America Makes, AFRL and GE Research launch challenge to advance PBF-LB AM
August 25, 2020
America Makes, Youngstown, Ohio, USA, in conjunction with the US Air Force Research Laboratory and GE Research, has launched a new challenge, ‘The Open Source-Additive Scanning Implementation Strategy’ (OASIS). The challenge seeks the submission of open-source computer codes and algorithms to help advance Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing.
“While tremendous progress has been made in this space there are still challenges with the proprietary nature of commercial scan strategies,” stated John Wilczynski, America Makes Executive Director. “This challenge seeks to address those issues head-on and create a body of work that can be utilised across the industry.”
As part of the challenge, entrants will download data from a secure project website to be used to create a new innovative scan strategy code and algorithms. All strategy submissions will be evaluated with predefined code requirements and the top selections will then have samples additively manufactured in titanium to be evaluated for material properties and scored.
According to America Makes, as the goal of this challenge is to find real solutions to an important issue facing the AM community, results of the sample evaluation will be integrated into the America Makes National AM Roadmap and the America Makes Digital Storefront.
Notable deadlines in the OASIS challenge include:
- Informational Webinar: September 9, 2020
- Submissions accepted: October 1 – December 1, 2020
- Code language accepted: Python, Java, C# and C++
- Review and scoring: April 1, 2021
- Evaluation criteria: Part porosity, tensile strength, ductility, surface finish, geometric fidelity, code quality, code run speed
- Awards announced: June 4, 2021
The first place winner in the challenge will be awarded $25,500, while second prize will be awarded $15,500 and third place $10,500. Three honorable mentions will receive $5,500 each.
Further information on the challenge is available via the company website.
www.americamakes.us/oasis/
www.wpafb.af.mil/afrl/
www.ge.com/research/
