Automotive and Aerospace Part Production by Additive Layer Manufacture - "AA-PALM"

The objective of this 2.5 yr long project is to demonstrate the clear competitive advantages of the use of Additive Layer Manufacturing (sometimes known as 3D Printing) in the manufacture of production metal and polyamide components. The project will demonstrate that ALM is now a reliable and potent production technology which can be included in the gamut of standard manufacturing techniques. This will be done by addressing three key issues, those of ALM component error correction, the automatic finishing of ALM components to acceptable standards, and the generation of ALM Production Part Acceptance Procedures for the industries involved, as well as process control plans and design guides for parts. The project will be led by CRDM Ltd, with McLaren Automotive, Delcam, Selex, Ultra Electronics and Flitetec as its partners. This strong consortium will ensure that the validated ALM techniques will be robust, exploitable and disseminated widely.