The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation awarded $599,342 to The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF SUNY), doing business as SUNY at Binghamton, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) on March 1, 2025. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award funds fundamental research and educational activities focused on developing a novel additive manufacturing (AM) approach for tungsten alloy fabrication. The project addresses critical manufacturing challenges associated with producing high-density tungsten alloy components for aerospace, defense, medical, and nuclear applications by utilizing a compression-enabled filament-extrusion AM process integrated with binder removal and hybrid-phase sintering techniques that combine solid-phase densification with liquid-phase strengthening.
The five-year project (completion date February 28, 2030) will advance understanding of the processing mechanisms underlying this innovative manufacturing strategy while establishing scalable AM processes for refractory alloy fabrications. Deliverables include fundamental research findings on material behavior during the extrusion-based, sintering-assisted process, as well as integrated educational and outreach activities designed to develop multidisciplinary knowledge and skills in manufacturing across all student levels. The research conducted at the Binghamton, New York facility is expected to generate innovations in next-generation refractory alloy manufacturing capable of mitigating the brittleness and cracking challenges inherent in conventional high-temperature AM approaches for tungsten alloys.