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Our Team
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Additive Manufacturing (AM) Team is comprised of three laboratories:
Engineering Laboratory
The Engineering Laboratory’s Measurement Science for Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) program is exploring barriers to adoption of additive manufacturing, such as surface quality, part accuracy, fabrication speed, material properties and computational requirements. To mitigate these challenges, the program focuses on material characterization, real-time control of additive manufacturing processes, qualification methodologies and system integration.
Material Measurement Laboratory
The Material Measurement Laboratory's (MML) Additive Manufacturing Program is investigating additive manufacturing-related issues for several material types (metals, polymers, ceramics, and biomedical materials). MML AM studies materials to better understand their characteristics, behaviors, and applications. MML uses these understandings to develop standard reference materials (SRMs) for researcher and industry use. These understandings and reference materials benefit U.S. commerce and competitiveness by providing vital information for increasing efficiency in U.S. manufacturing.
Physical Measurement Laboratory
The Physical Measurement Laboratory is studying emissive properties of materials in solid, powder, and liquid states, as well as improved techniques for real-time temperature measurements to support better understanding and modeling of additive manufacturing processes.