Added Value by Laser Assisted Additive Manufacture

The AVLAM project, which started in June 2008, undertook ground-breaking research into the use of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) in conjunction with advanced CAD/CAM techniques to enable cost effective and environmentally sustainable high value manufacturing. The flexibility of the ALM process and its ability to produce complex net-shape parts with little or no material waste was seen as an attractive enabling technology for a future low-carbon economy, with the UK leading the world in this field.
In AVLAM, commercially available Titanium Alloy powder and Titanium matrix composites were used to produce net shape components, minimising waste from the manufacturing process whilst also reducing the weight of structural parts through material tailoring and topology optimisation. This represented a step change in manufacturing technology, and potentially defining ALM as key enabler for many innovative engineering products in the future.
The consortium included Partners from different areas of the development and supply chain. These included EADS Innovation Works, Bombardier Aerospace, The Welding Insititute (TWI), Materialise, TISICS and the University of Exeter.
This partnership included two of the largest European aerospace manufacturers, as well as a number of ALM technology experts, Metal Matrix Composite experts and Universities. Between them the consortium has access to a wide range of ALM equipment, such as MTT SLM systems, Concept Laser M2, EOS M270, Arcam A2, Accufusion Laser Consolidation, Trumpf DMD505, and a bespoke system where a 7kW laser beam is manipulated using a high accuracy robot.