Reinventing the Monitoring of Steel Structures: FIBER3D Selected by EIC Pathfinder Open
Reinventing the Monitoring of Steel Structures: FIBER3D Selected by EIC Pathfinder Open
A winner of the European EIC Pathfinder Open call for projects, “FIBER3D” offers a new manufacturing method that directly integrates fiber-optic sensors into metal structures using advanced 3D printing and projection techniques. The project is coordinated by Daniel Weisz-Patrault, a CNRS researcher at the Solid Mechanics Laboratory.
To achieve its low-carbon goals, Europe can rely on more than 250,000 km of railways, 25,000 km of hydrogen pipelines, more than 100 nuclear power plants equipped with complex piping systems, as well as emerging technologies such as small modular reactors and advanced engines. However, the increased use of existing infrastructure and the strict design requirements of new technologies make continuous monitoring of material condition essential. Yet most critical components are made from high-strength metals with high melting points, which prevents the direct integration of sensors via welding or casting.
The FIBER3D project, coordinated by Daniel Weisz-Patrault, a research fellow at the CNRS within the Solid Mechanics Laboratory (LMS, CNRS/École polytechnique), proposes a revolutionary manufacturing technology that enables the production of sensors that can be directly welded onto existing surfaces or integrated into newly manufactured metal components.
This breakthrough is based on the combination of fiber-optic sensors—capable of measuring temperature and strain along their entire length—with advanced 3D printing and projection techniques.
The consortium, composed of world-renowned experts in photonics, chemistry, materials science, metallurgy, thermomechanics, applied mathematics, and mechanical design, offers strong guarantees of success.
FIBER3D technology can be deployed across the entire existing European rail network, in hydrogen transport systems and nuclear infrastructure, as well as in 3D-printed parts for low-carbon technologies. This unique and transformative approach to material condition monitoring will significantly improve the sustainability, safety, and competitiveness of key industries through real-time diagnostics and predictive maintenance that prevent catastrophic failures.
FIBER3D will thus revolutionize material condition monitoring in current and future industrial systems.
Illustration du fonctionnement du projet FIBER3D.
© Daniel Weisz-Patrault