Periodic Reporting for period 3 - Innopowder (HIGH QUALITY AND COST-EFFECTIVE METAL AM POWDER FOR MANUFACTURING LOWER WEIGHT COMPONENTS WITH IMPROVED PROPERTIES FOR AIRCRAFT AND AUTOMOBILES)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-06-01 do 2021-12-31
Metal additive manufacturing (MAM) is a disruptive technology considered the future of automotive and aerospace manufacturing with applications in other sectors such as medical technologies. MAM enables the production of light high strength components, often enabling a weight reduction of about 40-60% or more, as well as forming very complex and functionally graduated geometries. The problem is that up to day metal raw materials intended for 3D printers are conventional materials that have been merely adapted to MAM, but still lack the specific properties required for MAM of aircraft and automobile components, while also being very expensive. As a result, the production costs are prohibitively high in comparison to conventional manufacturing methods and hinder the fast, industry wide uptake. INNOMAQ21 has developed and patented a new manufacturing technology that produces high quality, cost-effective metal powders, INNOPOWDER. Before project commencement, the feasibility of the developed production method had been already demonstrated and the objectives of this project were to carry out the scale-up of this novel production process technology and to prepare the company structure for marketing and selling INNOPOWDER worldwide from the year 2022 on.
The design of an industrial atomizer, incorporating the novel INNOPOWDER technology, has been carried out, the documentation and drawings required for the upscaling of the production process elaborated, and the construction and commissioning of the equipment performed. The designs of the auxiliary operating systems have also been elaborated, and the equipment manufactured and tested. Based on best value for money criteria, suppliers for the construction of required elements of the atomizer and required auxiliary equipment have been evaluated and subcontractors contracted. Physic-chemical, rheological, morphological and PSD characterizations were continuously performed to ensure the high and distinctive quality of INNOPOWDER through the corresponding adjustments of production processing parameters and alloy compositions. As part of the homologation process of INNOPOWDER, powder samples were processed by way of different MAM technologies, and in particular for the determination of processing parameters using SLM and other fine-powder-based AM technologies. By means of mechanical testing (including non-destructive inspection/testing) and validation, the advantages of INNOPOWDER for MAM processing in transport industries in terms of quality of the components and production costs under real industrial scenarios have been successfully demonstrated. Dimensional, tolerance and defects controls have been performed on samples made with INNOPOWDER, including defect control by means of industrial X-ray computer tomography. For quality control purposes, corresponding characterizations of the thermal, mechanical and microstructural properties, density, structural integrity and surface finish have been carried out. Additionally, mechanical structural simulation of the optimized designs was performed using specific software for design, topology optimization and simulation to ensure the functionality and high performance of components additively made with INNOPOWDER.
Furthermore, a total of five pilot demonstrators were successfully manufactured using INNOPOWDER, covering the diverse range of automotive component manufacturing technologies, such as plastic injection moulding, aluminium low and high pressure die casting, as well as hot stamping/press hardening of advanced high strength steel blanks. Each of the five manufactured pilot demonstrators has been designed and implemented in order to meet the specific mechanical and thermal properties required from the metal component depending on the corresponding target application. All demonstrators met the geometric and thermo-mechanical property targets at the expected cost levels, and even exceeded the properties that can be obtained with conventionally forged material. The final performance evaluation of the pilot demonstrators will be continued beyond the termination of the SME-II instrument project.
Comprehensive IP management has been carried out to ensure freedom to operate and to continue with the patent prosecution of a total of 6 patent families protecting the INNPOWDER technology. Thanks to the EIC pilot Business Acceleration services, several dissemination events have been attended as part of WP6 before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which gave the opportunity to meet relevant related stakeholders, gather information with regard to current challenges faced by them, present the company and the project and explore business opportunities. Also, a project website has been put in place, which will be continuously updated. Given that physical meetings with stakeholders have been strongly limited to the restrictions put in place in the wake of the pandemic, dissemination and communication activities have been adjusted to participation and organization of digital events.
Furthermore, a total of five pilot demonstrators were successfully manufactured using INNOPOWDER, covering the diverse range of automotive component manufacturing technologies, such as plastic injection moulding, aluminium low and high pressure die casting, as well as hot stamping/press hardening of advanced high strength steel blanks. Each of the five manufactured pilot demonstrators has been designed and implemented in order to meet the specific mechanical and thermal properties required from the metal component depending on the corresponding target application. All demonstrators met the geometric and thermo-mechanical property targets at the expected cost levels, and even exceeded the properties that can be obtained with conventionally forged material. The final performance evaluation of the pilot demonstrators will be continued beyond the termination of the SME-II instrument project.
Comprehensive IP management has been carried out to ensure freedom to operate and to continue with the patent prosecution of a total of 6 patent families protecting the INNPOWDER technology. Thanks to the EIC pilot Business Acceleration services, several dissemination events have been attended as part of WP6 before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which gave the opportunity to meet relevant related stakeholders, gather information with regard to current challenges faced by them, present the company and the project and explore business opportunities. Also, a project website has been put in place, which will be continuously updated. Given that physical meetings with stakeholders have been strongly limited to the restrictions put in place in the wake of the pandemic, dissemination and communication activities have been adjusted to participation and organization of digital events.
Most MAM technologies have stringent requirements on powder morphology. Spherical, satellite-free powder with a narrow particle size distribution is required. The most common methods to produce metal powders encompass mechanical or chemical methods, and include atomization, milling, mechanical alloying and electrolysis. Atomization is possibly the most versatile method to produce metal powders over a wide range of production rates and an extensive variety of powder sizes. Two-fluid atomization methods with gas (including air) or water account for more than 95% of the atomization capacity worldwide. For the atomization of iron alloys or steel powder, gas atomization is almost the exclusive method of production, as it delivers powders which are mostly spherical and with small quantities of satellites. However, production of powders with narrow size distribution often implies the use of sieving or other separation techniques with a consequent negative influence on yield and thus cost. With centrifugal atomization on the other hand, which is more energy efficient than other atomization methodologies and enables narrower particle size distribution, only small feed rates and small-scale batches are so far practicable, especially when fine powders with high melting temperatures are required. The above-mentioned inconveniences of the different State-of-the-Art atomization technologies have been overcome by a new, highly energy efficient manufacturing technology developed and patented by INNOMAQ21. This disruptive technology enables the cost-efficient production of very fine, highly spherical homogeneous metal powders with narrow particle size distribution required for MAM. The developed technology has demonstrated to be able to produce high-quality powders at a reduced cost compared to current commercial MAM powders. The use of INNOPOWDER will have great benefits for component manufacturers, including metal component production cost reductions, higher component quality and hence performance, higher flexibility in component design, enabling the manufacture of complex geometries with 40-60% and more weight reduction. Furthermore, in automotive and aerospace applications, the increased possibility of biomimetic designs enables important fuel consumption and hence climate gas emission reductions through lighter components manufactured by MAM.