Additive Manufacturing of High Strength Steel Components for the Small Modular Reactor

It is expected that advanced and additive manufacturing will substantially reduce deployment times of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Some estimates predict that deployment schedules could be accelerated by up to 6 months while reducing component fabrication costs by 20% or more through the adoption of advanced and additive manufacturing innovations. However, additive manufactured components are thus far untested in high radiation environments and potentially pose a risk until validated. Mainstream’s technology represents a disruptive technology to the learning curve of traditional and additive manufacturing. Applied to steel components of the SMR, Mainstream has the potential to realize the reduced costs and deployment schedules predicted for SMRs through additive manufacturing. Mainstream will produce steel components for the SMR and other industries through its high energy processing technology while demonstrating the radiation tolerance of additive manufacturing. Mainstream will demonstrate the feasibility of additive manufacturing of high strength steel components. Mainstream will produce sample coupons and demonstrate comparable microstructural and mechanical properties to traditional manufacturing. In addition, Mainstream will preliminarily investigate the radiation tolerance of additive manufactured components compared to traditional manufacturing. Metal additive manufacturing has had an immediate impact on the aerospace and biomedical industries and is expected to have a dramatic impact across many industries including the energy, defense, and transportation sectors. Additive manufacturing hold the potential to transplant existing technologies through reduced costs and part lead times. The global market for additive manufacturing is expected to reach $17 billion in 2020. The major impact for additive manufacturing is expected to be in small components for small quantities of high value components. It can be used to implement “just-in-time” manufacturing due to the on-demand manufacturing ability that eliminates the need for expensive molds and masks.