February 2023 Volume 5

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

aluminum casting applications, but the need remains for the demonstration of nickel and titanium alloy castings. AM for Forging Applications It is known that AM exhibits significant benefits if it can be reliably utilized for safety of flight applications. Qualifying AM products for forging applications represents a significant challenge due to performance and criticality requirements. Limiting AM product performance debits in comparison to wrought material can be difficult and cost prohibitive. The need exists for data and understanding to assess how AM technologies scale for forging applications from both a quality and cost perspective. The development of large-scale AM technologies in the last five years offers opportunities to explore the limits of these manufacturing capabilities and demonstrate how these technologies may benefit AMfor forging applications.The quality, performance, productivity, and costs associated with these materials and processes are not well understood and warrant further investigation. Future Research Opportunities Given the opportunities and gaps summarized and to support the maturation of AMtechnologies for the benefit of casting and forging manufacturing and applications, the following areas of future R&D are proposed: • AM for casting and forging manufacturing and applications strategic road mapping. • Certification of AM products for casting applications that address application-relevant performance, probability of detection, and costs. • Demonstration of the utility of AM technologies for advanced casting design to augment casting operations, productivity, and cost. • Demonstration and characterization of AM technologies for casting tooling for nickel and titanium alloys. • Demonstration of AM for forging applications to assess reliability, design trade-offs, and cost. • Evaluation of large-scale AM processes for forging applications to demonstration design guides, material mechanical and physical properties, processing capabilities, and cost. Next Steps America Makes will be working with FIA and the broader forging and casting supply chain to execute a series of workshops in the spring of 2023, to be hosted in the greater Cleveland, OH, and Milwaukee, WI, regions. The purpose of the workshops is to gather input from the AM, forging, and casting supply chain to identify and prioritize needs for R&D as well as define successful demonstrations where AM technology offers the opportunity to enable yield and productivity improvements for casting and forging manufacturing operations and/or applications. Workshop outcomes and findings will be integrated into a national, time-phased strategy which will be leveraged for identifying and prioritizing funded activity by

America Makes in the summer of 2023. The benefit, value, and impact of these efforts will heavily rely on various organizations and expert participation. Further details about when and where these workshops will be conducted will be coming soon. For information on how to become a member or get involved with America Makes, please contact us at info@americamakes.us. About AmericaMakes 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. Brandon D. Ribic, Ph.D. Technology Director America Makes Phone: 330-622-4305

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2023 11