The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore advanced manufacturing for extreme environment materials with energy and national security applications.
“This agreement gives us an opportunity to innovate with General Atomics, a leader in U.S. defense and energy manufacturing,” said Corson Cramer, an R&D staff scientist in manufacturing science at ORNL. “This is a first step in the goal of transitioning these advanced manufacturing technologies from the lab to real-world applications.”
The agreement establishes a framework for collaborating on advanced composite materials, including silicon carbide ceramics. Silicon carbide is a strong, lightweight material that can withstand high heat and radiation, but it can be difficult to manufacture at scale. Improving how these ceramics are made could expand their use in applications such as nuclear fuel cladding and thermal protection systems for aerospace.
Manufacturing methods also could be improved by combining 3D printing and other advanced techniques with digital technologies, such as a digital thread that links data across the manufacturing process. This allows monitoring in real time, tracking quality and reducing or eliminating defects and waste.
The research will take place at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. The MDF is the nation’s largest advanced manufacturing research facility and works with U.S. manufacturers on early-stage research and development, offering unique capabilities to make manufacturing faster, more efficient and reliable.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.