€50 million research programme for metal AM initiated by Fives Michelin Additive Solutions

January 5, 2017

News
January 5, 2017

An applied research programme for metal Additive Manufacturing, initiated by the Fives Michelin Additive Solutions joint-venture, has been announced under the acronym SOFIA, SOlutions pour la Fabrication Industrielle Additive métallique (Solutions for Industrial Metal Additive Manufacturing). With a budget of more than €50 million, the programme is funded by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region as well as French investment bank, Bpifrance.

SOFIA’s aim is to contribute to the development of metal Additive Manufacturing technology by working with the entire value chain (powders, production equipment and processes). It was stated that the six-year applied research programme will develop technological ‘bricks’ which can be used to manufacture robust parts at competitive prices, particularly to meet the requirements of the aviation industry.

Work will focus on four key areas:

  • Perfecting metal powder ranges
  • Improving the productivity of Additive Manufacturing machines by optimising the material / process pairs and developing new energy sources
  • Designing new ranges for parts with optimised technical and economic characteristics, with a view towards digital continuity
  • More broadly, increasing the knowledge of the HSE (health, safety and environment) risks linked to metal Additive Manufacturing in order to create a repository.

Industrial partners in the project include Fives Michelin Additive Solutions under its AddUp brand, Aubert & Duval, ESI Group, FusiA, Michelin, Safran, Volum-e, Zodiac Aerospace. Partners from academic institutions include France’s CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and the research universities of Centrale Supelec, Centrale Nantes, Ecole Polytechnique, ENS Paris-Saclay (ENS Cachan), University Paris Diderot, University of Paris-Sud, Pierre and Marie Curie University – Paris VI.

€50 million research programme for metal Additive Manufacturing

Members of the SOFIA research programme

For further information contact: Claire Mathieu-André, Fives. Email: [email protected]

www.addupsolutions.com

News
January 5, 2017

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  • LEAP 71: Why engineering must move beyond CAD to realise the promise of AI and Additive Manufacturing
  • Additive Manufacturing and European defence: a critical opportunity as the US and China accelerate ahead
  • A market analyst’s view: Europe’s opportunity as defence AM surges in the US and China
  • From Fixed Processes to flight parts: How REM’s advanced surface finishing supports NASA JPL’s AM innovations
  • The future of large metal parts: WAAMathon #2 showcases developments in Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition
  • Wire Electron Beam Directed Energy Deposition (DED): Advancing productivity and sustainability in metal AM
  • Building trust in AM: How Qualified AM GmbH is enabling regulated production at scale

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