TU/e secures funding to industrialize volumetric AM

According to Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Motion Imager, together with the Mechanics of Materials (MoM) and Processing and Performance (P&P) sections of the Mechanical Engineering department at TU/e, has secured substantial funding to advance volumetric additive manufacturing from a scientific breakthrough to a scalable technology suitable for series production. The project was selected after a rigorous evaluation by the Materials Innovation Institute (M2i) and Holland HighTech, recognizing its potential to transform advanced manufacturing by bridging the gap between fundamental materials science and manufacturable engineering solutions.

The collaboration combines original scientific insights with established expertise in materials processing and performance to deliver reproducible, industrially viable manufacturing methods. Its ambition is reflected in a broad interdisciplinary commitment within TU/e and close cooperation with Motion Imager’s development team.

A core focus is aligning material design with manufacturability. Designing materials without considering the fabrication process leads to scrap, reduced performance yield, limited tunability, and carbon-intensive manufacturing. The project aims to ensure that as-manufactured material properties match as-designed specifications, preserving full structural functionality without compromising manufacturability.

The challenge is illustrated through the example of a micro-thruster for satellites and space shuttles. Such components demand extreme mechanical, optical, thermal, and chemical tolerances to maintain precise orbital trajectories. Multiple propellants, complex heat transfer, oxidation reactions, and corrosion effects all influence thrust performance. Meeting these requirements calls for multi-thickness walls below tens of micrometers, multi-material compositions across chambers, non-planar geometries, micro-scale surface roughness, and intricate internal scaffolds.

These are precisely the types of structures enabled by the volumetric AM approach under development. The process can achieve Buy-to-Fly ratios close to 1, significantly reducing waste, compared to ratios of 2 for simple geometries and up to 20 for complex structures produced via conventional or layer-based methods.

The project targets micron-scale and sub-micron surface control at production scale, including unsupported non-planar and hanging features, while achieving reproducibility for series manufacturing. This translational collaboration between academia and industry is designed to close the gap between scientific and technological breakthroughs, delivering standardized techniques, computational tools, and structured workflows for applications spanning automotive, aerospace, space, biomedical, and soft robotics.