ORNL demonstrates how Additive Manufacturing can accelerate automotive manufacturing
June 2, 2025
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, have demonstrated that using Additive Manufacturing to produce metal molds can offer a faster, more cost-effective, and flexible way to produce large composite components for mass-produced vehicles.
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Using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) – a wire-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology – the ORNL team reduced the weight of the complex metal molds, enabling efficiencies that could accelerate the adoption of lightweight composite materials in the automotive sector.
The research team partnered with Collaborative Composites Solutions (CCS), operator of IACMI–The Composites Institute. They chose to additively manufacture a large battery enclosure mold, complete with intricate internal features.
The team applied a specialised toolpath design strategy to reduce weight while maintaining strength. The two near-net-shape dies were then additively manufactured from stainless steel ER410 wire at Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions.
Subsequent analysis confirmed that the lightweighted mold met structural performance requirements, validating the feasibility of Additive Manufacturing for high-performance production tooling.
“This kind of technology can help reindustrialise the US and boost its competitiveness by creating smarter, faster ways to build essential tools,” said lead researcher Andrzej Nycz with ORNL’s Manufacturing Robotics and Controls group. “It brings us closer to an automated, intelligent production process.”
AM also allows engineers to produce more complex mold geometries, such as internal heating channels, that would be difficult to achieve using conventional machining. “The more complex the shape, the more valuable Additive Manufacturing becomes,” Nycz added.
The project was funded by US DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO). Additional researchers who contributed to this project include John Unser from Composite Applications Group, Peter Wang from ORNL, and Jason Flamm and Jonathan Paul from Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions.
