America Makes announces $5M QTIME project for advanced NDI techniques in Additive Manufacturing
May 6, 2025
America Makes, based in Youngstown, Ohio, USA, and the USA’s National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) have announced a new open project call funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office worth a total of $5 million. The project call, Quality Test and Inspection Methods Expediency (QTIME), focuses on the use of non-destructive inspection (NDI) techniques for Additive Manufacturing processes, specifically Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED), and aims to explore both in-situ and ex-situ NDI applications for inspecting large and complex parts. Up to five awards are anticipated.
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America Makes states that AM continues to face challenges in reliably determining the quality of large and complex parts. Rapid, cost-effective methods for inspection and qualification are critical to overcoming this barrier. By leveraging advanced analytics and automated inspection hardware and software, manufacturers can reduce production costs, shorten lead times, and boost confidence in part performance. Through this project call, America Makes is seeking the most mature, near-commercial NDI technologies ready for real-world implementation.
“Industry and government stakeholders have clearly identified the need for trusted, efficient inspection techniques to support Additive Manufacturing growth,” said Ben DiMarco, Technology Transition Director at America Makes. “The QTIME project call is an important first step, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders and innovators to address both in-situ and ex-situ monitoring and inspection challenges inherent to AM. QTIME focuses not just on developing new methods, but validating and transitioning mature technologies that agencies like the DoD, FAA, and NASA can trust—driving widespread adoption across the US supply base.”
The proposed projects should apply to Technology Readiness Level 4-7 and Manufacturing Readiness Level 4-7 at the onset of the proposed project.
The QTIME request for proposal is separated into three topic areas.
- Topic 1 – Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Non-destructive Inspection of Large AM Parts: Discover new methods to inspect large area AM parts non-destructively. Successful ideas will reduce the NDI costs by more than 50% over currently available technologies. Materials of interest are those commonly found in PBF-LB/DED parts, such as Ti 6Al-4V, Inconel 718, and Stainless Steels.
- Topic 2 – Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Inspection and Qualification of Complex AM Parts: This topic targets parts with complex, repeating geometries – such as PBF-LB lattice structures – featuring small internal features typically under 5–10 mm, for which no robust inspection method currently exists. The goal is to advance in-situ geometric validation at these scales and translate that data into mechanical deformation models capable of identifying and accounting for missing or poorly formed features to enable worst-case deformation predictions.
- Topic 3 – Industry Transition Team (ITT): This topic aims to accelerate the adoption, transition, and implementation of monitoring and inspection methods for Additive Manufacturing. Currently, there are no widely adopted AM-specific NDE standards with defined acceptance criteria. The ITT will act as a critical conduit connecting active America Makes projects, external resources, standards, and end-use industry needs to identify, translate, and scale inspection and monitoring practices for industrial implementation.
Proposer questions are due on May 15, 2025, and the deadline for submission is June 30, 2025.
