Novel Processes for Advanced Manufacturing: Summary of a Workshop (2013)
Chapter: 5 Workshop Wrap-up
Dr. Schafrik began the wrap-up session by noting that the morning session on the design of materials could have lasted all day. He mentioned that in his line of work he uses composites, which were not mentioned in the day’s discussions. He noted the importance of starting materials design with models to guide the process. In the future, it may be helpful to have an entire session or workshop devoted to expanding the discussion of the design of materials even further.
Dr. Schafrik then asked for feedback from members of the Reliance team. Respondents said that the DMMI approach was an experiment, a means of establishing an interaction with the NRC to give an opportunity to step back to discuss broad problems, emerging technologies, gap analysis, etc. Overall, this series of workshops has been very successful. This particular workshop on emerging manufacturing and processing approaches has been equally successful. One person stated that it was the most compact, succinctly focused discussion of additive manufacturing, looking at the issue holistically and amplifying some of the issues that have been identified before. The discussion on magnetic properties was thought provoking. Field-assisted manipulation was examined in other places as well. Someone pointed out that Dr. Wadley had closed the session with a wonderful thought question when he asked how best to make investment decisions. This is particularly pertinent for those who have to make the investment decisions and other big decisions.
Another participant noted the importance of the discussion on electromagnetic interaction with matter. There are potential applications for the Department of the Army in this area, and it was valuable to learn of the numerous properties
and how much the properties can be varied. The materials-by-design approach is accepted by the U.S. Army, and the Army wants to understand how best to adopt it, so the workshop was helpful for considering those questions. The discussion of additive manufacturing was also considered important because it could become important in moving forward with projects in spare parts.
Another participant pointed out that more questions than answers had come up at the workshop, which is the hallmark of a good workshop. Someone pointed out that the Air Force Research Laboratory does not have a large effort in magnetic-or electric-field-assisted processing, so the descriptions of that work were new to some of the participants. It was also noted that the challenges of certification will be enormous in additive manufacturing because a small sample size will not allow for statistical analysis. It will be important to connect with experts in certification. The discussion on informatics was also singled out as particularly important. In conclusion, it was noted that the aim of the workshop was to serve the needs of the Reliance group, and the workshop fulfilled that purpose. With that, Dr. Schafrik adjourned the workshop.
