Sovereign Multi-Material LPBF Manufacturing and Qualification Platform for Australian Defence and Medical Production

Australia’s defence, maritime and medical sectors are increasingly seeking to adopt additive manufacturing to improve supply chain resilience and reduce reliance on imported components. However, a significant gap remains between producing prototype metal parts and manufacturing qualified, production-ready components that meet the rigorous standards required by defence primes, regulators and medical markets.

Led by AMG Additive and Flinders University, this four-year project will develop the qualification pathways, manufacturing processes and quality frameworks needed to enable certified metal additive manufacturing in Australia. Adelaide University and Metal Powder Works will contribute specialist expertise in materials development, powder characterisation and process optimisation.

Using three Renishaw AM400 systems, the project will establish validated manufacturing pathways for a range of strategic alloys used across defence, shipbuilding and medical applications. The outcome will be production-ready workflows, qualification datasets and demonstrator components that strengthen Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability, accelerate industrial adoption of additive manufacturing and create new opportunities for Australian industry in high-value global markets.