On the Sofa with... Iñigo Idarreta - MTorres

Advanced Manufacturing – How did the idea of creating high-temperature moulds using additive manufacturing come about? What are the main benefits of this technology for the aeronautical sector?

Iñigo Idarreta – The subject of moulds in additive manufacturing or additive manufacturing applications in large dimensions, is a line of work that we had been working on at MTorres for some time, but we had not tackled the part of high-temperature moulds, autoclave-cured moulds, especially for the aeronautical sector.

As part of a project with other companies in the sector, the need arose to propose new, more efficient and sustainable processes in line with the ideas of circularity.

We then saw the possibility of introducing additive manufacturing as a support for the manufacture of high-temperature moulds, and we proposed this option, it was seen in the consortium that it had possibilities and we began to work on it.

The solution we propose, which is a multi-material mould, has additive and other components. It offers, compared to current solutions, much shorter development times thanks to additive manufacturing and the level of automation it can achieve, it offers a much more sustainable solution because practically 90% of the structure we generate is based on thermoplastic resins that are much easier to recycle later, and it also offers a solution with a significantly higher number or useful life than the most common processes applied with additive manufacturing to moulds.

There is still the issue of price, but I would say that innovations such as ours and many others that are being implemented in the sector are necessary to achieve volumes of need for the application of additive manufacturing on a large scale that allow large volumes of material consumption and that leads to a synergy of cost reduction.

With that, we could already say that the solution we propose is prettier, better and cheaper.

With that, we could already say that the solution we propose is nicer, better and cheaper.

A.M. – How do you see the additive manufacturing sector evolving in the coming years?

I.I. – Additive manufacturing is a technology that everyone is talking about and over the last few years it has grown a lot. Impressive things are being done. It is jumping from one niche to another based on technological innovations. But as I said, we need more technological innovation like ours, like many others that many technologists are putting on the table to open up new niches so that growth continues to be exponential and that in the end this results in better conditions, more knowledge, more integration for everyone.

I think the future is very optimistic. We continue to see a lot of mentors, a lot of trajectory and a long way ahead and we want to be part of this wave.