Oak Ridge and Idaho national labs demo wire arc 3D printed pressure vessels
The Department of Energy labs aim to qualify components with data collected during printing rather than through post-production testing
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory have launched a collaboration to expand the domestic pressure-vessel supply chain using wire arc additive manufacturing. The labs displayed a demonstration pressure vessel at the Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Days (M2IND) event, printed in a nuclear-grade steel alloy on ORNL’s three-robotic-arm MedUSA platform, which uses molten metal wire to build large components.
INL contributed nuclear reactor and AI expertise; ORNL contributed additive manufacturing research and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility access.
“INL and its industry partners will accelerate development of new reactor designs and manufacturing methods using AI tools,” said Shannon Bragg-Sitton, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environment Science and Technology at Idaho National Laboratory.
“ORNL’s unique strength is our ability to connect world-class science with the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility’s capabilities to move innovation from research to real-world impact,” said Robert Wagner, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Science and Technology at ORNL.
Researchers are working toward what they call “born-qualified” pressure vessels: components qualified using data collected during printing rather than through post-production testing.
“We would like to achieve born-qualified pressure vessel components using data gathered during printing to confidently assess their worthiness for extreme environments,” said Patxi Fernandez-Zelaia, lead researcher at ORNL.
“With this project, we’re bringing together expertise from both labs to integrate AI and data science with 3D printing so we can evaluate a part’s performance in real time instead of after production,” said Jorgen Rufner, INL advanced manufacturing group lead.
MedUSA printed a small nuclear pressure vessel in July, and Antares Nuclear Inc.’s R1 Mark-0 microreactor reached criticality at INL in June. The labs are now applying the approach to neutron sensor brackets for Antares, with uses in chemical refining, oil and gas, defense and aerospace.
