Rapid manufacturing advances at Loughborough

An outline of the current activities in the Rapid Manufacturing (RM) Group at Loughborough University, one of the new Innovation Research Centres funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC). A description is given of the facilities available for research and some of the projects underway – laminated tools for die casting, laser fusion of functionally‐graded materials, and design for RM. Another activity is the industrial Consortium that helps its members in the application of RM technologies. Three Consortium projects are described: deep slot tooling production using copper plated rapid prototype (RP) produced electrodes, cost reduction through RP‐produced patterns for investment casting, and production of thin walled investment cast components with RP‐built low thermal conductivity tooling.