After 3D printing of plastics has fully been accepted by the industrial world, the next frontier of additive manufacturing are metal parts. The transfer of Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) technology will allow our SMEs to be pioneers in a field that represents a paradigm shift.

The CIM UPC provides research and technology transfer in metal 3D printing methods that include:

• 3D printing of parts in green (mixture of powder metal and binder) that follow binder removal and high temperature consolidation processes – either from pastes (DIW), filament or pellets (FFF) or binder projection.
• Directed Energy Deposition Technologies such as wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), directed energy deposition laser (DED) with filament or powder, both already impacting in a relevant way in the industry.
• Direct technologies based on powder bed fusion.

In Additive Manufacturing with metals almost everything has to be done. In recent years, it has been intuited that it can be a transforming tool in many of the challenges we face, both at an industrial and social level:

• The creation of more sustainable materials, processes and industrial products that generate less carbon footprint. This field includes the use of sustainable materials from the revaluation of waste, as well as the repair and remanufacturing of components that reach the end of their life cycle and a new added value is opened up with this technology. These areas will open up new synergies between industries that will favor the circular economy.
• The generation of metal-based products for the energy transition: electric mobility, catalysts, hydrogen technology, which takes advantage of the intrinsic advantages of highly complex geometries that 3D printing makes possible.
• Reduction of emissions from transport vehicles by reducing the weight of components, thanks to the application of new computer-aided design and engineering tools (topological optimization and computational design) that facilitate ultra-light geometries that are only possible to materialize with 3D printing.
• Incorporation of the advantages of additive manufacturing at an industrial level as one more technology to complement conventional manufacturing methods (such as machining and casting) to promote increased functionality in products, and therefore, high added value and new markets.
• The generation of new business models based on customization and a 100% digital data flow (from design to realization) in sectors as different and relevant as health and biomedicine, aerospace, automotive, construction and many other sectoral clusters.