The Grade2XL project organizes an open Additive Manufacturing Challenge for students, researchers and engineers. The winner(s) will be announced at the M2i conference 2023 on 11 December 2023.

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is the next big thing! Large engineering structures like turbines, bridges or industrial machinery are still manufactured by traditional processes such as forging, casting or by machining from solid blocks. These processes do not allow local control of material properties to achieve a specific function like anti-corrosion or hardness. To meet the functional specifications, engineers must operate within a limited range of design options, with high “buy-to-fly” ratios and long lead times. The WAAM technology overcomes those barriers to produce fully dense metallic structures with no porosity. WAAM is also unbeatable in terms of production times, making it uniquely suited for large and functionally demanding engineering structures. Next to that, using WAAM leads to a CO2 reduction up to 35% during production, reduces material use and improves the product life cycle.
1 November 2023
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THE CHALLENGE

• Are you a student, an engineer or a researcher in the field of Aerospace, Architecture, Design, Maritime, Materials, Mechanical, a.o. ?
• Are you passionate about technology and want to see your ideas take shape?

Then, this challenge is for you!

Your mission: to design a 3D printed component that can be printed with the WAAM technology. Your idea can be based on an existing or a novel product / tooling.

THE PRIZE

• The winner(s) will be invited to pitch their design idea at the M2i conference* held at National Sports Centre Papendal, Arnhem (NL) on 11 December 2023. This event is a great opportunity to attend key notes and parallel sessions on a broad range of technology-related topics and to network with relevant stakeholders from the big materials community within the Netherlands.

• The winner(s) will also have their part manufactured** at RAMLAB in Rotterdam and will take a private tour of the RAMLAB facilities and have the opportunity to discuss with RAMLAB experts the following day*.

*Travelling costs for this 2-day trip to Arnhem and Rotterdam will be reimbursed and a free overnight stay is included.

**If the designed part is heavier than 20 kg, a representative component of up to 20 kg will be printed. Alternatively, the designed part could be printed at Naval Group, France.

Check out the previous editions of the AM Challenge!

AM Challenge Award Ceremony 2022
Winning design 2022 April
3D printed design of winning design 2020
HOW TO APPLY ?
The call for applications opens on 4 September 2023. The application deadline is 8 November 2023.
You can participate to the challenge as an individual or as a team (max. 3 participants).
The winner will be announced live during the M2i Confernce on 11 December 2023.
SELECTION PROCESS
 
The applications will be evaluated via a blind procedure by a jury consisting of five experts working in the field of WAAM, in academic and industrial organizations which are at the forefront of WAAM.
 
The winner will be officially announced during the M2i Conference on 11 December 2023.

SCORING CRITERIA

Applications will be scored from 0 to 10 based on the following criteria:
Nr. Criterion Score
1
​Novelty
Describe the AM process(es) used considering scalability and the novelty of your design and approach. And to which extent the proposed design is a new geometry difficult to manufacture with conventional processes. If relevant for the application, please outline the desired manufacturing steps.
 0-3
2
​Functionality
The extent to which the proposed gains (material or financial savings) when using WAAM and if a multi-material approach is used, i.e. different properties at different locations.
0-3
3
Purpose/Application
The extent to which the design is suitable for an existing engineering application.
 0-3
4
Bonus point/Impact
Potential to impact the industry i.e. transferability of the approach towards other applications and sectors
 1

TIMELINE

Application opening 4 September 2023
Application deadline 8 November 2023 (23:59 CET)
Evaluation process 9-15 November 2023
Final decision 16 November 2023
Notification of results 16 November 2023
Official announcement of results at M2i Conference 11 December 2023, Arnhem (NL)

The Grade2XL Project

The Additive Manufacturing Challenge is part of the Horizon 2020 project Grade2XL. This project will demonstrate the potential of multi-material wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) for large structures. Grade2XL will deliver multi-material products of superior quality and performance, cut lead times by up to 96% and enable massive savings for the maritime, energy and industrial machinery sectors. The Grade2XL consortium is led by and gathers 21 partners from eight European countries, top innovators in the field of wire arc additive manufacturing.

If you have any question please contact us at: designcontest[at]m2i.nl.