MX3D, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been awarded “Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication” by the American Welding Society (AWS) for the MX3D Bridge, it’s metal additively manufactured bridge for the City of Amsterdam installed in 2021.

Past winners of this prestigious award include the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the New York One World Trade Center, the Mars Curiosity Rover, the PipeLine Under The Ocean (PLUTO), and the Panama Canal.

The MX3D Bridge is the first of its kind and measures 12 metres or 36ft. It was fabricated with MX3D’s proprietary robotic Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology, which is metal Additive Manufacturing with welding robots controlled by MX3D’s MetalXL workflow. In 2021, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands opened the bridge.

The MX3D Bridge was designed by Joris Laarman lab in close collaboration with lead engineer Arup. The project was brought to life thanks to the support of industry leaders including Autodesk, ArcelorMittal, ABB, Air Liquide, and Lenovo. Additional funding by the Dutch RVO and Lloyd’s Register Foundation helped MX3D realise its bold vision for autonomous metal Additive Manufacturing of large structures.

The MX3D Bridge showcased the use of DED technology to additively manufacture a fully functional, intricate steel bridge. This innovative fabrication technique is based on advanced welding processes. It served as a poster project for the company and the technology. Since the bridge project MX3D has successfully introduced its technology in other demanding industries like space, maritime, nuclear, and energy.

The bridge served as an innovative playground allowing all partners to experiment with new technologies like IOT systems, Digital Twins and Additive Manufacturing. It will remain a platform for innovation at its new location which will be announced shortly.

The American Welding Society Outstanding Achievement Awards recognise remarkable contributions in welding, achievements in historical structures, innovative fabrication techniques, safety practices and technical advancements in multiple categories. The “Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication” programme was established in 1993 and has been a promoter of the science, technology and application of welding ever since. It encourages members to become aware of metal’s heritage and generates public awareness of the importance that metal welding provides to daily life.

“Receiving the ‘AWS Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication Award’ for the MX3D Bridge is a remarkable honour. This award highlights the innovation, collaboration and perseverance that went into bringing the MX3D Bridge from concept to reality. I am really proud of the close-knit team of partners that pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with welded fabrication,” stated Gijs van der Velden, CEO of MX3D.

The MX3D Bridge design was created using generative design and topology optimisation techniques. The combination of these digital design tools and MX3D’s advanced robotic metal Additive Manufacturing technology allows for a higher form liberty and significant material reduction. Thus, the environmental impact of metal parts manufacturing can be significantly improved using DED.

MX3D Bridge: a ‘living laboratory’ & smart sensor network feeds ‘digital twin’

As the MX3D Bridge is equipped with a sensor network, the ‘Smart Bridge’ powered a research project. Innovative in design and technology, the bridge served as a living laboratory. In concert with academic and industry researchers, the City of Amsterdam used the bridge’s data streams to explore the role of IoT systems in the built environment.

Building a complete digital twin of the bridge allows for inspection of the structure’s current state, log its use in real time and enable predictive maintenance. Realising this vision required an extended and intensive collaboration between MX3D, The Alan Turing Institute, Imperial College London, Arup, Autodesk, FORCE Technology, and the University of Twente.

mx3d.com

www.aws.org

Read more about the MX3D Bridge in:

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