The metal AM sailboat rudder suspension. (Courtesy Fehrmann Alloys)

A boat equipped with a metal additive manufactured (AM) aluminum alloy rudder suspension helped Australia win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The parts exhibited good strength, high ductility, and corrosion resistance, and the parts were required to have the same mechanical properties as their cast counterparts. The aluminum alloy selected can be used for metal AM, sand casting, pressure casting and mold casting, with the mechanical properties of the material said to remain very similar in all processes.

Moon  ©NASA

British engineers who are perfecting a technique for transforming moondust into oxygen have made a breakthrough that could shape the future of space exploration. Using specially designed pilot reactors, engineers have successfully extracted air from simulated moonrock, leaving behind kilos of metal powder that could one day be used to build lunar habitats. This is the first time the by-product has been produced in these quantities.

ORNL channel fasteners for Framatome’s boiling water reactor fuel assembly (Courtesy Framatome/ORNL)

A collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and France’s Framatome, has produced four metal AM 316 stainless steel fuel assembly brackets.  The components are currently in operation at TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama.

Two GE Aviation facilities producing advanced jet engine components recently passed major production milestones—one facility shipped the 100,000^th CMC turbine shroud, the other the 100,000^th metal AM fuel nozzle tip.

CMCs, jet engine additively manufactured fuel nozzle GE Aviation

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