SAMw: Research advances broaden the use of additive manufacturing

Film produced by Procada - click on the image to see additive manufacturing with laser and wire.

The benefits and opportunities of Additive Manufacturing (AM) are vast and numerous. The technology is seen as an important part of the next generation of industrial production, where sustainability requirements are high. Additive manufacturing enables more efficient material usage, lower energy consumption, and shorter lead times compared to traditional manufacturing methods for forgings, which require extensive machining.

To develop and adapt additive manufacturing for duplex stainless steel, University West initiated the research project SAMw* in 2017 in collaboration with four industrial partners and funded by the KK Foundation.

The focus of the research in SAMw has been to create a more robust and reliable technology for series production. An important task for the project team has therefore been to develop and build an automated production system with feedback control. In the summer of 2019, the team successfully accomplished this for a scaled-down component, making them among the first in the world to achieve such a solution.

The research has been conducted in close collaboration with the industrial companies Alfa Laval, GKN Aerospace, Permanova, and ITW Welding. Each has contributed different expertise and interests to the project. Additionally, the consulting firm Procada participated in the production of the demonstrator used in the test run.

The research efforts continue in the SESAM project. The goal is for the technology to reach Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7, meaning it will be ready for implementation in full-scale production.
“We will now further develop various technical aspects of this manufacturing process. At the same time, we are broadening the research by testing the manufacturing of more component geometries with this technology,” says Robert Pederson, Professor of Materials Technology at University West.

*SAMw is a acronym for Synergy for Additive Manufacturing using laser beam heat source and wire.