P-60

Saxion is the first university of applied sciences in the Netherlands which owns an advanced 3D metal printing machine! This ‘new’ production technique is only now being implemented in the high-tech industries. Because of this implementation it is important to gain knowledge about how to work with and design for it.

Recently a two-year project 3D metal printing BIZ1 was finished. In collaboration with 6 companies (3Dealise, Aebi Schmidt, Herwi, PM Bearings, Protyp BV and Thales Nederland BV) Saxion worked on different business cases and thus discovered the possibilities and restrictions of such a complex process. Business cases like a flow manifold, lightweight structures and conformal cooling were investigated successfully. Through these business cases design- and production guidelines were extracted. The success of this project was such that a run-up to the second project in this segment 3D metal printing BIZ2 started. Together with our industrial partners Thales Nederland, AWL Techniek BV, Aeronamic BV, PM Aerotec and Z-Tech Solutions BV we are working on specific design and research cases, like production-robotics, welding-mould parts and aerospace parts.

In this project we are trying to identify the added value of 3D Metal Printing (3DMP) for these companies. Through these cases knowledge and experience is gained about the complete 3DMP chain: (re)designing, work preparation, production and post-processing to end products. The project goal is to develop design and production guidelines through applied research and production of prototypes. The research project focuses on four fields that are: I) experience in design and work preparation software, II) post-processing, III) residual stress and IV) mechanical properties.