COMSENSO Project
MISSIONS | MIP - 20211010
Currently, additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, and in particular Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technologies, which include Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) based on the GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) process, are attracting growing interest from industry and experiencing very significant growth. Despite achieving a high deposition rate, WAAM technology still does not compete with traditional manufacturing processes, mainly due to the difficulty in guaranteeing the quality of the manufactured part and the lack of process stability.
The main objective of the COMSENSO project is to develop a new additive manufacturing technology for metallic components based on laser-assisted WAAM (L-WAAM), which will overcome the main barriers faced by AM, namely: achieving high productivity and guaranteeing the manufacture of multi-material components with zero defects.
Therefore, the goal is to develop a new additive manufacturing process aimed at manufacturing large-sized parts. Specifically, the project will address multi-material systems in steel/invar and stainless steel/Inconel for the aeronautical and metal-mechanic sectors, although the developments will be extrapolable to many other sectors (railway, energy, etc.).
To this end, COMSENSO aims to achieve the following technical objectives:
1) Development of the L-WAAM process:
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Development of a new high-power diode laser source coupled to fiber.
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Development of an L-WAAM head that allows combining the laser beam with the electric arc.
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Development of the process for embedding FBG sensors in manufactured parts for in-service life monitoring.
2) Development of a digital L-WAAM platform:
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Generation of a digital twin of the manufactured part.
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Development of an online process monitoring and control system based on the capture and analysis of images taken by an infrared camera.
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Development of an intelligent manufacturing assistance system capable of predicting the appearance of potential defects in the part.
3) Development of an integrated L-WAAM cell:
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Manufacture of a demonstrator.
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Technical-economic analysis of the solution.
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Product life cycle analysis.
The COMSENSO consortium is formed by the following entities:
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INESPASA – A company based in Seville with over 30 years of experience in developing comprehensive solutions for Aerostructure projects: Design and Manufacturing of Tooling, Manufacturing of Machined Elementals, and Assembly of Subassemblies.
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SYSPRO – A company based in Nigrán (Pontevedra), specialized in technical engineering services in the fields of automation, integration, industrial software, and machine vision.
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BEZZIER – A company based in Gijón, specialized, on one hand, in the development and commercialization of industrial software solutions for manufacturing automation and productivity improvement, and on the other, in the production of metal parts using additive manufacturing with WAAM technology.
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MONOCROM – A company based in Barcelona, it is the only one at the national level that develops diode lasers, providing standard and customized solutions for medical-aesthetic, industrial, and defense applications.
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NIT – A company based in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), whose main business is manufacturing and marketing high-speed uncooled detectors and sensitive systems in the mid-wave infrared spectral region (MWIR / 1-5 microns). It is the only company in the world capable of manufacturing uncooled, low-cost focal plane arrays (FPA) and imaging systems.
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CiTD - A company based in Getafe, a leader in providing comprehensive innovation and product engineering services, established in 2015 as a continuation of the activity that the engineering firm ITD had been carrying out for over a decade in the aerospace and defense sector.
Furthermore, AIMEN and GRADIANT also participated as subcontractors, technological centers located in the province of Pontevedra with recognized prestige in the development of advanced manufacturing processes and solutions in the field of digitalization, respectively.
File: MIP-20211010
Acronym: COMSENSO
Title: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF SENSORIZED MULTIMATERIAL COMPONENTS USING LASER-ASSISTED WAAM TECHNOLOGY
Grant Amount (€): €229,569.55
Duration: 2021 -2023
Description: CDTI Missions Program, 2021 call.
This project is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and "Granted by CDTI".
Project microsite: COMSENSO PROJECT
