Elder Research Awarded NASA Phase I STTR Program

Elder Research, partnering with Southwest Research Institute, received a NASA Phase I STTR award to develop an extensible framework of the additive manufacturing (AM) process to provide Rapid Additive Manufacturing Build Outcomes (RAMBO) for space-flight systems. RAMBO will provide thermal histories, microstructure evolution, and material properties of an additively manufactured part built using the powder bed fusion process. Possible NASA applications for space flight systems using components built by AM processes include MOXIE, SHERLOC, ion engines, and other spacecraft structural and multi-functional applications where predictions of defect distributions are especially important for high-criticality components under fatigue loading.