Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INEX-ADAM (INCREASING EXCELLENCE ON ADVANCED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING)
Berichtszeitraum: 2019-12-01 bis 2022-02-28
EU2020 strategy highlighted that one of the problems that Croatia needs to urgently address is to improve the R&D environment so as to enhance cooperation among the companies and research institutions to promote new technologies and increase the competitive benefit for Croatian businesses. INEX-ADAM project aims are aligned with one of the Europe 2020 main goals of Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020, which is to strengthen research, technology development and innovation through enhancing research excellence. INEX-ADAM project has two thematic priority areas: health and quality of life (RDI sub-area of medical and dentistry equipment and device production) and transport and mobility (RDI sub-area of production of parts and systems for road and railroad vehicles).
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is recognised as an enabling technology and a driving force to achieve competitiveness and innovation for many industries because they allow designers and manufacturers to achieve freedom of geometry using a range of materials such as polymers, metals, ceramics and composites to produce products in a relatively short time. While industrial machines and consumer products are the main applications for AM, there is a growing demand for AM for the medical, transport and tooling sector.
The overall goal of INEX-ADAM is to enhance networking and reduce technology deficiencies in University of Zagreb (UNIZAG FSB) by significantly strengthening the excellence and innovative capacity for research in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) within the Centre of Additive Technologies (CATeh), which is an integral part of the UNIZAG FSB.
INEX-ADAM is supported by four leading partners: LTH (Lund University, Faculty of Engineering, Lund, Sweden) is an established institution in the field of DfAM with specific knowledge in application of product topology optimisation and the application of lattice structures in product design (engineering, tooling, medical applications) produced by AM. MUL (Montanuniversität Leoben, Leoben, Austria) has extensive knowledge in material development (material compounding and AM build optimisation) for Additive Manufacturing, in particular for extrusion-based AM processes. AIDIMME (Metal-processing, Furniture, Wood and Packaging Technology Institute, Valencia, Spain) is a scientific and technical organization for over 800 associated companies in Spain, having extensive expertise in the field of powder-based material for AM production. UBRUN (Brunel University London, London, UK) is an established institution with experience in developing and maintaining networks as well as its involvement in EU-funded projects related to Additive Manufacturing, with a strong focus in industrial and commercial applications.
The mission of UNIZAG FSB is to integrate research and teaching to create an innovative and creative environment for the Croatian industry.
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is recognised as an enabling technology and a driving force to achieve competitiveness and innovation for many industries because they allow designers and manufacturers to achieve freedom of geometry using a range of materials such as polymers, metals, ceramics and composites to produce products in a relatively short time. While industrial machines and consumer products are the main applications for AM, there is a growing demand for AM for the medical, transport and tooling sector.
The overall goal of INEX-ADAM is to enhance networking and reduce technology deficiencies in University of Zagreb (UNIZAG FSB) by significantly strengthening the excellence and innovative capacity for research in the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM) within the Centre of Additive Technologies (CATeh), which is an integral part of the UNIZAG FSB.
INEX-ADAM is supported by four leading partners: LTH (Lund University, Faculty of Engineering, Lund, Sweden) is an established institution in the field of DfAM with specific knowledge in application of product topology optimisation and the application of lattice structures in product design (engineering, tooling, medical applications) produced by AM. MUL (Montanuniversität Leoben, Leoben, Austria) has extensive knowledge in material development (material compounding and AM build optimisation) for Additive Manufacturing, in particular for extrusion-based AM processes. AIDIMME (Metal-processing, Furniture, Wood and Packaging Technology Institute, Valencia, Spain) is a scientific and technical organization for over 800 associated companies in Spain, having extensive expertise in the field of powder-based material for AM production. UBRUN (Brunel University London, London, UK) is an established institution with experience in developing and maintaining networks as well as its involvement in EU-funded projects related to Additive Manufacturing, with a strong focus in industrial and commercial applications.
The mission of UNIZAG FSB is to integrate research and teaching to create an innovative and creative environment for the Croatian industry.
During the project, the following tasks have been carried out:
• mapping of all five project partners' resources, expertise and projects in the field of AM was performed – AIDIMME, MUL, LTH, UBRUN, UNIZAG FSB
• master report about all partners' resources, expertise and project in the field of AM was created and submitted - D2.1
• based on D2.1 curricula for education and training of UNIZAG FSB staff was delivered and submitted – D2.2
• education and training of UNIZAG FSB staff has been completed by all four partners (AIDIMME, MUL, LTH and UBRUN)
• 9 project meetings were held (kick-off meeting at UNIZAG FSB, Zagreb, 2nd meeting at UBRUN, London, 3rd meeting at Frankfurt Messe during Formnext fair, Frankfurt and 6 online meetings)
• 5 mapping visits were organized – 2 visits coincided with project meetings (kick-off – UNIZAG FSB, Zagreb, and 2nd – UBRUN, London), 3 visits were specially organized (LTH, Lund, MUL, Leoben, and AIDIMME, Valencia)
• 27 deliverables were submitted
• 3 workshops were organised – one was organised in-person (in Zagreb) and others were held online
• 2 summer schools were organised
• 5 conferences were attended with 7 published papers; 12 conferences were attended with presentations
• final INEX-ADAM conference was held at the end of the project
• 7 scientific papers were published in open access journals; 2 papers were submitted but not published before the end of the project.
• INEX-ADAM was presented at 2 fairs (at MOS Celje and at Formnext, Frankfurt)
• INEX-ADAM was presented at 2 open-air events
• 8 pilot projects with end users were accomplished
• INEX-ADAM platform was established with 133 followers by the end of the project
• 4 project newsletters were issued
• deliverable D3.2 (Advanced additive manufacturing handbook) was expanded and prepared for open access publishing by Springer Nature as a book titled A Guide to Additive Manufacturing.
• mapping of all five project partners' resources, expertise and projects in the field of AM was performed – AIDIMME, MUL, LTH, UBRUN, UNIZAG FSB
• master report about all partners' resources, expertise and project in the field of AM was created and submitted - D2.1
• based on D2.1 curricula for education and training of UNIZAG FSB staff was delivered and submitted – D2.2
• education and training of UNIZAG FSB staff has been completed by all four partners (AIDIMME, MUL, LTH and UBRUN)
• 9 project meetings were held (kick-off meeting at UNIZAG FSB, Zagreb, 2nd meeting at UBRUN, London, 3rd meeting at Frankfurt Messe during Formnext fair, Frankfurt and 6 online meetings)
• 5 mapping visits were organized – 2 visits coincided with project meetings (kick-off – UNIZAG FSB, Zagreb, and 2nd – UBRUN, London), 3 visits were specially organized (LTH, Lund, MUL, Leoben, and AIDIMME, Valencia)
• 27 deliverables were submitted
• 3 workshops were organised – one was organised in-person (in Zagreb) and others were held online
• 2 summer schools were organised
• 5 conferences were attended with 7 published papers; 12 conferences were attended with presentations
• final INEX-ADAM conference was held at the end of the project
• 7 scientific papers were published in open access journals; 2 papers were submitted but not published before the end of the project.
• INEX-ADAM was presented at 2 fairs (at MOS Celje and at Formnext, Frankfurt)
• INEX-ADAM was presented at 2 open-air events
• 8 pilot projects with end users were accomplished
• INEX-ADAM platform was established with 133 followers by the end of the project
• 4 project newsletters were issued
• deliverable D3.2 (Advanced additive manufacturing handbook) was expanded and prepared for open access publishing by Springer Nature as a book titled A Guide to Additive Manufacturing.
The use of AM for the transportation and medical sector has grown in demand because the use of digital manufacturing not only allows parts to be produced in a consistent manner but also the fact that the use of intelligent modelling and technical knowledge in material science allows precise structures to be created to enable a good high-strength to weight ratio, as well as to reduce the amount of material mass and the overall weight of the product. This helps to reduce fuel consumption and also significantly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases.
Applications of AM in Croatian automotive industry are rare and used only on basic level (mostly for prototyping, visualisation, and function checking – plastic parts). So far, AM was used without additional benefits from AM possibilities to produce ecologically acceptable solutions (such as production of lattice structure products in order to decrease CO2 footprint), or to produce high added-value products (such are composite products with functionally graded materials or magnetic products in complex shapes). Both group of solutions require advanced knowledge and technologies, such as AM.
Medical applications for AM are expanding rapidly and are expected to revolutionize health care. Medical uses for AM, can be organized into several broad categories, including: custom implants, anatomic models, moulds for prosthesis production, surgical guides, pre-surgery planning. Innovative products are very few on the market, and usually they are not competitive in international market, which proves absence of RDI through collaboration of science and economy on that field. Therefore, INEX-ADAM project will address on increasing AM application in medicine in Croatia especially in developing medical equipment and devices, because a lot of such products are custom made (single-batch production), where AM is high competitive.
Croatia has a good potential in modern tool making business. As an advantages tool makers from Croatia can offer long tradition in tool making, knowledge, quality and favourable geographic positon. But high price of work, technological obsolescence, absence of national strategy of development of metalworking Croatian industry are main weaknesses. INEX-ADAM project will address to the technological obsolescence in a field of application of AM in tool shops in Croatia by introduction of AM technologies in their business.
Applications of AM in Croatian automotive industry are rare and used only on basic level (mostly for prototyping, visualisation, and function checking – plastic parts). So far, AM was used without additional benefits from AM possibilities to produce ecologically acceptable solutions (such as production of lattice structure products in order to decrease CO2 footprint), or to produce high added-value products (such are composite products with functionally graded materials or magnetic products in complex shapes). Both group of solutions require advanced knowledge and technologies, such as AM.
Medical applications for AM are expanding rapidly and are expected to revolutionize health care. Medical uses for AM, can be organized into several broad categories, including: custom implants, anatomic models, moulds for prosthesis production, surgical guides, pre-surgery planning. Innovative products are very few on the market, and usually they are not competitive in international market, which proves absence of RDI through collaboration of science and economy on that field. Therefore, INEX-ADAM project will address on increasing AM application in medicine in Croatia especially in developing medical equipment and devices, because a lot of such products are custom made (single-batch production), where AM is high competitive.
Croatia has a good potential in modern tool making business. As an advantages tool makers from Croatia can offer long tradition in tool making, knowledge, quality and favourable geographic positon. But high price of work, technological obsolescence, absence of national strategy of development of metalworking Croatian industry are main weaknesses. INEX-ADAM project will address to the technological obsolescence in a field of application of AM in tool shops in Croatia by introduction of AM technologies in their business.