ITP Aero and IMDEA Materials are collaborating on an R&D program called ENVIDIA which aims to develop software capable of simulating the production of aeronautical components using additive layer manufacturing technologies (also known as 3D printers). This program’s activities began in mid-2018, with the intention of completing the development of this technology during 2021. This milestone would make ITP Aero and IMDEA Materials world pioneers in this type of simulation, giving both organizations a privileged position in terms of additive layer production simulation.

ENVIDIA is part of the Challenges Collaboration program run by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The culmination of this project will be the generation of a virtual platform that can be integrated into the R&D activities of ITP Aero and, subsequently become part of its industrial production chain.

The development of this technology will provide a differential competitive advantage when it comes to simulating the final result of the manufacturing process and will therefore allow the design to be efficiently optimized and the cost and time of development and certification to be reduced. In turn, this strategy will allow IMDEA Materials to extend the progress achieved in the case of nickel super alloys to other metallic materials.

Erlantz Cristóbal, executive director of technology at ITP Aero, comments that: “ENVIDIA is the result of our commitment to collaborating with technology centers and universities, one of the cornerstones of our plan to develop proprietary technology and digitalization. I have no doubt that ENVIDIA’s results will provide us with a competitive advantage in a technological area as important as additive manufacturing, consolidating ITP Aero’s position as a leading global technology company”.  

In addition to simulation, ITP Aero works on other digitization projects such as systems integration, cyber security, augmented reality, big data, automation and robotics.