How to transform waste in the form of aluminum into solid-state 3D-printed objects ?

Professor Aude Simar met Adrien Dolimont, Minister-President of the Walloon Government, to a meeting organized by the WEL Research Institute at GSK in Wavre.

During his visit, Adrien Dolimont discovered the RESSusCItAM project and observed the demonstrator, which was produced using solid-state additive manufacturing with friction stir technology.

Funded since 2023 by Wel-T, the RESSusCItAM project aims to transform waste aluminum shavings from the manufacturing industry into solid-state 3D-printed objects — a method that is far less energy-intensive than conventional fusion-based recycling.

Ultimately, this process will enable the production of the new ALMAZIUM® alloy, which was initially developed by my team for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) 3D printing. This innovative alloy has the remarkable ability to heal its own damage after heat treatment.