Stratasys and Oak Ridge Partner to Advance Additive Manufacturing

By DE Editors

Stratasys announced a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing for production use.

The initiative builds upon a collaboration that leverages ORNL's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) to foster energy efficient production using additive manufacturing materials and processes. The project aims to develop FDM additive manufacturing technology in order to make it a mainstream manufacturing process. The project targets two main objectives: 1) development of in-process inspection to assure part quality and suitability for service, and 2) development of carbon fiber reinforced FDM feedstock materials to produce strong, lightweight components.

The overarching goal of the DOE initiative is to reduce the energy usage of U.S. industry, commercialize new products more quickly, and revitalize the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing.

"The research and development done at the MDF allows us to explore innovative ideas in next-generation materials and manufacturing technologies to help U.S. industry," said Dr. Lonnie Love, Distinguished Research Scientist and Group Leader for Automation, Robotics and Manufacturing at ORNL. "The project with Stratasys will lead to commercialization of new products that will ultimately make U.S. manufacturing more competitive and energy efficient."

For more information, visit Stratasys and Oak Ridge National Labs.

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