Barnes Global Advisors contracted by Bechtel Plant Machinery to build 316L, Alloy 625 AM materials database for Navy nuclear propulsion

The Barnes Global Advisors (TBGA) has been contracted by Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI), prime contractor for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, to interpret, standardize, and manage a materials and process database for additive manufacturing. The initial dataset covers 316L stainless steel and Alloy 625 coupons produced via laser powder bed fusion and gas metal arc directed energy deposition. AM suppliers and testing partners will submit data incrementally, and BPMI has said the results are expected to be made public.

For TBGA, the contract extends its prior Department of War industrial-base and Navy advanced-manufacturing consulting work into an ongoing data-management role rather than a one-off qualification study. It follows the same logic as America Makes' GOTHAAM program: standardized material allowables remove the incomplete-property-data bottleneck that has slowed AM part qualification for defense programs. As more naval AM suppliers route coupon data through TBGA, the firm builds a recurring vantage point on material qualification standards across the naval industrial base.