Application and material development

This program aims to develop new and unique applications for AM technologies across key priority industries for Australia creating new Circular Economy business models.

• Researchers work on identifying and understanding the specific requirements of different applications to optimize the use of additive manufacturing.

• The program focuses on exploring novel ways to leverage additive manufacturing for complex geometries, personalisation, and advancing new materials.

• Application development includes areas such as aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer goods, and more.

The program emphasizes the development of new materials suitable for additive manufacturing processes.

• Researchers aim to create the next generation the range of materials available for additive manufacturing, including metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and biomaterials.

  
  

• Material development for advanced metals and polymers involves exploring nanomaterials and nanocomposites. Nanotechnology offers unique opportunities to tailor material properties at the nanoscale level by manipulating the size, shape, and composition of nanoparticles. Nanocomposites exhibit superior mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal stability compared to their bulk counterparts.

  
  

• The program also focuses on improving material compatibility with specific additive manufacturing technologies like; laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and stereolithography (SLA) etc.