GE Additive entered into a five-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The agreement focuses on processes, materials and software to drive industrialization and encourage the broader adoption of additive-manufacturing (AM) technology. The agreement supersedes an existing CRADA in place since 2012 between ORNL and GE Additive Arcam EBM. ORNL purchased its first Arcam EBM system in 2009. Since that time, ORNL and the Arcam EBM teams have worked together to create opportunities for companies in multiple U.S. manufacturing sectors to adopt electron-beam melting (EBM) technology. 

The CRADA, which covers all GE Additive equipment, materials and engineering services capabilities, focuses on:

• Building on existing research into process simulation methodologies and in-situ monitoring and quality control on both EBM and direct metal laser melting (DMLM) systems
• Materials modeling and development
• Industrialization and commercialization of equipment and processes