The "Team ePeek," composed of two students from the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , Olivier Le Pans and Théo Le Paih, third-year engineering students in the general engineering apprenticeship program, won first prize in the PEEK SOLVAY international additive manufacturing competition.
Manufacturing high-performance parts using 3D printing
Organized by Solvay, a leading global chemical company, the Additive Manufacturing Cup (AM Cup) is an international student competition. Organized in two stages, the challenge was to reproduce parts using 3D printing with 1.5 kg of a polymer that is very difficult to print using fused filament fabrication: PEEK.
For the first stage, Team ePeek had three months to print a simple part. For the second stage, the challenge was to print Solvay's S logo and a tensile test tube. "The second stage was the most difficult because the parts had to be printed vertically, which is more challenging in additive manufacturing," explains Théo Le Paih. The teams were evaluated on the mechanical properties, dimensional accuracy, and aesthetics of the parts produced using additive manufacturing.
A total of 32 teams from 26 universities representing 13 countries competed. After an initial selection alongside nine other universities, the "Team ePeek" fromthe Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers came out on top thanks to the tensile strength of the part, which was exceptional for this process and similar to that of plastic injection molding! The team won first place in the competition, receiving €10,000 for academic, entrepreneurial, or societal objectives!
Winning this competition gives us credibility in the field of additive manufacturing; it is recognition of the work we have accomplished!
A professional competition
The keys to success lie in the unwavering motivation of the Arts et Métiers students Arts et Métiers , despite their very busy schedules due to their status as apprentices."They had to use their imagination to design a 3D printing process and enable the French Absolute 2 additive manufacturing machine to achieve a high level of performance ," explains Julien Artozoul, the teacher who supervised the students.
"The challenge was to precisely control the temperature of the material during printing, which could reach 400°C. To do this, we directly modified the machine's software and open-source architecture, for example by manufacturing electronic cards," adds Théo Le Paih. One of the evaluation criteria was the material's resistance, so Olivier and Théo also conducted mechanical tests on their parts to find the best printing parameters and configurations. This competition allowed them to compete against other international schools and universities with high-level competitors. "Like a company in a competitive environment, you have to know how to stand out and make a difference!" explainsOlivier Le Pans.
For Théo, who was already interested in high-performance polymers, this competition reinforced his idea of pursuing additive manufacturing, either through an entrepreneurial or academic project!
What is Innovative Process Engineering expertise?
Opened at the start of the 2018 academic year on the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , the Innovative Process Engineering (IPI) program trains third-year engineering students in the possibilities and challenges of emerging processes used in the factory of the future, including additive manufacturing. It complements the technical knowledge and skills acquired as part of the Arts et Métiers engineering program.
