A Memorandum of Association for the Development of Additive Technologies was signed in Russia on 3 December on the sidelines of the Leader Forum “Additive Technologies. Expanding horizons”.

The founders of the new association include industry integrator Rusatom - Additive Technologies (RusAT, part of TVEL, Rosatom’s fuel company) represented by General Director Mikhail Turundayev; Concern East Kazakhstan region Almaz-Antey, represented by Deputy General Director and Director of the north-western regional centre Mikhail Podvyaznikov; Gazprom Neft represented by Director of the Directorate for Digital Transformation Andrey Belevtsev; and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Aviation Materials (VIAM SSC RF) represented by Deputy General Director Olga Ospennikova.

RusAT General Director Mikhail Turundaev said the main task of the Association was “to consolidate the efforts of specialised organisations and state corporations to develop competencies in all areas of 3D printing in order to bring the Russian industry of additive technologies to the forefront in the world”.

After signing the Memorandum of Association, the Forum business programme was launched. The main part of this was the Plenary Session on the topic “Expanding the Horizons of Additive Manufacturing: How to Turn Prospects into Leadership”. Andrey Klepach, Chief Economist of the Russian National Development Corporation (VEB.RF), moderated the meeting. The nuclear industry was represented by Rosatom First Deputy General Director Kirill Komarov and TVEL President Natalya Nikipelova.

Kirill Komarov in his speech noted the particular importance of the implementation of the Roadmap as the main instrument of the Agreement of Intent between the Government of the Russian Federation and Rosatom in order to develop in Russia a high-tech area, "Technology of new materials and substances".

Komarov listed some of its targets. “The development of additive technologies a focus of attention for state organisations, and state nuclear corporation Rosatom was entrusted to lead this area. According to our calculations, the implementation of the Roadmap will accelerate the growth of the additive technologies market in the country by 2.5 times, and by 2030 this market may reach RUB170 billion ($2.4bn). In total, it is planned to allocate more than RUB81 billion for the implementation of the Roadmap measures."

Natalya Nikipelova said that 180 centres for additive technologies will be created in Russia by 2030, ten of which a will be set up by Rosatom. She noted that the first additive centre will be launched in Moscow in December. It will be equipped with RusAT printers and will demonstrate all the possibilities of additive technologies for implementation in various industries.

“The Centre for Additive Technologies in Moscow is already a production site where we debug equipment, as well as provide additive printing services on demand for our customers. In addition to organising centres for additive technologies, we have also launched ten pilot projects for the use of 3D printing in the nuclear industry, including the printing of anti-debris filters for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly and a fuel assembly for research reactors,” she noted.

Immediately after the Plenary session, a business section was held, the first session of which - a dialogue with representatives of Russian and foreign companies - was moderated by Turundaev. Representatives from Farsoon Technologies (China), EOS (Germany), SLM Solutions (Germany), Dassault Systèmes (France), SIU System (Russia) and AddUp (France) described their experience of integrating additive manufacturing products into technological chains, and also emphasised the great prospects for the development of 3D printing in Russia. For example, Thomas Veitlaner, Director of Key Account Management at EOS, noted that about a hundred 3D printing systems from his company are currently operating in Russia, and it is planned to increase their number in the near future.

“A large number of additive products have already appeared on the global 3D printing market, and now it is necessary to establish processes for their integration into production and supply chains. Due to the increased number of national 3D developments, this task is also urgent for the Russian Federation. We hope that the exchange of experience with both Russian and foreign companies within the framework of the  Forum will contribute to the development of universal competence and increase the number of successful integration cases,”  Turundaev said.

An online exposition of additive products was also organised as part of the Forum. RusAT presented a prototype of a filter element of a fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor and a number of experimental samples. RusAT's activities are focused on four key areas: the production of a line of 3D printers and their components, the creation of materials and metal powders for 3D printing, the development of integrated software for additive systems, as well as the provision of services for 3D printing and the introduction of additive technologies into production (including the organisation of production centres).

Photo: The agreement was signed in December (Credit: VIAM)