Teams from MDF are perennial contenders for R&D100 Awards, known as the “Oscars of Innovation.” R&D100 Awards recognize “new commercial products, technologies and materials for their technological significance that are available for sale or license.”
MDF teams also compete for the CAMX Combined Strength Award, which recognizes innovations that have the potential to significantly impact composites and advanced materials in the marketplace.
MedUSA is an ORNL-developed multi-agent additive manufacturing system that uses three robotic arms, each equipped with a welder, to collaboratively create near-net-shape parts via wire-arc additive manufacturing.
The welders in MedUSA deposit melted metal layer upon layer to create components in significantly less time than traditional manufacturing techniques and can create complex shapes not achievable through other approaches. MedUSA can produce parts from most metals for which welding wire is available, including a variety of low-alloy steels, stainless steels, tooling steels, Invar and copper- and nickel-based alloys. This means that the system is suited to produce a wide range of end-use components in a less carbon-intensive process than traditional manufacturing methods such as casting or forging.
MedUSA promises to address supply-chain challenges in production of large-scale tooling, which is mostly made overseas and can take years to acquire. The flexibility of the system also means that large parts, which generally are produced in small volumes, can be made more economically. This makes production of components for large-scale clean energy applications, like wind energy, hydropower or next generation nuclear power, significantly more attractive for industry.
Funding
DOE Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions
Team Members
ORNL: Andrzej Nycz, Alex Arbogast, Chris Masuo, Mark Noakes, Peter Wang, Luke Meyer, William Carter, Derek Vaughan, Alex Walters and Joshua Vaughan;
Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions: Jonathan Paul and Jason Flamm.
ORNL researchers developed OpeN-AM, a platform for performing operando neutron diffraction studies of metals during additive manufacturing, or AM, also known as 3D printing.
The platform consists of a deposition head, machining capabilities and IR, or infrared monitoring. All three can be coordinated with operando engineering neutron diffraction measurements in the VULCAN beamline at the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL.
This combination of capabilities provides unparalleled insight into the evolution of phase transformations and stressors that occur during the AM process. These new insights allow for continued improvement of AM processing to mitigate stressors and accelerate development of new materials and process strategies.
Funding
ORNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development, Digital Metallurgy Initiative.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Team Members
Alex Plotkowski, Chris Fancher, Kyle Saleeby, James Haley, Ke An, Dunji Yu, Tom Feldhausen, Guru Madireddy, Yousub Lee, Joshua Vaughan, Suresh Babu, Jessie Heineman, Clay Leach, Wei Tang, and Amit Shyam.
Researchers at ORNL created a highly automated process for thermoplastic composite manufacturing that combines the benefits of additive manufacturing, or AM, and compression molding, or CM, to produce a high-performance functional composite structure at automotive production rates.
The AM-CM process combines the best attributes of conventional processes to produce composite parts. AM deposits reinforced polymers, in which fibers are uniformly dispersed and oriented in the optimal direction, and CM removes voids while imparting a smooth finish.
This process addresses shortcomings in existing advanced additive and traditional processes while retaining their desirable features. It has the potential to become a dominant manufacturing process for polymers and composites.
Funding
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO).
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Team Members
Vipin Kumar, Vlastimil Kunc, Ahmed Hassen, David Nuttall, Pum Kim, Deepak Pokalla, Paritosh Mhatre, Bill Peter, Craig Blue, and Joshua Vaughan.
Researchers from ORNL and PolarOnyx, Inc., have developed 2D and 3D collimators and parts using aluminum-boron carbide matrix composite-based manufacturing. Collimators are essential components for neutron and x-ray experiments, as they reduce background so that only neutrons and x-rays scattered from a sample are measured. The metal matrix composite, or MMC, additive combines the large neutron absorption cross-section and hardness of boron carbide with the high thermal conductivity of aluminum to provide robust, low-noise neutron scattering measurements.
These complex collimators offer significant improvements over traditionally manufactured collimators with unprecedented neutron scattering test performance, and the MMC additive manufacturing technique allows for reduced maintenance costs and production times.
Funding
DOE Office of Science
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
PolarOnyx, Inc.
Team Members
ORNL: Matthew Stone, Jeff Bunn, Andrew May, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Victor Fanelli.
PolarOnyx: Jian Liu and Shuang Bai.
In collaboration with the University of Maine, researchers at ORNL manufactured a 600 sq-ft house from a fully biobased feedstock derived from wood residue, similar to saw dust, and bioplastic. The mixture contained about 20 percent wood fibers and 80 percent polyactic acid (PLA) with the printed product being fully recyclable. The home was printed at UMaine in three modules using the world’s largest 3D printer, the Ingersoll Masterprint. Early research on the development of large scale additive manufacturing was conducted at ORNL in the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
Funding
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office.
Co-lead organizations
91°µÍř and the University of Maine
Team Members
ORNL: Halil L. Tekinalp, Soydan Ozcan, Matt Korey, and Vlastimil Kunc
UMaine: Habib Dagher and Susan MacKay
In response to a need for more resilient and lightweight aluminum alloys, ORNL researchers designed DuAlumin-3D, an aluminum alloy with a combination of tensile, creep, fatigue, and corrosion properties superior to all known cast, wrought, and printable aluminum alloys.
DuAlumin-3D is designed to take advantage of the unique thermal conditions that occur during the laser additive manufacturing process. The alloy takes its name from dual strengthening mechanisms: a nanoscale microstructure that forms during printing and precipitates that form upon heat treatment. Because of these microstructural features, the alloy retains more than half its strength at high temperatures of 300 to 315 degrees and is stable up to 400 degrees C.
Funding
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing Offices.
Lead organization
ORNL
Co-Developers
General Motors, Beehive Industries, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Team Members
ORNL: Alex Plotkowski, Amit Shyam, Ryan Dehoff, Allen Haynes, Richard Michi, Sumit Bahl, Ying Yang, Larry Allard, Jon Poplawsky, Bill Peter, Derek Splitter, and Jiheon Jun.
GM: Qigui Wang, Andy Wang, Devin Hess, Dan Wilson, and Dale Gerard
Beehive Industries: Jonaaron Jones, Devon Burkle, Rachel Jones, and Charles Stansberry
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Kevin Sisco
MSC MillMax uses measurements to eliminate wavy marks on metal that occur in milling when a tool’s spindle is not stiff enough.
Milling cuts metal by using a rotating tool with metalworkers typically manually adjusting the machinery in an unscientific process that can take hours. The new computerized system measures tool characteristics, the tool holder and the machine tool, then produces a report on ideal depth and spindle speed in 15 minutes.
With the machine doing the precision work, reductions in time, cost, and scrap metal are achieved and metalworkers are able to increase productivity.
Funding for this project was provided by the DOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development, DOE Office of Science (CRADA), the Department of Defense, MSC Industrial Supply Co. and Manufacturing Laboratories Inc.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
MSC Industrial Supply Inc.
Manufacturing Laboratories Inc.
Team Members
ORNL: Kevin Scott Smith, Tony Schmitz, and Andrew Honeycutt
MSC: Jamie Goettler, Scott Stickney, Steve Baruch, Alan Yang and the MSC Metalworking Specialist Team
Manufacturing Laboratories: Dave Barton and Tom Delio
ORNL received the Silver Award in the Special Recognition: Battling COVID-19 category. ORNL researchers adapted melt-blowing capabilities at DOE’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility to enable the production of filter material for N95 masks in the fight against COVID-19. The team used polypropylene supplemented with an additive from polymer material manufacturer Techmer PM. Peter Tsai, N95 mask material inventor, assisted ORNL in building a novel electrostatic charging device to charge the melt-blown material in production.
The resulting process had the capability to produce filter media for 9,000 masks per hour at greater than 95% filtration efficiency. DemeTECH, a medical supply company, also used ORNL’s technology – co-developed with air, fuel, and lube filtration product supplier Cummins – to manufacture filtration material and masks and expanded their Miami-based operations to include 15 production lines capable of yielding three million surgical masks and half a million N95 masks per day.
ORNL’s COVID manufacturing efforts were conducted in coordination with the US Department of Health and Human Services and funded in part by the DOE Office of Science through the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory, a consortium of DOE national laboratories focused on response to COVID-19, with funding provided by the Coronavirus CARES Act.
Funding
DOE’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility at ORNL is supported by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office and the Vehicle Technologies Office.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Techmer PM, DemeTECH, and Cummins
Team Members
ORNL: Lonnie Love, Craig Blue, Merlin Theodore, Greg Larsen, and Parans Paranthaman
Techmer PM: Alan Franc
DemeTECH: Luis Arguello Jr.
Cummins: Christopher Holm
Peter Tsai, formerly of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Polylactic acid, or PLA, is a commonly used bioplastic. Its biocompatibility, biocompostability, high strength, and stiffness make it ideal for use in biomedical devices, films, packaging, and 3D printing. However, its brittle nature limits its use in many applications.
ORNL researchers developed a biomacromolecule soft-coupling technology that improves the ductility and toughness of PLA through a melt-phase process that creates droplets in the polymer microstructure, increasing its toughness up to 20 times compared to the original polymer. This process gives PLA the properties of ductility and super-toughness without sacrificing its tensile strength.
Funding
DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Carpenter Technology Corporation Colorado School of Mines, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Strategic Analysis Inc., and Ozdemir Engineering Inc.
Team Members
ORNL: Soydan Ozcan, Halil Tekinalp, Kai Li, Yu Wang, and Xiangtao Meng
Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing technology that works by layering powdered materials and cohering them into desired shapes using a liquid binding material deposited via inkjet. Though these liquid binders are vital ingredients in the binder jetting process, few improvements have been made on binder technology in recent decades.
ORNL researchers developed a novel liquid binder that is stronger, more functional, and more environmentally friendly than the most widely used liquid binder, furan. The binder can be
deposited in large quantities while also maintaining sharp features in an object’s design, meaning the strength can be finely tuned to its applications. Uniquely, parts printed with the binder can be stronger than cement.
These parts are often custom casts or molds used for traditional manufacturing techniques. Because the binder is water soluble, these molds can be removed simply by washing them away, which could enable the creation of more complex parts than what is currently achievable.
Funding
DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office and ExOne.
Lead organization
ORNL
Co-Developers
The ExOne Company
Team Members
ORNL: Tomonori Saito, Amy Elliott, Lu Han, Dustin Gilmer, and Michelle Lehmann
This technology is a new approach to additive manufacturing that delivers faster, stronger, and more versatile printed parts than traditional thermoplastic printing techniques. The ARE AM approach uses agile, lightweight print heads to deposit polymer materials up to 100 times faster than traditional print systems, suitable for on-site rapid prototyping. Carefully designed reactive print materials create inter-layer covalent bonds, resulting in significantly stronger vertical strength and eliminating internal stresses and warping.
The combination of technologies enables rapid vertical builds and complex geometries and does not require the same thermal management strategies as slower, heavier machines, enabling more cost-effective and energy-efficient additive manufacturing.
Lead organization
PPG Industries, Inc.
Co-Developers
91°µÍř
Team Members
ORNL: Orlando Rios, Lonnie Love, Brian Post, Peter Lloyd, and William Carter
Lightweight materials like aluminum alloys can help substantially increase the efficiency of vehicles and airplanes. ACE is a new family of aluminum alloys that exhibits better performance at
high temperature, is easier to cast than previous alloys, and does not require heat treatment. By combining aluminum and cerium, or a similar element, with traditional alloying materials, ACE is able to demonstrate high mechanical performance and resist corrosion.
ACE alloys remain stable at temperatures 300 degrees C higher than leading commercial alloys and can withstand 30 percent more load before they deform. Manufacturers can successfully cast ACE alloys in a wide variety of structural components without energy-intensive heat treatments, which could significantly increase production output and reduce manufacturing costs, in some cases by almost 60 percent.
Funding
DOE’s Critical Materials Institute, the EERE Advanced Manufacturing Office, and a partnership with Eck Industries.
Lead organization
Critical Materials Institute
Co-Developers
ORNL, Eck Industries, Ames Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Team Members
ORNL: Orlando Rios, Zach Simms, Eric Stromme, Michael Kesler, Hunter Henderson, and Bruce Moyer.
Additively Printed High Performance Magnets are the first rare earth bonded magnets created using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing method, allowing for rapid production with no size or shape limitations and minimal material waste. In contrast to more common sintered magnets that require the application of very high pressure to chemically reactivate materials, bonded magnets are less expensive and resource-intensive to produce.
The magnet feedstock blends a magnetic powder with a nylon polymer, and the finished magnets demonstrate comparable or better magnetic, mechanical, and microstructural properties than bonded magnets created with traditional injection molding methods. Using the BAAM system reduces energy consumption, lowers production costs, and conserves rare earth elements, which are widely used in electronics and are mined and processed overseas.
Funding
The DOE Critical Materials Institute, an Energy Innovation Hub funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Ames Laboratory, Critical Materials Institute, Magnet Applications Inc., Tru-Design Inc., and Momentum Technologies
Team Members
ORNL: Parans Paranthaman, Vlastimil Kunc, Ling Li, Brian Post, Orlando Rios, Michael McGuire, Brian Sales, Edgar Lara-Curzio, and Amy Elliot.
Large-scale 3D printing can quickly produce prototypes and molds used to manufacture parts, but these pieces are often neither smooth nor vacuum tight. As a result, manufacturers can’t use these molds, limiting the usefulness of 3D printing.
The Large Format Additive Coating Solutions, TD Coat RT, and TD Seat HT, minimize this problem. They cover the rough exterior of a printed part and create an unbroken vacuum-tight seal. The coatings can be machined and finished for manufacturing tools and molding applications at a fraction of the cost of traditionally tooled metal parts.
Funding
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
Tru-Design LLC
Co-Developers
91°µÍř, Polynt Composites
Team Members
ORNL: Vlastimil Kunc, Craig Blue, Bill Peter, Lonnie Love, Brian Post, Ahmed Hassen, John Lindahl, David Nuttall, Chad Duty, Nadya Ally, and Alex Roschli.
Techmer Engineered Additive Manufacturing Materials are new filled plastic carbon fiber compounds that are especially designed for 3D printing. Using 3D printing and an autoclave, manufacturers can use these materials to produce molds for high-performance composite panels and parts.
The company offers two different types of TEAMM with different proportions of carbon fiber, 25 and 50 percent, to provide a variety of mechanical properties for a range of applications. Using these compounds with an autoclave, aerospace companies can produce molds for a tenth of the cost and lead time compared to existing technology. Other applications include defense and high-end automotive markets.
The project received support from DOE's EERE Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
Techmer PM
Co-Developers
91°µÍř and BASF
Team Members
ORNL: Vlastimil Kunc, Craig Blue, Bill Peter, Lonnie Love, Brian Post, Ahmed Hassen, John Lindahl, David Nuttall, Chad Duty, Nadya Ally, and Alex Roschli.
ORNL received an Editor's Choice Award
BAAM-CI, a large-scale additive manufacturing platform, allows arbitrary geometric components to be 3D printed on a scale 10 times larger than any other commercial system. The system’s screw-extrusion technique also allows BAAM-CI to deposit material 200 times faster than existing processes.
BAAM-CI is also the first manufacturing project capable of depositing carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic into printed materials, endowing objects with greater strength and four to seven times the material’s original stiffness. In addition, BAAM-CI remains more energy efficient than traditional manufacturing methods like stamping and blow molding.
Funding
ORNL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Cincinnati Incorporated and Local Motors
Team Members
ORNL: Chad Duty, Lonnie Love, Brian Post, Vlastimil Kunc, Brett Compton, Craig Blue, Randall Lind, John Rowe, and Peter Lloyd.
ORNL received a Silver Special Recognition Award from R&D Magazine in the Market Disruptor Services category for the Infrared Nondestructive Weld Examination System
Alpha STAR Corp. collaborated with ORNL to offer a 3D-printing simulation platform using GENOA software to accurately predict printability of products with the focus on deflection, residual stress, damage initiation, and crack growth formation observed during the 3D-printing process.
The software offers an in-depth study of crack and damage formations that may occur during the manufacturing process, with the ability to generate the model directly from the printer file and simulate the printing process considering material and production defects and uncertainties.
Funding
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Lead organization
Alpha STAR Corp.
Co-Developers
91°µÍř
Team Members
ORNL: Vlastimil Kunc, Craig Blue, Brett Compton, Vlastimil Kunc, Brian Post, Lonnie Love, and Chad Duty.
The Asymmetric Rolling Mill provides a way to efficiently process sheet and plate materials, accelerating the production and availability of low-cost magnesium. Magnesium is a lightweight metal that has practical applications in goods such as personal electronics and automobile production. Commercial use of magnesium has been limited because of the high cost associated with its multistep production process.
This technology is likely to reduce processing steps, thereby reducing the cost of finished magnesium components and allowing for the replacement of aluminum with magnesium in many commercial goods. The widespread use of magnesium instead of aluminum in cars would reduce vehicle weight and lead to improvements in transportation by improving fuel economy.
Funding
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with cost sharing from Magnesium Elektron North America.
Lead organization
FATA Hunter Inc.
Co-Developers
91°µÍř and Magnesium Elektron North America
Team Members
ORNL: Govindarajan Muralidharan, Thomas Muth, Evan Ohriner, William Peter, David Harper, Thomas Watkins, Eliot Specht, and Alan Liby.
The Robotic Hand costs approximately 10 times less than similar devices while commanding 10 times more power than other electric systems. Composed of only 46 parts, this simplified lightweight robotic hand can be manufactured and assembled within 40 hours, and its size can be adjusted based on need.
The robotic hand is created with additive manufacturing and uses fluid power. It has its greatest impacts in robotics, prosthetics, remote handling, and biomedical and surgical applications.
Funding
ORNL internal laboratory R&D funds, DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Team Members
ORNL: Lonnie Love, Bradley Richardson, Randall Lind, Ryan Dehoff, William Peter, Larry Lowe, Craig Blue, Martin Keller, and Art Clemons.
NanoSHIELD is a protective coating that can extend the life of costly cutting and boring tools by more than 20 percent, potentially saving millions of dollars over the course of a project. It is created by laser fusing a unique iron-based powder to any type of steel, which forms a strong metallurgical bond that provides wear resistance between two and 10 times greater than conventional coatings.
NanoSHIELD was designed to protect high-wear tools used for tunnel boring and construction, but its potential for Navy applications and geothermal drilling tools also is being explored.
Funding
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DOE's Loan Programs Office, the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Lead organization
91°µÍř
Co-Developers
Carpenter Technology Corporation Colorado School of Mines, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Strategic Analysis Inc., and Ozdemir Engineering Inc.
Team Members
ORNL: William Peter, Ryan Dehoff, Peter Blau, Craig Blue, Thomas King Jr., Art Clemons, John Rivard, Wei Chen, Andrew Klarner, Kevin Harper, and Larry Lowe.