Singapore’s A*STAR launches industrial Additive Manufacturing research programme
November 27, 2013
Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has launched a new research programme to develop a number of critical technologies to help grow the countries industrial Additive Manufacturing (AM) sector.
It is expected that advanced manufacturing technologies like AM will help to strengthen and support Singapore’s manufacturing base, particularly the aerospace, automotive, oil & gas, marine and precision engineering industries. These industries are evolving into more complex and advanced high-mix, low-volume production, requiring new technical skills and high-tech processes.
Dr Tan Geok Leng, Executive Director of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council, stated, “This programme aims to develop innovative additive manufacturing technologies and capabilities to transform the manufacturing landscape of Singapore, and rejuvenate the manufacturing workforce by introducing such advanced manufacturing techniques. Singapore is already well positioned to respond to the needs of this new growth area with its established sectors such as the precision engineering and aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industries as the lead demand drivers.”
The A*STAR-funded programme is led by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of A*STAR. Under the programme, SIMTech will work in close partnership with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a key research performer in AM technologies, on AM process design and development for direct manufacturing of components.
In addition, two other A*STAR research institutes, namely, the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) as well as the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) will utilise their respective research expertise in materials development as well as modelling and simulation to support the collaboration.
The following six process technologies have been identified to form the key thrusts of the programme:
- Laser Aided Additive Manufacturing (LAAM)
- Selective Laser Melting (SLM)
- Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
- Polyjet
- Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
- Stereolithography (SLA)
