A Multi-fidelity Approach Enabling Automated High Precision in Cold Spray Repair

Introduction

The EU's manufacturing sector is facing a crucial challenge to achieve ambitious sustainability goals in the transition towards a circular economy. While repair and remanufacturing are key solutions to this issue, current techniques fall short due to limitations in handling complex (geometry and material-wise) parts, heat damage, and a lack of automation.

Waste Generation

This results in a staggering amount of waste – over 167 million tons generated annually by the EU manufacturing industry alone.

CoRe Solution

CoRe offers a solution based on Cold Spray (CS), a solid state (no melting) deposition technique, with significant potential to revolutionize the repair sector. Currently, the widespread establishment of CS in the repair realm is hindered by:

1. Limited geometrical accuracy
2. Lack of automation in deposit shape control

Development of Repair Planning Tool

CoRe will pair the physics-based analytical concept developed within the originating ERC project with computational models, ad-hoc experiments, and artificial intelligence to develop a disruptively robust, unprecedentedly accurate, and computationally efficient CS repair planning tool.

Automation and Interoperability

This fully automated tool will be made interoperable with commercial robots to readily offer customized nozzle trajectory to minimize post-processing, material waste, and lead time in repair.

Objectives and Impact

The accomplishment of CoRe objectives will set out a unique synergy between CS performance metrics (material flexibility, high deposition efficiency, unlimited build volume) and automation with geometrical accuracy. This advancement will push the repair sector towards an extremely flexible, unprecedentedly scalable, and remarkably customizable and sustainable level.

Future Applications

This will open the door to the coveted "freedom and accessibility in repair" to a wide range of applications. CoRe will also explore target applications, production impact, and marketability of its output.

Conclusion

This future-focused approach positions CoRe to lead a sustainable repair revolution.