News & events
An AMAZE-ing project | 19/02/2013
CCFE has begun work on an exciting new collaborative materials research programme, 'AMAZE' (Additive Manufacturing Aiming towards Zero waste and Efficient production of high-tech metal products).
This work is part of an international partnership being co-ordinated by the European Space Agency and is being 50% funded by the EU to the tune of €10 million.
CCFE's role in the project, for which it will receive £500,000, will be to investigate the joining of materials for high heat-flux applications. This is of real interest in the divertor region of a fusion tokamak as outlined in Missions 2, 3, and 6 of the European Fusion Development Agreement's fusion roadmap.
The collaboration – comprising 28 partners in total – will aim to set up four pilot factories producing additively manufactured materials by 2016 for use in the fields of aeronautics, space, nuclear fusion and automative manufacturing.
Chris Waldon of CCFE's Central Engineering Department has a leading role in the project: "This area represents a vital challenge for fusion and underpins CCFE's credibility as a future fusion power plant design centre. Collaborating with industry and academia provides us with an opportunity to help bridge the gap from science to the realisation of optimised engineering solutions."
