More than 200 stakeholders attended a recent workshop at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility to discuss the future of powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing as a manufacturing technique. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is conducting research and demonstrations using powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing, or PM-HIP, for the creation of large-scale metal parts.
The technology offers an alternative route for producing customized parts while alleviating supply chain challenges faced by the casting and forging industry. PM-HIP’s attributes could play a significant role in achieving U.S. energy production and national security goals by increasing domestic production capacity.
To help drive momentum for the technology’s advancement, ORNL brought together 200 stakeholders for a recent workshop at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, for discussions to identify gaps, challenges and opportunities for transforming PM-HIP into a manufacturing technology of choice for large-scale, complex metal components.
“Addressing challenges for full-scale industry adoption of PM-HIP technology is critical for ensuring the nation’s energy security,” said Craig Blue, ORNL’s chief manufacturing officer. “We bring together vested stakeholders to tackle the nation’s toughest challenges and catalyze integrated teams to find solutions. This progress is what the MDF model enables.”
PM-HIP is a decades-old process that involves placing metal powder in a type of mold known as a capsule, then exposing it to high temperature and pressure, causing it to fuse into a dense metal component. These components can then be refined to final dimensions and stand up to harsh conditions in demanding applications. ORNL researchers are exploring ways to incorporate advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing to make the process more efficient and affordable.
Read about PM-HIP and ORNL’s research in the field.
“PM-HIP has been used for customized, large-scale aerospace applications, but its use has been limited,” said Soumya Nag, a senior staff scientist in the ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division and the workshop’s organizer. “We believe U.S. manufacturing could benefit by choosing it for more applications, especially nuclear energy generation, concentrated solar power and potentially wind and hydro power.”
Workshop connects entire value chain of stakeholders
“The PM-HIP workshop engaged 200 attendees representing a variety of industry, government and academic stakeholders, including powder manufacturers, researchers, modelers, capsule fabricators, HIP’ers and end-users of components produced through PM-HIP,” said Dave Gandy, principal technical executive at EPRI and a co-organizer of the workshop. “This workshop has, for the first time, brought together such a diverse community to engage in targeted feedback sessions around the growth and future use of PM-HIP in the U.S.”
The workshop was organized around seven themes that represent the full PM-HIP value chain: modeling and capsule design; capsule fabrication and preparation; powder production; microstructure properties; large-scale HIP and end customer needs; economics, supply chains and PM-HIP standards; and the voice of the customer.
Vital input on topics was provided by a steering committee of industry and government stakeholders with firsthand experience using PM-HIP technology. During the workshop, attendees heard from 50 speakers across the entire PM-HIP value chain, a range of voices and perspectives.
“When it comes to emerging technologies, many organizations might be working on radically different projects, even if they’re within the same industry,” said Stephen DiPietro, president of Exothermics Inc., who attended the event. “Workshops like this are a valuable way to find other people who might be working on complimentary projects and seeing how we can help each other achieve our goals.”
Next steps
Many considerations emerged from the workshop that will help DOE facilitate the development of a roadmap with goals for the growth of PM-HIP.
“To ensure a robust and secure domestic supply chain for energy production, it is crucial for us to evaluate the technoeconomics behind advanced manufacturing methods, such as PM-HIP, in comparison to traditional manufacturing methods like casting and forging for the fabrication of large-scale metallic components,” said Nick Lalena, technology manager with DOE’s Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Office, or AMMTO. “This workshop was a first step in gauging potential opportunities and industry interest in establishing a business plan for scaling PM-HIP to meet national priorities in the energy sector.”
ORNL has already been sharing PM-HIP information through the MDF, where researchers have showcased process improvements for making PM-HIP more efficient in terms of cost, material, time and labor.
“We are exploring the feasibility of convergent manufacturing by integrating the flexibility of additive manufacturing and the reliability of powder metallurgy to fabricate large, complex parts,” Nag added. “We will continue to actively demonstrate and facilitate ways industry can overcome challenges by synergistically coupling experimental and modeling techniques.”
The MDF, supported by DOE’s AMMTO, is a nationwide consortium of collaborators working with ORNL to innovate, inspire and catalyze the transformation of U.S. manufacturing. Industry members interested in connecting with MDF to learn more can visit https://www.ornl.gov/content/collaboration.
Research conducted at the MDF to showcase the feasibility of additively manufactured PM-HIP capsules was supported by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies program, which aims to accelerate the development, qualification and deployment of advanced materials and manufacturing in support of U.S. leadership in a broad range of nuclear energy applications.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.
