Objective

This topic seeks to advance the science of additive manufacturing by developing advanced, in-process monitoring and parameter optimization to boost the 3D printing capability of local users throughout the Army.

Description

The Army could greatly enhance its utilization of additive manufacturing by better leveraging advanced computational tools and instrumentation. A more robust implementation of AM could make invaluable contributions to fielded capabilities and Soldier lethality, as well as future systems such as Next Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift and Long Range Precision Fires.

One of the greatest handicaps faced by AM thus far is not the printer hardware itself but rather the ability to trust that prints are optimally executed. Subsequently, the Army assesses the quality of printed parts and their respective material properties via destructive evaluations and/or the contemporaneous printing of test coupons.

This post-hoc analysis is an inefficient and impractical exercise for many printer operators. This is especially true for those in remote locations. Monitoring prints in real-time could alleviate the need for this after-the-fact verification and constitute a significant advancement in the science of AM. Using sensors and printer outputs to collect data, and then statistically correlating that data with resultant material properties, can yield instantaneous confirmation that the print is of baseline quality.

A vendor could enhance this with advanced computational methods, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. Furthermore, the vendor could employ the correlations between input and output to not only to verify the printer output but also enhance the printer inputs. Businesses can leverage a feedback loop using these same computational tools to optimize the parameters and settings of the printer to factor in material selection, part requirements and environmental conditions.

This approach could even identify and control non-intuitive contributing factors to print quality. This makes it desirable for the Army to develop and field a printer kit featuring both the real-time monitoring and verification of the printing process in addition to the fine-tuning of setup parameters.

The desire for these AM-augmenting functions is not new. However, such investigations are in a sanitary, high-resource environment using particular printer platforms. The novelty of the proposed kit is the implementation of these features in a way that is accessible to non-experts and modular for interface with a variety of printer systems.

The proliferation of AM hardware and widely-accessible advanced computational tools make the time ripe to develop this next advancement in the science of AM. This topic seeks to develop a modular kit consisting of sensor, software and computational tools to augment the AM process.

This product would afford users the ability to verify the quality of each printed part and ensure the optimization of the part’s material properties. A higher-quality and higher-confidence AM capability would immensely assist forward assets and Soldier lethality. It would also afford FVL, NGCV and LRPF far greater design space. A successful execution and implementation of this topic would assist the direct users and operators of AM as well as the Army in general.

Phase I

Businesses must identify the commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and computational products relevant to this application. The vendor must combine them into a benchtop prototype. The company should initially orient the prototype toward optimizing a polymer fused deposition modeling system. All prototypes must cohere with Army information technology security protocols.

This prototype should demonstrate the recommended parameters for printing an Army-relevant polymer via a real-time pass/fail determination. The Army will evaluate the prototype by comparing the test parts/coupons printed and using optimized parameters against those printed by stock/automatic machine parameters. Additionally, the vendor must outline a methodology for modularizing the prototype (necessary for commercial viability).

Phase II

Vendors must transition the benchtop prototype from Phase I into a modular kit capable of interfacing with different 3D printers and different materials. It should develop a robust user-interface that makes the data accessible to AM technicians and machine operators.

The business must test the kit on different FDM systems and high-temperature materials. The vendor should demonstrate the prototype’s expanded modular capability by successfully using it on three different machines and three different materials. The company also needs to outline a way in which this prototype could function with the laser powder bed fusion process.

Phase III

This technology has tremendous use-case applications within the Army and Department of Defense. It could also revolutionize many aspects of AM in general. The potential transition points and commercial markets include fabrication/manufacturing entities, biomedical institutions, research institutions and auto manufacturers. Businesses could sell an “AM enhancement kit” as a standalone product or market it to 3D printer manufacturers as an upgrade for their operating protocols.

Submission Information

All eligible businesses must submit proposals by noon ET.

To view full solicitation details, click here.

For more information, and to submit your full proposal package, visit the DSIP Portal.

STTR Help Desk: usarmy.rtp.devcom-arl.mbx.sttr-pmo@army.mil