Innovate UK has contributed £1.1m to the Evo One ‘large format additive manufacturing’ (LFAM) project, which includes Evo 3D, Filamentive, AI Build and Baker Hughes as consortium partners.
LFAM is a commercial 3D printing technique that creates large volume polymer components used in industries including aerospace, automotive, energy, and marine. Countries like the USA, Germany, and China have adopted this approach, but there are no manufacturers of large format 3D printers in the UK. Furthermore, the UK accounts for around five per cent of the global additive manufacturing market, which the government aims to increase to eight per cent by 2025.
Existing LFAM systems are said to be limited by slow build times, being unsuitable for high-value or high-integrity parts, operational complexity, use of unsustainable materials, and being unaffordable to SMEs.
The new product being developed through Evo One LFAM will address the challenges and focus on the specific needs of the UK Market. Goals for the system’s design team include making it 60 per cent more reliable, achieve a 50 per cent increase in productivity, reduce training and maintenance costs by 30 per cent, and cutting material waste by 80 per cent.
On the project’s completion, Evo-3D will launch RapidFusion, a spin-out business to commercialise the system, making it the UK’s first LFAM OEM. Its development would also create the foundation on which a new supply chain can be built, and re-shore manufacturing capabilities.
In a statement, Jake Hand, director of marketing and development at Evo-3D, said: “The UK is behind other major economies when it comes to LFAM. What we are aiming to do through the development of this system is democratise high-value, environmentally responsible manufacturing in the UK through a system that will bring the latest technology and capabilities to large and small businesses.
“We saw during the pandemic how easily supply chains can crumble. That’s why it’s potentially more important than it ever has been to develop as much capacity and capability in the UK as we can, not to mention the economic and carbon reduction opportunities associated with having a thriving manufacturing sector at the vanguard of the latest available green technologies.”
The NMIS team will support the project across several of its specialisms, including material analysis, design and the additive manufacturing process. It will also look at the validation and verification of the system and high-value materials being used. Rolls-Royce and Baker Hughes will test the system once it is ready, while AI Build will help with the development of the slicing technology.
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