The project is led by the CIM of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) —an entity belonging to the UPC whose mission is to transfer engineering knowledge and technology management— and brings together the most prestigious research centres in Catalonia to enhance R+D+i in 3D printing.
With a budget of 3.7 M €, the consortium aims to face the main current challenges of additive manufacturing technologies, among which are the formulation of new materials, the optimization of technology to obtain functional parts, the finishes and post-processing, and an increased productivity. Each of the technologies proposed by the project will have a great impact in sectors such as the traditional industry, the food industry, the biomedical sector and the construction sector.
BASE3D is divided into 4 sub-projects:
– Light3D: focused on studying 3D technologies related to light for additive manufacturing (3D printing) with the aim of improving materials and their use for its multiple applications.
– Fuse3D: focuses on improving part shaping systems by depositing hot material in semi-molten or pasty form, mainly applicable to plastic, metallic or mixed materials.
– Ink3D: focused on responding to the great technological printing challenges by depositing viscous materials at room temperature with the aim of obtaining 3D structures with high control of the multi-scale structure and the manufacture of complex multi-material and core-shell parts. It will optimize the quality and resolution of parts manufacturing for applications in the field of energy and biomedicine.
– Hybrid3D: its purpose is the development, optimization and integration of different additive manufacturing technologies to obtain multimaterial parts with high added value.
The project takes part in the emerging technologies program promoted by the Generalitat of Catalonia (co-financier of the project) through its “Research and Innovation Strategy for the Smart Specialization of Catalonia” (RIS3CAT for its acronym in Catalan). RIS3CAT encourages the development of new emerging activities based on innovative technologies or processes that aim to open new markets or transform those that already exist. These are new technologies with high potential to generate new economic activities that are priorities in the research and innovation policies of the Government of Catalonia and for the European Union.
The BASE3D group is composed of a long list of members, among which are the following research institutes and companies, as well as 12 UPC research groups and centres that will receive 45% of the total budget for the BASE3D project. :
- Centro Internacional de Métodos Numéricos en la Ingeniería (CIMNE)
- El grupo GEMAT del Instituto Químico de Sarrià (IQS)
- Instituto Catalán de Investigación Química (ICIQ)
- Fundación y el Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
- Instituto de Investigación en Energía de Catalunya (IREC)
- El Grupo de Investigación en Ingeniería de Producto Proceso y Producción (GREP) de la Universitat de Girona (UdG)
- Centro de Diseño y Optimización de Procesos y Materiales (DIOPMA) de la Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
- Centro de Prototipos y Soluciones Hardware-Software (CEPHIS) de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
- LEITAT
- Eurecat
