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Joint Research into Industrial 3D Printed Aluminum Components for Aerospace

September 25, 2025 Applications 128

A €1.17 million German-funded project is researching industrial 3D printing to manufacture lightweight, resilient aluminum aerospace components.

FRM II scientists carry out sample measurements with neutrons at the research reactor in Rez near Prague. From left to right: Dr Seda Ulusoy, Dr Massimo Fritton, Simon Sebold, Dr Steffen Neumeier (FAU), Dr Ralph Gilles, Dr Stefan Engel; foreground: Dr Gergely Farkas

Funded with €1.17 million by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), the new AlaAF rUM Transfer research project is investigating how industrial 3D printing can manufacture lightweight, resilient aluminum components for aerospace. Colibrium Additive, Technical University of Munich (TUM) and its research reactor FRM II, and the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) are working together to jointly develop solutions for the LPBF process, which offers high design freedom but can’t be used with high-strength aluminum alloys because they typically crack once cooled. The team is focusing on a new approach, where special additives in metal powder chemically react during 3D printing and form finely distributed ceramic particles in the sub-micrometer range. These particles act as “micro-builders,” influencing crystal growth in the powder to reduce crack formation. This would make it possible to print aluminum alloys for industrial applications that were once considered impossible to print.

Colibrium is contributing its industrial AM technology, working with FAU and TUM to develop LPBF process parameters. FAU is analyzing the printed materials and their mechanical properties with microscopic methods, while FRM II researchers are completing quality testing with specialized neutron methods, such as neutron imaging (radiography and tomography) and neutron diffraction, which enables precise determination of phase distribution and internal stresses. Plus, a special testing machine developed at FRM II can realistically simulate industrial operating conditions for material behavior recording. According to Dr. habil. Ralph Gilles, project manager at TUM and spokesperson for the consortium, “Neutrons have a high penetration depth and are therefore ideal for analysing large, additively manufactured components for industry – a task that would be impossible with other techniques.”