The challenge
Supporting a growing metallic additive manufacturing industry
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, offers huge advantages over traditional manufacturing methods for increased efficiencies and productivity.
In addition to reducing waste material, bringing down labour costs, and speeding up the development and test phase, additive manufacturing allows for product customisation and the ability to make complex parts.
As Australian adoption of metallic 3D printing increases, so does the need for innovative technologies and processes to support the growing industry.
We're investing in metallic additive manufacturing research and development to strengthen and enhance local manufacturing and ensure global competitiveness for Australian businesses.
Our response
Supporting industry with innovative technology and processes
The Lab22 Innovation Centre is one of Australia's leading centres for metallic additive manufacturing, with broad expertise and capability.
Since Lab22 opened its doors in 2015, our mission has been to increase the adoption of metallic additive manufacturing across Australia.
We have worked with Australian companies to make metallic additive manufacturing technologies more accessible, which has helped stimulate local investment in the technology. Our world-class additive manufacturing researchers have developed novel technologies that have resulted in the creation of new companies. Working with Monash University, we helped create and promote Australia’s first Additive Manufacturing Hub. Generously supported by the Victorian Government and led by AMTIL, the Additive Manufacturing Hub has taken responsibility for promoting additive manufacturing and further stimulating industry adoption of additive manufacturing in Australia.
Lab22 houses a vast array of metallic additive manufacturing technologies. Our machines can be categorised based on how the raw material is fed (powder bed, cold spray, blown powder) or their heat source (e-beam or laser). They can also handle a wide variety of materials including ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and sand.
Lab 22 offers:
- Metallic 3D printing (e.g. titanium, aluminium)
- Advanced machining for improved profitability
- Surface engineering for enhanced performance
- Laser assisted additive deposition
- Laser heat treatments.
Our equipment includes:
- Arcam A1
- Concept Laser M2
- Optomec LENS MR-7
- Voxelject VX1000
- Cold Spray Plasma Giken.
Our experts work closely with companies on cost-effective solutions, catering to a wide spectrum of requirements, such as increasing the speed, performance and affordability of technologies. We capture 3D data and simulate both the manufacturing process and in-service part performance. Our designers can turn a new design idea into a testable prototype within a week.
We're working on some exciting future developments which include new innovative materials and additive manufacturing techniques for the Space, Defence and Medical Industries. We help manufacturers optimise build parameters for difficult-to-make products and better predict product performance characteristics. We explore the potential for metal-matrix composites, develop robotic free-form additive manufacture and design computational models for additive manufacturing processes.
These innovations help support a growing Australian additive manufacturing sector and provide local businesses with a globally competitive edge.