This proposal is in response to the call for International Cooperation in Aeronautics with China, MG-1.10-2015 under Horizon 2020 “Enhanced Additive Manufacturing of Metal Components and Resource Efficient Manufacturing Processes for Aerospace Applications”. The objectives are to develop the manufacturing processes identified in the call: (i) Additive manufacturing (AM); (ii) Near Net Shape Hot Isostatic Pressing (NNSHIPping) and (iii) Investment Casting of Ti alloys. The end-users specify the properties and provide computer-aided design, (CAD) files of components and these components will be manufactured using one or more of the three technologies. During the research programme, experiments will be carried out aimed at optimising the process routes and these technologies will be optimised using process modelling. Components manufactured during process development will be assessed and their dimensional accuracies and properties compared with specifications and any need for further process development identified. The specific areas that will be focussed on include: (a) the slow build rate and the build up of stresses during AM; (b) the reproducibility of products, the characteristics of the powder and the development of reusable and/or low cost tooling for NNSHIP; (c) the scatter in properties caused by inconsistent microstructures; (d) improving the strength of wax patterns and optimising welding of investment cast products. The process development will be finalised in month 30 so that state-of-the-art demonstrators can be manufactured and assessed by partners and end-users, during the final 6 months. The cost of the process route for components will be provided to the end-users and this, together with their assessment of the quality of these products, will allow the end-users to decide whether to transfer the technologies to their supply chain. The innovation will come through application of improved processes to manufacture the demonstrator components.

In line with the European Green Deal target of reaching carbon neutrality in the aviation industry by 2050, breakthrough technologies related to direct (100% hydrogen) combustion systems will be researched, prototyped and integrated onto a modern donor aeroengine for ground testing (starting in late 2024) in Project CAVENDISH. This aeroengine test on liquid hydrogen will be a first of a kind in Europe and the cornerstone to further in-flight demonstration, eventually leading to product development aimed at meeting Europe’s and the industry’s ambition for the entry in service (EIS) of commercial, mass-transport, hydrogen-fuelled aircraft in 2035. CAVENDISH’s second objective will be to work on system and powerplant aircraft integration with several established airframers and a supplemental type certificate organisation to define certification pathways and formulate a route to permit to fly. This activity will directly benefit the flight test of the donor engine scheduled for the next phase of the Clean Aviation programme. CAVENDISH will also explore alternative enabling technologies in the form of a dual fuel combustor system (capable of operating on 100% hydrogen and 100% SAF) and in the form of a cryo-compressed tank system. Both these technologies will offer flexibility and could ease the introduction of hydrogen in aviation. CAVENDISH brings together expertise-leading European organizations in aeronautics, power and propulsion, combustion, fuel and controls systems and aircraft. It builds on multiple national technology programmes heralding from the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and is in effect the marriage and acceleration of these technology pathways into an early demonstration and a first minimum viable product (MVP) of a liquid hydrogen combusting aeroengine. The project is also connected to activities in other Clean Aviation calls, on SMR and Certification activities specifically, notably project proposals HEAVEN and CONCERTO.

InterQ project proposes a new generation of digital solutions based on intelligent systems, hybrid digital twins and AI-driven optimization tools to assure the quality in smart factories in a holistic manner, including process, product and data (PPD quality). The broad vision of InterQ project will allow controlling the quality of a smart manufacturing environment in an end-to-end approach by means of a PPD quality hallmark stored in a distributed ledger. The concepts of InterQ will be applied in three high-added value industrial applications. The main objective of InterQ project is to measure, predict and control the quality of the manufactured products, manufacturing processes and gathered data to assure Zero-Defect-Manufacturing by means of AI-driven tools powered with meaningful and reliable data. The project develops five modules: 1) Thanks to the InterQ PPD quality hallmark, the quality of the process, product and data are interlinked, integrated and time stamped. A hallmark will be created after each stage, and the quality will be traced across the supply chain. A trusted framework will be implemented using distributed ledger (InterQ-TrustedFramework module) to exchange quality information. 2) The InterQ-Process module of the project will obtain more meaningful process data for quality optimization. This data will be obtained using new sensors close to the tool and by AI-driven virtual sensors. 3) The project presents new solutions (InterQ-Product module) to predict the final quality of the processes using digital twins fed by experimental data and new digital sensors to measure the product quality. 4) The reliability of data will be checked in two layers: in real time and based on historical and statistical analysis of the data streams (InterQ-Data module). 5) Finally, InterQ-ZeroDefect module will use the reliable information about the process and product quality to improve the production for Zero-Defect-Manufacturing by means of AI-driven applications.