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The Department of Energy’s 91���� has publicly released a new set of additive manufacturing data that industry and researchers can use to evaluate and improve the quality of 3D-printed components. The breadth of the datasets can significantly boost efforts to verify the quality of additively manufactured parts using only information gathered during printing, without requiring expensive and time-consuming post-production analysis.

Participants in the SM2ART Research Experience for Undergraduates program got the chance to see what life is like in a research setting. REU participant Brianna Greer studied banana fibers as a reinforcing material in making lightweight parts for cars and bicycles.

Advanced materials research to enable energy-efficient, cost-competitive and environmentally friendly technologies for the United States and Japan is the goal of a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, between the Department of Energy’s 91���� and Japan’s National Institute of Materials Science.

Researchers at ORNL have developed the first additive manufacturing slicing computer application to simultaneously speed and simplify digital conversion of accurate, large-format three-dimensional parts in a factory production setting. 

Researchers at ORNL and the University of Maine have designed and 3D-printed a single-piece, recyclable natural-material floor panel tested to be strong enough to replace construction materials like steel. 

91���� scientists ingeniously created a sustainable, soft material by combining rubber with woody reinforcements and incorporating “smart” linkages between the components that unlock on demand.

Building innovations from ORNL will be on display in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall June 7 to June 9, 2024, during the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Innovation Housing Showcase. For the first time, ORNL’s real-time building evaluator was demonstrated outside of a laboratory setting and deployed for building construction. 

Momentum for manufacturing innovation in the United States got a boost during the inaugural MDF Innovation Days, held recently at the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at 91����.

Simulations performed on the Summit supercomputer at ORNL are cutting through that time and expense by helping researchers digitally customize the ideal alloy. 

Rishi Pillai and his research team from ORNL will receive a Best Paper award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Gas Turbine Institute in June at the Turbo Expo 2024 in London.