Making additive manufacturing more efficient

The REACT project (Resource Efficient Additive manufacturing of martensitic Cr-sTeels), a cooperation between the Chair for Materials Engineering at Ruhr University in Bochum and six partners, aims to better exploit the potential for savings in additive manufacturing. The project, which kicked off on 14 March 2023, is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in the amount of 1.7 million euros. Professor Sebastian Weber, who holds the Chair for Materials Engineering at Ruhr University in Bochum, has taken over the management of the project.

With additive manufacturing, parts can be designed more flexibly and both material and energy can be saved. One example is powder bed-based 3D printing with metal powders. Further research is required, for example in the area of powder particles, which must have an optimum size for manufacturing technology. A laboratory-scale powder atomising system is available for experiments at the Chair. The research project also focuses on the composition of raw materials such as chromium steel. For use in additive manufacturing, the compositions of established alloys must be adapted. The research team will concentrate particularly on nitrogen as an alloying component, as it can extend the service life of work pieces. Circular economy will be a further object of research. In Bochum, the team will study how parts produced by additive manufacturing and remaining metal powders can be reused.