YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining on Tuesday announced a new open project call worth a total of $1.3 million.

The Corrosion of Additive – Tested At Component Scale (CATACS) project, funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office, focuses on two main topic areas and will demonstrate and validate a framework for evaluating corrosion testing needs and generate data applicable to metal additive manufacturing with similar corrosion performance requirements. Two awards are anticipated.

The project looks to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing parts in high-performance defense systems by establishing a reliable corrosion testing framework that streamlines certification, strengthening manufacturing readiness and scaling the defense industrial base.

“CATACS is about putting real [additive manufacturing] hardware to the test in harsh conditions – because corrosion will find the weak points,” said Ben DiMarco, technology transition director at America Makes. “We’re asking proposers to bring their best parts, set a plan to stress them in extreme environments and let the sea attack. That is CATACS.”

The CATACS request for proposals is separated into two topic areas:

  • Topic 1 – Corrosion of AM Components at Elevated Temperatures: Demonstrate corrosion performance of additive manufacturing components requiring elevated temperature capability in representative environments beyond lab air, considering pressure-vessel conditions, fuel-air mixtures, differing surface exposures and metallurgical interactions with adjacent components.
  • Topic 2 – Corrosion of AM Components for Thermal Management: Demonstrate corrosion performance of metal additive manufacturing thermal management components, focusing on interactions between additive manufacturing microstructures and one or more working fluids under varying thermal conditions across complex geometries and flow channels.

The submission deadline is 5 p.m. Dec. 2. Awards are expected to be announced Jan. 6. For more information and to submit a proposal, click HERE.

A kickoff webinar is scheduled for 11 a.m. Oct. 16. Register HERE.