[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/12441\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAdvanced manufacturing revs up in Europe with 3D printing\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf 3D printing makes good on its promise, it will fundamentally change the way things are manufactured. And it could also become everyone\u2019s best friend. Just imagine if for any broken part in your household, you could simply make a new one with your home printer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThanks to advances made by an EU-funded research team, it is now possible to print advanced parts for motorbikes, cars, aircraft and even satellites using different materials and shapes while producing much less waste. It is even possible to embed electrical conductors or optical fibres that can act as sensors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMultilayered manufacturing\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is because 3D printing can allow parts to be created layer by layer, making it easier to seamlessly combine, for example, metals, plastics, ceramics and even fibreoptics together, in one part, in a single process. This enables companies to make smarter parts using exactly the amount of material needed, thus reducing waste to a minimum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERudolf Gradinger, a research engineer at the Austrian Institute of Technology, is one of the researchers helping to drive these developments forward. He headed up a three-year multi-country research initiative called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/862617\u0022\u003EMULTI-FUN\u003C\/a\u003E that received funding from the EU to push the boundaries of 3D multi-material manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe MULTI-FUN team, which worked together over three and a half years until December 2023, included researchers and industrial partners from across Europe (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, UK). Their focus was on developing innovative advanced materials ready for market. The participation of nine SMEs played a key role in helping to accelerate market uptake.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EWe can now rethink how parts are designed in ways that manufacturers never even dreamt of.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ERita Gomes Bola, MULTI-FUN\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGradinger highlights the example of an airplane part containing optical fibres. The researchers built up the part layer by layer using aluminium and embedding optical fibres. This gave it \u201cimpossible superpowers\u201d.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The nerves in your arm mean you can sense when your arm gets twisted,\u2019 said Gradinger. \u2018These optical fibres are like nerves and can sense when a part bends too much or becomes damaged.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImproved functionality was also the aim of Richard Kordass, a design engineer at German automotive company EDAG, one of the partners in the research team. They developed motorbike handlebars printed with copper wiring and ceramic insulation built in.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The only way that is possible is by additive manufacturing,\u2019 stressed Kordass.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo much progress has been made that Rita Gomes Bola from the European Welding Federation in Belgium, who also worked on MULTI-FUN, believes that the latest advances have fundamentally changed how design engineers work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We can now rethink how parts are designed in ways that manufacturers never even dreamt of,\u2019 she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAiming for the moon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe possibilities of 3D printing extend to the creation of high-performance parts for the space industry. The researchers created a special casing for a motor used on space satellites. Its steel body incorporated copper highways for significant improvement of heat management of electric drives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We doubled the heat transfer rate so the electric motor can now operate faster and not get so heated,\u2019 said Gradinger, explaining that temperature is part of what causes metal parts to fatigue.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDamaged parts can stop working or need repair, which is practically not feasible when a satellite is orbiting the Earth. This makes the space industry a prime candidate to benefit from 3D printing advances.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EU currently accounts for\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu\/research-area\/industrial-research-and-innovation\/advanced-manufacturing_en\u0022\u003E22%\u003C\/a\u003E of the world\u2019s manufacturing output, delivering a trade surplus in manufactured goods of \u20ac421 billion each year. This is why the EU is investing in research to further strengthen this sector.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditive manufacturing is seen as central to the EU\u2019s manufacturing future and is supported through various initiatives, including the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.effra.eu\/made-in-europe-state-play\/\u0022\u003EMade in Europe\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.effra.eu\/fof-partnership\/\u0022\u003EFactories of the Future\u003C\/a\u003E partnerships with industry. The aim is to boost the industrial competitiveness of European companies in areas such as aerospace, automotive production and healthcare.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003EWe could one day have a 3D printer in our homes so that broken parts could be replaced by just printing them yourself.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003ELiviu Marsavina, SIRAMM\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen 3D printing was first introduced in manufacturing, it was mostly used to create prototypes. Now, however, it has evolved to become a key part of the manufacturing process, making it faster and more efficient.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019ve moved from rapid prototyping to rapid manufacture,\u2019 said Kordass.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E3D printed parts are already being used in the aerospace and automotive industry where they help to reduce fuel consumption. Siemens in Germany already 3D prints gas turbine blades, while Airbus uses printed parts in commercial aircraft to save on weight and fuel.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpreading the word\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough additive manufacturing is rapidly becoming a part of modern industrial production, it is not equally advanced across all of Europe. Professor Liviu Marsavina, vice rector for research at the Politehnica University Timisoara in Romania, is part of a team of European researchers who have been working hard to spread 3D printing knowhow more widely across the EU.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarsavina, a professor in strength of materials and fracture mechanics, coordinated an EU-funded initiative called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/857124\u0022\u003ESIRAMM\u003C\/a\u003E that ran from 2019 to 2023.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt connected researchers in Romania, with researchers from the\u0026nbsp;Institute of Physics of Materials at the Czech Academy of Sciences (IPM) in Brno, Czechia, the University of Belgrade in Serbia,\u0026nbsp;the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the University of Parma in Italy. Its goal was to create\u0026nbsp;a hub of excellence in additive manufacturing in Eastern Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAcademic exchanges helped to create a network that has lasted beyond the end of the project itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We now have a network in which we know where we can solve different types of problems,\u2019 said Marsavina. Meanwhile, companies in Romania, Serbia and Czechia are also more aware of additive manufacturing experts and equipment on their doorstep.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Marsavina, the rapid advance in 3D printing potentially raises new issues relating to safety and security.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018People are moving towards using 3D printing to build not only small parts, but also larger structures with more complex shapes. There is a need to know more about the properties and reliability of these new structures,\u2019 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team worked on addressing these issues through real-world research, in collaboration with their academic partners and industry representatives interested in 3D printing.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology, Marsavina predicts, will spread to many other industries and even to households.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We could one day have a 3D printer in our homes so that broken parts could be replaced by just printing them yourself.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU\u2019s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-hupmqcggjwjb2hcpauh9suiafgzf3dodzss56hbiuam\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-hUpMQcgGjwJB2HcPaUh9sUIafgZF3dOdZss56hbiUAM\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]