ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 33 how it relates to their focus area of materials and manufacturing engineering. Furrer also invited the panelists to share the biggest challenges and biggest opportunities for advanced materials and processes in the future. PANELIST HIGHLIGHTS Ackerson (FAS): Key manufacturing processes in Blue Origin products (such as the New Shepard rocket and Blue Moon Lunar Lander) include machining, welding, AM/3D printing, part fabrication, and surface modification/coating. Today’s materials challenges include how to improve reusability of parts despite repetitive stresses, thermal gradients, exposure to seawater/corrosion, and abrasion. Materials testing is critical. Agarwal (TSS): Thermal spray (TS) coatings are the workhorse for aerospace and corrosion. TS is not growing in the United States as much as in other places around the world. One challenge the industry faces is that most TS equipment is in companies and industry, not in academic facilities. This makes it difficult to build the future workforce. Recruiting young people to manufacturing is problematic as it is not seen as a glamorous choice. Cold spray offers opportunities as it can be used for additive manu- facturing. Validation of these parts is an ongoing challenge. Barnes (HTS): Aluminum alloys, ceramics, and composites that are used in a different environment (e.g., land vs. aerospace vs. space) need to be created differently. Launching into lower orbit is common now. But to traverse beyond that, we need refractory materials, metals, and ceramics. NASA is focused on developing advanced materials for space. Demarest (EDFAS): The semi- conductor industry is spending significant money to create new fabs to keep up with the demand for wafers. Approximately one-third or one-fourth of the periodic table can be found in today’s smartphone. Moyer (IMS): The microstructure of a material strongly dictates its physical and mechanical properties. The properties then govern the appli- cation of these materials in industrial practice. When new materials or processes are introduced, it’s crucial to see how it affects the microstructure. High-entropy alloys offer many unique possibilities. Only a fraction of these have been studied. The panelists’ presentations were followed by audience questions. Takeaways included: more materials are needed for use in AM; there will be an increase in “point of need” AM builds; more mentoring of early career professionals could help the future workforce; a greater understanding of data is required on many levels; and the biggest advantage of artificial intelligence is to speed up development time. Furrer concluded that ultimately, many of the advanced manufacturing challenges identified by the panelists can be seen as opportunities. ~AM&P GET ENGAGED, GET INVOLVED, GET CONNECTED The ASM Advanced Manufacturing Committee is an active group of ASM members with interest and experience in materials processing innovation to enable pioneering product designs and the agile and rapid production of parts at reduced cost. Members with similar interests are welcome to join. For more information, contact committee chair Bill Frazier or staff liaison Scott Henry, scott.henry@asminternational.org. The development of engineered products and materials has evolved in accordance with the Four Industrial Revolutions.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTYyMzk3NQ==