ARTICLE: Revolutionizing Aerospace: AMRC North West’s Quest for Advanced Hydrogen Storage

AMRC North West is exploring the use of wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) to produce hydrogen storage tanks for aerospace applications. Dr. Evren Yasa, Head of Additive Manufacturing (AM), led a team of researchers on a project using WAAM, a production process used to 3D print metal parts using an electric arc to melt a metal wire and deposit layers of melted metal on top of each other until a desired 3D shape is created. WAAM is used in various industrial sectors, including energy, defense, automotive, construction, and aerospace, to produce large and complex structural components, reducing the need for assembly and joining technologies and waste material.

The project’s goal was to use WAAM’s in-house skills to build a demonstrator storage tank for liquid hydrogen out of an aluminum alloy that could be used in the aerospace industry. Hydrogen is a highly sustainable energy carrier and is considered a key to achieving climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. However, challenges around how to store hydrogen are limiting its full potential.

The group wanted to find out if WAAM could be used for metal storage tanks by figuring out the best process parameters and deposition strategies to get good mechanical properties. They also aimed to investigate and counteract residual stresses due to the high heat input generated during the WAAM process.

The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult paid for the seven-month project. It is now waiting for the outcome of a second funding bid to investigate how additive manufacturing (AM) affects the mechanical properties of cryogenic materials and the ability to pass hydrogen. Future projects will try to solve these problems by working together with people in the industry, making sure that rules and standards are followed, creating guidelines for additive manufacturing, doing cost-benefit analyses, and encouraging acceptance by interacting with and sharing knowledge with the aerospace industry.