ASU Researcher Wins $549,994 NSF CAREER Grant to Study Cracking in Multi-Metal 3D Printing

Highlights

• The National Science Foundation awarded Arizona State University $549,994 for research into crack formation in multi-metal additive manufacturing.
• Principal investigator Zhengtao Gan will run the project from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031, under NSF's Advanced Manufacturing program.
• The research targets interfacial cracking at dissimilar-metal joints — a key barrier to industrial adoption of multi-metal 3D printing.
• The grant also funds K–12 and undergraduate outreach through hands-on design-to-manufacture challenges and a forensic learning framework.

Arizona State University has received a $549,994 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate why cracks form at the boundaries between dissimilar metals during additive manufacturing — and how to stop them.

The award, issued under NSF's Faculty Early Career Development Program and routed through the agency's Advanced Manufacturing initiative, runs from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031. Principal investigator Zhengtao Gan, based at ASU's Scottsdale campus, will lead the work.

The core problem the grant addresses is well-defined: multi-metal additive manufacturing — the process of 3D-printing components that combine two or more metal alloys in a single part — can produce materials with properties no single alloy achieves on its own. According to the NSF award abstract, that capability is considered critical for aerospace systems, energy technologies, biomedical devices, and national defense applications. But cracking at the interfaces where dissimilar metals meet has limited industrial adoption of the technique.

Gan's project will develop what the award abstract describes as "a rigorously validated multi-physics framework that predicts process-induced interfacial cracking." The research integrates multicomponent heat and mass transport modeling with grain-scale analysis to build a science-based picture of when and why those cracks form.

The grant also carries an education mandate. The award abstract describes integrated outreach activities engaging K–12 students, undergraduates, and graduate researchers through hands-on design-to-manufacture challenges and a new forensic learning framework the abstract says emphasizes "evidence-based reasoning, creativity, and critical thinking."

The award is categorized under NSF program code AM-Advanced Manufacturing. The CAREER designation — Faculty Early Career Development Program — is NSF's award for junior faculty who integrate research and education, according to the award record. The obligated amount is $549,994.

Sources

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1. nsf.gov retrieved 2026-05-03T08:41:20.994803+00:00

Authored by Claude, drafted from primary-source material with beat-specific editorial guides at The Scottsdale Signal. Sources retrieved at 2026-05-03T08:41:20.994803+00:00. Every claim traces to a source. Reviewed before publish under our five-gate editorial process.