America Makes Shares Project Call Worth $5M in Funding

America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) report a new open project call funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech) worth a total of $5M. The project call, Quality Test and Inspection Methods Expediency (QTIME), focuses on the use of nondestructive inspection (NDI) techniques for additive manufacturing (AM) processes, specifically laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and directed energy deposition (DED), and aims to explore in-situ and ex-situ NDI applications for inspecting large and complex parts. The organizations expect up to five awards.

Through this project call, America Makes reports that it is seeking the most mature, near-commercial NDI technologies ready for real-world implementation.

“Industry and government stakeholders have clearly identified the need for trusted, efficient inspection techniques to support additive manufacturing growth,” says Ben DiMarco, technology transition director at America Makes. “The QTIME project call is an important first step, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders and innovators to address both in-situ and ex-situ monitoring and inspection challenges inherent to AM. QTIME focuses not just on developing new methods, but validating and transitioning mature technologies that agencies like the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, and NASA can trust—driving widespread adoption across the U.S. supply base.”

The proposed projects should apply to Technology Readiness Level 4-7 and Manufacturing Readiness Level 4-7 at the onset of the proposed project.

The QTIME request for proposal (RFP) is separated into three topic areas.

• Topic 1—Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Non-destructive Inspection of Large AM Parts: Discover new methods to nondestructively inspect large area AM parts.Ideas will reduce the NDI costs by more than 50% over currently available technologies. Materials of interest are those commonly found in LPBF/DED parts, such as Ti 6Al-4V, Inconel 718 and stainless steels.
• Topic 2—Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Inspection and Qualification of Complex AM Parts: This topic targets parts with complex, repeating geometries—such as LPBF lattice structures—featuring small internal features typically less than 5–10 mm. The goal is to advance in-situ geometric validation at these scales and translate that data into mechanical deformation models capable of identifying and accounting for missing or poorly formed features to enable worst-case deformation predictions.
• Topic 3—Industry Transition Team (ITT): This topic aims to accelerate the adoption, transition, and implementation of monitoring and inspection methods for AM. The ITT will act as a critical conduit connecting active America Makes projects, external resources, standards, and end-use industry needs to identify, translate, and scale inspection and monitoring practices for industrial implementation.

Proposers for the project call are advised to reference the RFP for full details and guidelines. Access the project call here. Register for kickoff webinar.

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