Description: In early June 2024, ELHCO participated in the kickoff meeting of the BOOST3DMETAL project at CIDETEC Surface Engineering facilities in Donostia. All consortium partners involved in this project—Kripton, Optimus 3D, DigitalTwin Technology, Fraunhofer IAPT, and ELHCO as the project coordinator—were present, alongside representatives from CIDETEC, the research center providing technical and strategic support throughout the project.
The project will be developed within a context where Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) is replacing current production methods, enabling the fabrication of parts with complex geometries for various industries. This technology offers potential benefits in terms of weight reduction, enhanced functionality, reduced production time, and improved manufacturability. However, improving the post-processing of this technique is crucial, as it is estimated to incur a cost increase of 20% compared to traditional post-processing methods.
There are different MAM technologies available, but among them, Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) has the advantage of enabling the manufacturing of parts with high structural complexity and a high level of precision. Among the numerous metals and alloys that can be processed using PBF technology, aluminum alloys are of particular interest to the automotive and aerospace industries due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, good wear and corrosion resistance, and potential for recyclability.
Therefore, the main objective of BOOST3DMETAL will be the development of advanced tools and specific products for the manufacturing and post-processing of aluminum MAM components, covering from the design of the part to the final product.
Once again, we especially thank CIDETEC for their hospitality as the host to all participants of the meeting.
Consortium and funding: The consortium to carry out this project consists of 3 national SMEs: Kripton, Optimus 3D, and Elhco, one international SME: DigitalTwin Technology (Germany), and the research organization Fraunhofer IAPT (Germany). The partners of this consortium will benefit from the collaboration of CIDETEC throughout the project’s duration.
This project has received funding from the Eurostars-3 CoD5 program with co-financing from CDTI, as well as from the Horizon Europe Framework Programme of the European Union. The project’s execution period will be from June 1, 2024, to November 30, 2026.
