Significant research progress makes additive manufacturing nearly ready for industrial implementation and use
17 Mar 2025
In a short time, the research team that develops additive manufacturing with laser and wire have managed to create a fast and robust process for manufacturing of duplex stainless steel. This progress means that additive manufacturing now becomes even more interesting for the industry because of the significant time and material savings.
Both time and material usage can be dramatically reduced by using additive manufacturing techniques instead of conventional manufacturing to build components. The picture shows an additive manufactured test geometry built at Production Technology Center. Photo by Procada.
"We have succeeded in developing the additive manufacturing process with laser and metal wire for a deposition rate of 5.6 kg per hour aiming for 10 kg per hour for duplex stainless steel. Our evaluation shows that the process is robust and that the material that is produced is of high quality. This is a major achievement that means that the process will be ready for real industrial implementation within a few years", says Robert Pederson, professor in Materials Technology at University West.
Researchers at University West have together with industrial partners built a demonstrator at Production Technology Center in Trollhättan. Here parts are now being built and evaluated that corresponds to real components.
Saving time and money
"The final cylindrical demonstrator that will be additively manufactured within the project is about 80 cm in diameter, 50 cm high, and weighs approximately 500 kg. It will take approximately 50 hours to manufacture this component by depositing layer-upon-layer with this technique and will only need about half the amount of material as compared with that of a forging. The manufacturing time is significant shorter, and the amount of machining needed is dramatically reduced, which saves both time and money", explains Petter Hagqvist, CTO, Procada.
"We will now manufacture larger components and optimize certain details in the process such as deposition parameters, optics, feeding of the wire, and more", says Petter.
When the process is mature for industrial production it will render even more advantages in addition to increased manufacturing speed and reduced material usage.
"Today it can often take several months of lead time to get hold of large duplex stainless steel forgings, which then is machined into final shape of the components. Having larges stocks of such forgings in-house increases costs. With additive manufacturing we save large amounts of material, shorten lead times, and avoid tying large capital investments in warehouses", says Robert.
Five industrial companies participate
The research is conducted in the project SESAM, financed by Vinnova, and is conducted in close collaboration with five industrial partners.
"We get valuable support from the companies involved. Personnel from Alfa Laval takes part in the process development and continuously evaluates the material properties of the material produced. Procada and ADAXIS provides system expertise. Voestalpine Böhler Welding provides the welding wire and expertise on welding metallurgy. EIT Manufacturing North with its extensive international network, is in charge of the dissemination activities with the purpose to share information about the project and the results to a broader community", says Robert.
By year end in 2025 the large demonstrator component will be showcased at Production Technology Center in Trollhättan, where visitors will be able to see the finalized production unit cell for the AM process.
"By then we plan to have developed the AM process to correspond to a real production unit", says Robert.
Contact: Robert Pederson, University West