THE CEFAM PROJECT LAUNCHES IN A BID TO BOOST ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

It is financed by the CDTI from funds set aside for grants to Cervera Centers of Excellence in Technology, of which Ceit, Lortek, Catec and Aidimme are members

CEFAM is one of the seven projects being financed by the CDTI’s (Center for the Development of Industrial Technology) Cervera Network for 2019, from the first call for funding for the Cervera Centers for Excellence in Technology. The primary aim of the training program is to strengthen the technological capacities of the research centers in the network, and in this case the grant will go to strengthening the capacity to produce metal pieces via additive manufacturing. In being awarded the grant, each of participating research centers has been denominated a Cervera Center of Excellence in Additive Manufacturing technology.

One of the CEFAM project’s objectives is to create a network for excellence in additive manufacturing that is based on two complementary pillars: internationally recognized know-how and a market orientation that allows the network to act as a driving force in Spain's industrial production base. To that end, over the next 3 years, CEFAM's partners investigate various metal alloys for use in additive manufacturing and with different additive manufacturing technologies.

Within CEFAM the four technology centers plan to collaborate and take advantage of each one’s unique approach in order to: increase the impact of the knowledge gained with regard to additive manufacturing; reduce the response time needed to meet specific needs; help streamline costs by using materials in a more sustainable manner; develop new additive manufacturing technologies or modify the existing ones in order to obtain defect-free components from new alloys or materials that are difficult to process (due to their hardness, fragility, melting temperature, etc.).

Another objective is to maximize the dissemination of the results within the scientific community as well as among companies. This new project’s communication activities will be oriented towards sectors that demand highly complex components and requirements such as aerospace, energy, automotive, telecommunications, machinery and large scientific facilities.