6.05 Development of additive technologies for consolidation of precious and non-precious materials for the fashion industry

Task 1 – Development of metallic materials and techniques compatible with the demands of the fashion industry
The expected outputs of this task are:

• density values not lower than 98% after the powder consolidation process (values valid both for L-PBF and for 3d printing plus sintering). The maximum acceptable porosity values will be defined for the various applications envisaged for the different families of alloys, as well as a correlation database established between the (eventual) thermal treatments applied and the results obtained in terms of morphology and porosity size.
• Reduction of the surface roughness of the metal based as-built products to values close to 10um. Such an improved surface finishing will make it easier to use an additional final step of polishing capable of reaching all surfaces of the complex artifact, unlike manual polishing, with an improved degree of repeatability.
• Development of innovative electroplating of substrates such as steel and aluminum with low environmental impact.
• New successions of metal alloys as new barrier layers to increase corrosion resistance.
• Set of software modules for the automated collection, management, visualization, and analysis of data, addressing relevant tasks such as machine anomaly detection, in situ monitoring of part defects, etc. These modules will be implemented as plug-and-play components of an integrated and extensible software framework, addressing the continuous improvement and optimization of the additive process.

Task 2 – Development of solutions based on Binder Jetting and Extrusion-based AM technologies for metallic materials for the fashion industry
The expected outputs of this task are:

• selection of suitable extrusion-based AM technologies for processing copper alloy materials for the fashion industry;
• design of test parts to assess the printing-debinding-sintering process performance in terms of manufacturing time, costs and product quality (i.e. fine feature accuracy, surface roughness, geometrical complexity);
• process performance assessment based on suitable experimental campaigns;
• definition of relevant case studies and the feasibility assessment of the product fabrication using the selected AM technology.

Task 3 – Additive Manufacturing of Ceramic Accessories for Fashion
The expected outputs of this task are:

• identification of target objects that are relevant for the targeted market;
• mapping of potential materials that can be successfully employed with the chosen AM technologies;
• mapping of bespoke shapes that can be achieved depending on the AM technology employed;
• mapping of feature resolution, surface finishing, general physical-chemical properties (e.g. hardness, mechanical strength, abrasion resistance, chemical inertness, density, etc.) that can be achieved, depending on the selection of material and AM technology;
• development of at least 3 test cases showcasing the most promising products, also in terms of materials and manufacturing technologies, as informed by fashion houses and designers.