ASTRO America & Plastometrex advance additive manufacturing defense research

ASTRO America, a non-profit research institute advancing manufacturing technology and policy in aerospace and defense, and Plastometrex, a company revolutionizing mechanical testing, have joined forces to accelerate ASTRO’s parameter development workflows by integrating Plastometrex’s PLX-Benchtop into its additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) testing processes. Over the past few months, ASTRO has conducted several hundred tests using the system, leveraging its speed and efficiency to refine additive manufacturing parameters in aluminum alloys produced with a MELD print head.

By incorporating Profilometry-based Indentation Plastometry (PIP) technology, the PLX-Benchtop enables ASTRO to obtain accurate stress-strain curves in minutes and at a fraction of the cost of tensile testing, bringing mechanical testing into the development cycle earlier. This has allowed ASTRO’s team to identify parameter influences that would have been cost-prohibitive to assess with traditional tensile testing methods.

“The ability to conduct fast, non-destructive mechanical testing with PIP has significantly improved our approach to material optimization,” says Noah Barnhill, Vice President, Army Operations at ASTRO America. “We can now evaluate mechanical properties in real time, making data-driven decisions about process parameters without the delays and material constraints of conventional testing methods.”

Beyond parameter development, the PLX-Benchtop enables ASTRO to assess part homogeneity, an insight that was previously impractical using tensile testing due to the challenges of extracting specimens from real components. With the flexibility to test directly on printed parts, ASTRO can now evaluate localized variations in mechanical properties, improving quality assurance for AFSD-processed materials.

“Traditional mechanical testing methods often limit the scope of what’s feasible in additive manufacturing R&D,” says Dr. Mike Coto, CCO at Plastometrex. “ASTRO’s use of the PLX-Benchtop demonstrates how rapid, cost-effective mechanical testing can unlock deeper insights into process optimization, material performance, and component reliability – without the cost and time barriers of traditional tensile testing.”

ASTRO’s adoption of Plastometrex’s technology reflects a growing shift in additive manufacturing research towards faster, more accessible mechanical testing methods. As the company expands its testing across different materials and process parameters, Plastometrex and ASTRO will continue to explore new ways of integrating PIP-based testing into industrial AM workflows.