"CUSTODIAN" CUSTODIAN - CUSTOMIZED PHOTONIC DEVICES FOR DEFECTLESS LASER BASED MANUFACTURING DESCRIPTION Different beam shaping technologies appeared in recent years enable to tailor energy delivery using a tailored spacial and temporal power distribution in laser beam. This makes possible to solve relevant metallurgical problems such as hot cracking in laser beam welding (LBW) and selective laser melting (SLM). However the desired thermal history (temperature range and cooling rates) is specific for each material. In other words, it is material and process-specfic so the exact beam shape must be customized to the specfici alloy and process in question. This is not exclusive to LBW and SLM, but also to other laser-based manufacturing scenarios where a certain thermal history is needed for precise microstructure tailoring. CUSTODIAN aims to develop a methodology of application-driven laser beam tailoring of the material microstructure and deploy this beam to solve hotcracking in LBW and SLM. CUSTODIAN will rely on beams with specific shape and spatial energy distribution, designed upon the metallurgical studies and multiphysics simulation for each combination of process and material. To acomplish the deployment of customized beam shapes in relevant industrial environment, the consortium will perform a twofold photonic development: a compact, robust and dynamic beam shaping technology (Multi plane light conversion MPLC) and a colsed loop inline control system based on uncooled SWIR / MWIR sensors and FPGA architecture to ensure the quality and dynamicity of the beam shape requirements. The application scenarios of CUSTODIAN are: -LBW of austenitic steel for exhaust systems in automotive -SLM of nickel superalloys in energy and aeronautical fields. OBJECTIVES There are two main objectives in the CUSTODIAN project: 1 To establish a general methodology of application-driven laser beam customization based on four main pillars: tailored microstructural evolution, multiphysics simulation of laser-based processes, beam shaping and process control. The first two are essential for the adequate development of optical equipment (beam shaper, laser head, control system), being driven and conditioned by the combination of process and material. 2 To deploy and demonstrate this methodology on two relevant manufacturing scenarios: Laser Beam Welding (LBW) of austenitic steel sheets for automotive industry and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of 2 nickel-based alloys (In713LC for power generation industry and CM247LC for aircraft industry) to solve a problem of hot cracking which is the common denominator of these two scenarios. By achieving these main objectives, between 95-98% of defects will be eliminated in LBW / SLM parts, leading to production time decrease respect to the traditional manufacturing in 70 percent (LBW) and 83 percent (SLM) while reducing the total costs in 20 percent (LBW) and 60 percent (SLM). Project Number: 21700190 Grant Agreement: 825103 Duration: From 01/12/2018 to 31/08/2022 Coordinated in AIDIMME by: BLASCO PUCHADES, JOSE RAMON R&D Line: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURE RESULTS OBTAINED Year 2021: During the first period of 2021, the activities have been focused on the integration of the two MPLC modules in the PBF-LB/M machine. Two holding structures were designed and manufactured, and modifications in the chamber were planned. On the other hand, the first acquisition tests with the control system were carried out as well. In the second half of 2021, the first static beam shaper was successfully installed in the machine therefore allowing the change of the beam shape by means of six different optics which balance the shape dimensions and the power distribution. After the installation the first tests on the Nickel alloys have been carried out with the aim of finding the optimal conditions where these materials can be processed. By the end of 2021 the tests are still ongoing and the idea is to find which conditions are better for the process in order to define the dynamic shaper. PUBLISHED NEWS general broadcast https://actualidad.aidimme.es/2021/12/17/aidimme-resulta (...) http://actualidad.aidimme.es/2019/06/11/aidimme-exhibits (...) PROJECT WEB https://shapeyourlaser.eu/ PARTNERS ASOCIACION DE INVESTIGACION METALURGICA DEL NOROESTE, POLITECNICO DI MILANO, TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN, CAILABS, PRECITEC GMBH & CO KG, NEW INFRARED TECHNOLOGIES, SL, MAGNETI MARELLI SPA, GFM SPA, SOUTHERN EUROPEAN CLUSTER IN PHOTONICS & OPTICS ASSOCIATION, GRANT This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 825103 This project is an initiative of the Photonics Public Private Partnership www.photonics21.org 644.687,50 € TARGET AUDIENCE AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT 5978 Access to the project website 949 Access to news published on own websites. Total Accesses: 6927 TRACTOR COMPANIES Thanks to its support and signature of the "declaration of participation" the project has been funded. COMPANIES DIFFUSION R&D PROJECTS They want to know first-hand the evolution of the project, and its progress to the final result. COMPANIES TRANSFER KNOWLEDGE They will implement technologies, develop strategies or look for new models based on the results.