EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing

Welcome

The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing is the National Centre for research into next generation Additive Manufacturing (AM) production technologies and design systems.

The £6M Centre is hosted within Loughborough University’s world-leading Additive Manufacturing Research Group (AMRG) and the focus of its activity is to work closely with businesses to tackle major research challenges, ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of AM and its application in industry.

The successful commercial exploitation of the Centre’s research in order to meet industrial and national need for cutting edge, low carbon manufacturing technologies is a key priority.

About

In recognition of its world leading research, Loughborough University’s Additive Manufacturing Research Group (AMRG) are proud to have been selected to host the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing.

Established in 2011, the Centre benefits from £6M of EPSRC funding which will be used in collaborative research work to benefit UK industry in developing the next generation of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies.

Using the world class facilities and academic expertise of Loughborough’s AMRG, the Centre will take AM to the next level, by using a range of AM techniques to produce multifunctional, multi-material products with different embedded optical, electrical and structural properties.

• Research impact

  The Centre aims to create both increased competitive advantage to the UK’s manufacturing community and benefit to the public through new product innovations and production economics.

  Exploitation of AM technology will also lead to lower carbon footprints, particularly in the aerospace and automotive industries, through the weight reduction of multifunctional components and the production efficiencies achieved.

• Creating a legacy

  Another of the Centre’s major priorities is to nurture a growing skill-base of researchers and future leaders to ensure the National need for industry-focused AM expertise is maintained.

  Through a programme of study tours and secondments the Centre’s young researchers will benefit from the collaborative research activities taking place, thus increasing our knowledge capital.

Research

What is Additive Manufacturing?

Additive Manufacturing is the production of end-use component parts made using additive layer manufacturing technologies.

It enables the manufacture of geometrically complex, low to medium volume components in a range of materials, with little, if any, fixed tooling or manual intervention beyond the initial product design.

This highly novel area of ‘3D printing’ can enable the creation of fully finished products for consumers at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional processes and supply chains.

Centre Research Objectives – the move to multi-functionality

To date, most AM research activity has focused upon the production of single material parts, or parts with a simple combination of ‘passive materials.’

The new Centre will move away from single material processes and applications, towards the challenges of investigating next generation, multi-material processes, materials and design systems.

This approach is required for the production of the new generation of high-value, multi-functional products that drive our world today. The EPSRC Centre will also research the potential for ‘scaling down’ AM for small, complex components, to allow the printing of optical/electronic pathways within micro-level products.

In order to effectively develop value-adding, sustainable manufacturing processes, the Centre aims to undertake a user-defined and user-driven programme of innovative research across multiple industry sectors. Building on existing partnerships and developing new relationships are therefore vital aspects of the Centre’s work.

Working with us

The Centre has a number of existing partnerships from across a range of industrial sectors.

In order to achieve the aim of undertaking a user-defined and user-driven programme of innovative research, the Centre is keen to develop new relationships that would be of mutual benefit with both multinational organisations and SMEs, together with equipment and systems manufacturers and suppliers.

Partners of the Centre benefit from the cutting-edge facilities as well as the unique expertise and experience of our academic team in working with industrial partners on collaborative research projects.

To find out more about collaborative work with the Centre or contract research, please contact:

Professor Richard Hague
Centre Director
E: r.hague@lboro.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1509 227619

Partners

In addition to Loughborough as the lead academic partner the Centre also has a variety of industrial partners. These include both multinational organisations and SMEs, together with equipment and systems manufacturers and suppliers. Current partners of the Centre include:

Key contacts

• Professor Richard Hague (Centre Director)
  T: +44 (0)1509 227619
  E: r.hague@lboro.ac.uk

  Richard is the Centre Director and has expertise in AM design and design systems in addition to active research into AM processes, materials and the exploration of AM as a low carbon solution.

• Professor Ian Ashcroft
  T: +44 (0)1509 227535
  E: i.a.ashcroft@lboro.ac.uk

  Ian is a Professor of Mechanics of Solids with expertise in stress analysis, mechanical testing and design optimisation.

• Professor Paul Conway
  T: +44 (0)1509 227670
  E: p.p.conway@lboro.ac.uk

  Paul is an expert in packaging and interconnects, particularly micro-scale systems for electronics.

• Professor Phill Dickens
  T: +44 (0)1509 223440
  E: p.dickens@lboro.ac.uk

  Phill is one of the most influential academics within the AM field, his work is focused on the investigation and development of novel jetting-based AM systems and materials.

• Dr Russell Harris
  T: +44 (0)1509 227571
  E: r.a.harris@lboro.ac.uk

  Russ is a Senior Lecturer and focused on the investigation of Ultrasonic Consolidation for AM with an emphasis on embedded functionality and sensing.

• Dr Chris Tuck
  T: +44 (0)1509 227640
  E: c.j.tuck@lboro.ac.uk

  Chris is a Lecturer and specialist in materials engineering and micro-optical sensor technology pursuing this research within an AM context.

• Professor Ricky Wildman
  T: +44 (0)1509 227630
  E: r.d.wildman@lboro.ac.uk

  Ricky is a Professor of Experimental Mechanics with specific interests in modelling and experimental techniques for granular flow.