Pitt-led engineering team receives $1 million DOE award to improve 3D printing technology for nuclear industry

Dr. To stands next to the EOS DMLS M290 in the Swanson School's ANSYS Additive Manufacturing Research Lab.

PITTSBURGH (July 6, 2018) … Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is an advanced manufacturing process capable of fabricating complex components by sintering layers of powders together. This process requires support structures to maintain the component’s structural integrity during printing. Unfortunately, removing these supports is not only expensive, but can also be difficult-to-impossible if the supports are located in the interior of the component. This limits the adoption of AM by industries such as nuclear energy, which rely on cost-effective manufacturing of complex components.

To find an effective solution to these complex processes, the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering will be the lead investigator on a $1 million award to advance design and manufacture of nuclear plant components via AM. The award is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) program.

The novel research will be directed by Albert To, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science (MEMS) at the Swanson School. Co-investigators include Wei Xiong, assistant professor of MEMS at Pitt, and Owen Hildreth, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Corporate collaborators in Pittsburgh include Curtiss-Wright Corporation and Jason Goldsmith at Kennametal Inc.