In spite of the growing importance of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology for producing both plastics and metals parts used in different fields such as aeronautics, biomechanics and automotive, the criteria and methods for the safety evaluation of AM components are still not well established. Therefore, the lack of knowledge on the influence of the material quality on the load bearing capacity of the final product hinders the industrial exploitation of AM, preventing this powerful technology from being confidently used in every-day manufacturing processes, in particular in low developed European countries. The overall objective of the SIRAMM project is to significantly strengthen research in the AM field at the Polytechnical University of Timisoara (UPT, Romania). To achieve this aim, SIRAMM will build upon the existing science and innovation base of UPT, creating a network with two internationally-leading counterparts at EU level: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway) and the University of Parma (Italy). In the long term, the project aims at laying the foundations for creating a pole of excellence on AM in Eastern Europe. For this reason, other two partners from low R&I performing countries, the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and the Institute of Physics of Materials, Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic) will also take part in this Twinning project. To reach its goals, this 3-year project will be focussed on the implementation of knowledge transfer activities such as workshops and staff exchange, training events (i.e. summer schools, seminars) for early stage researchers, and dissemination and communication actions (i.e. web site, videos, open access publications, public engagement activities) for different audiences. To keep maintaning the knowledge transfer well beyond the duration of this project, a regular master course on AM technology will be also implemented in the coordinating institution.

The project Back for the Future (Back4Future) intends to upgrade the currently existing Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) seated in Brno, Czech Republic, and bring it up to the level of a true Centre of Excellence in the fields of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies. The addressed research area is in a direct link with the recent EU initiatives, namely the Key Enabling Technologies. This should be done by implementation of a “break-through” strategy based on expertise and direct collaboration with external top-performance institutes. In this respect the project benefits from the geographic, historical and cultural proximity of Vienna and its renowned two universities: Vienna University of Technology (TUW) and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) which are members of the project consortium. They act in the project as the leading universities in technical and life sciences, respectively, towards the CEITEC partner institutions. In this way a unique CEITEC combination of advanced materials and technologies with life sciences is fully matched and provides optimal conditions for multi- and cross-disciplinary cooperation in the consortium. This should lead to increasing scientific capabilities, improving of innovation performance and maximizing chances to obtain competitive funding. Moreover, the innovation culture should be boosted in general, utilized in more intensive cooperation with high-tech companies and spread to substantially increased number of start-up companies in the South Moravia and nearby regions. We envisage extending these activities beyond the end of the Back4Future project and to the wider region, including Bratislava, Wroclaw and, possibly, Budapest, Linz, Graz and Prague.

Europe’s industry is facing many challenges such as global competition and the big change towards energy and resource efficiency. topAM can contribute to these demands by development and application of novel processing routes for new oxide-dispersoid strengthened (ODS) alloys on FeCrAl, Ni and NiCu basis. Novel ODS materials offer a clear advantage for the process industry by manufacturing e.g. topology-optimized, sensor-integrated high temperature devices (gas burner heads, heat exchangers) that are exposed to aggressive environments. Alloy and process development will be targeted by an advanced integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) approach combining computational thermodynamics, microstructure and process simulation to contribute to save time, raw materials and increase the component’s lifetime. Physical alloy production will be realized by combining nanotechnologies to aggregate ODS composites with laser-powder bed fusion and post-processing. The ICME approach will be complemented by comprehensive materials characterization and intensive testing of components under industrially relevant in-service conditions. This strategy allows to gain a deeper understanding of the process-microstructure-properties relationships and to quantify the improved functionalities, properties and life cycle assessment. This will promote cost reduction, improved energy efficiency and superior properties combined with a significant lifetime increase. The consortium consists of users, materials suppliers and research institutes that are world leading in the fields relevant for this proposal, which guarantees efficient, high-level, application-oriented execution of topAM. The industrial project partners, in particular the SMEs, will achieve higher competitiveness due to their strategic position in the value chain of materials processing, e.g. powder production, to strengthen Europe's leading position in the emerging technology field of AM in a unique combination with ICME.