Metal additive manufacturing

File number: CER-20191005

Call: Acreditación y concesión de ayudas destinadas a Centros Tecnológicos de Excelencia “Cervera”

Partners:

• LORTEK
• AIDIMME
• CATEC
• CEIT

Summary:

The general objective of the project is the creation of a network of excellence in Additive Manufacturing supported by two complementary pillars: internationally recognized know-how and a market orientation that allows it to act as a driving force of the Spanish industrial framework.

The complementary capacities of the four members of the consortium make it possible to cover the entire value chain of the additive manufacturing of metallic materials: from the design of new materials and their production as a powder or thread, the additive manufacturing process itself or the post-processing stages, to testing advanced technologies that verify on demonstrators in relevant environments that the developments obtained meet the necessary requirements for their implementation on an industrial scale.

During the 3-year project lifetime, the consortium will address the additive manufacturing of a wide catalogue of metals: high-strength aluminium alloys, pure copper, precipitation-hardened copper alloys, hard and soft magnetic materials, INVAR, Ni-base alloys. (such as INCONEL 718, INCONEL 738 and CM 247 LC), Ti alloys, high value stainless steels, tool steels and Fe-based amorphous alloys for wear and corrosion resistant coatings. The materials developed will be processed using SLM (Selective Laser Melting), LMD (Laser Metal Deposition), EBM (Electron Beam Melting) and WAAM (Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing), and the integration of Femtosecond lasers in additive manufacturing equipment will be studied. .

The project also affects other key aspects to achieve excellence such as training and attracting talent

Through the achievement of this project, the technology centres AIDIMME, CEIT, FADA-CATEC and LORTEK have been distinguished as "Cervera Centre of Excellence" in relation to Additive Manufacturing and received a grant for the STRATEGIC PROGRAM FOR THE TRAINING OF EXCELLENCE IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF METALLIC MATERIALS (CEFAM) ”(File: CER-20191005) through the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) under the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Lortek role in the project:

The scientific-technological objectives raised by LORTEK in this program are listed below:

• To generate the necessary scientific knowledge in the selected Additive Manufacturing technologies, SLM, LMD and WAAM, in order to address the real industrialization of the process, considering the different stages or processes of the entire value chain.
• To develop and/or to adapt the composition of: high strength Al alloys for their application in WAAM, processable nickel alloys for SLM high temperature applications, and optimized Ti wires for WAAM application.
• To develop process monitoring and/or control systems, focused on guaranteeing the quality of the manufactured components, in order to ensure a robust and repetitive process, applicable to companies to successfully address a mass manufacturing using Additive Manufacturing technologies.
• To generate specific design and application criteria or specifications for each one of the selected Additive Manufacturing technologies, optimizing the post-process treatments in order to achieve a “good practice” guide, and determine the properties of the final products.