APL advances laser-based manufacturing to meet defense needs
The U.S. must rapidly scale manufacturing to meet the demands of current and future conflicts, according to Morgan Trexler, program manager for Science of Extreme and Multifunctional Materials at APL. To address this, APL is advancing laser-based additive manufacturing research, enabling the rapid development of mission-ready materials that keep pace with evolving operational challenges.
Using AI-driven models, the team identified new manufacturing conditions for laser powder bed fusion, a metal 3D-printing method. Their findings challenge existing assumptions, revealing a wider processing window for producing dense, high-quality titanium with customizable mechanical properties.