DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECOSYSTEM FOR QUALIFICATION OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND MATERIALS IN AVIATION ..THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS BOTH OUTCOMES FOR TOPIC 7 (AVIATION MANUFACTURING) NAMELY: .MANUFACTURING METHODS THAT REDUCE COSTS AND INCREASE THE SPEED OF AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURE WHILE MAINTAINING OR IMPROVING PRODUCT QUALITY AND RELIABILITY; .PRODUCING PRODUCTS WITH THE FLEXIBILITY OF CUSTOM MANUFACTURING AND THE COST OF MASS PRODUCTION IN ORDER TO QUICKLY RESPOND TO DIFFERENT CUSTOMER DEMANDS. ..WE IDENTIFY ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM) AS THE MOST PROMISING NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR ACHIEVING THE TWO OUTCOMES ABOVE BECAUSE OF ITS FLEXIBILITY IN DESIGN AND CUSTOMIZATION AS WELL AS SPEED IN DELIVERING FINISHED PARTS FOR USE. THE MAJOR CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH AM ARE AN ABILITY TO QUALIFY PARTS AND THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TECHNOLOGY. OUR TEAM WILL ACCORDINGLY STUDY AND MATURE TECHNOLOGIES TO SPEED QUALIFICATION OF AM COMPONENTS AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION THROUGH STUDIES CARRIED OUT IN OUR RESEARCH LABORATORIES AND IN A PILOT PRODUCTION FACILITY BEING CONSTRUCTED IN THE HAZELWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD OF PITTSBURGH NEAR THE CARNEGIE MELLON CAMPUS. ..ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OFFERS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IN THE FABRICATION OF ORIGINAL COMPONENTS AND REPLACEMENT PARTS. A PARALLEL CAN BE MADE WITH WHAT SPACEX HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLES. ..AGGRESSIVE USE OF METALS AM HAS ALLOWED THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF NEW LAUNCH VEHICLE DESIGNS AT SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED COSTS. AVIATION HAS UNIQUE CHALLENGES SUCH AS HIGHER PRODUCTION VOLUMES BUT THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF INTEGRATING AM INTO AVIATION MANUFACTURING IS CLEAR. ..TWO BARRIERS NEED TO BE OVERCOME TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL. THEY ARE 1) THE LACK OF AN APPLIED SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR RAPID QUALIFICATION OF AM-PRODUCED PARTS AND 2) THE LACK OF FACILITIES DEMONSTRATING THE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF LARGE QUANTITIES OF COMPONENTS BY AM. QUALIFICATION OF AM COMPONENTS IS A NECESSARY STEP TOWARDS MANUFACTURING METHODS THAT INCREASE THE SPEED OF AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURE BY DRASTICALLY SHORTENING THE DESIGN-PROTOTYPE-REFINE-PRODUCE CYCLE. MAKING QUALIFIED AM COMPONENTS WIDELY AVAILABLE ALSO ENHANCES FLEXIBILITY IN THAT AM IS INHERENTLY CUSTOM AND ABLE TO RESPOND TO EVOLVING CUSTOMER DEMANDS. EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF AM COMPONENTS REQUIRES THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF PILOT MANUFACTURING STUDIES COMBINING AM (AND PERHAPS NEW AM PRODUCTION PLATFORMS) AUTOMATION COMBINED HUMAN AND ROBOTIC PREPROCESSING AND POST PROCESSING OPERATIONS MONITORING INSPECTION AND OTHER OPERATIONS. THROUGH OUR COLLABORATIONS WE HAVE SEEN MANY COMPANIES (NOT CONFINED TO AERONAUTICS) THAT ARE SUCCESSFUL IN USING AM FOR PROTOTYPING AND TOOLING FABRICATION BUT ARE UNABLE TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TO RAPID QUALIFICATION AND EFFICIENT PRODUCTION. THE OVERARCHING RESEARCH OBJECTIVE FOR THIS PROJECT IS TO USE ENGINEERING PHYSICS LEARNED TO DATE TO ESTABLISH PROCESSING AND POST-PROCESSING DESIGN PROTOCOLS THAT DEFINE A PATH TO QUALIFICATION OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED PARTS AND THEN TO APPLY THEM IN A PILOT PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT. ..EXPECTED RESEARCH PRODUCTS INCLUDE REPORTS TO NASA PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES PATENTS PRESENTATIONS CONFERENCES PRESENTATIONS WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS AT RELEVANT NASA LOCATIONS. ..OUR TEAM OFFERS MULTIPLE AVENUES FOR TRANSITION. THE INDUSTRY CONSORTIA RUN BY SEVERAL ACADEMIC TEAM MEMBERS PROVIDE A NATURAL VEHICLE FOR COMMUNICATING THE RESULTS OF OUR RESEARCH AND SEEKING PARTNERS FOR DEPLOYMENT. LARGER EFFORTS TO DEVELOP DIGITAL TWINS FOR AIRCRAFT WILL PROVIDE AN ENTRY POINT FOR THE METHODOLOGIES. ESTABLISHING COLLABORATIONS WITH NASA SITES INVOLVED IN AM SUCH AS MARSHALL JPL LANGLEY AND GLENN PROVIDES A COMPLEMENTARY AVENUE FOR TRANSITION. CERTAIN TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS ARE AMENABLE TO COMMERCIALIZATION WHICH CAN OCCUR VIA LICENSING OR VIA STARTUP COMPANIES. .