Nov_Dec_AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 8 METALS | POLYMERS | CERAMICS The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) is launching an initiative to develop a robust and scalable recycling method for both process scrap and end-of-life composites. Led by the Ameri- can Composites Manufacturing Association, the project includes Continental Structural Plastics, CHZ Technologies, A. Schulman, and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), with support from Owens Corning and Ashland LLC. IACMI is a 150+ member consortium led by UTK and the DOE committed to increasing production capacity and jobs across the U.S. composites industry. iacmi.org . Alcoa Corp., Pittsburgh, announced plans to restart three of five potlines at its Warrick Operations aluminum smelter near Evansville, Ind. The process to restart the lines, with 161,400 metric tons of annual capacity, should be complete in early 2018. The potlines will supply the Warrick rolling mill, which serves the North American market with flat-rolled alu- minum for the food and beverage can packaging industry. alcoa.com . BRIEFS BIMETALLIC 3D PRINTING GETS NASA FIRED UP For the first time, a 3D-printed rocket engine prototype part made of two different metal alloys was fabricat- ed and tested for NASA. To make the igniter, two metals—a copper alloy and Inconel—were joined using automated blown powder laser deposition. Engi- neers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., and the Univer- sity of Alabama low-pressure hot-fire tested the part more than 30 times to demonstrate its functionality, then ex- amined its bimetallic interface through a microscope. The images revealed that the two metals had interdiffused, elim- inating any hard transitions that could lead to cracking during the extreme forces and temperature gradients of space travel. The prototype was created on a hybrid machine made by DMG Mori, Hoffman Estates, Ill., that can alternate between freeform 3D printing and CNC machining. The unique single build pro- cess enables the part’s interior to be machined during manufacturing—like building a ship in a bottle—before the exterior is finished and closed. Until now, rocket igniters were brazed and welded together from four compo- nents. The new method eliminates the need for these lengthy processes, po- tentially reducing rocket engine costs by up to a third andmanufacturing time by 50%. nasa.gov. FLOATING A NEW FORM OF FEATHERWEIGHT ALUMINUM Researchers at Utah State University (USU), Logan, and Southern Federal University, Russia, used an innovative design approach to create a crystalline form of aluminum that is reportedly lighter than water. To build the ultra- light material’s molecular structure, researchers began with a known crys- tal lattice—in this case, diamond—and used computational modeling to re- place every carbon atom with an alu- minum tetrahedron. The team says that subsequent calculations confirm USU professor Alex Boldyrev and col- leagues fromRussia’s Southern Federal University say they have computationally designed a newmetastable, ultralight form of crystal aluminum. Majid Babai (center), advancedmanufacturing chief at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, along with Professor Judy Schneider of the University of Alabama and two students, examine a cross section of the rocket engine igniter created via bimetallic 3D printing. Courtesy of NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given.