Aiding Defense
A Baylor research team is advancing technologies to support the U.S. Army in manufacturing new products and repairing damaged parts for mission-critical components in aircraft, vehicles and more.
Brian Jordon, Ph.D. (left), and Paul Allison, Ph.D. (right), lead a team that earned a $15 million congressional appropriation to support the development of what they call “friction stir additive manufacturing.” The research team will work to mature this nascent technology, which would aid the Army in sustainably developing or repairing products with minimal logistical footprints.
“There is a long lead time for many items the Army needs, like gearboxes for rotorcraft or ground vehicles,” Allison, who serves as professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Baylor University Point-of-Need Innovations Center, said. “The parts can take a long time to get because you have to cast them, and if anything goes wrong, you have to go back and recast, and that can reset the clock for a year. That’s not ideal when you’re trying to support military or humanitarian operations.”
A mature friction stir additive manufacturing process would cut down waste in both parts and time needed for the development of materials. Jordon and Allison seek to develop a low-power, nimble process using locally available raw materials instead of expensive materials while still delivering the same properties as the more time-consuming approaches.
As the technology matures, manufacturers could integrate these advances into the development process within the next five years — a timeframe that motivates Jordon and Allison.
“What gets us excited is that there is an immediate application,” Jordon, who serves as the Kenneth and Celia Carlile Chair in Materials Science, said. “What is needed to complete today’s work? That’s a question that drives us in our work broadly and in this project. We find a lot of fulfillment in knowing that we’re helping the defense of our country in these types of projects.”
The collaborative research includes colleagues from across disciplines from the University of New Hampshire and Solvus Global and Baylor colleagues Trevor Fleck, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering, David Jack, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering, Pedro Reyes, Ph.D., associate professor of operations and supply chain management, and Garritt Tucker, Ph.D., the Eula Mae and John Baugh Chair of Physics.