Development of the MICL at Mill 19 is underway using existing capabilities as well as new investments for research in metallurgy, alloying, powder production, and metal additive manufacturing (AM). Current equipment includes laser powder additive manufacturing systems, a high temperature furnace, tools to measure the size and shape distributions of powders, a thermomechanical simulation and testing system, and optical microscopes and scanners. A recently purchased ultrasonic atomization and arc melting system will be available in March 2026 to fabricate laboratory-scale quantities of metal powder and cast buttons or cigars with controlled chemical compositions. Additional new capabilities will include bulk elemental and oxygen/nitrogen analysis and an automated system for Vickers, Knoop and Brinell hardness testing. We have begun to integrate the existing machines into the MFI Digital Data Backbone, a system that provides the infrastructure to connect, collect, and contextualize research data.
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