Ames Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been awarded USD $5 million from the US Department of Energys Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) to improve the production and composition of metal alloy powders used in additive manufacturing. The AMO partners with industries, small businesses, universities and other stakeholders to identify and invest in emerging technologies.
Because additive manufacturing uses metal alloy powders as its raw material, the ability to control the properties and quality of those powders becomes paramount to the quality of the final product, and achieving properties equal to cast and machined, or cast/forged and machined parts. The project will improve powder production by developing advances in a high pressure gas atomization process pioneered at Ames Laboratory and will design and customize alloys specifically for additive manufacturing processing methods.