Electroforming of large scale nickel structures for leading edge energy, aerospace and marine applications

Electrochemical forming is currently used in manufacturing of niche and specialised products. However there is little scientific or technical understanding of the electrochemical or engineering parameters. The development of new chemistry and associated technology holds the key to its scale-up for volume manufacturing. To achieve this, the physico-chemical and electrochemical properties of the system need to be mapped and their effect on the structural and mechanical properties of the products explained. These data provide the knowledge base to simulate the process and verify by experiments. These validated models will then be used to propose optimised processes, based on which volume production in Industry 4.0 era can be achieved.