ZEISS and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partner for Advancement of Powder Bed Additive Manufacturing

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Nov. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have entered into a five-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to gain a deeper understanding of additive manufacturing (AM) processes and materials using ZEISS' unique 3D ManuFACT solution, a correlative multi-scale multi-modal workflow utilizing advanced characterization tools.

Under the CRADA, ZEISS and ORNL will work together to develop and implement a comprehensive powder to part characterization methodology for the progression of AM at the Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL in Knoxville, TN and through support from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office. Fast recipe development combined with improved mass production yield and methodology for quality certification of AM parts, existing and new materials and processes, will be defined and demonstrated.

Dr. Marcin Bauza, Head of ZEISS Additive Manufacturing Process and Control & Vice President New Technology & Innovation said, "We are honored to work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to overcome the barriers of transforming powder bed AM technologies into mainstream manufacturing technology. AM has several benefits and we at ZEISS together with ORNL want to ensure that a broad range of users can reliably leverage these benefits in their products."

"We look forward to working with ZEISS to further develop solutions for better characterization and quality control of additively manufactured parts," said Moe Khaleel, associate laboratory director for Energy and Environmental Sciences at ORNL. "ORNL brings its unique expertise and capabilities in materials science, supercomputing, data analytics, neutron sciences and powder bed systems at the MDF—the only user facility of its kind in the nation capable of conducting this type of research. We anticipate our collaboration to yield rapid results for the manufacturing sector."

The CRADA will further develop the ZEISS 3D ManuFACT solution for the additive manufacturing industry. This solution is a holistic process of integrated multi-length scale characterization tools for improving the yield of AM powder bed systems through quality inspection and correlation. The ZEISS technologies used in this solution range from microscopes to coordinate measuring machines (CMM) to X-ray systems. The ZEISS 3D ManuFACT solution will be utilized to demonstrate the ability to rapidly develop and deploy a new alloy, for example, as well as to rapidly create new AM process recipes for mass manufacturing of components.

The long-term goal of the CRADA will be to integrate on-site process monitoring with the ZEISS 3D ManuFACT solution to certify the powder bed AM process. By using a systematic holistic approach, the same methodology will be able to develop new AM materials faster.

At the upcoming Formnext show November 19-22 in Frankfurt, Germany, ZEISS will feature several technologies involved in the ZEISS 3D ManuFACT solution, Hall 12.1, C100. ZEISS experts will be on hand to field any questions and offer demonstrations at this event and at additional AM shows in the U.S. next year.

For more information visit www.zeiss.com/metrology or call 1-800-327-9735 or email [email protected].

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling more than 5.8 billion euros in its four segments Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (status: 30 September 2018).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future far beyond the optics and optoelectronics industries. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership.

With approximately 30,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 60 of its own sales and service companies, more than 30 production sites and around 25 development sites. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment.

About Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest U.S. Department of Energy science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security. ORNL's diverse capabilities span a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines, enabling the Laboratory to explore fundamental science challenges and to carry out the research needed to accelerate the delivery of solutions to the marketplace. UT-Battelle LLC manages ORNL for DOE's Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE's Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC

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