A metal that closes its own pores
Self-healing is well established in polymers but far harder in metals. ALMAZIUM®, developed at UCLouvain, is an Al-Mg-Zr alloy whose healing phase melts during a heat treatment, flows into micro-pores and cracks, and seals them.
The alloy builds on the ERC project ALUFIX and the M-ERA.NET project HAMAAC, and was designed for laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB). STITCHING extends it to wire-based processes, DED-arc and DED-laser, which can build much larger parts at lower economic and environmental cost than powder. The project also studies how the alloy can be welded, both to itself and to conventional wrought aluminium, and observes the healing mechanisms directly as they happen.
Target applications are lightweight structures for aerospace and defence, and thermal management systems such as heat exchangers for space. Healing also supports a "recycling by repairing" approach, where damaged or worn components are restored instead of replaced.
- Programme
- M-ERA.NET Call 2025
- Duration
- 36 months, from May 2026
- Coordinator
- UCLouvain, Belgium
- Partners
- 9 organisations in Belgium, Czechia and France
- Maturity
- From TRL 3 to TRL 5
Strength and ductility together
High-strength aluminium printed by PBF-LB usually trades ductility for strength. ALMAZIUM® keeps both, and its strength stays stable at elevated temperature, including after the healing treatment.
Yield strength (MPa)
Ductility (%)
Healing at 400–550 °C. A heat treatment in this range recovers micro-defects up to 1 µm and heals porosities of 2–3 µm, whereas pores in conventional PBF-LB Al-Si alloys generally grow on heating.
Objectives
Manufacture with wire
Demonstrate that ALMAZIUM® can be produced by DED-arc and DED-laser, enabling large parts while cutting the economic and environmental costs of powder processing.
Weld reliably
Evaluate TIG welding of ALMAZIUM® to itself and to conventional wrought aluminium alloys, using its thermal stability and resistance to porosity.
See healing in-situ
Develop multi-scale in-situ characterisation, including tensile testing in the SEM and X-ray tomography up to 550 °C, to understand and optimise damage and healing.
Assess the life cycle
Quantify the environmental and economic performance of powder- and wire-based routes to select the most resource- and cost-efficient pathway.
Prove industrial relevance
Integrate ALMAZIUM® into demonstrator components for aerospace, defence and thermal management systems.
