£10m hi-tech centre to give firms an extra dimension

The university has redeveloped The Mercury Centre, which is based within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, to expand its expertise, particularly in three-dimensional printing.

The investment, which was revealed by the Yorkshire Post earlier this year, includes new equipment for a range of advanced manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing, functional coatings and surface treatment.

Three-dimensional printing has been used for more than a decade, but mostly to produce bracket prototypes quickly and cheaply before making the real thing out of solid metal.

However, as 3D printers develop their capabilities, they are being used increasingly to make final products.

The university has been using 3D printing technology for the last four years. So far it has produced artificial knee and hip replacements, lightweight hinges for the aerospace industry, and brackets for Formula One cars, but the new investment means it can now make much larger parts.

The 3D printers work like ordinary desktop printers but instead of putting down ink on paper, they stack up layers of material to make 3D shapes.

Sheffield University previously had one machine with a maximum capacity of 200mm x 200mm x 350mm. Now it will be able to produce parts four or five times bigger than its current capacity.

Each layer takes about 30-40 seconds to produce, so depending on how large the part is, it can take between two and 40 hours to make an object.

Although established mass-production techniques are unlikely to be replaced completely, factories are already using 3D printers alongside milling machines, presses, foundries and plastic injection-moulding equipment.

The university, which is already working with Rolls Royce, Boeing and Airbus, is hoping to work with more companies which want to explore the technology.

Dr Iain Todd, director of the Mercury Centre, said: “We are helping companies to adopt these technologies by offering them access to our research facilities and the opportunity to explore the business benefits.

“We can provide a phased approach, beginning with an initial investigation of business needs and exploratory tests, through to long term-product or process optimisation.”

The Mercury Centre is working with companies in a number of ways, from short-term contracted consultancy through to knowledge transfer partnerships, PhD studentships and even large scale multi-partner projects.

For more information, contact Dr Martin Highett on 0114 2225981.