SBIR Phase I: Drop-on Demand Liquid Metal Additive Manufacturing

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a new type of metal 3D printing technology that is significantly more accessible, compact, and safer than current systems. Today, metal 3D printing is largely restricted to major players due to high equipment costs, complex infrastructure needs, and the safety hazards of using metal powders. This project introduces a drop-on-demand liquid metal printing process that uses solid wire as feedstock, simplifying the system’s architecture and its overall operations, eliminating the barriers imposed by current systems. By making high-quality metal printing accessible to small and medium-sized businesses, research labs, and universities, this innovation will accelerate technological innovation across the nation. The initial market will be applying coatings to industrial components, a billion dollar opportunity. Success in this niche will pave the way for expansion into the rapid prototyping and small-batch production markets for more complex components. The business model is based on selling low-cost, user-friendly printers that can operate in a standard office or lab environment, providing a durable competitive advantage and enabling widespread adoption of this critical manufacturing capability. This serves the national interest by fostering innovation, onshoring metal manufacturing, and thus enhancing U.S. competitiveness. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses a critical knowledge gap in a novel drop-on-demand liquid metal 3D printing process: the lack of fundamental understanding of the interplay between plasma melting and droplet ejection dynamics, which is essential for producing fully dense and metallurgically bonded parts. The project’s primary research objectives are to systematically investigate how plasma arc parameters govern a droplet's thermal energy to achieve consistent metallurgical bonds on a room-temperature substrate; and characterize the relationship between a wire's motion profile, droplet separation dynamics, and deposition accuracy. The research will test the central hypothesis that precise control over these factors enables high quality bond and high part density without the need of heating the base part. This will be accomplished through systematic experiments on a dedicated hardware setup, using visual and laboratory inspection to assess the results and quantify these physical phenomena. The anticipated technical results include a deeper understanding of the process physics that results in denser and more dimensionally accurate prints, demonstrated through the fabrication of sample cubes with an internal density greater than 95% and dimensional accuracy of +/-300 microns, validating this advanced manufacturing approach. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.