Oak Ridge Today

ORNL, Boeing set Guinness World Record with 3D printed tool for Boeing 777X wing part

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GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS measurement of ORNL-Boeing trim tool Aug 29 2016

Official measurement of the 3D printed trim tool co-developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The Boeing Company exceeded the required minimum size to achieve the Guinness World Records title of largest solid 3D printed item. Pictured above on Monday, Aug. 29, 2016, is Guinness World Records Judge Michael Empric. (Photo courtesy ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)

 

HARDIN VALLEY—A tool made by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has set a world record for largest solid item manufactured on a 3D printer. Guinness World Records confirmed the tool’s measurements during a visit to ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley on Monday.

The trim-and-drill tool measures 17.5 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, and 1.5 feet tall. It’s comparable in length to a large sport utility vehicle and weighs approximately 1,650 pounds.

It will be used to help make a wing part on the Boeing 777X airplane, a passenger jet. After ORNL completes some testing, Boeing will evaluate the tool in the company’s new production facility in St. Louis and then provide information to ORNL about its performance.

ORNL printed the trim-and-drill tool in only 30 hours on a 3D printer at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley using mostly ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) mixed with about 20 percent carbon fiber. ABS is the same material used to produce Legos, and it’s a tough, strong polymer, said Bill Peter, MDF director.

Judge Michael Empric said Guinness World Records had set a minimum measurement of 10.5 cubic feet for the new largest solid 3D printed item, which is a new category. The Boeing tool printed by ORNL measured much larger, 82.4 cubic feet, Empric said.

The original tool was printed in one piece and was larger, but it was trimmed down, Empric said. [Read more…]

LeMond, Tour de France champion, plans production in Oak Ridge, thinks area could be world hub for carbon fiber

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Greg LeMond at the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility

Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, right, chairman and co-CEO of LeMond Companies, which owns LeMond Composites, tours ORNL’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility. (Image courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

 

A new carbon fiber company that includes three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond plans to build a carbon fiber production line in west Oak Ridge to make composites for use in transportation, renewable energy, and infrastructure, and LeMond thinks the Knoxville area will become the world hub for carbon fiber.

The new company, LeMond Composites, has signed a licensing agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and it has purchased the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center, where CVMR, an international company that uses ore concentrates to create pure metal powders, had once planned to locate its headquarters and research and development.

LeMond Composites closed on the property, which includes about 21 acres, on July 21 for $5.4 million. It’s right next to ORNL’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, or CFTF, at Horizon Center. Renovations at the former Theragenics building are already under way.

Carbon fiber is light, stiff, and strong, a press release said. That makes it the perfect material for advanced composites in a variety of applications, including transportation, renewable energy, and infrastructure, the release said. It can be used to improve efficiency, save energy, and build or repair vehicles and planes, wind turbines and containers, and bridges and tunnels.

But the biggest obstacle to its widespread use has been its high cost. [Read more…]

ORNL, Boeing to receive Guinness World Records title for largest solid 3D printed item

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ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Polymer Printer

This large-scale polymer printer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility was used to fabricate the Shelby Cobra. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2:45 p.m.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Boeing Company are expected to receive the Guinness World Records title for largest solid 3D printed item, a media advisory said.

On Monday, an official Guinness World Records judge will measure and award the title of largest solid 3D printed item to ORNL and Boeing for a 3D printed tool used in manufacturing the Boeing 777X passenger jet. The media has been invited.

The invitation-only ceremony is at 11 a.m. Monday, August 29, at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at 2370 Cherahala Boulevard, off Pellissippi Parkway at Hardin Valley Road. [Read more…]

ORNL-led study analyzes electric grid vulnerabilities in extreme weather areas  

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A new ORNL-developed method pinpoints electrical service areas across the southern United States most vulnerable to climate change and predicted population growth, which could inform decision makers about future substation needs. (Photo by ORNL)

A new ORNL-developed method pinpoints electrical service areas across the southern United States most vulnerable to climate change and predicted population growth, which could inform decision makers about future substation needs. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Climate and energy scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to pinpoint which electrical service areas will be most vulnerable as populations grow and temperatures rise.

“For the first time, we were able to apply data at a high enough resolution to be relevant,” said ORNL’s Melissa Allen, co-author of “Impacts of Climate Change on Sub-regional Electricity Demand and Distribution in the Southern United States,” published in Nature Energy.

Allen and her team developed new algorithms that combine ORNL’s unique infrastructure and population datasets with high-resolution climate simulations run on the lab’s Titan supercomputer. The integrated approach identifies substations at the neighborhood level and determines their ability to handle additional demand based on predicted changes in climate and population.

The new, high-resolution capability can explore the interconnections in complex systems such as critical infrastructure and weather and determine potential pathways to adapt to future global change, a press release said. [Read more…]

American Physical Society names ORNL’s Holifield Facility as historic physics site

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ORNL-Holifield-Radioactive-Ion-Beam-Facility-1

The Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

The American Physical Society on Monday honored the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as an APS Historic Physics Site.

It’s the first designated APS Historic Physics Site in Tennessee. The APS is one of the world’s top professional societies for scientists.

APS President-elect Laura Greene presented a plaque marking the historical designation of the now-decommissioned physics research facility to kick off the Nuclear Structure 2016 conference and Neutrinos in Nuclear Physics workshop being held this week in Knoxville. ORNL Deputy for Science and Technology Thomas Zacharia accepted the plaque for ORNL.

ORNL is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory.

“In naming the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility as a Historic Physics Site, the American Physical Society took into consideration the half century of nuclear and atomic physics research performed there, as well as the scores of scientists who performed experiments with its unique capabilities,” Greene said. “The Holifield Facility has indeed been an important contributor to the physical sciences history.” [Read more…]

New ORNL tool probes for genes linked to toxic methyl mercury, could help Y-12 cleanup

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ORNL Andrew King Mercury Methylation Genes

Andrew King loads a gel with amplified gene fragments to detect the presence of mercury methylation genes in samples from East Fork Poplar Creek in Oak Ridge. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Environmental scientists can more efficiently detect genes required to convert mercury in the environment into more toxic methylmercury with molecular probes developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The research could help the cleanup work at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“We now have a quick and easy-to-use tool that we can employ in any environment to test for the presence of microorganisms capable of methylating mercury and determine how abundant they are,” said ORNL’s Geoff Christensen, a post-doc and lead author of a paper published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

In 2013, ORNL researchers reported in Science on the discovery of two genes known to transform inorganic mercury into its highly toxic organic form. Development of the newly validated probes further advances research to protect human health, a press release said.

For this study, researchers tested the probes against 31 strains of microorganisms for which they know the ones that produce methylmercury and scored a 94 percent confirmation rate, the press release said. This validation procedure is critical to the next step of moving the probes into the field to help determine the amount of methylmercury likely to be generated in any given environment. [Read more…]

DOE investing $19 million in building efficiency, with four of 18 awards to ORNL

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday that it is investing $19 million to improve the efficiency of the nation’s homes, offices, schools, hospitals, restaurants, and stores. The projects will develop advanced building technologies that will help American consumers and businesses save money on their utility bills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create jobs, a press release said.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory received four of the 18 awards.

Buildings are the largest energy consumer in the nation—accounting for more than 40 percent of the nation’s total energy demand and greenhouse emissions, and resulting in an annual energy bill totaling $430 billion, the press release said. On average, nearly a third of this energy is wasted. It’s estimated that if the U.S. reduced energy use in buildings by 20 percent, the nation could save nearly $80 billion annually on energy bills.

The 18 innovative projects announced Friday will develop sensors and energy modeling tools to make buildings smarter, reduce refrigerant leaks and improve the efficiency of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems, and produce a low-impact, gas-powered heat pump that can operate efficiently in colder climates. The projects will also support renewable energy market penetration through energy storage, pinpoint air leaks and reduce energy losses through the building envelope, and cut electricity use by transmitting sunlight to building interiors, the press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL, Titan helping DOE supercomputers fight cancer

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Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Titan supercomputer are helping the U.S. Department of Energy fight cancer. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its Titan supercomputer are helping the U.S. Department of Energy fight cancer through a national initiative called Cancer Moonshot.

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz wrote about the use of DOE supercomputers to fight cancer in an article posted on Medium.com on Friday.

“Cancer is a worldwide public health problem, and the second-leading cause of death in the United States,” Moniz said. “Although cancer mortality has declined in recent years, there is no one who hasn’t been touched by cancer personally. So when President Obama announced that Vice President Biden would lead the Cancer Moonshot during his State of the Union address and asked for all hands on deck, I was eager to join the Cancer Moonshot Task Force and lend the support of the Department of Energy and our 17 national laboratories.”

As part of the initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy is launching three pilot projects in partnership with the National Cancer Institute, ORNL spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said. The projects will bring together nearly 100 cancer researchers, care providers, computer scientists, and engineers to apply the nation’s most advanced supercomputing capabilities to analyze data from preclinical models in cancer, cancer surveillance data, and molecular interaction data for RAS genes, McCorkle said. (About one third of all human cancers, including a high percentage of pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancers, are driven by mutations in RAS genes, according to the National Cancer Institute.) [Read more…]

ORNL researchers use 3-D printer to print table with bamboo fiber

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ORNL bamboo tablecloth

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used a 3-D printer to print a table that was manufactured using 10 percent bamboo fiber. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using bamboo fiber in 3-D printing experiments, and they’ve printed a table that contains 10 percent bamboo fiber composite.

The goal is to determine whether bio-based feedstock materials from living (or once-living) organisms are feasible in what is known as additive manufacturing.

Officials say 3-D printing is used to manufacture items a layer at a time using such materials as carbon, glass, or bamboo fiber. [Read more…]

New 200-petaflop supercomputer to succeed Titan at ORNL

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Summit Supercomputer Cabinets Graphic

This a graphical representation of the Summit computer cabinets. It is not a photograph of the final design. (Image courtesy ORNL/November 2014)

 

A new 200-petaflop supercomputer will succeed Titan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and it could be available to scientists and researchers in 2018, a spokesperson said this week.

The new IBM supercomputer, named Summit, could about double the computing power of what is now the world’s fastest machine, a Chinese system named Sunway TaihuLight, according to a seminannual list of the world’s top supercomputers released in June.

Sunway TaihuLight is capable of 93 petaflops, according to the list, the TOP500 list. A petaflop is one quadrillion calculations per second. That’s 1,000 trillion calculations per second.

Summit, which is expected to start operating at ORNL early in 2018, is one of three supercomputers that the U.S. Department of Energy expects to exceed 100 petaflops at three U.S. Department of Energy laboratories in 2018. The three planned systems are:

  • the 200-petaflop Summit at ORNL, which is expected to be available to users in early 2018;
  • a 150-petaflop machine known as Sierra at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco in mid-2018; and
  • a 180-petaflop supercomputer called Aurora at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago in late 2018.

[Read more…]

Climate study finds human ‘fingerprint’ in Northern Hemisphere greening

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North Hemisphere Greening

Earth system models simulate Northern Hemisphere greening. The figure shows the spatial distribution of leaf area index trends (m2/m2/30yr) in the growing season (April–October) during the period of 1982–2011 in the mean of satellite observations (top), Earth system model (ESM) simulations with natural forcings alone (lower left), and ESM simulations with combined anthropogenic and natural forcings (lower right). (Image by ORNL)

 

A multinational team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute has found the first positive correlation between human activity and enhanced vegetation growth.

The research team, led by Jiafu Mao of the Ecosystem Simulation Science group in the Environmental Sciences Division, used new environmental data and strict statistical methods to discover a significant human-vegetation interaction in the northern extratropical latitudes, the section of the planet spanning 30 to 75 degrees north, roughly between the Tropic of Cancer and the North Frigid Zone above the Arctic Circle.

“This is the first clear evidence of a discernible human fingerprint on physiological vegetation changes at the continental scale,” Mao said. [Read more…]

Keppens takes over as head of UT-ORNL Joint Institute of Advanced Materials

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Veerle Keppens

The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Advanced Materials has named Veerle Keppens as its new director. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institute for Advanced Materials has named Veerle Keppens as its new director.

Keppens, current head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in UT’s College of Engineering, brings a knowledge of advanced materials—substances with properties that go beyond the norm in one or more aspects, such as electronically or chemically—that will allow her to transition to the new role without a learning curve, a press release said.

“Dr. Keppens carries a wealth of materials science knowledge to this position along with a well as a passion for broadening our understanding in these areas of research,” said UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “She has worked well in research partnerships with ORNL and will be a strong leader of the institute.”

UT and ORNL established JIAM in 2005 as a way of bringing together researchers studying those materials, with the impact of that research being as varied as the materials themselves. [Read more…]