Precision Additive Metal Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an increasingly used production method with the ability to evoke a revolution in manufacturing due to its almost unlimited design freedom and its capability to produce personalised parts locally and with efficient material use [1]. Currently still several technological challenges remain such as a limited precision due to shrinkage, build-in stresses and dross formation at overhanging structures (see Figure 1) and a limited process stability and robustness. Moreover post-processing is often needed as as-processed parts have a high surface roughness and might have, in some cases, remaining porosity.For AM to become fully accepted by endusers from different sectors, it must be developed into a true precision manufacturing method. The production of precision parts relies on three principles:(1) The production is robust, i.e. that all sensitive parameters can be controlled.(2) The production is predictable, e.g. the shrinkage or warpage that occurs is acceptable because it can be predicted and compensated in the design.(3) The parts are measurable, as without metrology accuracy, repeatability and quality assurance cannot be known.Next to these principles ensuring robust & predictable production, we should also work on improving the overall quality of the produced part (density, roughness, precision, ..).PAM2, which stands for Precision Additive Metal Manufacturing, is a European MSCA project in which 10 beneficiaries and 2 partners collaborate on improving the precision of metal Additive Manufacturing [3]. Within this project, research is done for each process stage of AM, going from the design stage to modelling, fabricating, measuring and assessment. For each step we aim to progress the state of the art with a view on improving the final AM part precision and quality by implementing good precision engineering practice.In this article we will list PAM2’s detailed objectives, the envisioned approach and the results achieved after 1,5 years of research.