A new UK research initiative announced today will investigate how additive manufacturing can be used to produce materials capable of operating in extreme environments, beginning with components required for fusion energy systems. The project, titled DIADEM (Design of Interfaces for Additively Engineered Metamaterials), focuses on developing manufacturing approaches for multi-metal components that are difficult to produce using conventional techniques.
DIADEM is led by the Centre for Additive Manufacturing, an additive manufacturing research group based at the University of Nottingham, in partnership with the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the UK’s national organisation responsible for fusion energy research. Funding is provided through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Adventurous Manufacturing programme under UK Research and Innovation. Industrial partners supporting the work include Rolls-Royce, Manufacturing Technology Centre, and Aerosint.
One of the central technical challenges addressed by the project is the difficulty of combining tungsten and copper within a single manufactured component. Fusion systems require materials that can tolerate extreme operating conditions, including high temperatures, strong magnetic fields, and sustained neutron exposure. Tungsten is commonly selected for its resistance to heat and erosion, while copper is used for its ability to conduct heat away from critical areas. Differences in melting point, thermal conductivity, and mechanical behaviour make these metals difficult to join reliably using traditional manufacturing routes.
Conventional joining and manufacturing methods often result in cracking, void formation, or residual thermal stress at the interface between tungsten and copper. DIADEM will investigate whether additive manufacturing techniques can provide improved control over how these dissimilar metals are processed together. The research will focus on Multi-Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (MM-LPBF), an additive manufacturing process that enables controlled placement of different metal powders during fabrication.
MM-LPBF allows variation in material composition and structure across multiple length scales, from micro to macro. Using this approach, the project aims to produce engineered metamaterials in which transitions between tungsten and copper are graded rather than abrupt. Such control is intended to address interface-related issues observed in conventionally manufactured parts. The work is particularly relevant for plasma-facing components, which are exposed to extreme heat flux and radiation inside fusion devices.
Research outcomes from DIADEM are expected to support materials development for multiple fusion programmes. These include STEP, the UK’s prototype fusion power plant programme, which is targeting operation in 2040, as well as privately funded fusion projects. Improved methods for manufacturing multi-metal components are considered necessary for scaling fusion technologies toward power plant deployment.
Allan Harte, Fusion Technology Research Portfolio Manager at UKAEA, said the project forms part of ongoing efforts to address technical barriers to fusion deployment. “Fusion promises to be a safe, low-carbon, sustainable part of the world’s future energy supply, and the UK has a great opportunity to become a global exporter of fusion technology,” Harte said. “However, achieving fusion means solving complex challenges. This project, leveraging additive manufacturing to help manufacture key fusion components, forms part of UKAEA’s ongoing efforts to bring fusion energy closer to commercial reality.”
Professor Richard Hague, Director of the Centre for Additive Manufacturing, said: “Joining two dissimilar metals has been a critical problem for the fusion sector, where the ability to blend two metals together is imperative for progress in this area. Using this state-of-the-art multi-material additive manufacturing technique for fusion energy is just the first application – in the future, DIADEM will benefit any sector where high-performance, multi-metal components are required, such as aerospace, defence and healthcare. By mastering multi-metal additive manufacturing, we’re opening the door to a new generation of engineered materials.”
Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director for Strategy at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, said the project reflects EPSRC’s focus on high-risk manufacturing research. “By pioneering new ways to fuse metals for extreme environments, this project is helping to tackle one of fusion energy’s toughest challenges,” Pandya said. “This research is working towards making fusion energy a reality with the potential to bring clean and sustainable energy to people across the country.”
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Featured photo shows Researchers at the Centre for Additive Manufacturing. Photo via University of Nottingham.
