During Additive Manufacturing Summit, on December 3 and 4, 2019, the IRT Saint Exupéry teams were present to exchange with the major players in the field of Additive Manufacturing. Conferences, workshops and BtoB meetings pace these two days where participants discovered our expertise in this field. Back to the highlights of the IRT Saint Exupéry on these two days:
The main parts presented during the conference by the IRT Saint Exupéry were three Additive Manufacturing pushrod clevis. They have been made by hybridization of EBM (Electron Beam Melting) and LMD (Laser Metal Deposition) processes.
On the Tuesday afternoon, the IRT Saint Exupéry opened the doors of its Additive Manufacturing Platforms. 50 international visitors have discovered our expertise. During the visit, two platforms were shown: BEAM MODULO using LMD technology and ARCAMQ20+ using EBM technology and characterizations means: Hot Isostatic Press, Fatigue machine, etc.
Numerous BtoB meetings and workshops punctuated the second day. Ludovic Barrière, research engineer and Lattice project leader at IRT Saint Exupéry, has led one of these workshops of the day: Design of “lattice” structures in additive manufacturing: a multi-scale approach.
Workshop summary
The “lattice” structures are likely to provide considerable added value for the aeronautics and space industry. The exploration of the potential of those structures by engineering offices is currently limited by the knowledge, tools and models available for their design and in-service behaviour.
Through a multi-scale experimental and numerical approach, the IRT Saint Exupéry in collaboration with the IRT SystemX presented an original scientific and technological method to measure and quantify variabilities inherited from geometric, metallurgical and mechanical scattering. This method has been used to develop more robust industrial design tools for lattices structures.
FOCUS ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AT IRT SAINT EXUPÉRY
Thanks to its Platforms and expertise, IRT Saint Exupéry is able to produce prototypes according to customer specifications and carry out the thermal treatments, material analyzes and characterizations needed to validate these manufactured parts in accordance with customers’ requirements. Participants discovered its Laser Metal Deposition, Electron Beam Melting Machines and Laser Beam Melting Test Bench to study and respond to the technological locks associated to additive manufacturing processes. These platforms are able to sustain strong research activities covering the overall end-to-end process, from the building strategy to the characterization of final parts. A wide range of equipment are presented to develop optimized thermal post-treatments and study phases transformations such as hot isostatic press with uniform rapid quenching. Finally, we focused on characterization and testing means and simulation & virtual testing.