Recycling & Reusing Aerospace Materials for Additive Manufacturing (R2AM2)

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The objective of this project is to explore the feasibility and practical possibilities of using recycled metallic materials in additive manufacturing (AM). The project aims to investigate the potential benefits of using cheaper feedstocks in AM, as traditional feedstocks such as powder, wire, and bar are more expensive than their wrought variants. Although the cost of using AM can sometimes be offset by an increase in performance or simplifying bill of materials and part counts, the cost element can sometimes be too strong, leading organisations to turn to high waste production methods. To support the potential feedstock opportunities for AM, this project will investigate the ability for recycled parts to be converted into feedstock for metal AM. Parts have been selected as a starting point due to the readiness of scrap parts from aerospace, from recycling post-print waste like support structures, and the potential for out-of-service products to be regenerated.This project will deliver a technical overview of the outputs of the conversion process and an attempt to atomise using a novel process will be made. The outcome of the atomisation trial will inform the project team and allow a technical capability summary to be developed to look at further research projects for vallidation and commercialisation.