America Makes New Project Calls Worth $8M

America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) share two new project calls worth $8M in funding.

The first project call, Powder Alloy Development for Additive Manufacturing (PADAM) 2.0, funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Material and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL RXN), has a $6M budget and aims to advance the readiness, manufacturability, performance, and supply chain resilience of high-temperature refractory alloys for additive manufacturing (AM) applications relevant to the Department of Defense (DoD).

Proposed efforts are expected to generate data, improve process robustness and qualification readiness, and deliver actionable insights that reduce technical and industrial risk while enabling realistic transition pathways. Collectively, the outcomes are intended to provide mutual value to DoD and industry by accelerating informed adoption of refractory alloys in AM.

The PADAM 2.0 request for proposal (RFP) encompasses three topic areas listed below.

• Topic 1: Existing Refractory Alloy Systems—Maturing existing alloy systems with a focus on achieving an established AM process and generation of high-temperature material property data. Up to two awards are anticipated, with a maximum funding amount of $2M per award.
• Topic 2: Novel or Emerging Refractory Alloy Systems—Advancing novel or emerging refractory alloys with demonstrated feasibility. One award is anticipated, with a maximum funding amount of $1.7M.
• Topic 3: Refractory Alloy Supply Chain Assessment (Mine-to-Qualified Part)—Assessing the end-to-end refractory alloy supply chain from raw material extraction to qualification of AM components, including environmentally relevant testing and evaluation capabilities and availability. One award is anticipated, with a maximum funding amount of $300K.

“This project call is about moving refractory alloys for additive manufacturing from promise to practice,” says John Martin, AM research director at America Makes. “Many of today’s AM metals were never designed with additive processes or extreme operating environments in mind. By focusing on alloys that already show feasibility, this effort will generate data, process understanding, and qualification pathways needed to reduce risk, improve performance, and enable real-world adoption. The outcome strengthens domestic manufacturing capability, lowers barriers to qualification, and delivers more reliable, high-temperature materials for critical DoD and warfighter applications.”

The second project call, Artificial Intelligence for Material Allowables in Additive Manufacturing (AIM-4AM), offers a total of $2M in funding through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech). Consisting of two phases, the objective is to develop an AI-driven framework that identifies and quantifies risk in the current material allowables approach for 17-4PH stainless steel (H1025) produced by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF).

By using machine learning to model process–structure–property relationships and guide the most informative tests, the effort seeks to safely reduce physical testing while linking any reductions to clear, probabilistic risk categories. The outcome will enable faster, more cost-effective qualification and certification of AM materials, support agile decision-making for production parts, and accelerate adoption in defense and commercial applications. One award is anticipated.

“In partnership with the DoD’s Joint Additive Manufacturing Working Group, AIM-4AM will use advanced AI to target the most informative tests, quantify risk, and streamline the path to material allowables for 17-4PH stainless steel,” explains Martin. “It will accelerate qualification and certification, reduce cost and schedule, and bring additive manufacturing closer to production-ready deployment across defense and commercial sectors.”

Proposers for the project calls are advised to reference the RFP for full details and guidelines.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.