Sustainable aircraft circular design and additive manufacturing, towards a climate neutral aviation
Funds research on advanced additive manufacturing and circular aircraft design to boost performance, sustainability, and repairability in pursuit of climate-neutral aviation.
Funder: European Commission
Due Dates: April 14, 2027
Funding Amounts: €5,000,000 total | Indicative grant size: ~€2,500,000 per project | Expected number of grants: 2
Summary: Funds research on advanced additive manufacturing and circular aircraft design to enhance performance, sustainability, and repairability for climate-neutral aviation.
Key Information: Lump sum grant; single-stage application; open to EU and Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
Description
This Horizon Europe call supports research and innovation in sustainable aircraft circular design and additive manufacturing, aiming to accelerate the development of high-performance, recyclable polymers, composites, and metals for aviation. Projects should address the entire value chain, including design, manufacturing, characterization, testing, and certification, with a focus on resolving current challenges like residual stresses, phase transformations, joining, defects, and reproducibility in additive manufacturing. Key themes include:
- Industrial use cases for circular design and joining technologies
- Advanced maintenance and repair methods to extend aircraft lifetime
- Recovery of high-quality recyclable materials
- Solutions for engines and safety-critical systems, especially real-time monitoring and smart repair strategies
The objective is to foster innovations that will reduce energy and resource use across the aircraft lifecycle, contribute to climate-neutral aviation, and strengthen EU competitiveness in aerospace manufacturing.
