Neutron Characterization of Additively Manufactured Components. Workshop Report

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a collection of promising manufacturing methods that industry is beginning to explore and adopt. Macroscopically complicated and near net shape components are being built using AM, but how the material behaves in service is a big question for industry. Consequently, AM components/materials need further research into exactly what is made and how it will behave in service. This one and a half day workshop included a series of invited presentations from academia, industry and national laboratories (see Appendix A for the workshop agenda and list of talks). The workshop was welcomed by Alan Tennant, Chief Scientist, Neutron Sciences Directorate, ORNL, and opened remotely by Rob Ivestor, Deputy Director, Advanced Manufacturing Office-DOE, who declared AM adoptees as titans who will be able to create customized 3-D structures with 1 million to 1 billion micro welds with locally tailored microstructures. Further he stated that characterization with neutrons is key to be able to bring critical insight/information into the AM process/property/behavior relationship. Subsequently, the presentations spanned a slice of the current state of the art AM techniques and many of the most relevant characterization techniques using neutrons. After the talks, a panel discussion was held; workshop participants (see Appendix B for a list of attendees) providing questions and the panel answers. The main purpose of the panel discussion was to build consensus regarding the critical research needs in AM that can be addressed with neutrons. These needs were placed into three categories: modes of access for neutrons, new capabilities needed, new AM material issues and neutrons. Recommendations from the workshop were determined based on the panel discussion.