ORNL will demonstrate the platform’s agility by running three demonstrations simultaneously — the repair of a wind turbine gear; the production of a component using readily available materials that typically would be cast; and the creation of six unique challenge coins, each made daily from the same injection mold. The platform makes variability of each mold possible.
“Now manufacturers can be adaptable,” Feldhausen said. “If you have a machine shop and you have to change something in your process, you no longer have to start from the ground up. This is modular, so you can easily change out different aspects. We’re presenting a solution with unprecedented modularity, flexibility, connectivity, reconfigurability, portability and customization capabilities.”
A history of “MDF Moonshots” at IMTS
ORNL’s manufacturing program has a reputation for cutting-edge, high-impact results with a long line of emerging technologies, or “moonshots,” that have been displayed at IMTS. A decade ago, the lab collaborated with Local Motors and Cincinnati Incorporated to print, machine and assemble a fully operational car, called Strati, in real time at the trade show.
“Moonshots like the Strati and, now, Future Foundries underscore the innovative nature of the MDF for bringing together multidisciplinary research teams to solve complex challenges in collaboration with industry,” said Ryan Dehoff, Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, director. “The MDF takes strategic risks so industry doesn’t have to, and we demonstrate what’s possible through the development of advanced manufacturing technology platforms of the future like Future Foundries.”
Printing the Strati demonstrated what could be possible through big area additive manufacturing, or BAAM, another ORNL-developed technology. The event 10 years ago, along with subsequent technology advancements, helped launch today’s thriving global large-scale polymer printing industry.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Strati’s printing, the car will be on display at the outside entrance to IMTS at McCormick Place in Chicago all week.
Future Foundries was developed by a 40-plus-member, cross-disciplinary team at MDF that started work on the platform in April 2024. Following the IMTS show, the platform will return to MDF at ORNL where it will continue to serve as a foundation for ongoing research and development of convergent manufacturing technologies in support of U.S. industry. A 3D animation of the technology is available here.
The MDF, supported by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, or AMMTO, is a nationwide consortium of collaborators working with ORNL to innovate, inspire and catalyze the transformation of U.S. manufacturing. Funding for the platform is provided by AMMTO, as well as the Department of Defense Industrial Base and Analysis and Sustainment program.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science. — Lawrence Bernard
This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "ORNL debuts convergent manufacturing platform at IMTS 2024" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news