The general objective of the MOLDAM project, Flexible and Hybrid Robotic Manufacturing of Composite Moulds for Large Parts in Main Industrial Sectors,  is to develop a new and breakthrough flexible production system for the Hybrid Manufacturing of moulds for large     composite parts in the main industrial sectors: Energy, Aeronautics, Automotive.

Moulds for composite parts are generally made by combined machining and welding processes, or by using Automatic Fiber Place (AFP) machines.

In MOLDAM the preforms of the moulds will be manufactured by an extruder system integrated onto a robot, combining of an already existing Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology of very high productivity. This technology will be highly productive and will produce moulds of high accuracy and very complex shapes, besides enhancing the flexibility of production by the advantages of Hybrid Manufacturing. The production of moulds will be based on a combination of thermoplastic and composite materials.

The project will also tackle the optimization of the design and materials of the moulds, using “Design for Hybrid Manufacturing” techniques. The robotic system will integrate all the required hardware and software for the automation of the Additive process and the other required post-processes (compacting, machining or surface coating). a high-productivity extruder of material, a control and monitoring system, a compacting system, a machining unit, etc. Besides, the process will be optimized, supported by a large batch of experiments and simulations (MOLDAM software).

The project will also develop a Digital Twin of the robotic cell, integrating sensors and other monitoring systems with models and simulations. A CAM software will be customized for this process and system. The 2022 project will finish with the AM of 2 prototypes of preforms of moulds and their validation, with a conceptual design and a virtual validation of the whole hybrid cell.

At the end of 2022, it is expected the commercialization of MOLDAM solutions for the Additive Manufacturing (AM) of preforms and the MOLDAM knowledge software. In 2023 post-processes for getting fully functional moulds will be optimized and integrated: Machining for parts made by AM, surface Coating, methods for joining modules, etc..

MOLDAM project will be validated in two Use-Cases, for two different End-Users (AERNNOVA and SUZLON), with different mould parts, processes and materials, but with similar needs to which the MOLDAM project and Hybrid robotic Manufacturing Cell can respond.