The kick off meeting of the NWO Perspectief program “Additive Manufacturing for Extra Large Metal Components (AiM2XL)” took place on 15th June at the premises of Ramlab in Rotterdam. Thirty four participants from industry and academia attended the meeting with the aim of pooling experiences and starting this ambitious program.

The Program leader, Ian Richardson, welcomed all the participants and explained the goals. Paul Schuddeboom from NWO further explained the expectations from the funding agency for the program.

The aim of the consortium of 24 partners, is to generate the knowledge required to competitively build components at length scales of the order 1 to 10 m. Applying direct metal deposition methods to large-scale constructions poses a number of scientific and technological challenges, as well as providing a number of novel opportunities.

The program paves the way for a new, material-oriented approach in which suitable model combinations will be used to design and manufacture material properties on-demand at specific locations within a structure. Successfully implemention of the program will put the Netherlands in a leading position in the production of large metal components.

AIM2XL Ian Richardson AIM2XL Paul Schuddeboom