the Supply, Delivery and Installation of 1 (one) Metal Additive Manufacturing System for The South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM), Waterford Institute of Technology (W.I.T)

Tender description

SEAM Research Centre in Waterford Institute of Technology is seeking to expand their additive manufacturing technology capability to include more precise metal printing. This kit is essential for carrying out the objectives and meeting the deliverables set out on the recently funded DTIF project E-BAMBI. The additive manufacturing equipment will ideally have been proven and qualified in a medical device application previously. It will be used to manufacture highly accurate parts as part of a research program in the additive manufacturing of implantable materials. As highlighted above, this piece of equipment is central to the success of the project. One primary benefit of a precision metal printer is the ability to control surface characteristics which can influence the ability of coatings to adhere and the resulting osseo-integration or bio-degradation of AM implants. The AM machine will be used to optimise process parameters for reactive, biocompatible materials such as Ti-6Al-4V, for the manufacture of small-scale, precision biomedical implants.The Equipment shall be capable of building with finer resolution and thinner layers than is currently available in larger platform systems, widely referred to as High Resolution build mode as standard. This will ideally be achieved through sub 20micron layers and sub 40micron laser spot size. Regarding Materials, we have identified Stainless Steel and Titanium as initial candidate powders, but we expect the system to be capable of building alternative as yet unidentified materials. This will require open access to build parameters. Suppliers will be expected to explain in further detail how this open access will be achieved.