Specific Challenge:

Costs and unpredictable defects in final parts and products are preventing complete deployment and adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the metalworking industries.

The industrial demonstration in a pilot line will show the full potential of metal AM in real manufacturing conditions and it will serve as a flagship example for other stakeholders. Quality aspects to be significantly improved include robustness, stability, repeatability, speed and right-first-time manufacturing.

Scope:

• Multi-scale and multi-physics simulations of the process and of the whole system from the early design phase, to avoid costly trial and error runs. The prediction and minimisation of distortion and their effect on durability and expected lifetime for post processing steps will also avoid propagation of defects to downstream stages;
• In-line non-destructive testing and in-situ analysis of product, including metrology aspects;
• Integration and inter-operability of AM processes into multi-stage production systems, with in-process monitoring, feedback and control;
• Hybridisation of Additive Manufacturing with other manufacturing and assembling processes;
• Certification, regulatory and standardisation activities related to the proposed solutions and AM produced parts;
• Occupational exposure in terms of health, safety and environment should be carefully observed together with the recycling of unused materials.

Proposals are expected to cover demonstration activities driven by the industrial community.

As an exception from General Annex D, the funding rate for eligible costs in grants awarded under this topic will be differentiated: 100% of the eligible costs for beneficiaries and linked third parties that are non-profit legal entities; and 50% of the eligible costs for beneficiaries and linked third parties that are for profit legal entities.

Expected Impact:

• Increase in robustness of metal AM-based processes by 40% and production speeds by 25%;
• Reduction of time to market by 25% and ‘right first time’ capability by 40%;
• Reduction of uncertainties of selected material quality parameters by 50%, resulting in improving product quality by 40%;
• New certification schemes for industrial "3D-Printed" parts and products in collaboration with relevant certification stakeholders;
• New standardisation of specific categories not included in current ISO/ASTM/CEN CENELEC TCs.

Relevant indicators and metrics, with baseline values, should be clearly stated in the proposal.