Since the founding of AMEXCI in 2017, we have been engaged in multiple publicly funded research projects with the aim of sharing, and at the same time strengthening our expertise in the field of additive manufacturing (AM). In these projects, AMEXCI has been working in close collaboration with Universities and Research Centers, as well as industry partners focusing on AM.

A wide range of topics aim to cover the full scale of industrialization of AM, while focusing on the four main research areas:

  • Novel Materials Development
  • Sustainability and Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S)
  • Post-processing and Surface Treatments
  • Qualification and New Technologies

Novel Materials Development
Development of new strategies to utilize novel functional AM materials does not only contribute to the scientific investigations but also upholds a commercial promise. In the field of powder and material development, AMEXCI contributes to the ALL-LIGHT and SIO:Grafen projects, which aim at developing high-strength aluminum and graphene modified powders, respectively.

Sustainability and Environmental Health & Safety
With the rapid growth in the industrial use of AM, recently, more and more studies have been reflecting on the cases concerning sustainability as well as environmental health and safety (EH&S) within AM. As AMEXCI, we believe that participating in such studies, Nanosafety and HÄMAT, is the only way to assure staying updated and in touch with the newest results. We believe that this is a continuous learning process, and therefore we are strongly involved in collaborations with the researchers to collect and analyze information about the powder contamination to understand more about EH&S requirements and working practices. In 2022, we joined the RECIRCLE project, which aims to provide insights into the reusability of powder and scrap material for a more sustainable AM production.

Post-processing and Surface Treatments
Printing of a functional part, in most cases, requires a throughout understanding of the optimized solutions for post-processing. Acknowledging the fact that post-processing and surface treatments of additively manufactured parts requires deeper research, we participated in the AMPERE and STARWARS projects. In the AMPERE project, a post-processing method based on electrochemical polishing was thoroughly evaluated for applications in the aerospace industry. STARWARS focus was specifically on the development of novel high-strength aluminum alloys and investigations of suitable anodization surface treatments.

Qualification and New Technologies
End-users of the printed parts would need to qualify the already existing AM processes, materials or the newly introduced AM technologies will demand a qualification check. By participating in the IntDemo – Aircraft project which has the goal of developing a qualified airplane structural component, we have the chance to partake in this journey firsthand, together with the other participants. In 2020 the first application to a European Horizon project, InShaPe, took place, which got granted at the beginning of 2021. The goal of this project is to further develop the laser-based powder-bed fusion (LBPF) method for metals through flexible adaptation of the laser spot, thus rendering the process cheaper, more productive, and sustainable.

Through the knowledge and expertise gained in these projects and collaborations, we always aim to remain at the forefront of the technical developments within AM, thus supporting our mission of accelerating the industrial adoption and exploitation of AM technologies by Nordic Industries.

If you are interested in learning more about these projects, please visit the research section in our website, or reach out to Merve Canalp, Head of Research: merve.canalp@amexci.com