News

Filter News

Area of Research

News Type

Date

News Topics

Media Contacts

Connect with ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientist Tomonori Saito shows a 3D-printed sandcastle at the DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Polymer discovery gives 3D-printed sand super strength

Researchers at ORNL designed a novel polymer to bind and strengthen silica sand for binder jet additive manufacturing, a 3D-printing method used by industries for prototyping and part production.

ORNL researchers produced self-healable and highly adhesive elastomers, proving they self-repair in ambient conditions and underwater. This project garnered a 2021 R&D 100 Award. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Seven ORNL technologies win R&D 100 research awards

Research teams from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their technologies have received seven 2021 R&D 100 Awards, plus special recognition for a COVID-19-related project.

The first central solenoid module arrived at the ITER site in St. Paul-lez-Durance, France on Sept. 9. Credit: ITER Organization

US ITER – Power trip

Staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory organized transport for a powerful component that is critical to the world’s largest experiment, the international ITER project.

ORNL used novel additive manufacturing techniques to 3D print channel fasteners for Framatome’s boiling water reactor fuel assembly. Four components, like the one shown here, were installed at the TVA Browns Ferry nuclear plant. Credit: Framatome

Nuclear reactor components 3D printed by ORNL now installed at TVA Browns Ferry nuclear plant

Four first-of-a-kind 3D-printed fuel assembly brackets, produced at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have been installed and are now under routine operating

A 3D printed thermal protection shield, produced by ORNL researchers for NASA, is part of a cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. The shield was printed at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Manufacturing – To infinity and beyond

A research team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have 3D printed a thermal protection shield, or TPS, for a capsule that will launch with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft as part of the supply mission to the International Space Station.

ORNL, in collaboration with Cincinnati, Inc., used the Big Area Additive Manufacturing machine to 3D print a mold made of recycled thermoplastic composite and syntactic foam, demonstrating the potential for multimaterials in large-scale applications. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Manufacturing – Recycling goes large

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers, in collaboration with Cincinnati Inc., demonstrated the potential for using multimaterials and recycled composites in large-scale applications by 3D printing a mold that replicated a single facet of a

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s MENNDL AI software system can design thousands of neural networks in a matter of hours. One example uses a driving simulator to evaluate a network’s ability to perceive objects under various lighting conditions. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL licenses revolutionary AI system to General Motors for automotive use

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has licensed its award-winning artificial intelligence software system, the Multinode Evolutionary Neural Networks for Deep Learning, to General Motors for use in vehicle technology and design.

ORNL researchers combined additive manufacturing with conventional compression molding to produce high-performance thermoplastic composites, demonstrating the potential for the use of large-scale multimaterial preforms to create molded composites. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Manufacturing – Multimaterials’ dual approach

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers combined additive manufacturing with conventional compression molding to produce high-performance thermoplastic composites reinforced with short carbon fibers.

Distinguished Inventors

Six ORNL scientists receive Distinguished Inventor honor

Six scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors, in recognition of obtaining 14 or more patents during their careers at the lab.

David Kropaczek

Kropaczek named fellow of American Nuclear Society

David Kropaczek, director of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, or CASL, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society.