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Additive manufacturing technologies allow extreme levels of control over shape and material composition at scales down to nanometers. The rapidly growing field also creates the potential to engineer materials with desired structural, thermal, electrical, chemical, and photonic properties in a single package. Lawrence Livermore researchers are creating new materials that can only be realized using additive manufacturing. The new parts and systems, intended for Livermore's national security missions, offer greater performance, reduced time to manufacture, less waste, and often lower cost. Livermore's Center for Design Optimization was established in October 2016 in response to the critical need for a comprehensive computing environment for Laboratory engineers that takes full advantage of additive manufacturing. With funding from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program, the center launched a three-year Strategic Initiative in Computational Design Optimization to develop the efficient software package called Livermore Design Optimization (LiDO). With LiDO, the tremendous potential of additive manufacturing will likely be realized for the first time, and a true revolution in design will be launched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a quarter century, the Department of Energy's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program has made possible transformative scientific and technological solutions to ever-changing national security challenges. Under LDRD, the Laboratory invests 6 percent of its operating budget (about $87 million in fiscal year 2017) in areas beyond the scope of programmatic research and where high-risk research could lead to big payoffs. As the primary source of discretionary research and development funding at the Laboratory, the program helps to maintain the vitality of Livermore science and technology relevant to national security. The most innovative science and engineering programs at Livermore often have roots in LDRD. Projects sponsored by the program contribute significantly to intellectual property, publications, and collaborations. The technical output of LDRD researchers--patent disclosures, peer-reviewed publications, and publications cited by other authors--typically accounts for one-quarter of the Laboratory's total. In the last 10 years, some 60 percent of Livermore's R&D 100 awards have been attributed to LDRD. In addition, many technologies that come out of the LDRD Program are licensed to the private sector to strengthen U.S. industry. Among the most valuable aspects of the program is its role as an outstanding tool for professional growth and recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing (AM), often called three-dimensional printing, offers the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a new avenue for creating replacement nuclear weapons parts and related stockpile materials. Lawrence Livermore is collaborating with other NNSA laboratories and production plants to expand the range of materials and component types compatible with AM, develop a better fundamental understanding of the materials involved in AM, and exploit the flexibility of AM processes to enhance the properties and performance of components. NNSA's AM experts envision broad application for the technology across the weapons complex, from tools and foam cushions to metal lattice structures to more advanced materials such as high explosives and nuclear components. In time, AM could profoundly change how the nuclear weapons complex produces parts by shrinking the manufacturing production footprint and modernizing infrastructure, resulting in a more cost-effective and responsive stockpile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of additive manufacturing (AM) of the engineers and materials scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory together with Kansas City, Kansas partners to develop an engineered foam with a more controlled structure and tailored properties. It cites the adoption of AM technique due to advances in materials, sensors and micromechanics. The development of DIW-printed prototype made with ultraviolet-cured silicone ink using the AM concept is also outlined.