ATOAM - Advanced Tooling by Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is a group of methods to build components and/or features on components layer by layer by adding material and solidifying by e.g. sintering, melting, curing through UV light the material that is used. The methods have been used for quite some time in prototyping. Recently the developments of processes, especially for metals, have made it possible to manufacture functional Components and the area of additive manufacturing is now expanding rapidly. Several Swedish companies are now looking into the possibilities for using AM in their own production or through supplier for their products. In order to do so, they need to build knowledge of the processes and their limitations and to optimize the process for the intended products.

This project aims at developing new knowledge on the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) process and materials for new tool applications, to answer questions common to both industry and academia. The project involves investigations of limitations for internal features that may be used for e.g. advanced cooling, changed stiffness, damping and other advanced properties of components.

The partners, Örebro University, Dalarna University, Uddeholms AB, Lasertech LSH AB, SAAB Bofors Test Center AB, have jointly identified a need of developing methods for manufacturing of new Fe-based structures based on Additive Manufacturing methods. The focus for this project is the development of in depth understanding of the capability and limitations of the selective laser sintering (SLS)process in the processing of Fe-based materials. Based on the needs identified the following research questions will be investigated in this project:

• What are the relationship between powder properties and process parameters and how does this control the ability to create internal features in AM products?
• What are the limitations in size and shape of internal features in AM manufactured components and when is the surface of the feature the strength controlling factor?
• What is the capability of the computed tomography (CT) method in the process of inspection of Fe-based AM components?