Dyndrite has been selected by America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) to advance AI-driven qualification of additive manufacturing materials via the Artificial Intelligence for Material Allowables in Additive Manufacturing (AIM-4AM) project.
AIM-4AM is a $2 million initiative that is seeking to develop an AI-driven framework to identify and quantify risks within the existing material allowables approach for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF).
The software company will lead a team that includes Mimo Technik and RTX, with the former executing controlled laser powder bed fusion builds and testing coordination, and the latter serving as the technology transition partner to ensure application relevance across aerospace and defence.
Together, the three parties will work to demonstrate the framework using 17-4PH stainless steel in the H1025 condition. They hope to reduce 'time, cost and the testing burden' associated with traditional additive manufacturing qualification and certification workflows, while maintaining rigorous statistical and engineering confidence.
“Additive manufacturing qualification has historically required extensive C/D basis physical testing because the black box nature of machines creates uncertainty in the process and risk,” said Harshil Goel, Founder and CEO of Dyndrite. “This program is about helping quantify and manage that uncertainty more intelligently using ML-assisted methods grounded in process control, data pedigree, statistical confidence, and validation testing. We fully recognise the hesitation for generating allowables using new methods. We need to improve the confidence in the process and build trust in a rigorous manner. It’s just math and physics.”
As part of the program, Dyndrite is set to develop machine learning-driven methodologies to assess and quantify qualification risk, generate preliminary qualification datasets for LPBF-produced 17-4PH H1025 material, and validate AI predictions against experimental tensile and fatigue data. The company has also been tested with developing a framework that supports statistically informed reduced-testing protocols and establish production-oriented approaches that are aligned with material allowables development and qualification requirements.
“Mimo Technik is excited to support the AIM-4AM program and contribute our qualified production experience, process controls, and LPBF manufacturing expertise to this important effort," said Jonathan Cohen, Founder of Mimo Technik. “One of the biggest barriers to scaling metal additive manufacturing has been the time and cost associated with qualification and materials testing. By combining controlled production workflows with AI-driven analysis and traceable manufacturing data, this project has the potential to help the industry move toward faster, more repeatable qualification methodologies.”
The AIM-4AM program is said to align with broader Department of Defense and industry priorities focused on accelerating additive manufacturing industrialisation. It is managed by America Makes and NCDMM with funding support from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech).
