will benefit from a better understanding of the debit considerations that the DoD must consider. Actively partnering with DoD organizations is key and encouraged.”

 

ATRQ Technical Requirements

All the technical requirements of the ATRQ Project are detailed fully in the Request for Proposal (RFP) document available on the America Makes Web site.

 

Industry Day at MMX

America Makes, along with the DoD Program Management Office (PMO), will convene an Industry Day event at the Members Meeting & Exchange (MMX) to kick-off the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time to review all of the criteria. The Industry Day announcement is in lieu of the Webinar. A recording of the MMX Industry Day announcement will be made available on Monday, November 5, 2018, on the America Makes website.

 

Q&A

Questions from proposers about the scope or approach of the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are due to America Makes on Friday, November 9, 2018. America Makes’ responses to these questions will be posted to the America Makes website on Wednesday, November 14, 2018.

 

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

Additionally, for those proposers whose proposals contain proprietary information, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) must be fully executed with NCDMM by Wednesday, November 14, 2018. This requirement is only for those proposals that include proprietary information.

 

Project Call Proposal Process

For the ATRQ Project Call, proposers will follow a two-phase proposal process:

Phase 1 (Concept Phase)

Proposers are required to first fill out a Project Concept form, summarizing their team’s high-level technical approach and technology transition requirements. Proposal teams have five (5) weeks to prepare the Project Concept form, which is due no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Wednesday, November 28, 2018. Submissions after the deadline will not be considered. Proposers do not have to be an America Makes member at this phase to submit a Project Concept form.

 

Phase 2 (Proposal Phase)

America Makes will then review the Project Concept forms submitted by Wednesday, November 28, 2018, and proceed with a down-select process. Only those project teams that pass the down-select process will move forward to the full Proposal phase.

America Makes will be in communication with all submission teams to notify them whether or not they will be proceeding to the full Proposal phase on Wednesday, December 19, 2018. No detailed feedback will be provided at that time. In the Proposal phase, project teams will develop a full proposal as in previous project calls.

Proposal teams will have approximately five (5) weeks to submit their full proposals to America Makes, which are due on Friday, January 25, 2019.

 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the America Makes Project Call, a lead proposer must be an America Makes member by Friday, January 4, 2019. Information on how to join America Makes is available at https://www.americamakes.us/membership/. Participants of the lead proposer’s team may be made up of America Makes members and non-members.

 

Deadlines

All Project Concept forms are due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, November 28, 2018. Submissions received after the deadline will not be considered.

Submissions must be e-mailed to projectcall@americamakes.us with “America Makes ATRQ PROJECT CONCEPT” as the Subject line. All Project Concept submissions will be acknowledged with a return e-mail confirmation within 24 hours from NCDMM. For those selected Project Concepts, full proposals are due on Friday, January 25, 2019.

 

Award Announcements

The America Makes ATRQ Project Call award announcements will occur by March 2019. The anticipated start date of the projects is May 2019.

For more information on the ATRQ Project Call or how to become an America Makes member, please visit the America Makes Web site at https://americamakes.us.

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About America Makes

America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. As the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM), America Makes is the nation’s leading and collaborative partner in AM and 3DP technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. Structured as a public-private partnership with member organizations from industry, academia, government, non-government agencies, and workforce and economic development resources, we are working together to innovate and accelerate AM to increase our nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness. Based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the first Institute within the Manufacturing USA infrastructure and is driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). For more information about America Makes, visit americamakes.us.

About NCDMM

NCDMM delivers innovative and collaborative manufacturing solutions that enhance our nation’s workforce and economic competitiveness. NCDMM has extensive knowledge and depth in manufacturing areas—both commercial and defense—to continually innovate, improve, and advance manufacturing technologies and methodologies. Our experienced team specializes in identifying the needs, the players, the technologies, and processes to attain optimal solutions for our customers. We connect the dots. That’s the NCDMM methodology. NCDMM also manages the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP), America Makes—the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. For additional information, visit the NCDMM at ncdmm.org

 

America Makes / NCDMM Media Contact: Scott Deutsch

(724) 539-4760 scott.deutsch@ncdmm.org