AUBURN, Alabama — Auburn University’s additive manufacturing research center is teaming with federal aviation authorities to improve commercial air travel by raising the reliability of 3-D printed metal aircraft components.
The researchers at Auburn’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence — NCAME, for short — are also working with the U.S. Army to elevate combat readiness by advancing the adoption and implementation of additive technologies in Army operations.
NCAME is assisting both the Army and the Federal Aviation Authority by closing gaps in additive manufacturing standards, which will ensure consistency in the durability and performance of 3-D printed products and parts. Together, these two new grants are valued at $7.3 million.
“Material variation is what I call the ‘Achilles heel’ of additive manufacturing,” said NCAME Director Nima Shamsaei, the Philpott-WestPoint Stevens Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering at Auburn.

