Navy Nuclear Program Gets a Public Additive Manufacturing Materials Database

The US Navy's nuclear propulsion program is about to get a lot more transparent about how additive manufacturing materials perform. Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI) has hired Barnes Global Advisors (TBGA) to build and manage a comprehensive materials and process database for metal AM. The data will be released publicly.

This is not just another internal quality record. BPMI wants structured, standardized property data on 316L stainless steel and Alloy 625 that other vendors, shipyards, and regulators can actually use. Right now, every organization that wants to qualify an AM part for nuclear or defense use must characterize the material itself. That is expensive, slow, and repetitive.

The effort mirrors America Makes' GOTHAAM initiative, a $5.5 million defense program focused on qualifying high-strength aluminum alloy for laser powder bed fusion. Both projects exist because incomplete material data is the single biggest bottleneck keeping AM out of high-stakes production. BPMI's database aims to remove that bottleneck for the naval supply chain.

TBGA will interpret, standardize, and manage the dataset. Christina Kurth, TBGA's Business Development Director for Advanced Manufacturing, said the work is about giving engineers confidence in the materials they specify. "We value the opportunity to be part of these efforts and to help advance additive manufacturing where it can deliver meaningful impact," she said.

The database also reflects a broader shift. The Navy has been expanding its use of metal AM for spare parts and tooling, especially aboard ships where traditional supply chains fail. Walter Reed's recent FDA clearance for 3D printed cranial implants shows that point-of-care manufacturing is gaining regulatory trust. A public materials database takes that trust a step further by making the underlying data available to everyone.

If BPMI's dataset proves reliable, it could become a template for other defense programs. The alternative is every supplier running its own qualification tests in isolation. That is not sustainable at scale.