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America Makes has selected General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) to lead a $5.5 million program developing material allowables for a scandium-aluminum alloy across three classes of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) 3D printers.
Funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of War’s Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech), the program is called Generation Of Technical-data for High-strength Aluminum Alloy Material (GOTHAAM), and was announced earlier this year.
The funding itself is modest by defense standards. But the problem it targets is not. Qualifying a metal alloy for additive manufacturing has typically meant tying qualification closely to a specific machine, set of process parameters, and production site. Change any one of those variables and the manufacturer may fa