ICME Optimization of Nickel Aluminum Bronze Feedstock for Directed Energy

Nickel Aluminum Bronze (NAB) alloys are widely used in maritime applications for their unique combination of high strength and resistance to the effects of exposure to Naval/maritime environments. However, the supply chain for the large, complex castings needed for the many Navy platforms is severely limited. Additive Manufacturing (AM) promises to be an innovative technology that can enable rapid manufacturing of complex parts at greatly reduced cycle time and with greatly enhanced production flexibility. The market currently lacks NAB feedstocks for AM processing with established best practices and known material performance, which limits the adoption of AM for the manufacturing of Naval seawater components. In this Phase I SBIR program, QuesTek Innovations LLC, a leader in the field of integrated computational materials engineering, is partnering with Pennsylvania State University to develop a new NAB feedstock optimized for the unique processing conditions of AM. QuesTek is uniquely suited to rapidly designing new feedstocks optimized for AM using its advanced Materials by Design stage-gate alloy development process, which is based upon mechanistic models to predict key process-structure and structure-property relationships. Technical feasibility of the developed feedstock will be demonstrated in Phase I with directed energy deposition build trials and coupon-scale property validation.