Integration of additive manufacturing processes into the industrial process-, production- and IT-chain (PR0F1T)

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers high potential in the area of resource-efficient production of components with complex geometries, especially for expensive materials and small batch sizes. However, there are a number of challenges to these advantages. For example, the achievable dimensional accuracy and surface quality is generally not sufficient, so that machining of the components is necessary. Due to the different planning processes and technological boundary conditions in additive or machining production, there is currently only insufficient compatibility of the planning data and there is no continuous development chain. The BMBF-funded joint project PR0F1T aims to develop solutions for these challenges.

The project aims to develop a standardized method for efficient planning and production of additive manufactured components through cooperation between research institutes and companies in the areas of additive manufacturing, machining and software development. A key aspect of this is the construction of an integrated digital planning chain, starting with the component design and extending to tool path planning for post-processing.

The development of such a continuous digital process chain enables the automation of upstream and downstream processes in additive manufacturing. The aim of the developments is to achieve a 60% reduction in throughput time along the entire process chain and a 30% reduction in component costs for the parts manufactured using additives.