OUR RESEARCH

Advanced Materials and Manufacturing

Who We Are

Our engineers, materials scientists and additive manufacturing experts develop nanotechnology, novel feedstocks and biomimetic, quantum and energetic materials. Meet a few of the people who work in advanced materials and manufacturing:

 

 
Salmaan (Sal) Baxamusa
He/Him
Materials Science Division
Eric Duoss
Center for Engineered Materials and Manufacturing
Jeremy Feaster
He/Him
Materials Science Division
Simon Pang
He/Him
Materials Science Division / PLS
Caitlyn Krikorian
Functional Architected Materials Engineering
Mariana Desireé Reale Batista
Materials Science Division

Our Latest News

Our Current Projects

Our multidisciplinary teams collaborate with academic colleagues and industry partners to develop breakthroughs vital to national security and, often, that benefit commercial applications.

 

Manufactured part

 

High-Performance Alloys

As our missions take us into new environments, we leverage LLNL’s computational capabilities to discover and design high-performance alloys with enhanced properties and performance under extreme conditions. We create new feedstock materials and additive manufacturing techniques that enable us to synthesize complex structures that are lightweight, corrosion-resistant and radiation tolerant. We also develop customized alloys that incorporate low-value rare earth elements, so we can produce components that are less susceptible to supply chain disruptions associated with critical materials.

 

3D printed materials responding to external stimuli

 

3D Printed Materials Respond to External Stimuli

Leveraging the power of 3D printing, we create materials whose properties are not fixed after fabrication, but instead react to environmental stimuli in real time. For example, changes in temperature, chemical environment, or variations in electromagnetic fields may cause a structure to bend or swell as it avoids breakage or absorbs a liquid. Most recently, LLNL researchers have developed a liquid crystal elastomer — a soft material that morphs in response to light, which has implications for future soft robotics that can do work where rigid materials cannot.

 

Rusted chains used an an example of corrosion

 

Preventing Material Corrosion

We explore ways to stop material degradation before it starts—research that’s critical to ensuring the long-term performance of our nation’s nuclear stockpile and the resilience of our energy infrastructure. It’s also relevant to commercial applications, including aircraft and advanced batteries. Our materials science experts leverage LLNL’s supercomputers and machine learning tools to better predict factors that initiate corrosion, especially for new types of additively manufactured material. They integrate experimental data into their simulations to capture complex corrosion processes and better understand how a material will perform at scale, in relevant conditions, over its service lifetime.

 

Our Facilities, Centers and Institutes

The Laboratory is home to several state-of-the-art facilities and centers to help researchers tackle the hardest and most complex challenges related to advanced materials and manufacturing.

 

Related Organizations

World-class science takes teamwork. Explore the organizations that contribute to our advanced materials and manufacturing research by clicking the images below.

Join Our Team

We offer opportunities in a variety of fields, not just science and technology. We are home to a diverse staff of professionals that includes administrators, researchers, creatives, supply chain staff, health services workers and more. Visit our careers page to learn more about the different career paths we offer and find the one that speaks to you. Make your mark on the world!