STITCHING
Starring Innovative Treatments for Component Healing with New Grade-aluminium alloy
A European research project taking ALMAZIUM®, an aluminium alloy that heals its own internal defects, from powder-bed printing to wire-based additive manufacturing and welding.
Schematic: pores at grain boundaries closing as a healing heat treatment passes through the alloy.
A metal that closes its own pores
ALMAZIUM® is a lightweight Al-Mg-Zr alloy developed at UCLouvain. During a heat treatment at 400–550 °C, it heals pores and micro-cracks left by manufacturing or service.
STITCHING extends the alloy from laser powder bed fusion to wire-based additive manufacturing and welding, studies its healing mechanisms in-situ, and assesses its environmental and economic performance, with aerospace, defence and space thermal management as target applications.
Four lines of research
Printing with wire
Adapting ALMAZIUM® from powder to DED-arc and DED-laser to build larger parts at lower cost.
Welding
TIG welding of ALMAZIUM® to itself and to conventional wrought aluminium without porosity growth.
Watching healing happen
In-situ testing in the electron microscope and X-ray tomography at up to 550 °C.
Environmental and economic assessment
Life cycle assessment and costing of powder and wire routes, with and without healing.
Latest news
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