NRC capabilities in advanced manufacturing

Advanced manufacturing is the use of innovative technology to improve new and existing products and processes.

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporter

Manufacturing is at the heart
of the Canadian economy

Manufacturing innovation

The 4th industrial revolution

  • •  Integration of advanced manufacturing technologies with the next generation of information and communication technologies
  • •  Digitalization of the manufacturing process

Key NRC program technologies

NRC is positioned to support advanced manufacturing innovation through its diverse expertise, ability to establish collaboration with industry and academia, and long term approach in the following areas.

High-volume, high-performance composites

  • Fibre reinforced thermoplastic and thermoset systems with superior properties
  • Reduction of cycle times for stamping of thermoplastic composites, infusion and resin transfer moulding-based manufacturing technologies
  • Process mapping, manufacturing guidelines, process modeling
  • Part integration/complex parts and efficient multi-material assembly
 

Advanced composites manufacturing efficiency

  • Out-of-autoclave processes, automation and part integration
  • Formulation of resins and optimization of processing to maximize composite performance and quality
  • Thermoplastic composites with ease of processing and good recyclability
  • Composite performance evaluation, durability testing and prediction
  • Nano-reinforced polymer composites and adhesives
  • Multifunctional materials and coatings
 

Biorefineries and sustainable manufacturing

  • Transformation of non food grade biomass (wood, straw, industrial vegetable oils, etc.) into raw materials for the production of bioresins, biofibres and bioadditives
  • Formulation, efficient processing and performance evaluation of bioplastics and biocomposites
  • Recycling of plastics and composites to minimize environmental impact
 

Value-added processing and polymer products

  • Lightweighting (plastic glazing, structural foams, compounds, nanocomposites)
  • Environmentally-friendly processes and materials (low-toxicity components, solvent-less processes, recyclability, thermosets replacement)
  • Part/component integration (overmolding processes, combining thermoplastic composites with high-strength polymers, polymer 3D printing)
 

High-performance, high-integrity product forming

  • Die-less sheet forming, rapid/low-cost die manufacturing
  • Reduce weight with new alloys
  • Hot superplastic forming, thin and variable wall extrusion, casting of hollow-core components, etc.
  • Hybrid manufacturing (extrusions, forgings, castings)
  • Intelligent tooling to improve efficiency and life of tooling
 

Innovative machining, polishing and surface-finishing technologies

  • Increasing material removal rates
  • Reduced lead time for new and existing parts
  • Zero-scrap generation
  • Improved quality and increased tool life
  • Reduced waste produced by processes
 

Assembling of complex multimaterial products

  • Joining solutions for specific/complex applications
  • Advanced joining techniques for high-integrity application
  • Multi-material joining using adhesive bonding, friction stir welding and laser welding
 

Advanced surface engineering and corrosion protection

  • Control of corrosion on multimaterial assembly
  • Complex alloy microstructures and relation to corrosion
  • Corrosion-assisted fatigue of multimaterials structures
  • Design best practices and standards improvement
  • Coatings to improve harsh environement durability
 
 

Flexible manufacturing cells and adaptive manufacturing

  • Autonomous and semi-autonomous robots
  • Collaborative and human-assisted robots
  • Mobile and reconfigurable manufacturing systems
 

Robotics and mechatronic systems

  • Future robotic platforms for assembly, finishing and joining
  • Future robotic platforms for part manufacturing
  • Adaptive robots
 

Additive manufacturing

  • Cold spray
  • Electron beam deposition system
  • Laser deposition system
  • Material characterization
  • Formulation of high-performance polymers and composites for additive manufacturing
 

Design to manufacture and performance evaluation

  • Crash worthiness
  • Manufacturing data object
  • Computer-aided design
  • Computer-aided manufacturing
  • Computer-aided engineering
  • Finite element analysis
  • Computational fluid dynamics
  • Product lifecycle management
  • Bills of materials
 

Machine vision

  • 3D vision systems
  • Imaging sensors
  • Processing and analysis software
  • Geometric modeling and dimensional inspection
  • Big data analytics
 

Digital manufacturing and Internet of things

  • Smart factories
  • Industry 4.0
  • Industrial Internet of things
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Sensor integration
  • High-performance material formulations; nanocomposites
 

Modelling and process simulation

  • Blow and injection molding
  • Forming
  • Machining
  • Additive and surface treatment
  • Composites manufacturing
  • Assembly processes
 

Artificial intelligence

  • Computer vision and image understanding
  • Adaptive robots; future robotic platforms for part manufacturing
  • Understanding human emotions from language
  • Next generation information extraction using deep learning
  • Speech recognition
  • Artificial intelligence to optimize talent management for human resources
 

Big data analytics

  • Predictive equipment maintenance
  • Energy management
  • Artificial intelligence for optimizing energy storage and distribution
  • Understanding and tracking of hazardous chemical elements
  • Process and design optimization
 

Printed electronics for Internet of Things

  • Inks and materials
  • Printing technologies
  • Large area, flexible, stretchable, printed electronics components
  • Applications: sensors for Internet of Things, wearables, antenna, radio-frequency identification tags, smart surfaces, packaging, security, signage

Aerospace manufacturing technologies centre (Montréal, Quebec)

  • Aerospace advanced manufacturing solutions
  • Advanced material removal technologies
  • Aircraft assembly
  • Intelligent machining processes and tooling

Boucherville, Quebec

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Design systems and modelling software
  • High-performance, high-integrity product forming
  • Polymer, composite and biomaterial processing and testing

Vision and cobotics research facility (Ottawa, Ontario)

  • Machine vision
  • Big data analytics
  • Materials characterization and testing

Aluminium technology centre (Saguenay, Quebec)

  • Assembly process development and aluminium forming
  • Aluminium transformation processes
  • Manufactured products characterization and testing

Manufacturing and automotive innovation hub (London, Ontario)

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Product development
  • Laser consolidation
  • Micro-machining
  • Automotive advanced manufacturing solutions

Winnipeg, Manitoba

  • New (Advanced manufacturing center)
  • Process design, modelling, simulation
  • Manufacturing systems engineering and integration
  • Flexible manufacturing pilot laboratory

Contact us

For further information on how the NRC can support your advanced manufacturing needs, contact:

Michael Kilfoil, Program Leader, Advanced Manufacturing Program
Telephone: 613-949-4657
Email: Michael.Kilfoil@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca