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The Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion project has successfully developed and matured Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Fabrication of the NASA developed GRCop-84 copper alloy.
The Low Cost Upper Stage Propulsion project has successfully developed and matured Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Fabrication of the NASA developed GRCop-84 copper alloy. Several parts have been printed in house and at a commercial vendor, and these parts have been successfully machined and have undergone further fabrication steps to allow hot-fire testing. Hot-fire testing has demonstrated parts manufactured with this technique can survive and perform well in the relevant environments for liquid rocket propulsion systems.
Presented by LRST at the 2020 Gasification Project Review Meeting, 9/2
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This report is intended to present the results of multi-laboratory collaborative studies on the feasibility and downselection of the structural materials that are newly considered for application to future nuclear energy technologies. The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Techniques (AMMT) program has been implemented to develop cross-cutting technologies in support of a broad range of nuclear reactor technologies and to maintain U.S. leadership in materials and manufacturing technologies for nuclear energy applications. In line with these program objectives, this collaborative studies aim to explore new materials utilizing advanced manufacturing technologies. The FY23 research scope consists of the feasibility studies on new materials and relevant advanced manufacturing technologies, collection of materials properties data and knowledge through experiments and literature survey, and development and application of decision criteria matrix for downselecting candidate materials and manufacturing technologies. The three-laboratory efforts for FY23 have focused on the three new material groups including oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) materials, refractory composites and alloys, and high entropy alloys (HEAs) investigated, respectively, by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) (work package: CT-23OR130406), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (CT-23LA130403) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) (CT-23PN130408). The execution of this multi-lab research aimed to provide the AMMT program a merit-based feasibility study identifying an accelerated development path for these materials. A collaborative approach for achieving this goal was to develop a common materials evaluation criteria matrix and apply to all new candidate materials for the evaluation and prioritization of new materials using advanced manufacturing processes. The decision criteria matrix created is a matrix of criteria which a prospective material is scored against. The evaluation criteria are divided into four categories: Application Space, Environmental Compatibility, Physical & Mechanical Properties, and Manufacturability. Materials are given a score from 1−5 for each criterion, with the highest score (5) essentially mean that a material has the most near-term potential for application. Application of the decision criteria matrix will provide guidance to the future research on new materials.
The goal of the completed project was to develop an experiment in remote manufacturing that would use the capabilities of the ACTS satellite. A set of possible experiments that could be performed using the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), and which would perform remote manufacturing using a laser cutter and an integrated circuit testing machine are described in detail. The proposed design is shown to be a feasible solution to the offered problem and it takes into consideration the constraints that were placed on the experiment. In addition, we have developed two more experiments that are included in this report: backup of rural telecommunication networks, and remote use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data analysis for on-site collection of glacier scattering data in the Antarctic.
Fast-charging materials are necessary for a battery-centric future. Ionic and electronic transport crucially determine performance where their capacity-weighted figures-of-merit account for performance across all states-of-charge.
This is a final technical report for the American-Made Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (MAKE IT) Prize, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) in collaboration with the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) with support from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). The MAKE IT Prize aims to catalyze domestic manufacturing of critical energy technology components, moving manufacturing facilities from planning to shovel-ready and enabling strategies for vibrant manufacturing activities in communities. This prize was launched with a prize pool of approximately $30 million spread across two tracks: Facilities and Strategies.
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A regeneratively-cooled or dump-cooled nozzle is a critical component for expansion of hot gases to enable high temperature and performance in liquid rocket engines systems. Regeneratively-cooled channel wall nozzles are a design solution used across the propulsion industry as a simplified method to fabricate the nozzle structure with internal coolant passages. The scale and complexity of the channel wall nozzle (CWN) design can be challenging to fabricate which results in extended lead times and higher costs. Some of these challenges include: 1) Unique and high temperature materials, 2) Tight tolerances on large parts during manufacturing and assembly to contain high pressure propellants, 3) Thin-walled features to maintain adequate wall temperatures, and 4) Unique manufacturing process operations and complex tooling. The United States (U.S.) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and U.S. specialty manufacturing vendors are maturing modern fabrication techniques to reduce complexity and decrease costs associated with channel wall nozzle manufacturing technology. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is one of the key technology advancements under evaluation for channel wall nozzles. Much of additive manufacturing for propulsion components has focused on laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), but the scale is not yet feasible for application to large scale nozzles. NASA is evolving directed energy deposition (DED) techniques for nozzles including arc-based deposition, blown powder deposition, and Laser Wire Direct Closeout (LWDC). There are different approaches being considered for fabrication of the nozzle, and each of these DED processes offer unique process steps for rapid fabrication. The arc-based and blown powder deposition techniques are used for the forming of the CWN liner. A variety of materials are being demonstrated including Inconel 625, Haynes 230, JBK-75, and NASA HR-1. The blown powder DED process is also being demonstrated for forming an integral channel nozzle in a single operation in similar materials. The LWDC process is a method for closing out the channels within the liner and forming the structural jacket using a localized laser wire deposition technique. Identical materials mentioned above have been used for this process in addition to bimetallic closeout (C-18150–SS347, and C-18150–Inconel 625). NASA has completed process development, material characterization, and hot-fire testing on a variety of these channel wall nozzle fabrication technique. This publication presents an overview of the various channel wall nozzle manufacturing processes and materials under evaluation including results from the hot-fire testing. Future development and technology focus areas is also discussed relative to channel wall nozzle manufacturing.
This report documents the 2026 Annual Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) Campaign Review held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from April 21–24, 2026. The review was organized by Dr. Patricia Paviet, National Technical Director of the Advanced Reactor Technology (ART) MSR program for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), and included participation from principal investigators, federal managers, developers, regulators, and members of the broader MSR community. The 2026 review expanded beyond the ART-MSR campaign to include related DOE-NE programs supporting molten salt reactor advancement, including the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) program, Advanced Reactor Safeguards and Security (ARSS), Material Protection, Accounting and Control Technologies (MPACT), and relevant advanced fuels activities. Three days were dedicated to technical presentations and panel discussions covering thermal properties, off-gas management, modeling and simulation, safety and licensing, safeguards and security, materials and corrosion, and irradiation activities. A fourth day was dedicated to technical tours of Sandia National Laboratories and Kairos Power facilities. Attendance was strong and comparable to the prior annual review, with approximately 75 in-person participants per day, 75–80 virtual attendees per day, and approximately 30 participants in the tour day. The review fostered significant technical exchange across national laboratories, universities, industry, regulators, and international participants. This report summarizes the review structure, technical themes, participation, tours, feedback, and conclusions relevant to future planning for the MSR campaign.
The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) Program focuses on advancing materials and manufacturing techniques for nuclear energy applications, particularly in the qualification of materials for high-temperature structural use. This report presents work on refining the creep testing of small specimen geometries. Efforts include the development of a new specimen geometry for sub-sized specimens, which were subjected to uniaxial creep tests. The results contribute to the understanding of material behavior under stress at elevated temperatures and offer potential improvements in creep data collection methods. These findings support ongoing advancements in material qualification processes essential for nuclear reactor applications.
Composite materials and structures are enabling technology for modern aerospace vehicles. Numerical-control manufacturing, including automated fiber placement (AFP), is widely used to fabricate these components. However, weight and performance requirements for the next generation of aerospace vehicles will push the state-of-art even further, and require development of more advanced materials, manufacturing, and structures technologies that are both affordable and efficient. The Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites (ISAAC) system is intended to address much of NASA?s critical research needs in advanced composites. The baseline ISAAC system, combining a commercial robot with multiple redundant degrees of freedom, a tool changer interface, and a special-purpose AFP end effector, enables precise and accurate additive manufacturing of composite structures, as well as development of advanced tow-steered structures with tailored load paths. The highly capable baseline system can quickly change end effectors, thus enabling further research for composites manufacturing. This extended system is similar to a high-speed machining center, where interchangeable cutters are used for different operations during metal structures fabrication. This capability enables future development, integration and assessment of new advanced manufacturing technologies, such as in-situ curing and NDE, and through-thickness reinforcements to reduce delaminations. End effectors with these advanced capabilities may be purchased, developed internally or with industry or academia, and then integrated onto the existing robotic platform to perform advanced manufacturing operations and develop new techniques and processes. Technologies, techniques and processes developed using this research-oriented system could then be transitioned to the broader composites industry.
Over the last few decades, advanced manufacturing and additive printing technologies have made incredible inroads into the fields of engineering, transportation, and healthcare. Among additive manufacturing technologies, 3D printing is gradually emerging as a powerful technique owing to a combination of attractive features, such as fast prototyping, fabrication of complex designs/structures, minimization of waste generation, and easy mass customization. Of late, 4D printing has also been initiated, which is the sophisticated version of the 3D printing. It has an extra advantageous feature: retaining shape memory and being able to provide instructions to the printed parts on how to move or adapt under some environmental conditions, such as, water, wind, light, temperature, or other environmental stimuli. This advanced printing utilizes the response of smart manufactured materials, which offer the capability of changing shapes postproduction over application of any forms of energy. The potential application of 4D printing in the biomedical field is huge. Here, the technology could be applied to tissue engineering, medicine, and configuration of smart biomedical devices. Various characteristics of next generation additive printings, namely 3D and 4D printings, and their use in enhancing the manufacturing domain, their development, and some of the applications have been discussed. Special materials with piezoelectric properties and shape-changing characteristics have also been discussed in comparison with conventional material options for additive printing.
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a joint international effort with the Czech Republic to explore the feasibility of manufacturing High Entropy Alloys for high-temperature nuclear applications using Additive Manufacturing. This effort was funded at INL by the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy under the Advanced Reactor Technologies and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) Program. The High Entropy Alloys were specifically designed for the corrosive and irradiation environments as experienced in gas fast reactors, molten salt reactors, and fusion power. These alloys were manufactured by multiple processes to determine the impact of manufacturing processes on the performance of the alloys in corrosive and irradiation environments. Preliminary results show that MoNbTiV and MoNbTi alloys exhibit no degradation after multiple corrosion tests. These MoNbTiV and MoNbTi alloys were also evaluated after irradiation experiments were conducted at the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory at the University of Michigan, which is the focus of this milestone report. For these irradiation experiments, the MoNbTiV and MoNbTi alloys manufactured by arc melting and Electric Field Assisted Sintering (EFAS) were tested at 500 C at a dose of 30 dpa to evaluate the microstructural stability and decomposition.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to providing the industrial sector with resources and funding to support the development of innovative new technologies and processes. Previously, DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office was the front door of the department for many manufacturers. This office focused on two main missions: driving innovation in manufacturing technologies, and reducing energy and emissions related to manufacturing. These missions complemented each other in many ways, but as attention in these areas grew, so too did the need for specialization. In October 2022, the Advanced Manufacturing Office was reorganized into two new offices: the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO). For emissions-heavy industries, such as ceramics and glass, the latter office provides research and development funding, technical assistance, and demonstration support to help manufacturers along their journey to reduce emissions and increase resource efficiency. This article overviews the portfolio of resources applicable to ceramic and glass manufacturers through IEDO, including programs that were portioned into this office during the split and new offerings that were added since then. These programs and resources include energy management support, technology-specific guidance, and in-plant technical assistance.
This work package within the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) program focused on the mechanical and microstructural characterization of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) stainless steels produced using advanced manufacturing techniques. The research aimed to identify an accelerated development path for ODS alloys by integrating additive manufacturing (AM) technologies with recent advancements in ODS materials and traditional manufacturing methods. For FY 24, the research specifically targeted exploring an accelerated development path for ODS alloys by combining AM technologies with these advancements. Novel AM and post-build processing routes were developed for ODS austenitic alloys, including Fe-Cr-Ni alloys such as 316L and 316H. Electron microscopy and mechanical characterizations were conducted to evaluate the impact of process variables on microstructure and properties, with the goal of optimizing these properties economically. Traditionally, producing ODS alloys involves multi-day, high-energy mechanical milling of alloy powder with yttria powder, followed by milled-powder consolidation through extrusion or other methods, and additional thermomechanical processing (TMP) for property control. To overcome the challenges associated with this complex and costly approach, we propose exploring alternative, cost-effective processing routes that emphasize AM and traditional TMP methods. The new processing routes for ODS alloys have achieved significantly higher strengths—several times greater than those of wrought stainless steels—while maintaining substantial ductility and fracture toughness. This report outlines the novel and economical AM-based processing routes for ODS austenitic alloys, combined with post-build TMPs, and discusses the mechanical and microstructural characteristics of the developed materials.