Link Solution joins KRW 3.4 billion international R&D project to qualify metal AM heat pump core parts

Link Solution, a Korean metal additive manufacturing company, has joined a three-year international R&D program to qualify metal AM-produced core components for next-generation heat pumps. The KRW 3.4 billion project runs from July 2026 to June 2029 under a Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning international joint research grant, led by Chung-Ang University with Kookmin University, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, LG Electronics, and Michigan State University as partners. Link Solution's assigned role is validating the production-process fit and mass-production feasibility of metal AM-built heat pump parts.

The target application is heat exchangers compatible with R290, a low-global-warming-potential propane refrigerant that is highly flammable and needs higher heat-exchange efficiency at reduced refrigerant volumes to stay within safety limits. Link Solution says metal AM can produce integrated micro-channel and composite geometries in a single build, structures that conventional cutting and joining cannot replicate, enabling smaller and more efficient units. Results are intended to feed into the company's Daejeon AM Foundry mass-production line, targeting 2027 operation, ahead of a push into AI data-center cooling, EV thermal management, HVAC, and energy-equipment markets.

The project extends metal AM qualification work beyond aerospace and medical into thermal management, where AI data-center cooling demand is drawing new interest, though the 2029 research timeline and the AM Foundry's 2027 ramp still stand between this deal and actual production orders.