Iron

The FARAMIR project is equipped with state-of-the-art ExOne equipment for the production of tools by additive manufacturing.

Last step towards the final demonstrator
Iron

The FARAMIR project is equipped with state-of-the-art ExOne equipment for the production of tools by additive manufacturing.

Last step towards the final demonstrator

 

As part of the FARAMIR project, the IRT Jules Verne is acquiring new state-of-the-art equipment for the production of tools by additive manufacturing. Now installed at Loiretech, this new high-capacity machine is a major milestone for the project.

 

The project

The project had already reached an important milestone with the installation in January 2019 at the IRT Jules Verne of VOXELJET VX200 equipment for the manufacture of the first impregnated 3D test-tubes.

Launched in May 2018 for a period of 3 years, the FARAMIR project brings together IRT Jules Verne, Loiretech and Axiome and has a budget of €1.63 million. It is the first project developed as part of the Accès PME scheme, supported by the EMC2 competitiveness cluster to carry out projects within the Jules Verne IRT. With this program, the IRT Jules Verne intends to strengthen its relations with innovative SMEs in western France that are designing processes for the future of factories, by supporting their skills development and offering them the possibility of integrating shorter research facilities and facilitating leaner project set-up processes.

The objective of the FARAMIR project is to develop an additive manufacturing process with a mineral filler to produce functional parts at optimised costs. After the installation of a small-capacity machine at the IRT Jules Verne, the first parts produced using this technology were exhibited at the JEC World composites exhibition in 2019.

The new ExOne equipment allows the manufacture of tools with characteristics equivalent to tools made from machinable sheet metal, with the aim of manufacturing complex shaped parts in a single step. In addition, the Jules Verne IRT will work on the change of scale in the development of new processes, precision and repeatability.

 

Interview

We asked three questions to Rémi Chauveau, Research & Innovation Engineer at Loiretech, involved in the FARAMIR project.  

What is the purpose of this new ExOne machine?

This high-capacity machine will make it possible to improve the mechanical and geometrical properties of tools and to develop a process for impregnating printed tools, an important step implemented by the teams at the Jules Verne IRT. It marks the last phase of the project towards the realization of the final demonstrator, namely a prototype tooling that will be tested under operating conditions.

In addition, as part of the FARAMIR project, the aim is to eliminate the time and cost consuming stages.

Finally, the project is part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach by limiting the environmental impact of the manufacturing cycle.

What will this new equipment bring to the project?

This state-of-the-art equipment will enable a test plan to be developed in order to carry out the expected demonstrator. The objective is first to improve the mechanical and geometrical properties of the tools, and then to develop an impregnation process for the printed tools in order to achieve mechanical performances similar to those of current tools. Finally, the capitalisation of the results obtained will be used to produce a prototype tool for functional tests, which will be carried out by the third partner of the project, Axiome.

What will this work bring to Loiretech?

From Loiretech's point of view, it is this equipment that will revolutionize the way we think and produce. The possibilities in terms of design are increased, and it will thus be possible to integrate directly into our tools functionalities that were previously carried out in a more traditional way.

Read the article here

IRT Jules Verne, 14/04/20

 

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