CHAMPP Project Announced

We are excited to announce the new project funded by Innovate UK which will investigate addressing the challenges being faced the automotive sector when using additive manufacturing. The project will especially focus on electric vehicle (EV) uses in order to help meet the predicted demand of new vehicles and their associated efficiency targets. The Casting-Hybrid-Additive-Manufacturing-Parts-Production (CHAMPP) brings together experts from Brunel University London’s BCAST, Alloyed and its affiliate Autotech Engineering R&D Limited, Gestamp Tallent Ltd.

According to MarketsAndMarkets.com, in 2019 global sales of Electric Vehicles (EVs) reached ~3.3million units (a ~£123billion market value - Allied Market In scope 5/5 Research). This is projected to reach ~27m units/annum by 2030. The automotive industry must therefore adapt to the challenges associated with heavy batteries and the move towards modularity that is required for new business models such as ride-shares and temporary ownership. Additive Manufacturing (AM) has the potential to offer designers and manufacturers solutions, but is currently limited by speed, max part size and a relatively high cost-per-part (over twice the cost of casting).

The CHAMPP programme will address these challenges faced by the automotive industry by developing an innovative new no-feedback hybridisation process. CHAMPP will enable access to the benefits of AM (design flexibility) by combining it with the low cost-per-part of casting. Automotive manufacturers will be able to cast the main components across multiple models/OEMs, then use AM to customise those parts for specific variants at the volumes required, with parts that can only be 3D printed. Introducing AM will also support rapid and more cost-effective prototyping and design iteration.

Read more from the lead partner Alloyed:

AMPC (Advanced Metal Processing Centre) at Brunel University London