DARPA Invests Millions to Predict the Lifespan of 3D Printed Parts

Last week, Texas A&M University announced that a team of its faculty members will receive a $1.6 million grant to develop a system for accelerating the process that determines the quality and lifespan of 3D printed components used by the military. Essentially, they aim to deliver a game-changing promise: it currently takes a supercomputer an average of 18 months to evaluate one 3D printed part and accurately predict its lifespan, but now, researchers at Texas A&M want to reduce that period to just three days.

The funding for the research comes from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and it was delegated by the Structures Uniquely Resolved to Guarantee Endurance (SURGE) program. SURGE challenges the current machine-centric approach to part qualification in the additive manufacturing industry, advocating instead for a shift toward evaluating individual parts. The program strives to enable on-demand, globally distributed production, allowing any geometry to be manufactured on any machine, anywhere in the world. Significantly, SURGE also seeks to ensure that these parts meet durability standards under expected service conditions.

From left to right, members of the Texas A&M team Dr. Ibrahim Karaman, Dr. Alaa Elwany, Dr. Mohsen Taheri Andani and Dr. Raymundo Arroyave, next to a metal 3D printer. Photo Credit: Leon Contreras/Texas A&M Engineering

One critical part of achieving that goal is shortening the time it takes to evaluate a part’s lifespan. By evaluating a part in three days with a laptop, compared to 18 months with a supercomputer, parts can be created and deployed faster, encouraging the use of additive manufacturing in critical applications. This could mean more 3D printers at Department of Defense (DoD) bases, and millions of dollars in savings for the DoD. If the Texas A&M team’s approach is utilized, it has the potential to impact the additive industry as a whole.