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EWI, an advanced manufacturing and engineering solutions company in Columbus, has been selected by America Makes and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining to lead a $13.2 million national program.
The effort is aimed at solving one of the biggest barriers to using additive manufacturing for critical defense parts: the cost and complexity of verifying part quality. The program, known as INSITE (INtegrated System for In-situ Testing and Evaluation), will run for three years.
"As additive manufacturing advances toward larger, more complex applications, the ability to reliably verify part quality is becoming increasingly critical," said Ben DiMarco, technology transition director at America Makes, based in downtown Youngstown. "This initiative brings together advanced analytics, real-time process monitoring and NDE to create a more comprehensive approach to quality assurance.
"By strengthening confidence in AM technologies, this work will help accelerate their adoption across the defense industrial base. We commend the winners for advancing this important and innovative effort."
Directed energy deposition, a form of metal 3D printing, can replace castings and forgings and enable faster, more flexible production and repair across the defense industrial base. But verifying quality after the fact for these critical parts can be as costly and time-consuming as the build itself, particularly for complex geometries or dense components where traditional inspection methods struggle to fully characterize the part. INSITE addresses that gap by combining data gathered during the print itself with a more targeted approach to inspection afterward.
As parts are built, the system will track process data, thermal and visual images, and eddy-current array signals in real time, using AI and machine learning to flag areas that may need a closer look. That information will feed into a recommended post-build inspection plan, one that can focus effort on specific areas needing further scrutiny, rather than scanning an entire part. A human will stay in the loop at every step, with a qualified professional reviewing and approving each inspection plan before it's carried out.
EWI will lead the program, working alongside a team of major aerospace manufacturers including Boeing, GKN Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Norsk Titanium, along with industry partners Addiguru, Computational Tools, FormAlloy and TRI Austin. Together, the team brings deep expertise in in-situ monitoring, data analysis, and DED production, with the aerospace partners also helping guide certification and speed adoption into industry and active defense programs. Beyond the technology itself, INSITE will produce industry and military standards developed alongside U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy partners, giving manufacturers a documented path to adopting the framework.