School of Mines receives grant to advance 3-D research lab

GOLDEN — The Colorado School of Mines in Golden has received a $2.5 million grant through the Colorado Office of Economic Development it will use to set up a laboratory to test and analyze 3-D printed metal parts.

The grant is set to fund the research lab’s startup costs and its first year of operation, which will focus on optimizing and understanding nickel and titanium 3-D printed parts.

After the first year, the funding will come from the lab’s consortium membership fees paid by companies that include Lockheed Martin, Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Inc. and Manufacturer’s Edge, a statewide manufacturing assistance center based in Boulder.

Companies can pay to have the school’s researchers focus on a certain area of study and development that benefits them. Mines has been approached by interested parties, which include departments of the U.S. military as well as various international bodies, according to Douglas Van Bossuyt, Mines’ professor in mechanical engineering.

The new lab will be located in the new CoorsTek Centre for Applied Sciences and Engineering on the Mines campus. Construction is set to begin in early 2016.

Advanced 3-D printing technologies are already capable of additively manufacturing metal parts, which are being used to make jet engines and other complex machinery. As the technology stands right now, however, the 3-D printed metal parts often remain heavier than the same parts made by casting processes, which for certain fields, such as space travel, can be a big problem.

“Every pound of stuff going into space is $10,000, so shaving weight shaves money. But with things that are 3-D printed, they’re not as well understood, so the factor of safety is much higher,’ Van Bossuyt said.

Another current setback of 3-D printing metal is that the process often includes several faulty runs before a piece is successfully manufactured, costing time and money.

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