Photo By Lt. Charles Clark | Craig Moss (left) describes the operations of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's...... read more read more
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – A growing relationship between the U.S. Coast Guard and Oak Ridge National Laboratory moved forward in June with an immersion visit to ORNL by naval architect Jason Story of the Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center. Story, the project manager of the Coast Guard’s multi-year research project on additive manufacturing, spent a week embedded at ORNL to assess the lab’s capabilities firsthand.
“To understand why the Coast Guard is interested in collaborating with a landlocked lab in the hills of Tennessee requires an appreciation of ORNL’s extraordinary leadership and technical expertise in additive manufacturing,” said USCG Captain Dennis Evans, commanding officer of the RDC, who arranged Story’s immersion visit after touring ORNL in March along with other USCG staff members. “ORNL has more expertise, a broader range of capabilities, and more invested in additive manufacturing than any other entity we’ve encountered, and we’ve been critically examining this technology since 2012.”
During his week at ORNL, Story spent most of his time working with researchers at the lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, which has become a world-leading research and development hub in additive manufacturing since opening in 2012. Story noted the physical size of the MDF, with its 20,000 square-feet of high bay footage; its extensive research and development staff of 130; and its comprehensive range of additive manufacturing technologies.
“Collaborating with ORNL would offer a unique opportunity for Coast Guard involvement in a wide range of additive manufacturing technologies all in one place, working with researchers who are at the forefront of this technology,” Story said. “ORNL has everything from large-scale polymer deposition to laser sintering to electron beam melting, all under one roof.” Story is the project manager of the Coast Guard’s 3-D printing research project, which began in 2016 and is formally titled the Evaluation of Three-Dimensional Printing Technology for Coast Guard Application Project #7758.
“The goal is to apply the ground-breaking scientific research and development being done at the lab to real-world challenges of Coast Guard missions,” Story said. During his visit, one need he discussed with ORNL researchers involved the possibility of 3-D printing neutrally buoyant equipment such as body armor out of a polymer to help boarding team members remain neutrally buoyant if they fall overboard.
“Two other types of additive manufacturing caught my attention in particular in addition to 3-D printing with polymers,” Story said. “Direct metal deposition can repair worn or damaged parts on site, and selective laser sintering can be used with 316L, a stainless steel alloy that works well in a maritime environment because of its corrosion resistance.”
From the lab’s perspective, the collaboration offers the opportunity to advance the science of additive manufacturing in regard to the challenges of a marine environment. “The dynamics onboard a ship and around the marine environment require taking factors such as high humidity, airborne salinity, and the roll and pitch of the ship into account and its impact on the additive technologies,” said Ryan Dehoff, group leader of deposition science and technology at ORNL. “When we are able to put mission owners in the same room with experts in the technology areas and combine that with cutting-edge research facilities, the potential exists to put game-changing technologies in the hands of the people on the front line of protecting our country,” said Craig Moss of ORNL’s Global Security Directorate.
Moving forward, the USCG and ORNL are continuing to explore collaboration opportunities in a variety of areas like additive manufacturing. As the USCG looks at additive manufacturing and its role in daily operations, maintaining approximately 1,500 boats, more than 200 cutters, nearly 200 aircraft, and equipment for more than 36,000 active duty personnel will enable research being done at ORNL to play a key role.
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2016 12:21 |
| Story ID: | 209173 |
| Location: | OAK RIDGE, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 364 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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