ASTM International’s AM CoE agrees partnership with NASA
October 30, 2020
ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA, has established a cooperative agreement with NASA to support activities said to be of common interest.
The three-year contract, worth up to $750,000, will serve as the basis to expand the parties’ evolving partnership, aimed at supporting projects identified by NASA for the AM CoE to execute. As a founding member of the AM CoE, NASA will reportedly have a defined role in each project developed through the cooperative agreement.
While the agreement is said to allow projects to be defined over time at the discretion of NASA, the AM CoE’s first project will focus on qualification procedures for Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing processes. Qualification is said to be one of the largest impediments to the growing implementation of AM in many applications.
“We are excited for the opportunity to strengthen and expand our relationship with NASA,” stated Mohsen Seifi, PhD, ASTM International’s director of global Additive Manufacturing programmes. “This partnership agreement will create a collaborative environment to advance Additive Manufacturing projects key to NASA’s future successes.”
Doug Wells, senior engineer at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, commented, “We have been supportive of the AM CoE from the very beginning and we know this continued partnership will yield quantifiable benefits to support NASA’s continued investment in AM technologies.”