The newly launched CEMAP project aims to develop high-performance ceramic and metal materials for advanced manufacturing processes. Its primary objective is to cover the primary needs of the region’s industrial base by offering high added value solutions that differentiate it from other regions in Europe, thereby placing Basque companies in a more favorable position as well as engaging in training and coordinating various assets in the Advanced Materials Node of the Basque Digital Innovation Hub.

The project consortium, led by Ceit, also includes the technology centers Azterlan, Tecnalia, Lortek and Tekniker (all members of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance), the University of the Basque Country’s Department of Condensed Matter Physics, the School of Engineering in Bilbao, and the Department of Materials Physics and Magnetism research group, Mondragon University’s Faculty of Engineering, and the R&D unit at Eibar Precision Casting. This consortium is tackling the challenge of developing new advanced materials with high added value as well as improving existing production processes, especially for the transportation, aeronautics, energy and machine tool sectors.

CEMAP's specific objectives are to:

• Develop high entropy alloys (HEA) with high resistance to corrosion and wear, covering the gap between tool steels (wear resistance) and superalloys (good mechanical properties at high temperatures and high resistance to corrosion).
• Develop high ductile and medium entropy alloys in order to manufacture lighter structural components.
• Design new multifunctional high entropy alloys and shape memory alloys (SMA) and produce them via Additive Manufacturing.
• Improve weldability and mechanical properties, such as resistance to creep and corrosion, in superalloys for high temperature applications, and thus increasing their useful life and the safety of manufactured components.
• Develop ceramic and cermet materials for use in extreme conditions using additive manufacturing technologies.
• Develop soft magnetic particles coated with ceramic insulating layer and improved properties.
• Produce alloys with unique characteristics via atomization, making it possible to replace conventional alloys that contain critical materials, like cobalt-based superalloys.

The CEMAP project’s consortium, which is made up of members of the Basque Science and Technology Network, hopes to position itself at the forefront of European R&D and innovation groups in the field of advanced materials and latest-generation manufacturing technologies.