Metallic materials processes
Metal welding & additive manufacturing
Innovative metal processes are one of the pillars of the technological research carried out at the IRT Jules Verne (Nantes) since 2012. The objective is twofold: to industrialize additive manufacturing technologies (DED-fil and AFSD) and to automate welding assembly (Arc and FSW) by improving productivity and quality.
Supervised by Grégoire Bazin, our technological research team is made up of about fifteen R&D engineers, experts, technicians and PhD students. It develops innovations for metal manufacturing processes based on additive manufacturing and metal welding technologies in liquid and solid state.
The team relies on know-how in metal processes and materials and on state-of-the-art equipment that differentiates it. It works in synergy with the other research teams of the IRT Jules Verne in order to offer global support.
- Automated Metal Welding Assembly
- Large-Scale Metal Additive Manufacturing Using DED Wire (Liquid State)
- AFSD Large-Scale Metal Additive Manufacturing (Solid-State)
- Repair and Reloading
Developing innovative metal welding and additive manufacturing processes to meet industrial challenges
Innovation in metal processes makes it possible to improve product performance, lighten structures, reduce cycle times and better control processes.
The industrial challenges relate to the decarbonization and material sobriety of metal processes, the sovereignty of value chains, the automation and qualification of processes, as well as the development of additive manufacturing and repair solutions. These solutions make it possible to produce, repair and extend the life of high value-added metal parts.
At IRT Jules Verne, the technologies developed by our Metallic Materials Processes team aim to concretely improve industrial productivity as well as the geometric, microstructural and mechanical quality of parts.
These challenges are cross-cutting to several major industrial sectors in France, such as aeronautics, shipbuilding, defence, energy and railways.
Our expertise in overcoming technological barriers in metalworking processes
The team's technology roadmap stems directly from the industrial issues identified.
The team has key skills in metallurgy and characterization, welding standards (IWE & IWS certifications), thermomechanical interactions, integration study, techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis.
- Titanium alloy
- Nickel base alloy
- Aluminum alloy
- Steels
- Stainless steels
- TIG
- MIG/MAG
- Friction stir welding (FSW)
- Submerged arc welding
- Plasma welding
- Laser welding
- WAAM: Arc Wire DED
- WLAM: Laser DED-wire
- AFSD: Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing, Solid State
Innovative metalworking processes developed at the IRT Jules Verne
Our state-of-the-art equipment dedicated to innovative metal processes
Robotic Welding Cell and WAAM
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Additive Manufacturing and Controlled-Atmosphere Welding Cell
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- Welding robots
- MIG/MAG Technology
- TIG Technology
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Our ongoing PERFORM theses on metal processes and additive manufacturing
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Valentin CLAVIER GEM, IMN, Nantes UniversitéThermo-mechanical-metallurgical simulation of the manufacture of titanium alloy parts by the WAAM process and their mechanical behavior by a mean-field approach.
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Arthur RAQUIN IMN, Nantes UniversitéImprovement of the mechanical properties of titanium alloy parts obtained by WAAM additive manufacturing by vibration of the melt pool
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Pauline ARNOULIN GEM, IMN, Nantes UniversitéControl of thermals during arc-wire additive manufacturing (WAAM) for optimization of the deposition rate and microstructure. Application to the case of stainless steels.
Examples of R&D projects focused on metalworking processes
Developing large-scale INVAR® tools without the need for foundry
The ARWEN project combines paver assembly, robotic welding and WAAM additive manufacturing to produce mold blanks for the draping of aeronautical composite materials.
Read the case study
Developing a robotic welding strategy for the nuclear sector
For Framatome, IRT Jules Verne mobilized its robotics and metal processes teams to evaluate the robotic WAAM technology for stainless steel hardfacing, combined with 3D scanning detection.
Read the case study
they trust us
Our goal is to make additive manufacturing an industrial reality and to automate assembly by welding. Our ambition is to give manufacturers the means to produce better in France, to repair rather than replace and to sustainably strengthen their competitiveness through innovation.
Our other areas of technological expertise
- Composites Improve the performance (cost and throughput) of manufacturing processes for complex, lightweight and large structures.
- Modelling & Simulation Providing reliable data to facilitate decision-making and reduce the time and cost of process development
- Monitoring & process control Develop non-destructive testing of critical parts and monitor manufacturing processes to reduce production costs.
- Robotics & Cobotics Automating processes and optimising the deployment of robots in complex industrial environments