Current lithium-ion battery technology uses metal foil current collectors (copper, aluminium) sourced from large manufacturers based in Japan and China; there are no domestic UK suppliers, and all current collectors are imported. Existing current collectors are bulky and account for up to 30% of the total battery weight, reducing the gravimetric energy and power density. Replacing the metal sheet with a composite polymer conductive thin-film (polymer matrix containing electrically conductive particles) to reduce weight is a logical step forward. The vision for our collaborative project CONDUCTOR is to develop a lightweight and low-cost polymer current collector to replace the aluminium and copper foil current collectors used in lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Such batteries are one of the heaviest and most expensive components in a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). We estimate our polymer current collector will save some 4kg weight in a typical 50Kg automotive battery pack thereby increasing its charge and power density. Given there are no UK manufacturers of LIB current collectors, our ambition is to supply the growing need for LIB current collectors in line with growth of the Giga Factories in the UK to support the transition to 100% battery electric vehicle manufacture by 2035\.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is the most important thermal fusion additive manufacturing (AM) process utilising lasers to melt layers of metal or polymer powder on to each other and Nylon PA12 base powders occupy 95% of the polymer SLS market. One of the barriers to the adoption of SLS is the process cost and cost of disposal of waste un-sintered powder that's considered a microplastic having the potential to cause environmental harm generally to aquatic living organisms and to accumulate in rivers and soils. AM bureaux are experiencing difficulties in finding landfill sites that will accept this waste. Discarded SLS powder represents a significant cost and approaches to utilise it have focused on the production of fused deposition manufacturing filaments; and although feasible, none are commercially available nor enable a closed manufacturing system. Rapid Powders Ltd has identified and shown the feasibility of a solution to this problem and seeks through grant funding to establish its technical and commercial viability together with its consortium partners Euriscus Ltd and Lancaster University.

When polymer powders are selectively laser sintered (SLS), they have a microstructure that contains a significant amount of porosity conferring inferior mechanical properties – particularly elongation and toughness compared to conventionally processed materials such as injection mouldings or extrusions. We have shown that for conventional Nylon PA12 SLS powders, Rapid Powders’ novel compounding process can improve the elongation and toughness of PA12 significantly and we propose to develop ranges of other materials. The consortium consists of Rapid Powders who compound the powders, 2-dTech who are a graphene manufacturer, Euriscus and IMI Rapid Prototyping who manufacture SLS components and Ultra Electronics who is a potential end user. If this project is successful it will generate additional business and improve their collective productivity and competitiveness considerably.

The objective of this industrial research project is to develop a patient-specific workflow for more targeted treatment of osteochondral defects in the knee joint using robot-assisted navigation. The surgical workflow would interface with S&N's commercial orthopaedic robot “NAVIO” providing new opportunities for earlier & more precise intervention. This innovation is supported by the development of a Virtual Reality 3D Headset, Cloud communication & a patient rehabilitation app, which are collectively designed to assist with the refinement of surgical planning, execution, & data management. The project allows S&N to be more competitive in the global robotic orthopaedic surgical market valued at £182m in 2016 & predicted to reach £1bn by 2020. It addresses the shifting demographics of younger, more active patients with localized knee OA who require tissue-sparing knee surgery to retain joint architecture & preserve function. The project is aligned with the competition brief aimed at developing patient-specific therapies in healthcare by combining clinical knowledge with advances in diagnostic techniques, data aggregation, & analysis. The project requires a multi-disciplinary team in orthopaedics, software engineering, 3D printing, & robotics, which will be achieved through partnership between a global medical device company (S&N), 2 SME’s, (DCSL & Euriscus) & an academic group (Imperial College). The consortium is requesting £699.7k to fund a 3yr study to gain new skills for the purpose of commercial development, which could lead to the development of new products, & NHS services.

3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been heralded as a revolutionary technology which will impact on almost every aspect of manufacturing. It promises to be a technology which will change the manufacturing paradigm This is undoubtedly true, but before AM can be regarded as an established mass production technology it must metamorphose from a low volume, relatively inaccurate and highly expensive process to one which is capable fo competing with established manufacturing processes such as injection moulding and CNC machining. The purpose of this project is to enable AM to deliver on its promise of being an acceptable, stable, low cost manufacturing technology. The project will do this by delivering the largest capacity polymer sintering 3d printing machine yet built. The components produced by the machine will be solidified using a unique, ultra high speed optical scanning system which will yield speeds twenty times faster than those presently available. A highly stable temperature control environment will be developed which will enable the use of other polymers which can not presently be used in the polymer sintering process, including Polycarbonate, ABS PEEK and PEKK, The project will develop a technique to automatically clean and finish the 3d printed parts, prior to packaging. In order to ensure manufacturing accuracy, stability and reliability, each part will be automatically optically inspected prior to packing. The systems which will be used to do this uses algorithms which have only recently become available. The measurements provided by the automatic inspection will then be used to recalibrate the sintering machine prior to its next manufacturing operation. Following inspection, the parts will be automatically packed and combined with administrative information such as labels and delivery notes, in preparation to shipping. The system will be capable of providing customers with manufacturing information at each stage of the manufacturing process, so that the 3D printed parts can be more readily combined into existing manufacturing planning and quality systems. Upon successful conclusion, the project will demonstrate a methodology which, when applied to polymer sintering will yield an Additive Manufacturing processes capable of producing parts in a wide range of polymers, and to a cost and quality which is comparable with established processes such as injection moulding.

This four month project will be delivered by Euriscus Ltd, a UK Company specialising in Additive Manufacture (AM). It will investigate the current capability of Turkish Univerisities and Industry in the field of AM, also known as 3D Printing. It will identify those Turkish organisations which are technology leaders in this area. Work will be carried out to start partnerships between Euriscus Ltd, and suitable Turkish technology leaders to collaborate on areas of joint interest which will aid the Turkish economy, provide support for UK projects and exploit the AM market in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Of particular interest will be collaborations in software, services and AM machinery.

Additive layer manufacturing (ALM) has revolutionised the near-net-shape fabrication of precision componentsand advanced cellular and microlattice materials in industries such as aerospace, automotive & medicaldevices. The laser is the primary component and expense in ALM machines but despite high costs (>£25k), thecost and performance of current laser sources particularly for stereolithography result in manufacturingcosts only supporting prototyping. Applied Materials Technology and Euriscus Ltd seek to address thisrequirement through a novel enabling laser technology for stereolithography with a radical improvements tothe cost, power density, compactness, stability, switching speed, reliability, longevity, tuneability, compactnessand electrical efficiency. The step change in the expense, functionality, performance and size of lasers forstereolithography will significantly improve laser scanning speeds, improve part quality and bring opportunitiesto introduce high speed raster scanning systems to promote ALM as an industrial production technology fornovel components and advanced materials.

The HyperMATA project, lead by the specialist polymer development company, Ketonex, will develop a new family of high performance polymer materials intended for use in the Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) industry. The new polymer materials that will be developed will have significantly better mechanical and thermal properties over those presently available. This 14 month project will demonstrate that, with some simple modifications, a standard laser sintering machine will be able to produce high quality parts, with exceptional strength and chemical resistance. End users from a wide range of industries, including bioengineering, aerospace and the automotive industry, will all benefit from the significantly improved performance that this material will lend to ALM parts.