YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown-based engineering consultant, America Makes has announced a new Directed Project Call worth $1 million in total funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division.

The funds are to advance domestic ability to use additive manufacturing for the creation of components for aerospace and defense high Mach applications. 

The Maturation for Additive Geometric Management Approachs (MAGMA) for high Mach applications seeks to improve geometries, thermal management, and producibility of AM components through design innovation using model-based approaches to account for various factors which impede product shape.

"With this project, our goal is to gain a better understanding of geometric tolerancing as it relates to thermal management by leveraging model-based technologies to advance designs and demonstrate measurable improvement in the producibility of AM components for high Mach applications. We highly encourage members to a team with a design authority who has a deep understanding of design intent in this area," said Brandon D. Ribic, America Makes' Technology Director.

MAGMA aligns to strategic swimlanes determined in the America Makes' AM Technology Roadmap, that when met, promote inquiry, knowledge sharing and technical advances across the entire industry.

MAGMA also builds upon learning from previous America Makes project calls, including a 2015 project focused on using AM for fabricating comfortable heat exchangers for propulsion applications.