TCT Europe 31.2

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Sam Hamlyn  Matt Clarke  Robert Wood

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Duncan Wood

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FROM THE EDITOR LAURA GRIFFITHS

A 3D printer isn’t just forChristmas

My dad sent me a photo the other day of a 3D printer looking very sad and unloved in the window of a trade-in store on our local high street. I won’t mention the brand just that it was a basic, polymer extrusionbased desktop system, hardly used, with a bright yellow discount sticker stamped on the build plate.

I guess we could take it as a compliment. Has the general public become so nonchalant about 3D printing that it's now just seen as another piece of tech, like a tablet or a smart watch you swore you'd get more use out of? Who knows what the original owner had intended to do with that machine before ultimately retiring it to a dusty fate next to an overpriced set of speakers and a weathered guitar from some brand you’ve never heard of – and who knows where it will end up next. But given this is our business case issue, it got me thinking about all those AM machines purchased with the best intentions that now stand redundant in workshop corners, classrooms, and garages. Which 3D printing dream did they buy? What considerations need to be made when thinking about making that hardware investment and adopting 3D printing into a business? On page 33 we ask a range of experts, people that have spent their careers building machines and using them, exactly that.

In our healthcare focus, an industry in which the case for additive is a no brainer (improving people’s lives) but the business side a challenge (lack of funding, complex infrastructures and slow regulatory progresses), Sam Davies finds out how an EPSRC grant for Nottingham University could help get 3D printing technology into UK hospitals much faster. We also have a case study from MedScan on developing an aortic root CTO model using 3D printing, and an interview with Cambre Kelly, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at restor3d, who you can hear more from on an episode of our Additive Insight podcast.

When it comes to making an AM business case, emerging markets are hugely attractive. They’re new, they’re exciting, and they allow AM to flex its capabilities as an enabling technology for previously unimaginable applications.

On p.26, Oli Johnson speaks to Jesus Zozaya, co-founder of Voltera about the potential of 3D printed flexible electronics, and I have a great chat with Richard Hague at Nottingham’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing about reearching multi-material, multi-functional AM, and the challenges around commercialising such projects into meaningful applications.

We've also got Q&As with our TCT 3Sixty speakers, which is fast approaching. Register for free at tct3sixty.com and I'll see you there!

Postprocessing

08. TAMING THE BEAST EOS on how it has overcome the challenges of 3D printing pure copper.

17. TESTING, TESTING Laura Griffiths explores the capabilities of Theta Technologies’ RD1-TT non-destructive testing solution.

21. IT’S ELECTRIFYING Oli catches up with GPA Innova to discuss its DLyte eBlast technology.

11. STACK THE ODDS We look at an aortic root CTO surgical planning model with patient-specific arteries created using 3D printing.

12. A KIT FOR BETTER CARE Sam Davies talks to the University of Nottingham about the development of a 3D printing toolkit for sophisticated medical applications.

15. ROOM TO GROW Oli Johnson speaks to Lithoz about its new Lithabone HA 480 material for 3D printed bone replacements.

26.

28.

33. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Industry experts share their advice on how to adopt additive into your business.

38.

23. CONFERENCE Q&AS A selection of speakers preview their presentations ahead of the UK's premier AM event.

ROCKY ROAD Sartorius’ Head of Additive Manufacturing Jeremy Pullin on the key considerations to make when integrating AM.

FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS

Voltera CEO Jesus Zozaya talks to us about the potential of 3D printed flexible electronics.

REINVENTING ADDITIVE

Laura speaks to Richard Hague at the University of Nottingham about the opportunities for multi-material, functional additive manufacturing.

Exec

Emerging markets

TAMING THE

EOS overcomes the challenges of pure copper AM

Copper has been a much-used raw material in the history of civilisation, starting as far back as 8,000BC. It was the first metal to be cast into a mould, to be smelted, and to be combined with other metals to form an alloy. Its softness, malleability, and thermal conductivity made it very useful – it truly has been a material that humans have learned to tame over the centuries.

Of course, many other metals have since played a key role in manufacturing and construction, where their properties were better suited to a given task. But today, the most important property of pure copper – its unrivalled electrical conductivity – means it is again in high demand for new applications such as electric vehicle motor windings, heat exchangers, and precision electrical components including antennas and inductors, to name but a few.

Many of these components have been limited to being produced with copper alloys, or through classical manufacturing methods where materials are rolled, folded, and often soldered. This limits

them to simple geometries, with every solder joint introducing resistivity and weakening the inherent mechanical properties of the materials. These methods also make it hard to produce consistent finely tuned electrical components, which is a key demand of today’s devices.

Modern metal additive manufacturing (AM) using Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (L-PBF) has shown with a range of materials, that it overcomes classical manufacturing problems. Enabling precision components, made of fewer parts, without joins and in complex new geometries that make them more efficient in use and to manufacture. Copper though, was the metal that kept biting back!

A CRISIS OF CONDUCTIVITY

Additively manufacturing pure copper with minimal porosity and good mechanical properties was proving hard to solve. Until recently, the processes had not been developed to handle the material in a way that was reliable and repeatable, putting the benefits of 3D printing out of reach.

To get around this, manufacturers tried using copper alloys, but that meant compromising on pure copper’s high electrical conductivity. Without heat treatment, copper alloys have

a significantly lower electrical conductivity – even after treatment it falls far short of pure copper.

EOS TAMES THE BEAST

However, now EOS has overcome the challenges of using pure copper in AM, firstly with the creation of its new CuCP pure copper material, which has the highest conductivity rating (100% IACS), and a higher stability than conventionally manufactured pure copper material. CuCP is enabling a new range of applications for 3D printed copper parts, and conventionally manufactured parts designs should be revisited. The benefits of CuCP could allow new designs to outperform the conventionally manufactured parts on many key criteria.

Secondly, EOS has taken a new approach to the printing process, which means copper can be used for repeatable serial production of completely reimaged components, with all the benefits of traditional AM, while maintaining its electrical and mechanical properties. The process improvements address three core challenges of 3D printing pure copper:

BEAST

● Thermal management – Due to copper’s high thermal conductivity, it is challenging to achieve a balanced heat management during the printing process. This can lead to overheating in small areas of the part or insufficient melting of larger part areas. EOS has used its depth of experience with pure copper to adapt how its machines’ physical build space and software work together, preventing both problems.

● Part resolution – 3D printing copper requires a higher energy input than other materials due to its increased reflectivity and conductivity properties. This means the material melt pool can be more than double that of other materials, such as steel. The new EOS process, understands the different material characteristics, and ensures manufacturers can produce high precision components with pure copper.

● Economic e ciency – EOS’ existing and long-proven laser technology, has made it possible to economically produce components, despite the challenges posed by pure copper. In particular, the large working field of the lasers enables customers to simultaneously produce small or large components in its copper system build spaces, which start at 250 x 250mm up to a current maximum of 450 x 450mm.

PURE COPPER IN ACTION

The application of 3D printing pure copper is already enabling manufacturers to completely re-imagine components to achieve new levels of efficiency and conductivity in a range of applications. Hairpin stator motor windings are a great example, where the demand for reduced

SHOWN: DUAL FUNCTION INDUCTOR (SOURCE: THYSSENKRUPP)

energy consumption and improved motor efficiency relies on the use of pure copper. The complete design freedom made possible by 3D printing, is enabling new geometries and efficiency gains that were impossible with subtractive manufacturing or the use of copper alloys. For example, an e-Engine motor stator used in products as diverse as server fans, eBikes and the rapidly growing electric vehicle industry, can achieve 45% more power in pure copper, without changing its dimensions. Or, it can be made 45% shorter with no loss in performance, making it smaller, lighter, and less expensive.

These efficiencies are not just in the final series components, but how pure copper can be used in a rapid iterative design process. Italian manufacturing company Addtoshape was formed precisely to take advantage of pure copper additive manufacturing, producing components for a range of industries of which one success story is its highly efficient cold crucible melting components.

Antonio Alessandro Rossi, Co-founder and CEO of Addtoshape, said: “We have no design constraints on our components, only the imagination of our engineers and the final function of the part guide us. With our 1kW EOS M 290 System, we can tweak, print

and test designs in rapid succession and with no retooling costs or delays. We’ve eliminated the need for post-thermal treatment and can constantly recycle the CuCP pure copper material.”

A NEW DAWN OF OPPORTUNITY

Addtoshape has transformed its workflow, whilst rapidly reducing its time to market for client’s components. It is producing complex lattice and parametric structures, with very thin walls, and unrivalled precision and reliability. Addtoshape firmly believes in the potential of pure copper AM, and that it will give an important boost to the sustainable electric mobility of the future.

Rossi concluded: “Our transition to pure copper was easy, with the support of EOS and Additive Manufacturing Customized Machines (AMCM), which helped us realise the new design possibilities in front of us. It really has been a game changer, and I would encourage any manufacturer that has wanted to work with pure copper, and possibly failed before, to revisit it through additive manufacturing.”

Pure copper has been an important material in human civilisation for millennia. Today, at its purest and best, combined with new AM processes and machines, it is enabling engineers to take their components in new directions. EOS challenged itself to tame pure copper 3D printing, now the company is challenging you to use the platform to bring new applications to life.

www.eos.info/taming-the-beast

SHOWN:

INNOVATIVE PURE COPPER WINDINGS

(SOURCE: ADDTOSHAPE)

WORDS: Dr.-Ing. Bernd Reinarz, EOS. Dipl. Ing. Wolfram Weiskopf, EOS

“New levels of efficiency and conductivity.”

We are ceramic 3D printing.

THE ANSWER TO CERAMIC DIGITAL MASS PRODUCTION

STACK THE ODDS

MedScan3D & Corrib Core Lab on an aortic root CTO surgical planning model developed with 3D printing.

At a desktop 3D printer, a 15-year-old loads a design from software to hardware, presses print, and turns in for the night. From nothing but digital data and a material feedstock, he will have a new Star Wars figurine ready to add to his collection by morning.

The capabilities of this technology aren’t lost on his cardiologist grandfather either. Dr. Patrick W Serruys, who manages the Corrib Core Lab, has been practicing since the 1970s but he too has embraced the capacity to materialise plastic models from digital input in a matter of hours.

Working with MedScan3D, a specialist in converting medical scans into STL files for the 3D printing of medical models, and Capbuster, the makers of a balloon catheter and guidewire combination device, Serruys has developed an aortic root chronic total occlusion (CTO) model with patient-specific coronary arteries. The model, printed as a single multi-material part, is designed to help surgeons prospectively and retroactively gain understandings on how to best approach the aortic CTO procedure.

“You’re not going to go into the patient without knowing what you’re going to do,” Serruys told TCT.

“You’re going to put all the odds on your side and have training, planning, and simulation before [operating].”

The model was developed using patient data from a CT scan, with the data being sent to MedScan3D for segmentation using its FDA-approved DICOM to Print software. This yields a rough digital model which is made suitable for 3D printing after post-processing in Autodesk Meshmixer and parametric design, in which a tank and conformal holder were engineered, with Siemens SolidEdge. Leaning on the Stratasys J826 Prime multi-material PolyJet 3D printer, MedScan3D then

printed the model before distributing it to the Corrib Core Lab.

Before the model was printed, conversations between MedScan3D, Corrib Core Lab and Capbuster were had to determine which materials were most suitable to mimic which areas of the aortic valve model. Using their experience and the Hounsfield Unit to measure radio density, the partners selected a rigid polymer material for the sections of the model which represented calcified areas of the aorta valve, and softer elastomers for sections such as the vessel wall. With attention to detail of the utmost importance, the partners also took advantage of the CT scan data to ensure the arteries mimicked were specific to the patient.

With this model, the surgeon would then use the semi-transparent model to simulate actions made in the surgery.

“What we will do,” Serruys explained, “is cannulate the ostium of the coronary artery with the guiding catheter. The second step is going to advance the small catheter which has a small balloon and when we get in contact with the cap, we will inflate the balloon [and] we will see if the balloon is nicely anchored. If it is nicely anchored, the next point will be to advance the rigid wire, which is anchored in an helicoidal system and you rotate a quarter of a millimeter, advancing very slowly. There is no problem of flow because it’s totally occluded so the patient doesn’t feel anything. All these steps will be repeated and at each step you can learn ‘don’t do this, but do that.’”

To develop the aortic root CTO model, it required a two-hour segmentation process and a two-hour printing process. Timings that would be palatable for most surgeons preparing for most surgeries, with the overnight additive production of models identified as an opportunity by Serruys.

Before the guidewire and balloon combination was introduced in the 1980s, the only therapeutic intervention for a total occlusion was bypass surgery. Now, the treatment of CTO might be about to take another step forward with 3D printing.

“Through close collaboration with healthcare professionals, engineers, and patients, we can create innovative solutions that address unmet medical needs and enhance people's lives,” said MedScan3D Technical Director Jacqui O’Connor. “We are enthusiastic about the possibilities that lie ahead.”

WORDS: SAM DAVIES

A KIT FOR BETTER CARE

Sam Davies speaks to the University of Nottingham about the development of a 3D printing toolkit for the design of healthcare applications.

“You find, suddenly, that your scope is narrowed because there were only a few materials that are commonly used for 3D printing.”

The CfAM is home to around 100 people, a range of research projects, and two spin out groups. There exists a shared belief inside the CfAM lab that if you don’t ‘understand the science, processes and engineering’ around the technology, ‘then we’ll always be capped on what we can deliver.’

Alack of available materials. Arduous product development cycles. And a long route to market.

This is the diagnosis of 3D printing’s application in healthcare after an extensive examination by the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM).

It delivered its analysis in January off the back of receiving a 6 million GBP grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC), which – the CfAM hopes – will go some way to providing the solution.

The CfAM’s aim is to develop a 3D printing toolkit that plots the course for those developing medical applications to go from research to development to clinical adoption.

“We’ve come to understand that there are some really difficult-to-overcome obstacles that are preventing wholesale adoption of 3D printing. The dream is that you see it everywhere, and you don’t,” Ricky Wildman, Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Nottingham, tells TCT. “One of the reasons for that is there aren’t the right materials available to meet the needs of particular products. So, somebody might come through in the healthcare industry and say, ‘I’ve got this great idea for a 3D printed product that’s going to deliver this new therapeutic gain,’ but when it comes to it, what material shall I use, and which material is going to be printable?

It also assesses the current application of 3D printing in the healthcare space to be ‘very powerful, but fairly simple in its construction.’ Applications that might fit these criteria include prosthetics or surgical models, those which carry some of the aforementioned hurdles but not enough to completely hold their development back. Where CfAM wants to have its initial impact with the toolkit is medical solutions that have more sophisticated functions, such as drug delivery or tissue regeneration.

“It’s sort of creeping in,” Wildman says of 3D printing in healthcare, “but we can see that it has a role in having a much deeper and wider role in making people’s lives better through better therapeutics, through better healthcare, through support functions.”

Over the next five years, the CfAM will endeavour to develop three ‘field-changing’ products, and in the process, build up the 3D printing toolkit so it can then be deployed on a host of other medical products – Boston Micro Fabrication will be among the CfAM’s advisors on this project. Those three initial products will be a biopill – an oral dosage form for delivering biologics; biocatalytic reactors that will help

“There are some difficult-toovercome obstacles preventing wholesale adoption of 3D printing.”

to produce medicines efficiently; and an intestinal patch to address intestinal bowel disease.

Talking to the latter application, Wildman explains: “The idea is that we can build a patch that a surgeon can implant into the intestine and regenerate the tissue inside of the intestine. And that means quite a complex shape, quite a complex material – it has to be a graded material, it has to be tissue-like, it has to be able to support cells. It’s a complicated setup, a very challenging product that can only be made by 3D printing. We’re going to use that and say, ‘what are the challenges associated with making such a sophisticated product?’ and use that to create the toolkit.”

This, Wildman says, will help to inform the generation of the toolkit by tackling more challenging products first, allowing those involved in the project to work out what the necessary elements of the toolkit are. Once those elements have been established and implemented, the next step will be to take it to market.

Once there, the CfAM anticipates a toolkit that is capable of providing a high throughput screening of materials to full function of the product. This screening will include the screening of a vast materials library to ascertain the best option for the product and its function, as well as the printability of the part(s). Computational screening tools are to be developed to speed the chemical screening of candidate materials up, while the CfAM also aims to integrate machine learning to rationalise the design process and ‘combine those promising materials in the right way.’

One of the key drivers of this toolkit is to take full advantage of multi-material inkjet technologies. Wildman cites the development of a joint prosthetic where a soft material is required in one area of the component that interacts with the soft tissue, and a hard material required in another where the part interfaces with the bone. It’s the belief of CfAM that, to really take advantage of the multi-material printing process, a toolkit to provide guidance on material selection and design is required.

“You want to be able to design it to have the right function, the right modulus, the right flexibility, but also have these other functions in there, which means that integrates with the tissue and, of course, is biocompatible,” Wildman says. “All this requires some kind of design framework and there are design tools out there for 3D printing already, but there are not very many for multi-materials. So, we want to be able to integrate our computational screening with our design tools that tell us where to put each of our materials and what the overall shape of our product is going to be.”

When the time comes, the CfAM expects not to spin out a business to drive the toolkit to market, but instead engage with a consortium, which includes deep tech innovation organisation CPI – part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult in the UK. Through this consortium, the CfAM hopes to engage with as many medical businesses as it can, eventually integrating its toolkit IP into their manufacturing workflows.

“We’re hoping that, ultimately, the more companies that adopt this toolkit type approach, the more 3D printing products will get into clinical and get onto market,” Wildman finishes. “Our view is that 3D printing has much to offer the healthcare industry. The number one, I suppose, for the healthcare industry, is the fact that you can personalise and make it ondemand and bespoke, so when it comes to healthcare, personalised medicine is where it’s at. And additive manufacturing is perfectly placed to be able to deliver that personalised medicine. Our job is convincing industry and making it easy for industry to adopt that technology. It’s now about making that case and making it easy for industry to put it into clinic.”

“Our view is that 3D printing has much to offer the healthcare industry.”

SHOWN: RICKY WILDMAN, PROFESSOR IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

SHOWN: 3D PRINTED BIOCATALYTIC REACTOR

ROOM TO G GRRO ROOMOW OW

Oli Johnson speaks to Daniel Bomze, Director of Medical Solutions at Lithoz, about the new Lithabone HA 480 material for 3D printed bone replacements.

Bioabsorbable bone replacements which can be 3D printed to suit individual patients: to the general public, this might seem like something out of a science-fiction movie. Speaking to Lithoz in 2023, it’s a reality.

Last year, the ceramics 3D printing company announced the development of its new material, LithaBone HA 480, a bioabsorbable bone graft substitute based on hydroxyapatite, a natural mineral that is the major element of human bone.

The new material enables easier-toclean parts with higher wall thicknesses than previous Lithoz bone replacement materials, from 1.6mm to 10mm, as well as strongly reduced overpolymerisation, according to the company, and a ten-fold longer shelf life.

Traditionally, bone implants would not be able to grow with a defect. Daniel Bomze, Lithoz Director of Medical Solutions told TCT about the difficulties of this: “Think of a small child having an accident and needing this treatment. Normal implants will not grow with a defect. After some time there’s two choices, you will leave it in there, then you will get some kind of deformation or gaps, or you need to take it out. For example, children can have hydrocephalus, where parts of the cranium need to be removed. Once its closed back up again you use approximately 100 to 120 screws. So imagine this child is growing and after some time you need to remove 120 screws that already have been partly incorporated, and you need to replacement the implant. This is not something that you want to do to your children or to any children.”

Bomze told TCT that although subtractive manufacturing methods do work for creating bone implants, such implants are limited to simple geometries. While the outer geometry can be shaved according

to the patient’s anatomy, the inner part of the implant, a three-dimensional controlled, open, porous interconnected network, can only be manufactured with 3D printing.

This interconnected network is necessary for blood vessels to grow into the pores for the transportation of bone cells. The bone cells then sit on the bone replacement material, according to Bomze, and effectively suck themselves to the surface. The cells then ‘spit’ an acid that dissolves the implant, so the body can resorb the dissolved material.

“You can now actually manufacture implants with 3D printing and generate those open, porous, interconnected networks which allow the ingrowth of the bulk of the blood vessels and the removal of metabolic products, which is important for the healing process,” Bomze said of the benefits. “There’s other ways to shave these materials, but only additive manufacturing allows you to create the geometry of the pore and the connection between the pore.”

For the new Lithabone HA 480, Lithoz worked with users of previous bone graft substitutes. Bomze revealed that how this input from previous users allowed the company to improve on limitations of other materials, such as being only developed for delicate 3D meshes which meant that a

closed surface design could not be achieved due to the stiffness of the material.

Another challenge, according to previous users, was storage, as Bomze explained: “Here we use rather coarse particles, and we had some issues with stabilisation of the suspension, that means we needed to ship the material deep frozen all over the globe, which of course was quite expensive for the customer, and we could get rid of that which is a huge advantage.”

Speaking about its future development and application opportunities, Bomze added: “What I think people should really look out for is what the customers of Lithoz are bringing out in the next few months because we’re just the ones that offer the technology for it, but they offer the actual solutions that help patients. There will be things in the near future that will be published, and people should keep an eye on what’s coming out there. I think this will definitely change the view of what the 3D printing of ceramics can do for patients and for surgeons.”

3D printing is easy as 123-3D

3D printing retailer 123-3D is celebrating a successful UK launch after a busy fi rst few months of trading.

Part of the award-winning Cartridge People group, which has over 20 years’ experience as a leading online retailer of printer ink and toner having sold over 27 million printer cartridges, 123-3D off ers an extensive range of 3D fi lament, printers, and accessories.

With the largest range of products stocked by a UK based specialist 3D printing retailer, businesses across the UK trust 123-3D to supply their 3D printers with premium quality fi lament for an aff ordable price.

123-3D has thousands of items physically in stock in the UK, ready to be dispatched, with an everincreasing range of fi lament, 3D printers and spares, making 123-3D a one-stopshop for businesses that 3D print.

In addition to stocking materials from well-known and trusted brands such as eSUN, Polymaker, REAL, and ColorFabb, 123-3D off ers its own-brand, premium quality Jupiter fi lament range in a variety of materials and colours including PLA, ABS, PETG, HIPS and more. This fi lament has been tested

to the highest standards and holds its own against other top brands. Several fi laments are also available in large spool sizes of up to 5kg, which are ideal for high-volume printing.

123-3D off ers next day UK delivery for in stock items, so when your business needs 3D printing supplies quickly, it can help your printing projects remain on track and on time.

123-3D is part of a wider global group with branches across Europe, including the Netherlands, Ireland,

Belgium, and Sweden. The company’s 36,000 sq. ft Cheshire distribution centre is home to a team of 3D experts who hold a wealth of knowledge on 3D printing technologies and are ready to give advice pre- and post-purchase. 1233D believes this emphasis on personalised, customer service sets it apart from other retailers and has helped businesses in many different sectors to optimise their 3D printing activities.

Understanding businesses’ specifi c requirements and providing quality, tailored

advice is key to 123-3D. Its team of in-house experts can off er fast, effi cient guidance and support on a wide range of topics, from choosing which products are right for your business, to printer setup and more.

Buying from 123-3D is a straightforward and hassle-free process, with competitive prices, and every item on its web store covered by a 100% no-quibble guarantee.

TESTING, TESTING

While advancements in postprocessing technologies have undoubtedly made the adoption of AM in production environments much smoother, in some instances, post-processing has sustained its place as the industry’s ‘dirty little secret’, one rarely revealed when being dazzled by perfectly polished pieces on perfectly lit trade show displays. The time-savings promised by AM’s rapid production rates can oftentimes be lost to hours spent manually chiselling, tumbling, or blasting to achieve that single finished component. Worse still, what if you invest precious time and resources into a part, only to reach your final inspection step and discover it’s not up to spec?

But what if you could test earlier and catch any flaws before a part even arrives at the post-processing station? Theta Technologies, a UK-based engineering company specialising in non-destructive testing (NDT), says you can.

“If we can detect a flaw when it happens, then that opens up the opportunity to pull [the part] out of production and see why,” Prof James Watts, Chief Technical Officer at Theta Technologies, told TCT in a recent conversation about how rapid inspection performed throughout the manufacturing process, can save time, costs, and headaches, further down the line.

A spinoff from the University of Exeter, Theta Technologies has developed what is thought to be the world’s only nonlinear resonance NDT solution capable of performing a complete NDT in under one minute. The RD1-TT

made its debut at TCT 3Sixty last June and is said to be able to detect flaws in complex metal 3D printed parts, including those that are not visible with other NDT technologies. Theta Technologies says the process can be widely applied to a range of manufacturing techniques but, for the last six months, has focused its attention on the metal AM space where the demand for NDT to further the technology’s adoption in critical applications was clear.

“If you look at pretty much any review paper on the options for non-destructive tests for metal AM, it is pretty much X-ray CT or visual inspection,” Watts elaborated. “Many of the machine manufacturers will tell you that you can qualify the process and once you've qualified the process, you can just trust it. But talk to anyone

who actually uses the parts and they know that's not true.”

Like post-processing, the measurement and inspection of AM parts can also be a challenge, particularly for those end-use applications where nothing less than full NDT will suffice to ensure safety and reliability in critical environments. For industries like aerospace and medical, where parts are being sent into the sky or implanted into the human body, stringent testing must be adhered to, and for additive parts in those industries, that expectation is no different. It’s a “cultural shift”, Watts argues, and while there are already thousands of AM parts out there in such scenarios, safety critical parts are often constrained by the need for this form of meticulous, expensive and time-consuming testing, and as a result, forego the fundamental benefits of design for AM.

“Whereas there are

“Whereas it would have been possible to make that part using a really beautiful organic structure where there's material only where the stress analysis says that it needs to be, they've gone for a solid block because they can use ultrasound to see if there are any flaws,” Watts explained. “If it's made using AM how AM should be used, which is to put material where it's absolutely required, then it's just impossible to test.”

The benefits of Theta Technologies’ rapid RD1-TT system mean AM parts can be put through non-destructive testing at multiple stages of the production process. Using Theta Technologies' unique method,

SHOWN: THETA TECHNOLOGIES RD1-TT

WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

manufacturers can quickly test complex parts with various surface finishes even while they're still on the build platform and, when compared to X-ray CT scanning, Theta Technologies estimates the RD1-TT can detect a greater range of cracks, delamination and lack of fusion, and penetrate thicker walls in under 60 seconds, versus two hours with X-ray CT. This not only relieves manufacturers from sinking unnecessary time and costs into non-viable parts but also means potential negative impacts of rigorous post-processing techniques on a part can be identified and eliminated.

“Printing the part is only the first step,” Watts explained. “The steps that follow the printing are really brutal and if we can test the part shortly after printing, before some of those processes, and we can show that the part is a good part at that stage, we can identify if any of those process steps are breaking a part. We know, for example, that some of the de-powdering processes can put quite a lot of stress and fatigue into a metal part. […] Support removal and depowdering are all potentially risky steps. If we can test the part before support removal, before it's been removed from the base plate, that's really important because, if we can detect a part is flawed, then we don't waste any more time on it.”

Though laser powder bed processes are more common, Watts suggests early inspection could hold even more value for processes like wire arc additive manufacturing where abrasive machining steps, used to take a part from near net to finished, are a central part of the process. It could also offer potential sustainability benefits too.

“Anything you do to a material

makes it harder to recycle,” Watts added. “Nobody wants to produce scrap. But if you have produced a part that's defective, then I think the sooner you recognise that, the easier it is to put that back into a recycling workflow.”

While testing at various intervals throughout end-to-end manufacturing is key, the real step change, Watts claims, is the ability to test every single printed part in a production run.

“Don't sample test, 100% test,” Watts said. “Then every single part you ship to your customer has been through a quality assurance process. And that's a big contrast to pulling out a sample from a build plate. We know that the properties and the printing characteristics in different parts of the build plate are different for all sorts of reasons. But if you can test every single part, then you don't need to rely on assuming that every part of the batch is identical.”

Adopting AM into an established industry or new business requires confidence, and Theta Technologies aims to provide that to manufacturers for parts that may have been limited by traditional testing, and can now take advantage of AM’s design freedoms.

“It's not the solution for everything but it allows us to test parts that are completely untestable using other methods,” Watts cautioned. “Some of the denser materials and larger parts just can't be put into an X-ray CT machine and there's no other option. […] It means that we can allow AM to be used in those critical industries where NDT is essential, when it wouldn't be otherwise.

“That's really exciting,” Watts concluded, “because we should be able to allow AM to be used how it should be.”

“If we can detect a part is flawed, then we don't waste any more time on it.”

SHOWN: THE RD1-TT CAN PERFORM NDT IN UNDER ONE MINUTE

RIGHT: THE SPEED OF THE RD1-TT ENABLES TESTING OF EVERY PART

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IT'S ELECTRIFYING

of polishing is done manually, but thanks to eBlast it can be done automatically.”

According to the company, the main benefits of DLyte eBlast are that a user can allocate the polishing wherever they want without masking. Sarsanedas explained that users could polish an insert coming from a big mould and focus the projection where they want, and that there are no limitations in weight and size. A robot system can be implemented, and big structures can be projected. Sarsanedas added: “The final result is smoother and with lower roughness than any other technology, and in only one step we are doing the whole job.”

GPA Innova, a Barcelonabased company, won the TCT Post-Processing Award with its DLyte eBlast technology in June 2022 at the TCT Awards in Birmingham, an event coinciding with TCT 3Sixty. The eBlast technology is based on projected electropolishing, and was created specifically for surface finishing of large, heavy metal parts, or parts with complex geometries which, according to the company, are typically difficult to polish by immersion or require a localised finishing, such as welded areas.

The DLyte eBlast works by projecting a non-conductive liquid and free solid polymer particles, which conducts the electric current between the electrode and the surface, to produce an electrochemical reaction. According to GPA Innova, the non-conductive liquid protects the surface from uncontrolled oxidation during the process, as the liquid replaces atmospheric oxygen during the electropolishing process.

Sarsanedas told TCT: “In the beginning, it was difficult to apply it because we are using a solution that is purely dry, where the particles are the only ones

active in the system. This is the DryLyte technology. To project the media and not lose contact between each particle, you need to add a conductive liquid during that process to be sure that each particle is interconnected. But we don’t like conductive liquid because when you add it, you create oxidations, you create super reactions, which is a typical problem of electropolishing technologies. Then in eBlast, we needed to add a conductive liquid only when we project. When the liquid is projected, it immediately becomes non-conductive, it’s an emulsion. It’s very interesting for polishing specific geometries that we are not able to load and unload in our standard machinery for the moulding industry, or the welding industry, where the process

Another benefit is the range of materials that can be polished using the eBlast technology. Sarsanedas told TCT that the electrolyte composition is what allows this, as it makes it a flexible solution, and that the eBlast is more a tool for polishing than a machine for polishing. The robot that is included in the eBlast process is necessary according to the CEO as it makes sure the gun is moving with the right speed and the right trajectory, and without the robot the parts would be overpolished.

Sarsanedas told TCT about 3D printing companies using the eBlast technology: “3D printing companies are interested because in 3D printing, sometimes it’s necessary to only polish some parts of the geometry, not all.”

Speaking about the future of the eBlast technology, Sarsanedas said: “We are developing a lot of different electrolytes because here we don’t use the same electrolytes as our standard machinery, we are testing a lot of different electrolytes. But the future is installations, big rooms for polishing where you can allocate big parts mainly for welding technology or stainless steel. When the installations are ready, it will be very easy for customers to approach that technology and to accept it. This means that we need to improve electrolytes and we need to develop more industrial solutions to be easier to implement.”

Oli Johnson speaks to Pau Sarsanedas Millet, CEO of GPA Innova, about the company’s TCT Award-winning DLyte eBlast technology.

BELOW: THE GPA INNOVA TEAM PICKING UP THE TCT AWARD IN THE POST PROCESSING CATEGORY IN JUNE 2022

We are dedicated to providing an excellent service –from rapid quote to on-time delivery –producing high-quality components at the right price.

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Additive impeller part courtesy of Autodesk/Renishaw Canada, hip tracker part courtesy of Renishaw, University of Waterloo and Intellijoint Surgical, and additive globe fixture and part courtesy of Stratasys. ©2023 Blue Photon Technology & Workholding Systems LLC.

CONFERENCE Q&A

With speakers from Collins Aerospace, Natural History Museum and LEGO Group, the TCT 3Sixty conference is a must-attend for anyone looking to evaluate, adopt or optimise additive manufacturing technologies within their business. We talk to three speakers who will share their insights across AM research, applications, and analysis on 7-8th June at NEC Birmingham, UK.

Professor Moataz Attallah, University of Birmingham

TCT: Who shouldn't miss your talk?

Many AM users come to the process from pure design and manufacturing engineering perspective. It is essential to consider the materials aspect, as in many cases material variables (e.g. feedstock and post-processing) can help avoid defects and equally rescue seemingly unacceptable builds into applications where the properties can be

satisfactory.

TCT: What's the biggest misconception about materials for AM that you'd like to see debunked?

this may depend on the use of postprocessing techniques that make this feasible. The key questions, however, are do we really need forged properties, and can the cost of post-processing be justified by the application? By answering these two questions we can increase in the confidence in the ability of AM of achieving the required properties at the end.

TCT: Your focus at the University of Birmingham is on metallic materials for AM. Can you share with us what you're working on right now?

AM materials can never match the properties of forged materials. Additively manufactured materials can occasionally achieve properties that are superior to cast and forged materials, but

materials for MA: materials to cast and forged materials, but

MA: At present we are focusing our research on microstructural control by AM. Many AM users optimise the process focusing mainly on achieving the highest density for structural components. AM gives us the opportunity to tailor the properties depending on the application through controlling the material structure. This can also be achieved using metamaterials, either functional or structural as well, which is sometimes referred to as 4D printing.

MA:

engineering perspective. It is essential rescue builds

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Natalia Funkner 3D Printing Analyst, CONTEXT

TCT: Who shouldn’t miss your talk?

NF: Our market analysis is closely followed by all market players, from manufacturers and resellers to investors. This presentation will also be beneficial for those new to the industry as it gives the overall view of the total market, highlights the main trends for both technology and materials, and ranks the top vendors in each price segment.

TCT: What do current market trends tell us about the state of the 3D printing industry today?

NF: Last year, we saw the disconnect between Unit shipments and systems Revenues. Those studying the market should be careful to differentiate company revenue growth (driven by inflationary price increases for many and growing demand for more efficient and higher-end

Mike Curtis-Rouse Head of Beyond Earth, Satellite Applications Catapult

TCT: Tell us what you'll be presenting at TCT 3Sixty 2023?

MCR: I’ll be focusing on the Industrialisation of LEO or Low Earth Orbit, so about 400km up. The whole nature of space has changed, moving away from scientific exploration and provision of satellites for telecoms, navigation, and earth observation, we’re beginning to see the first utilisation of the space environment for applications as diverse as energy from space to manufacturing new drugs and materials in space – using the space environment to give unique advantages. This is the decade where everything starts to change as space truly becomes a commercial environment for all. The UK amongst other nations is leading innovation and technology development through new SMEs, new capabilities for testing systems prior to space deployment and evolving spaceports across the country offering more frequent access to space.

TCT: What are the biggest challenges to having AM capabilities in space?

MCR: AM will be a key technology in space, essential to manufacture products both for use in space and on Earth. Some of the biggest challenges that are slowing down the proliferation of AM capabilities in space are the lack of in-space testing platforms, the

Metal PBF systems for others) vs Unit Shipment growth.

TCT: What are your thoughts on the impact global economic uncertainty might have on the AM industry?

NF: The impact of geopolitical instability has indeed caused many end-markets to reign-in capex spending a bit which can challenge AM investment. Forecasts for 2023 have turned cautious as fears of regional recessions loom large. Inflation remains a major headwind in most major geographies.

TCT: What is a challenge the AM industry should be paying more attention to?

NF: Promotion of the use of AM for true serial-volume-production (aka “mass production”) should be highlighted at every turn if the AM industry wants to truly accelerate growth.

lack of knowledge of materials behaviour and their properties in space, the difficulties with stock material handling and difficulties with inspection and quality control. The Satellite Applications Catapult is leading an ESA programme that aims to address these challenges and support the development of new materials and manufacturing processes using the advantages of the space environment, offering access to space testing platforms to some selected projects.

TCT: By the time TCT 3Sixty begins, it will be nearly a year since you began working with the Digital Manufacturing Centre, what have been the benefits of this collaboration so far?

MCR: The collaboration with DMC has allowed both organisations to work closely together, gaining access to different and complementary capabilities, expertise, technologies, and materials. Furthermore, we have facilitated trainings, participation in events as well as introductions to other partners and customers, that have resulted in increased activity for both organisations.

TCT 3Sixty will take place on 7-8th June at NEC Birmingham UK.

FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS

Oli Johnson speaks to Jesus Zozaya, Co-Founder and CEO of Voltera about the potential of 3D printed flexible electronics.

In 2022, Voltera, a leader in printed electronics technology, launched the NOVA, a new platform for printing flexible hybrid electronics. The NOVA uses direct write technology to print circuits on soft, stretchable and conformable surfaces. According to Voltera, the precision extrusion technology of the printer can help conduct research and develop ‘products of the future’.

The NOVA is capable of handling electrically conductive inks of high viscosity levels, which is how it creates flexible electronics. Copper and silver are the main materials that the team at Voltera works with, but an assortment of materials are capable of being handled by the NOVA system.

Jesus Zozaya, CEO and Co-Founder of Voltera, told TCT: “It’s a bench-top device that allows a designer, usually a researcher, to prototype an idea very quickly, probably in about an afternoon, and iterate very quickly as they test it out. We’ve got interest from different academic and research institutions from all over the world.”

Zozaya explained to TCT that in the field of additive electronics, there are typically two routes to go down. The first being the inkjet route, and the second being screen printing. Inkjet printing is typically limited to low viscosity materials that are very runny, such as water-based materials. Zozaya said that around 98% of printed electronics are created through screen printing.

Despite screen printing being very useful for high volume applications, the method has its challenges, according to Zozaya: “With screen printers you need a particular screen, which means that you need to get a new screen for every material, which if you are just getting

started with a design, you’re not sure exactly what the final output will be like, and you can end up wasting a lot of resources. On top of that, screen printing in general can lead to a lot of wasted material, especially if you are working with inks that are very expensive. Some of our customers work with inks that have gold in them, so every tiny little droplet of the material is precious, quite literally, it’s a precious metal. So, what we find is that customers are attracted to our technology because it allows them to prototype with either materials that are very expensive or difficult to manufacture, but they’re still able to essentially work with the material with much less waste.”

The main benefits of the technology utilised in the Voltera NOVA is the weight savings and space savings that it provides. Zozaya says that in industries such as the aerospace and automotive

industries, every gram that can be saved is important. The NOVA allows users to pattern different materials on what could be functional surfaces.

Zozaya added: “Imagine that you are printing a circuit on a big flat piece of PT that you will later form to give it the shape of whatever you need. The NOVA allows the electronics to be part of the design. Historically, you usually have the mechanical design and the electrical design, usually

“We’ve got interest from different academic and research institutions from all over the world.”

they are separated. So the mechanical engineer does the mechanics, the electrical engineer does the electronics and they’re usually working with a rigid board that’s made on FR4 and they meet in the middle with a couple of screws and some mounting hardware.

Printed electronics allows those two domains to be married together at the start of the design, so it leads to a much more integrated design.”

Voltera works with a range of companies that are developing materials that can be used on the NOVA. Zozaya said materials are being developed by companies such as DuPont and Panasonic to name a few, as well as a number of smaller manufacturers. The CEO also said that the companies working with Voltera are pushing the limits of the different types of materials, as some can be conductive, some can be resistive, and some can be made for specific types of sensors.

In the initial announcement of the NOVA in late 2023, Voltera said “the future of electronics is flexible, which means the future of electronics is additive.” Zozaya told TCT that having the NOVA on your desk gives users a competitive advantage, as it has multiple functionalities and can fit on a benchtop in a lab or an office, which the company says saves money on the cost of tooling that would be associated with setting up screen printing.

Speaking about the future of the NOVA, Zozaya said: “The NOVA is kind of like a sandbox environment where different people can do different things with it. So, right now we’ve released two modules, one of them is our dispenser and one of them is a probe. The probe will allow height mapping of the surface, but we can develop additional modules that unlock different functionalities. One of them could be some type of a pick and place module that allows components to be placed accurately on the substrate. Another one could be a UV curing module, so if you’re dispensing some type of UV curable resin, then this module could come over and cure the resin that was dispensed. Another one could be some type of drill attachment or some type of laser drilling or laser curing as well, but there’s lots of opportunities for us to develop additional modules that would be more compatible in this machine, so it will get better over time as we develop more modules.”

In terms of the resolution of the prints that the Voltera creates, it is currently around 100 microns in terms of trace width, but Zozaya says the team is always working to improve that number, and it is a “never ending” goal for the company. As the resolution of prints using Voltera’s technology increases, more compact circuits and more complicated designs can be produced.

The primary material used for the NOVA is a silver-based conductive ink, which, according to Voltera, is an emerging field 'actively being developed.' Zozaya says there has been “huge” improvements in this area in the last two to three years. The new inks are more conductive and a lot more robust when it comes to soldering, according to the CEO, as well as being cheaper and having a longer shelf life. Zozaya emphasised to TCT that this technology will only improve over time.

Speaking to TCT about Voltera’s relationship with the companies that are producing the materials, Zozaya said: “I would say when we first started the company, we would send them an email and we were lucky if they replied. Now that relationship has changed a little bit and now we work pretty closely with a couple of suppliers to the point where they have manufactured custom formulations for us specifically. It’s very much like a partnership because we’re not in direct competition with them. We are making their jobs easier. We will recommend their inks to our customers and they’ll recommend our equipment to their customers.”

An example of a research project highlighted by Voltera to TCT was a customer comparing inkjet printing to extrusion printing, for the development of printed silver electrodes.

According to Voltera, customers that are using the NOVA are primarily using the technology for wearable tech or biocompatible devices, but there have also been interesting applications for in-mould electronics and materials development.

SHOWN: ROBOTIC HAND WITH PARTS PRINTED BY THE NOVA

REINVENTING ADDITIVE

Laura Griffiths speaks to Richard Hague at the University of Nottingham about the opportunities for multi-material, functional additive manufacturing.

The job of a researcher is to keep reinventing and continue to ask “what’s next?” For Richard Hague, Professor of Additive Manufacturing and Director of the Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM) at the University of Nottingham, that question has been at the core of numerous projects undertaken at the Centre over the last decade where the ‘what’ is poised to be multi-material, functional additive manufacturing (AM).

TCT: Hi Richard. Tell us, why multifunctional additive manufacturing?

RH: We wanted to do something a little bit different. For me, if you're going to be a leading research group, you need to be doing leading research. I didn't want to be a group that continued just to make shapes, which we probably were in the 1990s, and wanted to transform the group to be much more of a science-based activity that was at the cutting edge, doing the materials and process development for additive. So, we hit on this idea of multi-material, multifunctional stuff, which no one was really doing at the time.

For me, it's always been not what it is, it's how it's made, I’m much more interested in the process, and industry and people will come along and use it for different applications. You can see it in single material conventional additive manufacturing today, the kind of applications we get today are incredible and no one would have imagined that 20 years ago when we first started doing additive manufacturing research.

TCT: Can you tell us about what you’re currently working on?

RH: We have various projects looking at the printing of functional materials – too many! We have really amazing partners across the industrial spectrum, […] AstraZeneca, GSK and Pfizer, those kinds of pharmabased companies, we also work with the BAE Systems and other large aerospace

companies on defence and automotive, and those kinds of areas. So, we have a range and I think some of the things that we've been doing that everyone will be interested in, I think, is printing of magnetics and magnetic parts for electric motors. There's a real opportunity for additive to be able to create more efficient electric motors. And we all need to have more efficient electric motors in our cars; they go faster, they're lighter, more efficient, use less electricity, same power. So we’ve done really nice work looking at the optimisation of electrical motors, and we’re very lucky to have connected research groups here at Nottingham. We have the Power Electronics and Machines group here who are experts on electrical machine design. We do the processing and material side of additive and we can work with them on their application. It's the same at the pharmacy department here, the top one in the UK, top three in the world pharmacy department, so we're really lucky to be able to work with them.

TCT: What potential do you see multifunctional AM having? What kind of applications could it open up that perhaps weren’t possible before?

RH: That’s a big question. If I had the answer for every single thing that could be done with additive, I’d be much wealthier than I am now! The potential for printing batteries, I think that's got some real scope. We can have a much higher surface area within the batteries so, printing solid state batteries that last longer. I think that metamaterials have got real potential where we can produce structures that just don't appear in nature naturally and perform in a different way, both mechanical and electromechanical. I'm personally less interested in just making structure. We've seen some really lovely examples and been involved in some really lovely examples of creating single material structure but I think research in AM has gone beyond that. We need to combine both function and structure

and that could be across a range of different applications that have electronic, electromagnetic, pharma, bio, whatever, and I think the opportunities are huge.

TCT: What are the main challenges with multi-material, multi-functional AM?

RH: There are temperature limitations and there are viscosity limitations that you have. There's the fact that you're depositing some materials that are much thinner in layers. The functional layers are very often much thinner because they often contain nanoparticulate, which produce extremely thin, couple of micron thick layers compared to the structural layer that you're sticking around it. So there's this mismatch and then you’ve got to functionalise that functional material in process because it's going to get entrapped by the functional material that you're likely wrapping around it.

I think one of the challenges we have with additive, it's conceptually quite a simple thing to understand. In reality, doing it is quite hard, even for single materials. And with multi materials, it's ten times worse.

TCT: As a researcher, how challenging is it to turn a research project into something that can be adopted by industry?

RH: We've had a real focus in the last ten years or so on getting publications and academic journal publications out. The UK is generally pretty good at getting really excellent journal publications, and our rate of publication in the UK is very, very high. Not just us, groups such as Sheffield and Liverpool have got really good reputations. It's kind of an AM research superpower but translating that into end product is quite hard.

First of all, it's quite hard patenting things within universities because the route to getting patents is quite complicated. And then setting up spin out companies is quite hard. So you really have to work very closely with industry and all [of our] grants have very strong industrial collaborators.

There are really nice examples of it working but I don't think we have enough of it. To a certain extent, that’s because academics are motivated to write journal publications rather than patents and that's because their careers are based on it. So, if a researcher wants to move forward in their career, they have to have a certain amount of journal publications and that's how they’re judged not necessarily on patents because they take a long while to come to fruition in terms of licencing, etc. Personally, I think that we should have much more incentives to take our research out and patent it and exploit it, and it should be easier to set up a spinout company.

TCT: What are your ambitions for the year, what can we expect to see coming out of the Centre next?

RH: We're looking to expand [materials that you have for polymeric systems] with real engineering grade polyurethanes, silicones and polycarbonate materials that we can produce on these additive processes and that will be fantastic. So, I'm looking forward to really pushing the research forward, and taking our companies to the next level as well.

That's one of the joys of being an academic. In the end, you can think of an idea and you have to be able to write it up, you have to be able to convince people that it's worth funding, but then you get funded for it and you get to work with fantastic colleagues, fabulous industry and a really nice working environment. It doesn’t get a lot better, really. You're very much in control of your own destiny, and you get to work with some clever people and that's the most interesting thing.

Listen to the interview in full on the Additive Insight podcast: mytct.co/CfAM

“We need to combine both function and structure.”

SHOWN:

SHOWN:

PERSONALISATION AT SCALE C

ambre Kelly is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at restor3d, a provider of 3D printed personalised surgical solutions.

On a recent episode of the Additive Insight Podcast, Cambre shared her insights on additive manufacturing in the healthcare sector, including the product range restor3d offers, its vision for scaled personalisation, and working with the FDA.

TCT: Alongside the recent announcement of the Kinos Total Ankle System, there was the launch of the r3id Personalized Surgery Platform. What does this platform offer to medical professionals?

CK: So, the platform enables our surgeon collaborators to work directly with our engineering team to facilitate that patientspecific design process.

Before the launch of r3id, that was conducted in what I call an offline process and what we've brought to the table with the launch of r3id, which is both a web and now a mobile companion app for both iOS and Android, is the ability for the surgeon to collaborate with the engineering team at restor3d directly.

So, upload CT scans of the patient preoperatively, provide us some information about the case and the patient that we need to go ahead and start our design process, and then facilitate the patient specific process through the portal all the way through, getting ready for manufacturing, and then ultimately shipping the products out for surgery.

The other kind of great benefit of the system is that it acts as a repository for an individual surgeon's case library and so they can go back and access their past cases on the fly. And remember, ‘oh, I did this case with restor3d a couple months ago, I have a patient that might be a candidate for something similar,’ and refresh their memory on what's going on, or if they're preparing for a podium presentation or a series, they can aggregate all that data together. And that's been a really exciting feature of what we've rolled out that surgeons have been very positive on.

WORDS: SAM DAVIES

TCT: Earlier in our conversation, you mentioned the concept of scaled personalisation. Can you provide some insight into the infrastructure required to enable that?

CK: One of the more common objections that we might see from people in the market saying, 'this is great for personalisation at this level, it’s great for some really complex reconstructions, but it's not something that can be applied to every case in orthopedics,' and our team feels very strongly that that's not the case. Our vision is to make this a scalable operation. So, that includes scaling both the front end design aspects as well as the manufacturing operations as well.

I mentioned [earlier] we are moving into a new facility. And the intention there is to bring scale to our manufacturing asset to unlock that vision. Then the other component is to bring more digital aspects to the front end of the process.

Our first step into that space is the launch of r3id to make the process streamlined and frictionless for the surgeons and our team, as well as trying to bring some more automation and streamlining the design aspects of what our team does. So, the more that we can bring automatic segmentation, automatic design, these sorts of aspects to what we're doing on that business, we'll be able to truly unlock the vision of scaled personalised orthopaedics.

TCT: How much of a hurdle does FDA clearance, for example, become when you’re doing scaled personalisation?

CK: I think there's been a lot of great collaboration and conversation in the last year or two around point of care printing and what that looks like and FDA has laid out some really interesting framework, from their perspective and solicited some feedback from industry and others.

And so, we've been very fortunate to collaborate with FDA. Really try to understand from their perspective, how can we do this at scale and be compliant in the regulation? So, that looks like designing envelopes that encompass some of the patient specific aspects and features of what we might want to do for a given device and being really thoughtful and collaborative, like I said, with the agency to be able to do this.

BUILDING AN AM BUSINESS CASE: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

We asked the people who have built AM machines and business cases for their biggest pieces of advice on adopting additive into your business.

MARIA PAPAROZZISHIPMAN | Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate | Diamond Centre Wales

“Is there true return on investment and have you got enough time to wait for the return? I think it can be very easy to look at the cost of a machine and work out how quickly you can break even, but the secret costs, such as lab equipment, post-processing, experts, continuous material, and consumable costs are often forgotten about and the time it takes to embed new technology into a workforce.

The biggest investment a company will make when adopting additive manufacturing is time. A clear understanding of your project’s timeframe to change from the research and development stage to the embedding stage and into profitable production needs to be agreed on from every level by all stakeholders, from technician to board of directors. Trying to balance turning a profit and delivering an innovative product or service that will transform either the industry, or your market share, takes time.”

SJ JONES | Additive Manufacturing Expert

“In a period where we’re seeing rapid growth in not only the size of our machines, but also their capabilities, I’d build a business case tied to the technological and material roadmap of my printer partner. Simply put, the quote you get for parts today could rapidly change – for the better – in the few weeks/ months before your funding is allocated. Keeping an eye on future technological horizons will not only better your business case but also strategically align your manufacturing process for future success.”

STACEY M. DELVECCHIO | President | StaceyD Consulting

“It is critical that you know what problem you’re trying to solve which is very specific to each company and sometimes each application. The problems run the range from peak shaving when volumes exceed the capacity, to solving technical challenges that can’t be solved any other way, to needing a faster turnaround time, just to name a few. They can be a combination of several problems and will likely change with each application. Regardless, knowing what problem you’re trying to solve, and getting buy-in from leadership that it needs to be solved, is critical to success in building a successful business case. I’ve seen so many companies try to build a business case for additive simply because they see others doing it. That’s not a good reason. You need to find your why.”

KRISTIN MULHERIN | President | AM-Cubed | President | Women in 3D Printing

“A strong business case for adopting additive manufacturing includes one important thing: future-proofing. Adopting additive manufacturing is no small task, and it doesn’t happen overnight, but there are several benefits that’ll be missed in the future if you don’t start thinking about it now.

Speed of innovation is one such benefit. Yes, additive manufacturing can help mitigate supply chain risk, increase design flexibility, allow greater customisation, and sometimes even o er a more sustainable solution – all of which help future-proof your business. But if you truly want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to innovate fast and often.

Additive manufacturing can produce parts in a matter of hours or days (versus weeks or months). This allows quick responses to changing markets and maximises the product’s potential by allowing iterations at any point in the product lifecycle. Faster prototyping, iteration-friendly bridge production, and scaled production -all with the same manufacturing technology - will ensure you are staying ahead of the competition now and in the future.”

“When considering the possible business opportunities that additive manufacturing (AM) is able to deliver, looking at the Bill of Materials (BOM) of any product is generally a solid starting point. A classical paradigm today is that if you have one product of, for example, 1,000 components you would probably be able to produce around 300 of those components with AM. Of these, you’d end up with maybe 50 to 60 components where this makes economic sense, and those components usually give you a very fast return on investment.

Fortunately, there are software solutions out there that will conduct this BOM analysis and advise manufacturers which AM technology would fit each viable component. The bigger challenge is for manufacturers to expand this e ort and rethink the BOM looking for design changes that could bring AM into play. With some redesign of the remaining parts, manufactures can open new opportunities and strengthen the overall case for AM – ultimately opening the door to even more of the benefits that it delivers.”

ANDY LANGFELD | President EMEA | Stratasys

DR PHIL REEVES | Managing Director | Reeves Insight

"When building a business case for AM adoption, the most important thing you need to have is a metric. More than one metric is even better. Having something to measure AM against is the most crucial part of any business case-building activity. For example, that metric could be cost reduction, weight reduction, increased flow rate, reduced operating pressure, or reduced part count. The critical consideration is understanding how the metric impacts business performance and customer value. Does a lighter-weight part cost the customer more to purchase but save money to operate? Does reducing part count through design for AM save money in production but drive up the spare part cost? The other parallel consideration should always be whether this is still the best manufacturing process for this component or whether we should look towards traditional manufacturing processes and supply chains."

ANDY MIDDLETON | Vice President | XJet

DR

PARASTOO JAMSHIDI | School of Metallurgy and Materials | University of Birmingham

“Additive manufacturing approaches allow a greater design flexibility than traditional subtractive manufacturing methods with further advantages of cheaper and less wasteful manufacturing process (saving on material waste and energy) for various industrial applications. Therefore, in any business case where there are needs for a faster and less expensive production run for fully customised parts and also a need for adding further value and functionality to the components via AM design flexibility with an attempt of positive impact on the final product yield, adopting AM into that business is a great opportunity.”

Firstly, we must understand the motivation behind bringing in AM. Assuming the aim is not ‘to be a visionary’ with no real business need, most companies we speak to are looking for flexible production – to produce thousands of parts as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of parts generally produced by ceramic manufacturers. AM solves that problem, without the cost of the intensive, labour-heavy processes used by the ceramic industry today. To make the business case, companies must show that AM can meet, or surpass, the quality of parts made by the incumbent technology. For successful adoption, manufacturers absolutely will not compromise on quality. In ceramics, this is often about material properties, such as performance at high temperatures, chemical resistance and electrical insulation. In addition, the process must be as automated as possible. To compete with the standardised methods manufacturers have been using for decades, AM cannot use labour-intensive post-processing, it must be competitive."

A ROAD

When putting together a business case, the easiest (and therefore, unsurprisingly, the most common) thing to do is to focus straight on the second word: the case. Too many are tempted to chuck in just about every word you’ve ever heard on The Apprentice or Dragons Den and fill the pages with terms like ‘Market positioning’, ‘Key verticals’ and ‘Holistic synergy’. Overcook it and you’ll have blown the opportunity to put across what you actually intended.

The correct place to start is by focusing on the first word: the business. What I mean by that is that you have to understand the impact that additive manufacturing (AM) will have on your business. Not the impact that you would like it to have, or the impact that some so-called futurist has told you it will have but rather the difference that it will make to your business.

Be honest with yourself here, some of the differences will be good and some will be bad. Crucially, the universal constant is that AM adoption will be different for each individual business. Don’t just point to successful AM adoptions by other companies and predict that you will have the same successes. Their marketing people put out lots of stories of how they have benefitted and how AM has taken them forward and opened new opportunities. They don’t, however, talk about the things that did not go to plan, the abandoned research or implementation projects and the kit that they bought that has less returns than purchasing a stock of Joe Biden baseball caps and trying to sell them on at a Donald Trump rally.

Adoption viability is directly linked to applicability. Some areas like automotive and aerospace are great

fits for AM. Others are not. Even when you find a similar sized company, in your exact market segment that has adopted AM, you simply cannot draw direct parallels and base meaningful predictions on them. This seems a little odd. After all, as businesses we are always monitoring our competitors and customer activities. However, a key driver for implementation of any disruptive changes within a business, whether product offering shifts or technological shifts, are the people. Since technology has allowed businesses to operate more globally, company culture has become less and less defined by national conditions meaning that people have risen up the ranks in terms of importance in defining the culture of organisations.

To put it simply, if you have an effective core of people that not just embrace change but hunger for it and they are in the right positions then you are off. If, however, you have influential groups who are personally and professionally invested in the status quo, you are on a rocky road. The requirements at a human level for changes such as adopting AM are vision and faith. You may have the most compelling business case full of technical details, projections, market intelligence, etc. and paint a picture of a future where potential benefits from AM are like ripe fruit sitting on low lying branches just waiting to be picked. However, back in the real world, if you have just one person somewhere in your approval chain whose limits of vision is reluctantly daring to imagine a change of font on the title bar of their capacity reports, then you are going to have to think again about how much change will/can actually be achieved.

Putting together a business plan for AM may seem like a simple thing. You can dive into so many AM websites

and find people waxing lyrical about what AM can offer. You can cut and paste huge sections of this sort of stuff, stick a title on the top saying ‘AM adoption business case’, put your name on the bottom and think, job done. If any business leader signs off based on that, then they should not be in their position. To properly quantify and explain the impact on a business you need to perform value stream mapping of your proposed processes to identify and understand just where the value adding is. You need to understand the problems that you are trying to solve rather than simply becoming obsessed with the opportunities that you are creating. Most importantly of all, you absolutely must know and understand the appetite that your organisation has for adoption and set and communicate realistic expectations based on that.

WORDS: Jeremy Pullin, Head of Additive Manufacturing, Sartorius