Periodic Reporting for period 3 - MANUELA (Additive Manufacturing using Metal Pilot Line)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-10-01 do 2023-03-31
The additive manufacturing using metal pilot line (MANUELA) project constitutes an innovation action where number of core partners ranging from core research organization to technology providers, software developers to end-users have joined forces to bring powder-bed fusion processes forward for advanced metal components of high added value. Additive manufacturing is often considered to be one of the key manufacturing solutions for tomorrow as it combines digitalization with resource efficiency and novel design capabilities for lightweight elimination of manufacturing steps. MANUELA has developed processing of improved and novel materials for powder bed fusion and qualified them for selected use cases including achievements regarding increased productivity and materials control. In parallel, a novel digital suite has been put in place to allow product optimization tuned to the benefits of metal additive manufacturing with an integrated platform for process modelling and future implementation of artificial intelligence solutions for feedback loop controls in manufacturing and value chain optimization. In parallel, the state-of-the art on-line control in metal printing has been deployed at sites of the metal pilot line and been put in practice for use regarding processing development and on-line quality control. Not only the printing itself, but the post-processing has constituted an important part of the MANUELA project and a fully automated post-processing cell has been developed and been deployed to the project. With the completion of on-going and future uses cases, the full potential of the MANUELA is hence to be demonstrated. Having number of materials, it is of crucial importance that powder used in the pilot line is consistent and meets the highest demand on performance to secure to overall quality of builds and repeatability. As important as the technical and scientific development, is the development of outreach, strategies and organizational set-up for the intended pilot line. Instrumental has been here how to address the continuous development of capabilities as well as the development of an appropriate business model for future implementation of the pilot line. Through open digital events addressing needs for different sectors (automotive, space/aerospace, medical, engineering), the innovation capabilities have been explored and offerings have been developed. Also, even if more work remains to clarify how to measure impact of the achievements in terms of even more precise so-called key performance indicators, the scope is settled and will be monitored for existing and future uses cases being deployed by MANUELA.
The scope of the project for the reporting period has been advance the technological capabilities with respect powder-bed metal additive manufacturing with particular emphasis on i) materials and process development, ii) development of digital suite to facilitate integrated solution from design to manufacture along whole value chain; iii) development of post-additive processing, product control and automation, iv) development and deployment of advance on-line monitoring to capture and mitigate flaws in metal printing iv) development of coherent and appropriate means of powder and materials qualification procedures, v) with overall progress of realizing six advanced uses cases based on the innovations of the project. In parallel, the assessment of the capabilities in terms of capabilities and development of organization and structure have been addressed to strengthen the deployment of business use cases during the final stage of the project. With respect to “Multi Physics Simulation & Design for AM” this includes the completion of design optimization adaption, simulation tool adaption, manufacturing feedback interface and the future implementation per technology (laser powder bed fusion or electron beam melting) to deploy digital dashboard across the project. The “AM processing development” has delivered number of main results for number of materials for existing and tentative uses cases, while great improvements in build rate (productivity) by at least 200% have been proven for some of these alloys to full density. A material data base has been set-up. The application of on-line monitoring in case of both electron beam melting (EBM) and laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) constitutes an integral part of the process and materials development subject to hardware used. The development of “Post AM process development” has delivered results such as the combination of AGV and robotized solutions and integrated solutions for improved post-processing. The “Pilot line integration” has delivered overall development during the reporting period, with particular emphasis on defining generic ML-enabled feedback loop, the deployment and demonstration monitoring and analysis software with the validation of the additive manufacturing processes and joint benchmarking of demonstrator development. As means of proof-of-concept “use case design and acceptance” has delivered six uses cases including design and manufacture with the development of post-processing procedures with full qualification and acceptance of first use case. As support to implementation of the metal pilot line, “AM line qualification and standardization” has delivered qualification criteria for raw materials, initial risk factors and EHS mapping and acceptance criteria. In support for the technical and business development, “Customer relations, business planning and dissemination” has applied the tools and strategies for outreach to industry via third-party events, intensified the technology scouting and involved future potential customers for business use cases via number of open seminars, while development of future model of the pilot line has moved into an operational development stage.
A comprehensive digital suite (dashboard) has been developed that will allow full integration of physical resources in a manufacturing value chain from design via manufacture to assessment
The digital suite has the capacity to make connection between the digital world and physical beyond state-of-the-art
ML-routines have been developed also started to be implemented, demonstrating their applicability train, validate and demonstrate use to apply on-line monitoring in process control
Process and materials optimization have been settled for number of materials for metal additive manufacturing
This development has also been coupled with innovations with respect productivity involving great enhancement inbuild rate in e.g. laser powder bed fusion by >200% by means of increased layer thickness, without compromising build quality
Through the development, six uses cases have successfully designed and printed and post-processing procedures are developed and one highly advanced use case is certified and accepted, while three new business development cases are also started
Three important issues for future activities include:
further improvement of quality of key performance indicators to align with the innovation development
Further expansion of material portfolio to address the growing needs for materials, witnessing of the rapid development of areas of applications and needs to address
Prioritized action to bring the developed digital dashboard (digital world) and the reported achievements in material and processing development involving state-of-the-art on-line monitoring into a unified concept.
The digital suite has the capacity to make connection between the digital world and physical beyond state-of-the-art
ML-routines have been developed also started to be implemented, demonstrating their applicability train, validate and demonstrate use to apply on-line monitoring in process control
Process and materials optimization have been settled for number of materials for metal additive manufacturing
This development has also been coupled with innovations with respect productivity involving great enhancement inbuild rate in e.g. laser powder bed fusion by >200% by means of increased layer thickness, without compromising build quality
Through the development, six uses cases have successfully designed and printed and post-processing procedures are developed and one highly advanced use case is certified and accepted, while three new business development cases are also started
Three important issues for future activities include:
further improvement of quality of key performance indicators to align with the innovation development
Further expansion of material portfolio to address the growing needs for materials, witnessing of the rapid development of areas of applications and needs to address
Prioritized action to bring the developed digital dashboard (digital world) and the reported achievements in material and processing development involving state-of-the-art on-line monitoring into a unified concept.