Metal Additive Manufacturing

Contribute to the future of sustainable manufacturing by specialising in metal additive manufacturing processes, capabilities, system design and modelling. This MSc delivers the specialist knowledge, skills and experience required to work in this cutting-edge field, enabling you to become part of the bigger sustainability landscape. Metal additive manufacturing holds the potential to revolutionise the way we manufacture products, reduce material waste, energy consumption, and transportation emissions, while also enabling the production of lightweight and complex parts that would be difficult or impossible to produce using traditional manufacturing methods. Metal AM technologies play an important role in improving the sustainability of a range of industries, including the production of lightweight parts in aerospace, automotive and medical industries. During the course, you will gain practical experience through assignments as well as group and individual projects carried out in close collaboration with leading industrial technology suppliers and end-users. Access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, such as one of the world's largest metal 3D printers, will allow you to develop industry-relevant skills and contribute to the development of innovative and sustainable applications for this technology.

Who is it for? This MSc is for students with suitable backgrounds in science and engineering who are keen on learning new manufacturing technology. Typically, students hold degrees in subjects such as mechanical engineering, materials engineering and they may have work experience in different industries for several years.

Why this course? Metal additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing by reducing material waste, increasing design freedom and providing the ability to produce complex parts that would be difficult or impossible to produce using traditional methods.

At Cranfield University, you will benefit from over 20 years’ experience in large-scale additive manufacturing of metallic structures on all fronts such as:

Process design and modelling Incorporation of ancillary processes (cold work, metrology, inspection) Development of specialist hardware and CAM software Qualification of material properties and definition of design and manufacturing rules. As a student, you will gain access to our state-of-the-art additive manufacturing facilities including Wire + Arc AM systems (based on robotic arms), CNC gantries, laser-wire additive manufacturing systems and powder-based systems. Cranfield University also has one of the largest metal 3D printers ever made. This enables the production of metal parts at significantly reduced time and cost when compared to existing methods.

You will also get experience across a range of materials, including alloys such as titanium, aluminium, iron, nickel and copper-based systems as well as exotic elements such as tungsten, molybdenum, and tantalum.

The teaching and project work draws knowledge from a team of approximately 30 people, and you will have the chance to work on projects within the WAAMMat consortium. This currently includes 20 industry partners (including Airbus, BAE SYSTEMS, Lockheed Martin and more). Find out more about WAAMMat.

Discover the unique facilities available to you as a student on this course..