The LASIMM project aim is to develop a large scale flexible hybrid additive/subtractive machine based on a modular architecture which is easily scalable. The machine will feature capabilities for additive manufacture, machining, cold-work, metrology and inspection that will provide the optimum solution for the hybrid manufacturing of large engineering parts of high integrity, with cost benefits of more than 50% compared to conventional machining processes.
For large scale engineering structures material needs to be deposited at a relatively high rate with exceptional properties and excellent integrity. To ensure this the machine is based on wire + arc additive manufacture for the additive process. A unique feature of the machine will be the capability for parallel manufacturing featuring either multiple deposition heads or concurrent addition and subtraction processes.
To facilitate parallel manufacturing the machine architecture is based on robotics. To ensure that the surface finish and accuracy needed for engineering components is obtained for the subtractive step a parallel kinematic motion robot is employed. This robot is also used for application of cold work by rolling between passes. This ensures that material properties can be better than those of forged material.
A key part of this project is the development of ICT infrastructure and toolboxes needed to programme and run the machine. The implementation of parallel manufacturing is extremely challenging from a software perspective and this will be a major activity within the project. To deliver this extremely demanding and ambitious project a well-balanced expert team has been brought together.
There are ten partners comprising six companies, two Universities and two research institutes. Two of the companies are SMEs and there are three end users from the renewable energy, construction and aerospace sectors. The consortium also features the whole of the supply chain needed to produce such a machine.
Web resources: |
http://lasimm.eu/
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/723600 |
Start date: | 01-10-2016 |
End date: | 30-09-2019 |
Total budget - Public funding: | 4 868 263,00 Euro - 4 868 263,00 Euro |
Original description
The LASIMM project aim is to develop a large scale flexible hybrid additive/subtractive machine based on a modular architecture which is easily scalable. The machine will feature capabilities for additive manufacture, machining, cold-work, metrology and inspection that will provide the optimum solution for the hybrid manufacturing of large engineering parts of high integrity, with cost benefits of more than 50% compared to conventional machining processes.For large scale engineering structures material needs to be deposited at a relatively high rate with exceptional properties and excellent integrity. To ensure this the machine is based on wire + arc additive manufacture for the additive process. A unique feature of the machine will be the capability for parallel manufacturing featuring either multiple deposition heads or concurrent addition and subtraction processes. To facilitate parallel manufacturing the machine architecture is based on robotics. To ensure that the surface finish and accuracy needed for engineering components is obtained for the subtractive step a parallel kinematic motion robot is employed. This robot is also used for application of cold work by rolling between passes. This ensures that material properties can be better than those of forged material.
A key part of this project is the development of ICT infrastructure and toolboxes needed to programme and run the machine. The implementation of parallel manufacturing is extremely challenging from a software perspective and this will be a major activity within the project.
To deliver this extremely demanding and ambitious project a well-balanced expert team has been brought together. There are ten partners comprising six companies, two Universities and two research institutes. Two of the companies are SMEs and there are three end users from the renewable energy, construction and aerospace sectors. The consortium also features the whole of the supply chain needed to produce such a machine.
Status
CLOSEDCall topic
FOF-01-2016Update Date
27-10-2022When the Lasimm project began in 2016, AM standards were in their early stages of development and particular standards for DED-Arc (also known as wire + arc AM) did not exist. Addressing the standards gap was a significant part of the project.
There was always a clear intention to contribute to the creation of AM-related standards from the proposal phase. While no standards bodies were actively involved, the project partner European Welding Federation (EWF) serves as a liaison to many European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and ISO TCs. A 'Report on standardisation and pre-normative research (D6.2)' containing information on current AM standards was produced at the start of the project. Standards were established for each WP to guarantee that the project results met current standards at that time. This document served as the starting point for determining what gaps existed at the time and needed to be filled by standardisation actions throughout the project. Lasimm partners ensured that project developments were recommended and subsequently integrated into new or under-development standards from the sixth to the 36th month. This alignment was accomplished through the standards bodies ISO, CEN, ASTM International, the American Welding Society, and the British Standards Institution. There was a strong emphasis on ISO and ASTM International, as these were the standardising bodies considered as most relevant by industry users.
The project primarily focused on AM standards and contributed to a total of 12 standards. The most notable of these were linked to D6.6:
- ISO/ASTM PWI 52926-1 Additive manufacturing – Qualification principles – Part 1: Qualification of machine operators for metallic parts production preliminary stage (00) (ISO/PWI stage),
- ISO/ASTM PWI 52926-5 Additive manufacturing – Qualification principles – Part 5: Qualification of machine operators for metallic parts production for DED-Arc preliminary stage (00) (ISO/PWI stage).
With regard to hybrid manufacturing (HM), the project contributed to the development of standards though technical reports and recommendations, the most notable being a recommendation to create a new liaison between ISO/TC 261 and ISO/TC 39 – Machine tools. This recommendation was made at an ISO/TC 261 plenary meeting in September 2019. ISO will assess the need and the resources available to develop standards in this area. Finally, a new ISO joint group was created with the aim of developing standards to qualify personnel involved in DED-Arc considering several materials and types of equipment used by industry.
The main standardisation outcomes of Lasimm led either to the creation of new joint CEN/ISO WGs or to preliminary work items, which ultimately led to the creation of new standards. Some of these outcomes were reached over the project's lifespan, while others were and will be suggested to various standardisation bodies as future work. In addition, a report titled "Standardisation recommendation document" (WP6, D6.6) was presented in the relevant Working Group (WG) and for Lasimm in the final (36th) month of the project, outlining the project's findings and contributions regarding standards that are being developed and potential new standards to be developed.