TCT Europe 25.1 by TCT Magazine

EUROPE EDITION VOLUME 25 ISSUE 1 www.tctmagazine.com

FEEL THE FORZE FIRST HYDROGEN ELECTRIC RACE CAR GETS A COMPETITIVE EDGE THANKS TO SOMOS

T H E A L L N E W F 12 3 S E R I E S

Team player. Smarter prototyping. I N T R O D U C I N G T H E S T R ATA SYS F12 3 S E R I E S. D E S I G N E D FO R T H E WAY YO U WO R K.

From the leader in 3D printing comes a more capable, more affordable system your entire office can share. Create highly accurate, reliable prototypes for concept verification, design validation and functional performance. Design-to-print GrabCAD software makes it easier than ever. That’s real power for your business. And proof that at Stratasys, we shape what’s next.

THE 3D PRINTING SOLUTIONS COMPANY ™

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

VOLUME 25 ISSUE 1

ISSN 1751-0333

EDITORIAL HEAD OF CONTENT

James Woodcock james@rapidnews.com GROUP EDITOR

Daniel O’Connor daniel.oconnor@rapidnews.com DEPUTY GROUP EDITOR

Laura Griffiths laura.griffiths@rapidnews.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Samuel Davies samuel.davies@rapidnews.com NEWSDESK

+44 (0) 1244 680222 REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS

Todd Grimm tgrimm@tagrimm.com

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.dental

Source: LaserCUSING® LAC – Laser Add Center GmbH Machine layout & Rendering: newkon.info Photos: finamedia.de, uwe-muehlhaeusser.de Artwork: brandnew-design.de

MACHINE SOLUTIONS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH METALS

SEE YOU AT International Dental Show Cologne, Germany | 21. – 25.03.2017 Hall 10.1 | Booth B034

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NEW !

Fake News Free Zone

n comparison to the topsy-turvy world of current affairs, the trade press may seem like a breeze. Undoubtedly, deciphering a press release claim is hardly investigative journalism to match that of Woodward and Bernstein but one of the first things I learnt at Rapid News is that TCT didn’t just stand for Time Compression Technologies but it stood for integrity and diligence, fact checking is of the utmost importance. We’re fortunate in this industry as despite hyperbole creeping into the odd press release, the bursting of the hype bubble means most companies substantiate their PR claims. And thanks to our prevalence at shows everywhere from Birmingham, UK to Shanghai, China we often get to see the tech first hand. This issue is packed full of reporting live from such events. Since the last issue of 2016, the team has been to formnext (page 37-45), CES (pages 48-51), Solidworks World for the Stratasys launch (pages 34-35). Heck, I’m even writing this as I’m preparing to go into a show in Tokyo, Japan. You may have noted that this is the first issue of the 25th volume of TCT Magazine and later in the year we will be revisiting some of the stories from the very first volume. Those hallowed pages, from what was then Rapid News, feature some people that the TCT Group is looking to recognise at the inaugural TCT Awards in September this year at Birmingham Town Hall. Alongside the TCT Hall of Fame, which seeks to recognise the pioneers that have brought the industry to this point, will be ten awards acknowledging the best of the industry today.

While it may seem easy to throw an awards ceremony together, we have, as a team, been back and forth over the categories making sure that we have all bases covered. We didn’t want to chuck in the obvious categories like “3D Printer of the Year”, that simply doesn’t work, most people who use the technology have access to maybe one or two machines, so how can you quantify “best”? Instead, we’ve asked, not what is the best technology but what is the best use of the technology no matter what the price. What are the projects that are achieving optimum results of 3D technologies and how are they doing it? The jewellery feature (pages 17-19) in this issue shows how people apply the technology, be it industrial scale or desktop, to their own means. It’s not necessarily about what technology you use but how you use it. I urge you, if you have a project, no matter how big or small, find a category and enter it into the awards over at tctawards.com. Druck on

Daniel O’Connor Group Editor

Renishaw Solutions Centres... Equipped with the latest metal AM, machining and metrology systems staffed with knowledgeable engineers, a Solutions Centre offers you a fast, secure and accessible way to rapidly deploy this exciting technology in your business. Find out more at www.renishaw.com/solutionscentres

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23/08/2016 11:27:48 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com 05

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

FROM THE EDITOR

COVER STORY

POST PROCESSING

FEEL THE FORZE

FINISHING THE JOB

How the team behind the world’s first hydrogen-electric race car turned to Somos to gain a competitive edge.

NEWS

A roundup of all the latest news from www.tctmagazine.com

JEWELLERY FOCUS

WATCH THIS SPACE

Group Editor, Daniel O’Connor takes a look at a Swiss made watch featuring a 3D Printed dial and wonders how much of a watch could actually be printed?

BLING BLING

Dan takes a look at how jewellery firms from the largest to the smallest are adopting a variety of 3D technologies.

CES 2017 REVIEW

TCT @ CES REVIEW

Dan gets to grips with Innovate UK’s funding drive that sees one newly formed Sheffield-based company take on the task of digitising the manual step of post-processing.

EASY AS 123

Laura provides an overview of Stratasys’ latest machine launch, the F123 Series designed to address the needs of the professional rapid prototyping market.

29 48

INTELLIGENT DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

Laura speaks to Sculpteo CEO, Clement Moreau about the launch of its new Agile Metal Technology platform aimed at helping designers evaluate metal AM projects.

FORMNEXT POWERED BY TCT REVIEW

THE CHANGING FACE OF CAD

We look back on another successful show in Frankfurt, highlighting some of the biggest launches on the show floor and food for thought from the conference.

We bring you a roundup of key launches from the metals arena including exclusive interviews direct from the show floor.

We take a look at a SolidThinking’s 2017 software updates with a case study from Sintavia on optimising the design of a replacement aerospace part.

HOW GE WILL ACCELERATE THE AM REVOLUTION

REVIEW

Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griffiths takes a look at how virtual reality and mobile technology are influencing a new era of CAD software.

OPTIMISATION FOR METAL AM

Dan takes a look at MarkForged’s new Metal X 3D printer, the first metal system available on the market for less than $100,000.

Renishaw Medical and Dental have adapted a more traditional postprocessing system in order to finish medical 3D prints. Dan takes a closer look.

Laura relives all of the action from the lively CES 3D Printing Marketplace and TCT hosted 3D Printing Conference track.

A MARK IN THE SAND

BENEATH THE SURFACE

SOFTWARE

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

CONTENTS

TCT | VOLUME 25 | ISSUE 1

TCT ASIA PREVIEW

Dan looks towards the upcoming TCT Asia event, taking place for its third year in a new and bigger exhibition space at the SNEIC in Shanghai.

TREND ALERT: METALS

Laura takes a closer look at GE’s venture into the AM market following the launch of its dedicated GE Additive vertical and educationfocussed initiative.

REGULARS

05 47 58

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK GUEST COLUMN TODD GRIMM COLUMN 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

COVER STORY

ABOVE: The Forze VII

hydrogen-electric racecar

Feel the Forze

First hydrogen-electric racecar gets a competitive edge with Somos

ORZE HYDROGEN ELECTRIC RACING is one of the world’s leading university based projects at the forefront of hydrogen-electric racing car technology. The team is continually enhancing their car’s performance to win the Supercar Challenge and they recently turned to 3D printing to accelerate design changes. 3D printed parts made with high performance Somos materials were used on the car to quickly implement new designs, saving time and money, which is crucial to maintaining the competitive edge in the racing community. Each year, since 2007, approximately 50 students, mainly from TU Delft (Delft University of Technology) in the Netherlands, take over running Forze as a commercial entity to design and build zero-emission racing vehicles. The Forze hydrogen fuel cell technology is among the most advanced of its kind in the world and the students are constantly working to improve engine capacity and car performance. Their first vehicle, Forze I, had a top speed of

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES



LEFT: 3D printed inlet manifold for Forze VII made with Somos ProtoTherm 12120

90km/h and acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds. The latest vehicle, Forze VII, has been designed to achieve 210 km/h and goes from 0 to 100km/h in just 4 seconds. The main challenge for the current Forze team was to enter Forze VII into the Supercar Challenge at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands. To continue being successful in the Supercar Challenge, the team needs to continually refine vehicle performance. To help improve the speed and acceleration of the Forze VII, the team reconfigured system components to reduce space and weight. Specifically, the humidifier unit was repositioned which meant a moisture inlet manifold had to be new. Designed with compressed air, the humidifier injects moisture into the fuel cell unit. To operate effectively, a hydrogen fuel cell needs moisture to prevent highly critical elements from drying out. This new inlet value had to be able to withstand compressed air pressure of 0.9 t/o bar and temperatures up to 10°C Sjoerd van Empelen, one of the Fuel Cell Chiefs at Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing, says, “Initially we’d considered using aluminium to make the new inlet manifold, but it’s an intricate shape and it had to be fitted into a very confined position and aluminium didn’t give enough accuracy or flexibility. We needed an alternative solution and 3D printing offered the best way of producing the part to exact specifications with a material that was strong and heat resistant.” A colleague of van Empelen’s, who had experience with the technology, suggested contacting Somos, one of the leading developers of high-performance materials for 3D printing. Forze created a CAD design and specification for the new inlet manifold that was presented to the Somos technical team. They recommended Somos ProtoTherm 12120, a 3D printing material designed for complex and demanding automotive and aerospace applications. Forze moved forward with using Somos ProtoTherm 12120 due to its heat resistance capability, stability in high humidity environments and extremely accurate precision for small details. All of these performance requirements, plus a

smooth surface, were required as the part would be fit directly on the car and used as an end-use part. Proform, a service bureau using Somos materials in Switzerland, was commissioned to produce the inlet manifold. Printing the part took approximately 20 hours and due to the high quality surface a limited amount of finishing was needed. “The goal for Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing is to show the world that hydrogen is a viable alternative to other energy sources and demonstrate this in an attractive way through racing. Forze is also giving students at Delft TU the opportunity to experience the application of technical education in the real world,” says van Empelen. Somos has played an essential role in enabling the Forze team to develop and build the latest and most powerful vehicle. Van Empelen says, “Somos ProtoTherm 12120 was crucial to the development of the fuel cell system in Forze VII. Without it, we would have struggled to re-fit the system components and would have spent more time and effort changing and moving parts and re-designing a whole section of the car.” The new inlet manifold has now been fitted into the Forze VII engine and is undergoing testing in preparation for the Supercar Challenge. The Supercar Challenge is a motor racing series open to various classes of touring cars, GTs and sports cars. Forze VII is expected to be the first and only zero-emission car competing in the competition. Van Empelen says, “We have already had successful start-ups with the fuel cell system running at 50 percent capacity and with experience of the previous car, the Forze VI, we are definitely positive about increasing the power to 100 percent. The Supercar Challenge is an important milestone for Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing because we believe the Forze VII is currently one of the very few hydrogen electric racing cars in the world capable of competing against petrol powered vehicles. We feel confident to compete in the next race and 3D printing with Somos materials made it possible.”

The goal for Forze Hydrogen Electric Racing is to show the world that hydrogen is a viable alternative to other energy sources and demonstrate this in an attractive way through racing.

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

Growing a world with limitless potential Introducing GE Additive At GE, we’re passionate about the transformative power of advanced manufacturing. That’s why we’re committed to leading the additive industry through world-class machines, materials and services. Together, we can accelerate innovations across industries and help the world work smarter, faster and more efficiently. See how we’re expanding the boundaries of what’s possible at geadditive.com.

NEWS ROUNDUP ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

STRATASYS SIGNS DEAL WITH MCLAREN TO BRING 3D PRINTING TO FORMULA 1  Stratasys has signed a four-year partnership deal with McLaren racing to bring its 3D printing expertise to Formula 1. The agreement sees the additive manufacturing leader named as the Official Supplier of 3D Printing Solutions to the McLarenHonda Formula 1 team as it ramps up its rapid manufacturing capacity at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK. Under the agreement, Stratasys will supply McLaren Racing with its latest FDM and PolyJetbased 3D printing solutions and cutting-edge materials for visual and functional prototyping, production tooling including composite tooling, and customised production parts. 

3DCERAM LAUNCH COMPACT CERAMAKER 100 

3DCeram has unveiled the Ceramaker 100 3D printer. Smaller in stature, than the Ceramaker 900, the Cermaker 100 features an equally vast skillset and maintains the same technological capacity. These include a reliable design, the ability to produce high quality ceramics, a large printing surface relative to the machine’s size, settings open for modification and the offer of free link support technology. 3DCeram’s latest machine also encompasses laser technology, enabling ceramic components to be directly manufactured from a CAD file, without any break in the digital chain. 

NEWS

SLM SOLUTIONS REMOVE CEO MARKUS RECHLIN 

FOR THESE STORIES IN FULL CLICK TO WWW.TCTMAGAZINE.COM

DESKTOP METAL EQUITY FUNDING UP TO $97M AFTER INVESTMENT FROM GV, BMW AND LOWE’S

Desktop Metal, an emerging start-up with ambitions to bring metal 3D printing to all design and manufacturing teams, has announced it has raised a total of $97 million in equity funding since its founding in October 2015. The announcement comes as the result of the latest Series C investment of $45 million, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), as well as BMW i Ventures and Lowe’s Ventures. Desktop Metal will use the funding to continue to develop its technology and scale production as the company prepares for its product launch later this year. Having previously received financial backing from the likes of GE Ventures and Stratasys, Desktop Metal is committed to accelerating the adoption of metal 3D printing in design and manufacturing through innovative technology capable of producing complex parts.

MATERIALISE AGREES DEAL WITH SIEMENS PLM TO ADVANCE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING 

Belgian additive manufacturing company, Materialise has announced that it has signed an agreement with Siemens’ PLM software business. Through this deal, the two companies will work together to integrate Materialise’s industry-proven AM software technologies with Siemens’

German 3D printer manufacturer, SLM Solutions has removed Dr Markus Rechlin from his position as CEO and management board member with immediate effect. Uwe Bogershausen, the company’s chief financial officer, has taken over the CEO’s responsibilities, while his place on the board has been left vacated. In a brief statement, SLM thanked Dr Rechlin for his ‘many years of dedicated and committed contribution to the company’, but did not explain the reason for his departure.

digital solutions. The agreement will help Materialise create a seamless process for designing and manufacturing parts using 3D printing technology. Already working together for several months, the aim of the partnership is to explore the integration of Siemens’ world-leading PLM software with best-in-class Materialise additive manufacturing technology to accelerate the adoption of 3D printing for industrial production.

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011

JEWELLERY

WOR DS : DA N I E L O ’C O N N O R

AIMING HIGH

UT OF THE ASHES of the economic downturn towards the end of the last decade, like a bulgur wheat sourdough, rose the artisan. Despite the sniggering and sneering at the hipster economy, craft beer now outsells Budweiser in the US, flat white purveyors have increased footfall on the Great British High Street by 28% and the overall contribution of the craft sector to the UK economy two years ago was £3.4 billion. There’s little more artisan in the world than Swiss watchmaking so when serial entrepreneur, Philippe Kuratle, met Swiss watch designer, Jérémie Senggen, protégé of master watchmaker Gerald Genta, in a bar, they talked about their love of watches but frustration at how, in a world of advanced manufacturing watchmaking has stood still. They launched Montfort Watches in order to reinvigorate Swiss watchmaking by applying the latest technologies to the renowned craftsmanship. The main gripe the pair had with watches was that no matter how expensive a timepiece scratching is an all too common occurrence. In order to create a watch that is ultra scratch resistant they turned to a process usually reserved for offshore and defence application - diffusing carbon and nitrogen into stainless steel, which has allowed Montfort to boost the scratch resistance of the outer casing by 8 x.

So far no other metal additive manufacturing technology can match the level of resolution and surface quality provided by Digital Metal

The pair wanted to reflect this strength and durability in the watches’ aesthetic, what could be a better symbol of strength for a Swiss-made product than the Alps? Jérémie’s dial design was a modern twist on the mountainous range complete with terrain. In order to manufacture this dial Montfort enlisted the help of AIM SA – a manufacturing consultancy firm renowned for innovation in both the medical and watchmaking industries. AIM SA had previously explored 3D technologies for the manufacture of watch cases but cost and time proved to be too prohibitive when compared with traditional milling methods. Because the mountainous design of the dial was both complex and small enough AIM SA knew immediately who to turn to. “Our 3D steel dial is printed using Digital Metal,” Jérémie tells TCT. “The ink-jet process was well suited for our needs of speed, precision and finishing quality.” Digital Metal is the proprietary technology of Höganäs, the Swedish metal powder company, who have developed this metal 3D printing technology in-house. Digital Metal uses a precision inkjet alongside a powder delivery system followed by sintering to make stainless steel parts, which are heralded for the incredible resolution and surface finish. According to 3D printing sculptor, Bathsheba Grossman, “So far no other metal additive manufacturing technology can match the level of resolution and surface quality provided by Digital Metal”. And you can see from the detail on the watch dial that required no post-processing the technology is perfect for an application like this.

Watch this space 012

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

MAKING IT TICK Montfort’s designs aren’t the first time we’ve seen 3D printing applied to watches. Last year, Dutch designer Michel Holthinrich, had some particularly high-end cases printed in metal by Materialise. Seldom has 3D printing been applied for the vital mechanics, which given the sheer amount of gears we see 3D printed seems strange. Swiss engineer, Christoph Laimer has created a plastic tourbillon watch and shared the design of Thingiverse, which online watch magazine, Hodinkee described as “jaw-dropping”. While the 3D printed mechanics of Laimer’s design are absolutely incredible it only runs for 30 minutes and is not something your average Joe is going to pick up in H Samuels. ››

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JEWELLERY ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ABOVE: Christoph Laimer’s incredible 3D printed tourbillon

When it comes to making watch gears I wondered whether there are any technologies capable of printing such fine details. I turned to a man who has 3D printed the tiniest gears I’ve ever seen for his endoscopic stitching device, Sutrue’s Alex Berry, “From my experience if any technology is capable of making watch gears I’d suggest that it is Concept Laser’s Mlab machine.” Ray Neal, of ES Technology which helped Alex Berry with the endoscopic gears said when asked, “I would doubt that the accuracies required within a mechanical watch are within process capability. But never say, never.”

BELOW: The 3D printed stainless steel dial of Montfort watches printed by Höganäs

Bill Letwin, EnivisonTEC’s jewellery expert and Frank Cooper of the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre both concurred that the 3D printing of watch gears is currently a step too far. When asked how much of a watch could realistically be printed, Kuralte Thomas, co-founder of Montfort’s manufacturing partners AIM SA said: “We once tried to apply it (Digital Metal 3D printing) for a small movement but the dimension requirements were too tight. Realistically, I would say that dials buckles, cases, backs, bezels and straps could be printed.” Perhaps though, this thinking applies to the way current watches are designed, we often talk about not 3D printing for 3D printing’s sake. NASA has additively manufactured fuel injectors for rockets traditionally made with 163 parts now with just two. Will we ever see a completely different design of watch? The only man I could find to have ever 3D printed the gears, the aforementioned Christoph Laimer told me he certainly believes one day we will be 3D printing watch gears. “I don’t think 3D printed watches will be the cheapest but they might fall in between luxury watches and the market for very customised mechanical watches.” For now we’ll stick with the artisan and 3D printing for novelty value. While the technologies’ ability to manufacture automatically may seem to rally against the artisan spirit, the Montfort watches are a fantastic example of craft meets tech. For many artisans 3D printing is enabling them to create beautiful, bespoke products in the way in which they wanted to make them. 

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ew N

The Wait is Over

High-Speed 3D Printing Has Arrived Now, jewelers can deliver a custom, high-quality engagement ring for design verification in less than 15 minutes. Yes, less than 15 minutes. Enough time for the happy couple to enjoy a cup of coffee. Groundbreaking continuous printing technology from EnvisionTEC, a global leader in 3D printing, means jeweler orders won’t have to wait either. While-you-wait quality 3D printing is here. Thanks to the Micro Plus cDLM – the first in EnvisionTEC’s coming series of continuous, high-speed 3D printers. These rings were 3D printed in 13 minutes on the cDLM in EnvisionTEC’s Q-View material. Learn more at EnvisionTEC.com/CDLM

JEWELLERY ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ABOVE: Kalevala’s production process

Bling Ring WOR D S : DA NIE L O’ C ON NOR

“The CAD revolution allowed jewellers to take control of their orders,” explained the Director of Fashion and Jewellery Sales Channel at EnvisionTEC. “Bespoke items were very difficult to do manually; they had to make a metal mould and that made very personalised jewellery ridiculously expensive. With CAD software and a highdetailed printer you now have the ability to design, print, cast, set and finish a piece quickly and affordably.” Each time this jewellery feature comes around we’re told something that follows Bill’s lines. Of course the OEMs will extoll the virtues of their technology for each application but there’s a reason jewellery remains so high on the list of verticals. It works. Away from prototyping it is hard to see another market that 3D printing has democratised so dramatically. Here we take a look at the ways in which 3D printing can give high-street jewellers a new niche, keep jobs in Europe and give you the opportunity to set out on your own:

“How has the jewellery industry changed since it began to adopt 3D technologies?” Is the first question I asked EnvisionTEC’s resident jewellery expert, Bill Letwin. Having grown up in a three-store family-ran jewellery business Bill is expertly placed to know. THE FINNISH LINE Based in Helsinki, Finland, Kalevala is one of Northern Europe’s most established jewellers and has been using 3D printing technology since 1998 when the company had a small printer for product development. The company uses two 3D Systems ProJet MJP 3600W machines and VisiJet M3 CAST 100% wax material, having acquired its latest machine in 2016 when it signed up with Canon as 3D partner. Production Director and Head of Innovation Terja Koskenoja, has helped to develop a process using the ProJet machines as a pattern maker. “We used 3D printing to produce some of the wax patterns,” explains Terja. “The patterns are then attached to a wax pole to form a tree-like structure and these trees are placed inside a cylinder which is then cast with plaster. The pattern is melted off from the cylinder and replaced with molten metal. After the metal casts have cooled down, the plaster can be removed. After this, we start treating the metal casts by hand, grinding, polishing, hallmarking, surface treating, soldering etc.”

ABOVE: Paula Szarejko rings, were printed in plastic using a ZMorph 2.0 SX 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

017

JEWELLERY

Although 3D printing is often cited as a job stealing technology, Terja believes that the only way to keep production for a company like Kalevala in Europe is to enlist technologies. Despite advances in direct metal printing Terja does not believe that it will ever be able to take the job off its skilled workers. “Handwork is still needed to make products unique and in many cases those traditional techniques can be more efficient than new ones.”

MASTERING THE ART On the flip side to the relatively huge Kalevala is Paula Szarejko, a master’s graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts, Wrocław, Poland. Paula began experimenting with a ZMorph desktop fabrication machine during her studies and is now running her own jewellery business. The reason we say fabrication machine as opposed to desktop 3D printer is because ZMorph has become so much more than just that. The ZMorph 2.0 SX packs in CNC and laser engraving on top of a printer capable of printing in over 30 different materials thanks to an interchangeable toolhead. Many all-in-one technology solutions can be clunky but according to Paula the ZMorph is different: “It’s a complete solution for all types of designers, craftsmen, and artists,” says Paula. “With the abilities of machines like ZMorph 2.0 SX they get a completely new set of tools that allow them to materialize their ideas in new shapes and forms. In many cases, my own included, 3D printing enables people to express themselves in a completely new and unique way.” Paula started out making rings, necklaces and earrings in ABS and PLA materials, adding details such as metal plating by hand or using ZMorph’s engraving and CNCing features. She has now progressed to full precious metal pieces that still incorporate 3D printing technology.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

The ZMorph is a complete solution for all types of designers, craftsmen, and artists

“I used 3D printing to fabricate jewellery prototypes and then the mould forms in which I made rubber moulds. These moulds were later used in a foundry during the silver casting. I was able to reduce the manufacturing costs by 40% and significantly reduce the time.”

ENVISIONING THE FUTURE During the JCK Jewellery trade show in Las Vegas EnvisionTEC did something many had predicted it would do at RAPID, launch a turbo-charged version of its DLP technology. The new process, Continuos Digital Light Manufacturing (cDLM) can achieve resolutions that one has come to expect from EnvisionTEC’s parts in castable materials in record times. But it’s actually a step back into prototyping where, Jewellery Expert, Bill Letwin sees this tech as truly groundbreaking. “With the Micro cDLM printer and the QView material we can print a ladies ring in just 15 minutes,” says Bill. “That’s a real game-changer if you are a bricks and mortar store. A customer can come in with a design, create it, modify it and then print it out for fit and finish. Because they have participated in the manufacturing process, then price becomes less of an issue.” It’s been shown on numerous occasions that people will pay more for personalisation; in this case it is entirely logical. Not only are you getting a perfectly fitted ring that immortalises your special day forever but you’re creating a story of how you helped to make it. The wedding trade is big business and EnvisionTEC’s technology may just help independent high-street jewellers grab an extra slice of that cake.



RIGHT: EnvisionTEC’s new Micro cDLM machine can print a ring in 15 minutes.

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019

“Sssshhhh...”

The sound of the NEW F123 Series 3D printers hard at work. Three NEW mid-range printers on a brand new platform, each with distinctly high-end features. Offering faster output in a wider range of materials, they’re among the quietest 3D printers ever produced. The F123 Series, bundled with GrabCAD Print, significantly shortens the printing process as well as offering remote print monitoring through its mobile app.

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SOFTWARE ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

The Changing Face of

CAD



ABOVE: New Leopoly ShapeLab app allows users to create models in VR.

WOR DS : L A U RA G R I F F I T HS

.S. COMPUTER SCIENTIST, Patrick J. Hanratty is widely regarded as the father of what we now know as Computer Aided Design (CAD). In 1957, he invented PRONTO (Program for Numerical Tooling Operations), the first commercial numerical control system, and while working at the General Motors Research Lab helped to develop DAC (Designed Automated by Computer), one of the earliest graphical computer aided design systems. Soon after in 1961, fellow computer scientist, Ivan Sutherland presented a thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which detailed another groundbreaking technology “Sketchpad”, the first tool to allow users to manipulate objects with a light pen on a CRT monitor, blazing the trail for modern CAD and the development of computer graphics. Advancement continued and by the end of the Sixties, Pierre Bezier, a French engineer, introduced UNISURF, a system developed to assist car body design and tooling, marking the first steps into 3D. Years later, many lessons learned and versions created, a more condensed, but all the while far superior version of CAD is now commonplace

on desktops in engineering and design firms all over the world. But the idea of what CAD is continues to evolve as other forms of design and technology shake up what users want and need from their digital toolbox, particularly in the case of additive manufacturing.

VIRTUAL REALITY Virtual reality (VR) and mobile applications are just two formats which have broken past the boundaries of simply being cool to offer up a new mode of design that can be quicker, more hands on and accessible. At the end of last year, software developer, Leopoly launched a new set of tools to allow businesses and individuals to create 3D models in VR. The new app, named ShapeLab allows users to draw with digital sculpting and painting tools in a virtual environment and makes it easy for objects to be brought back into the physical world with 3D printing. Describing content creation as “one of the most exciting things” about VR, Roland Manyai, CEO at Leopoly, explained how it allows users to view and experience products as if they were real. ››

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BELOW: Shapr3D drawing on iPad Pro.

use solutions. And the extra layer now is the VR that makes it very exciting for the industry and us too.” It’s not the first time we’ve seen freehand modelling in VR, Google’s VR drawing app Tilt Brush already lets users paint in the space around them and Oculus Medium allows users to model organic looking shapes using touch controllers and then 3D print them. It’s not designed for precision engineering but for beginners it provides a tangible way of making models that feels akin to drawing and simplifies design for 3D printing. Away from VR for direct design, the technology is being used for validation and collaboration as Dassault Systèmes’ showed at CES 2017 with its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which now allows users to view, explore and validate product designs with the HTC Vive Business Edition VR system. The idea is that during product development, industrial designers, mechanical engineers, marketers and project managers can use a VR headset to access a virtual model on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and gain a deeper understanding of an object’s depth, solidness and design.

PORTABILITY From the huge UNIX systems of the 1960s down to tiny tablets, mobility is something that’s causing developers to adapt their

systems so that users can create, view and edit their designs on the go. We saw an example of this a while back in an update from Adobe which now allows Photoshop users to export 3D PDF files and view them in Adobe Acrobat, making it much easier to share and review 3D models without requiring access to the full software. For Budapest-based startup, Shapr3D, their aim is to make CAD as assessable as possible by bringing around 30% of the features of full-scale CAD packages to the iPad. Available in both free and subscriptionbased packages, Shapr3D allows anyone from beginners to professionals to create and modify 3D models using an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. Describing what he envisions as the next wave of “the mobile revolution”, the company’s Growth Marketer, Gabor Papp believes the demand for portable and accessible design tools is only going to grow. “There will be a lot of new applications that are specifically designed for tablet use because these tablets will eventually overtake the PC market,” Gabor explained. “What we are doing at the moment is not only bringing CAD to tablets but also trying to be a leader in this shift and show people that you can actually use your tablet for productive work, for actual serious work and not just for watching YouTube videos or playing games. But you’ve got to build software specifically for these devices.” Even with the iPad Pro’s professionalgrade computing power, you might not want to trade in your desktop just yet. Currently Shapr3D runs only around 10% of the functionality of a full CAD programme, how far they take it is really only limited by the power of the hardware, but the company hopes to introduce more advanced features such as simulation tools in the near future. A company that’s already tackling the simulation process is SimScale. Founded in 2012, the product is designed to make simulation easier and less costly by offering a browser-based cloud platform that can perform simulation of structural dynamics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, acoustics and particle phenomena. Taking a webbased approach, users are able to leverage data from completed simulations in Public Projects, meaning you don’t need to start from scratch.

CAD TO MANUFACTURING The impact of 3D printing on software has been substantial. CAD programmes have had to re-learn what a 3D shape constitutes, which can mean complex, multi-faceted, lattice-like forms that you wouldn’t have seen in production a few years ago. This has gone hand in hand with generative design, which mimics nature’s approach to structure based on specific design parameters to produce weird and wonderful shapes that can’t easily be manufactured in any other way. However, as the software has gotten more sophisticated, there’s a pull from the opposite end of the spectrum from ›› 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

BELOW: Leopoly Product customisation in VR. “We are entering a new wave of digitisation changing the way we view, design, share, manufacture and distribute products. This phenomenon has multiple layers, including 3D printing, scanning, new types of CAD software, marketplaces and supply chains,” Roland explained. “VR and AR bring whole new dimensions to how we can benefit from our new digital worlds. They provide not only fun experiences but real added value to view, modify, create products not yet produced in a real life-like environment and also to engage customers and makers in a very new way.” ShapeLab has been successfully Greenlit on the Steam platform and will be available to HTC Vive users soon. The current version is limited to a single user experience with a reduced number of features but new design tools and a co-creation experience are set to be on the horizon. Already working closely with companies such as HP, Lowe’s and Bosch on tailored software solutions, Leopoly is intent on bringing these new capabilities to business-orientated VR solutions designed for 3D printing, retail, health care, toy and interior design industries. Offered as white label solutions, products include VR experiences for shopping, customisation of video game characters, and simple view and assembly applications for components. “I see three major trends in CAD software development. The first one is to offer more tools and smart algorithms for handling files for 3D print-ability,” Roland commented. “Second, there are more and more tailor-made CAD solutions to a particular problem to make or prepare digital files for manufacturing or just for presenting. Third, as more and more people joining this great new wave of digitisation, tools have to be easier and it is not surprising that more and more big and small companies talk about the disruption of CAD by offering easy to

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RIGHT: Mars Rover model from Shapr3D.

makers and hobbyists who are crying out for a simple software solution that will allow them to create and print their own designs. “What we see with 3D printing is that as more and more people have access, there is a very big difference in people downloading something off the internet and printing it out versus you sitting down and creating it,” Gabor added. “When you actually hold that thing for the first time, that’s when you have the revolution that I created it and the machine printed it. That is very important and we usually try to focus on the second part. What has been one of the biggest struggles is that there has been no winner in an entry level product that is intuitive to use but still professional, not a kid’s toy.” Throughout CAD’s lifespan, four main players have remained consistent including Autodesk, which this year is celebrating 35 years in the industry since the launch of AutoCAD. As one of the biggest providers of design software, Autodesk boasts an extensive portfolio of products covering just about every form of design and manufacturing technology you could imagine (AutoCAD itself now exists in 17 different versions) all intended to give designers and manufacturers more power over the production lifecycle and embrace innovations like VR to provide a more immersive experience. “With the evolution of VR technology, manufacturers can now also easily transfer their CAD models into a virtual environment for even further optimisation and development,” Asif Moghal, Senior Manufacturing Industry Manager at Autodesk. “Through VR goggles, they can see real-sized virtual prototypes of their

designs, allowing them to explore detailed models for quality checks and reach decisions at the earliest stage possible, before their concepts are brought to life with a physical prototype.” Moving onto manufacturing, Asif also notes how developments in CAD have enabled better cohesion with CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software to overlap stages of the making process and keep production lines running smoothly. “Thanks to improvements in visualisation, modelling, maintenance and data analytics, CAD now allows engineers to create products faster and with higher precision and quality than ever before,” Asif added. “What’s even more exciting however, is that to keep up with the manufacturing demand, we are now seeing CAM being integrated with CAD. Such integration is enabling manufacturers

to have even better control over additive manufacturing or CNC machines and to connect the entire product development process.” Monochrome to colour, desktop to tablet, 2D to 3D, linear to additive manufacturing, CAD has changed dramatically since its invention. Whilst doing some reading for this article, I came across an old blog post, which highlighted remarks made by SOLIDWORKS at their annual event back in 2009 about how CAD might look in ten years time. Key predictions included touchscreen interfaces, viewing in VR and access to design from anywhere on any device. If these predictions are anything to go by, it looks like we’re already ahead of schedule, who knows what another 10 years could bring? 

BELOW: SimScale simulation

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

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WOR DS : L A U R A G R I F F I T HS

performance characteristics of the uilt with a focus on parts can be achieved including improving usability for decreased weight, increased designers and engineers, strength, and increased fatigue key updates to Inspire characteristics.” 2017 include a new Motion tool that allows users to easily To begin, the original part was mechanise their models and scanned with a blue light scanner to predict loads for moving parts, a produce a high-fidelity CAD model. Topography Optimisation tool to The team then determined all of the change shapes of shell structures loading conditions that the part would using stamped bead patterns to experience during use and applied improve structural performance, them to the design in solidThinking Bolt Pretension tool for more Inspire. After separating all design accurate results when bolts are and non-design spaces, multiple under pretension, and updated optimisation iterations were ran Partition Tools that allow users including modified design spaces, to divide a part into design and compression testing and factory of non-design regions by selecting a safety. Finally finite element analysis hole, pocket or face to offset. (FEA) was run on the results to Over in Evolve 2017, the biggest and determine the best Above (l-R): Bracket set up with loads and design space in Inspire. Final compare improvements come in the form print of the parts with SLM 280 Twin Laser. Optimised aerospace bracket. optimisation result before taking the of Planar Symmetry and Radial design into solidThinking Evolve and Symmetry tools to replace Mirror using the PolyNURBS tools to refine and Polar Copy tools, improved import and With six printers from four of the world’s its final geometry. export for certain file formats, a new length largest additive machine manufacturers, Final design in hand, Sintavia went ahead parameter for the Line tool and Rounded hot isotonic press, vacuum heat treatment, and produced the part on its SLM Solutions Polyline tools and improved Curve Offset wire EDM, CT scanning, mechanical testing 280 twin laser machine in Inconel 718 tool for working directly on surface edges. and materials lab, Sintavia is unrivalled powder. The part then underwent in-house In addition to these new features, all images when it comes to in-house capabilities that vacuum treatment and removal from the rendered in Evolve will now include a Depth serve some of the world’s most demanding build plate using EDM before additional post Channel (tiff), which can be used in post- industries. processes including support removal, sand processing tools including Adobe Photoshop In a recent project, Doug Hedges, blasting, polishing, and hot isotonic pressing to simulate natural blurring of foreground President of Sintavia set out to prove the to avoid any cracking. and background elements when viewed ability to additively manufacture aerospace The part has undergone several tests through a camera lens. replacement parts. The goal was to produce including fatigue, metallurgy and load testing Each of these enhancements have been an optimised design for an aerospace with 5000Ibs. The results were positive and implemented to streamline the overall bracket, an aftermarket aviation part for the optimised part managed to outperform design process by putting generative design a low-pressure turbine used 12 times per the original in every test boasting a 15% and optimisation features into the hands of engine that would reduce weight whilst weight reduction, three times increase in engineers and industrial users. One such user exceeding existing mechanical properties. fatigue life and reduced porosity. Now is Sintavia, a global leader in independent Doug explained: “My goal is to streamline Sintavia plans to further optimise the part metal additive manufacturing (AM) for critical maintenance, repair and overhaul and a range of others for AM. industries such as aerospace, oil and gas, organisations using generative design and Doug added: “With the engine turbine automotive and powder generation, who additive manufacturing. If these organisations part, I want to continue to work to further recently used the new solidThinking Design adopt these technologies, they can see reduce the mass. We also plan to strengthen Suite to optimise a traditional aerospace many benefits including streamlined (internal) the collar, and may even work on a design part. fabrication, easier make vs. buy decisions, with integrated bearings.”  virtual inventory, replacement of obsolete or discontinued parts, and improved

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POST-PROCESSING ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Finishing the Job

W O R D S : DA N I E L O ’C O N N O R



LEFT: Parts finished using the PUSh process that has now been built upon by AMT

Daniel O’Connor blasts through the world of post-processing polymers to see how one Sheffieldbased company have taken up the task of making 3D printing’s most analogue step digital.

N MAY 2016, the British Government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK posted a funding competition for a share of £4.5 million for collaborative industrial research projects that stimulate innovation in additive manufacturing (AM). Previous government funding for additive manufacturing has focussed on either additive machinery itself or application specific technologies like the MTC-based Aerospace Research Centre. This latest call was much more prescriptive in what it wanted projects to achieve – digitally connected additive innovations. “People will tell me that additive manufacturing is inherently digitally enabled,” said Robin Wilson, Lead Technologist of High-Value Manufacturing at Innovate UK during the competition’s launch. “A lot of what we fund, currently and in the past, has been the machinery and process in isolation. All the fiddling you do before and after the process, some of it is digital but some of it is incredibly manual and physical. What we’re inviting you to do is use the principals of Industry 4.0 to connect these up into a digital world.” The “fiddling” after the 3D print is what we know as post-processing and one, Sheffield, UK-based startup knew that the technology it was working on was exactly what Innovate UK was looking for. “Additive Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) was formed in 2015 to look specifically at the post-processing element of additive manufacturing,” CEO Joseph Crabtree says. “With post-processing, there are a couple of key issues, mainly centred around hidden costs - the labour costs and time costs. There have been some interesting

studies which have shown that the finishing cost of additional labour and processing per industrial 3D printer accounts for 70-100% of the costs of the parts.”

THE PROBLEM In 2017, 3DPRINTUK is set to more than double its selective laser sintering (SLS) capacity with the purchase of two new EOS machines. The company has streamlined the process of pre-build and build itself to such an extent that Managing Director, Nick Allen says he won’t need to bring any new staff for those steps, post-processing on the other hand… “We will need more people as it comes out of the machine as we get more capacity,” says Nick. “In the office today there are seven people down cleaning, on a Monday when we have the most amount of builds from the weekend it draws the whole workforce down there (to post-processing), then you’ve also got part sorting. We produce about a 1,000 parts a night at the moment and there’s usually about four or five jobs that are multiples of 50 to 100 and then the rest are all individual items so sorting them is a nightmare. That’s a major bottleneck and very labour intensive.” Nick’s not alone with this kind of problem and believes that post-processing is the reason so many big companies outsource 3D printing work. Although Nick’s contemporary, Jonathan Rowley, Design Director at Digits2Widgets, disagrees that the post-processing of SLS parts is that bad, (“it’s a relative breeze in comparison to some of the other technologies that require UV curing or support removal,”) Jonathan does concur that the vibro-finishing his bureau offers as an additional finishing service is far from perfect. ››

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POST-PROCESSING

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“With vibro-finishing there’s a limit to how delicate a part can be,” says Rowley. “There are also issues about details and undercuts on parts, the chips aren’t always small enough to get into certain spaces so you get a nice finish on the open surfaces but the bits where the chips can’t get in remain unpolished.”

THE SOLUTION Joseph Crabtree’s AMT has developed a proprietary technology called PostPro3D that is based on a University of Sheffield technology project by Professor Neil Hopkinson and Adam Ellis called PUSh. Two years ago Hopkinson, now 3D Printing Director at Xaar, told TCT Magazine that the PUSh process was able to finish 25 palm-sized Nylon 12 sintered parts in under an hour. “With PUSh, you are getting the best of both worlds, a really clean finish that is not line of sight,” said Neil at the time. The PUSh process was used to finish several notable 3D prints, the most prominent being AMUG Technical Competition winner for Advanced Concept, The Under Armour Architech training shoe. Alan Guyan, the brains behind the latticed heel that was designed generatively using Autodesk Within, needed to finish his Luvosint TPU SLS prints throughout. “SLS parts naturally have a gritty surface finish that is not acceptable for finished footwear products,” Guyan told TCT. “ The PUSh process added a new-level of finish to our 3D printed components.” As great as PUSh proved for individual projects, as a lab-based process, it wasn’t scalable and it was still analogue. Joseph, a material scientist and mechanical engineer working in the aerospace industry until carving his own path by launching AMT, set about building upon the PUSh process to simplify and digitise it, the result is PostPro3D. “Our solution is a repeatable and reproducible process that allows a user to have a digital post-production method,” explains Joseph. “In a nutshell, you put your parts into our machine, select the surface roughness you require either in microns or via a pictorial representation, press go and a number of minutes later your parts come out as required

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

RIGHT:

THE FUNDING SLS parts have a surface roughness of around 15 microns, the ability of PostPro3D to select anywhere below that value and ensure that you are getting the same result each time will be invaluable to service bureaux and manufacturers alike. Currently, the process is not automated and this is where the Innovate UK funding competition comes in. Together with the inventors of the PUSh process, now of Xaarjet and Atomjet, who helped build the first HighSpeed Sintering machine, AMT led a pitch for funding to create a saleable automated post-processing machine, develop intelligent algorithms and develop a machine that is fully integrated into the digital manufacturing chain. The pitch won the consortium £624,000 of the £4.5 million on offer from Innovate UK. This sort of funding allows AMT and co. two years to create a fully smart version of PostPro3D technology that brings the post-process step of additive manufacturing inline with Industry 4.0 initiatives. “We’ve done a lot of work on our base technology, this combined with the specific end-use applications we’ve been involved in gives us a grounding both in terms of the types of materials processed and the types of complexity and certain finish of the parts. We’ve got a very good dataset and technical know-how of how we can take that forward to automate the process.” Joseph believes that automating the post-process will take away significant roadblocks that stop OEMs like Airbus and Rolls Royce bringing their entire 3D printing operations in-house. But the burning question as with any ground-breaking technology is cost? “If you look at a traditional tumbling system for example plus the ancillary equipment it is fairly expensive and then you have labour on top of that,” explains Joseph. “What we want to do is price it at the point where the business case remains comparable with that.” Although initially AMT’s technology will be targeted industrial markets that use polymeric materials like Nylon 11, 12, TPUs and TPEs the team are looking at post-processing of FDM materials and because of the scalability of PostPro3D do foresee a desktop version for smoothing of ABS parts in the future. 

BELOW: Lattice structure of Under Armour Architech shoe was finished using PUSh

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POST-PROCESSING Polished cranial plates

BENEATH THE SURFACE WOR D S : DA NIE L O’ C ON NOR

ENISHAW’S 3D PRINTED patient-specific implants; in particular, cranial plates are much lauded having won awards and featured on the front cover of a 2016 edition of this very magazine. Much has been written about the CT scan-to-CAD step and how LPW’s titanium powders were used in Renishaw’s Additive Manufacutring (AM) machines to print these life-saving implants but little has been said about the exceptional quality of the surface finish. The original commissioning neurosurgeon, Bartolomé Oliver required the surface to be satin-like in order to match the patient’s cranial contours accurately. It was Renishaw Applications Engineer, Andy Wescott’s job to create a repeatable and streamlined process to finish the cranial plates to both satin and highly polished ﬁnishes from the as-built condition. “Traditionally, post-processing these parts to low surface roughness values was very manual,” said Wescott. “The post-process time for a large cranial plate was up to five hours. We needed to reduce that time and the amount of manual input because if you have an operator working on a part and they lose concentration for one second, burning a hole in your part then you’ve just made one expensive bit of scrap.” The solution was not a major reinvention of the wheel merely a slight adjustment of one, namely a Rösler tumbling machine. Metal 3D printed parts are now of such quality that they can be treated like any other metal part. And Rösler knows a thing or two about surface finishing metal parts having been in the postprocessing game with its vibratory finishing and shot blasting divisions for more than 80 years. The fact that most metal parts come out of the AM machine with a relatively rough surface means Rösler can apply years of learned knowledge to AM. As such Wescott’s division decided to purchase a Rösler High

The clever part, which ensures repeatability on each and every part, comes from a little bit of Renishaw engineering know-how

Energy Centrifugal Disc Finishing Machine FKS04 to finish their parts. Now, after a cranial plate comes out of a Renishaw AM system it undergoes only a small amount of manual operation to remove supports witnesses using a carbide burr and flap wheel. It is then placed into the Rösler tumbling machine where it automatically goes through a three-step process to produce the impeccably smooth finish reducing manual operating time down to under an hour. The clever part, which ensures repeatability on each and every part, comes from a little bit of Renishaw engineering know-how as Wescott outlines: “We’ve designed a tool to hold our parts in a particular orientation (inside the tumbling bowl). Rather than just throwing parts into three media types and coming out with a sort of fixed part, our parts require precision. Certain features require protection (from the tumbling media) so we’ve invented a tooling method that keeps parts face down into the media only applying the surface finish where needed.” Although there isn’t yet a one-size-fits-all solution for finishing Renishaw has shown that it needs not to be a gruelling experience. Much like the additive manufacturing process itself, your finishing technique depends on your application and you should adapt finishing products to suit your needs. “Finishing is still a relatively weak link with AM, but I think the risk is thinking of additive as just one technology all by itself,” says Marketing Manager for Renishaw’s Medical and Dental Division, Ed Littlewood. “Take milling, for example, we’ve been doing that for years and it is taken for granted that you have deburring operations next to it, you have anodising operations and all other removal processes. So just as with milling, we need to develop reliable processes that go alongside AM.” 



ABOVE (top): Cranial plate inside the Rösler tumbler. (BOTTOM): Cranial plates come in all different shapes and sizes. 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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LEFT:

STRATASYS LAUNCH

Easy as 123 W OR DS : L A U R A G R IFFIT H S

Stratasys has been consistent over the last 12 months with a string of product launches including CAD-to-print, full colour prototyping, and large-format 3D Demonstrators that literally flip additive manufacturing (AM) on its head. We’re only a month into 2017 and the AM colossus is showing no signs of putting the brakes on innovation with the launch of a new series of machines aimed at addressing the needs of the professional prototyping market from concept validation to functional performance testing.

AUNCHED AT THE annual SOLIDWORKS World event, which took place in Los Angeles this month, the new FDM-based F123 Series has been built from the ground up for office, lab and classroom environments with Designworks, a BMW Group Company. Aimed at professional users, the series, which consists of F170, F270 and F370 machines, is designed to make rapid prototyping more productive for design workgroups. A report by Gartner in October stated that, as 3D printer machine sales increase over the next four years, “prototyping will remain the primary enterprise use”. The application area is one of the most fertile for the industry with the potential for businesses to save significant levels of capital and time during the development of a new product. Stratasys believes there is a $10-$15 billion global market for prototyping and that’s not even close to being exploited. Design workgroups are a major part of that value chain and according to a recent Stratasys survey, top priorities on their list are accessibility, ease of use and material choices, all of which

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the company hopes to address in this latest release. “Today there is a vast market opportunity in product prototyping that we feel is not being addressed by current 3D printing systems,” Zehavit Reisin, Vice President, Head of Rapid Prototyping Solutions, Stratasys explained. “The launch of the Stratasys F123 Series targets these product design workgroups, industrial designers, engineers, students and educators who demand a professional quality rapid prototyping solution that’s simple to use, produces reliable, engineering-quality results, integrates perfectly within an office or lab setting, and is affordable to own and operate.” Though aimed at the pro user market, usability is key and Stratasys claims the machines can be used by virtually anyone, regardless of 3D printing experience, to build durable and accurate prototypes. The units are available in three different build sizes ranging from 25.4cm to 35.56cm and can produce parts at a layer accuracy of +/- .002mm.The design is sleek and they operate with minimal noise to blend into a regular office environment. Functions are



BELOW: Motorcycle helmets produced by Centre for Advanced Design are tested for design validation

performed using a touch screen but can also be done remotely from any networked computer in a shared office environment or monitored via mobile. The machine also accept up to four material types, PLA, ASA, ABS and PC-ABS, available in 10 colours to support a wide range of modes and applications, all of which Stratasys says can be switched in and out of the machine in under a minute. “Our inspiration for the design of the Stratasys F123 Series was advanced robotics. Just as robotic tools of the future will adapt to their envisioned usage environment, we worked with Stratasys to create a look, feel and ergonomic design for the F123 Series that would offer expertly crafted user interactions,” said Andre de Salis, Creative Director, Designworks which helped design the machine’s exterior. “The Stratasys F123’s striking metal cladding expresses the

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

LEFT: Stratasys F123 Series

Stratasys believes there is a $10-$15 billion global market for prototyping and that’s not even close to being exploited



ABOVE: Stepper assembly prototype alongside final product

BELOW: Stratasys F123 Series touch

screen interface

performance, durability and refinement of the 3D printer to bring a new level of excitement and accessibility to professional 3D printing.” The F123 Series is described as an “end-to-end rapid prototyping solution”, which allows users to start with fast and economic draft models in PLA and move through the design cycle to verify form and functionality using production-grade materials. It’s speedy too, with build times up to 25% faster than the current Stratasys Dimension series and up to 50% faster in “Fast Daft” mode. Having a machine like this readily available within a design team, gives product developers the ability to

work through all of the necessary stages of product substantiation to shorten lead times and reduce costs before moving onto full scale production. Ten beta Stratasys customers have contributed to 90,000 hours of testing the machines since September, one of which is the Centre for Advanced Design. “The key for us to fast-track product development is getting physical samples in front of our customers as soon as possible,” Jesse Hahne from the Centre for Advanced Design, commented. “With our new Stratasys F370, we’re able to get brand new iterations in a matter of hours. This rapid prototyping solution has truly become a member of our team.” Mark Tryrtania, Sales Director at UKbased Stratasys reseller, Laser Lines, added: “After two years of research and development, Stratasys has delivered a truly compelling offering here. It’s an exciting development, and one in which Laser Lines has been involved since the beginning. Stratasys asked us what we and our customers wanted to see in its next generation products and it’s come up with the perfect fit.”

The series is supported by Stratasys Insight and GrabCAD Print design-toprint software, which was launched last May to simplify STL preparation by giving users the ability to print directly from CAD. Stratasys acquired GrabCAD, the world’s largest community of mechanical engineers, back in 2014 and has since been working hard to enhance its software offering to streamline the 3D printing process. Connected by the cloud, the compatibility of GrabCAD means that anyone on the design team can schedule and monitor prints. In addition to this, as a long-time member of the SOLIDWORKS Partner Programme, Stratasys has announced a GrabCAD Print Add-In for SOLIDWORKS. Providing greater access to the SOLIDWORKS professional user-base, the Add-Inn allows users to estimate and print parts for a range of Stratasys machines, including the F123 Series, without leaving the SOLIDWORKS environment. The F123 Series is available to order now and will begin shipping globally in March 2017 with prices starting at less than $20,000 for the F170. 

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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FORMNEXT REVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

formnext powered by tct

HEN THE NUMBERS started rolling in for the second edition of formnext powered by tct, it was less of a surprise than the inaugural year. The Frankfurt event has now established itself as a key catalyst for the combination formnext of additive manufacturing and 2016 affirms conventional technologies. Building on the success of its reputation debut in 2015, the four-day event as worldwide welcomed 13,384 visitors through attraction the doors, a massive 49% increase last year’s attendance with 44% for 3D on of visitors joining from outside technologies Germany. The increased footfall also industry. had much more ground to cover this year with 307 companies exhibiting their latest technologies across 18,702 m² in Hall 3.1 of the Frankfurt Messe. The show, which is a partnership between Mesago Messe Frankfurt and Rapid News, really pushed the boundaries of what we’re coming to expect for Industry 4.0. Gone are the days of purchasing additive technologies and struggling to create an effective workflow process, companies exhibiting at this year’s show knew exactly where and how to fit into current workflows. Visitors were able to see a complete thread for their manufacturing process. From powder handling in the shape of Farleygreene, who debuted its Sievgen product, to step changing software in the shape of MachineWorks new Polygonica 2.0 suite, right through to Dyemansion’s post-processing technologies. “The show was really great for us. People were very interested in our solutions and we saw some new sales right at the show”, says Felix Ewald, CEO and founder of DyeMansion, who last year were in the startup zone.

DATE FOR

uncan Wood, COO at Rapid News D YOUR DIARY: Publications Groupcommented “formnext formnext powered by tct has made a powerful powered by tct is statement in only its second edition. It is scheduled to take now undoubtedly mainland Europe’s No.1 place on 14-17th event for 3D manufacturing technologies November 2017 and we look forward to working with in Frankfurt our partners Mesago Messe Frankfurt am Main. GmbH to drive the event forward to even greater heights in future years”. The adjacent formnext powered by tct Conference, organised by our conference team was hailed an equal success with an eclectic mix of speakers from blue chip additive manufacturing users to German Paralympic champion, Denise Schindler. The conference drew a total of 647 participants from 25 countries, who were able to broaden their knowledge on current and future developments and applications in 3D technologies. Additional features included the TCT Tech Stage which featured technical presentations from over 30 exhibitors, plus two competitions: the Start-up Challenge and the Purmundus Challenge, which were celebrated with two separate award ceremonies.

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FORMNEXT REVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Trend Watch: Metals As industry analyst Terry Wohlers commented at formnext powered by tct 2016, “metals are smoking hot right now” and that was evident in the number of new systems on the floor that promised to change the game in terms of footprint, affordability and automation.

OR LASER

RIGHT:

OR LASER ORLAS CREATOR

Launching its first additive machine, German laser manufacturer, OR LASER debuted the ORLAS CREATOR, a compact and costeffective, Selective Laser Melting platform designed for small and medium enterprises. “It became clear to us that the market was ready for large-scale introduction of the technology but somehow thousands of small and medium businesses were cut away from the technology itself due to the intimidating size and complexity and costs of the machine available on the market,” Ludovico Camarda, Chief Business Officer, OR LASER, told TCT. “Our target was to develop a machine that was smart and user friendly, scalable and affordable and that would address the void in the market especially for the small and medium businesses.” Describing the machine as the “second generation in 3D printing”, the ORLAS CREATOR features an innovative blade design that ensures both smooth operation and 30% faster build speeds. Boasting an open material structure, the machine utilises a cartridge system, ideal for safe operation in small businesses. With 20 years experience producing industrial laser systems for more traditional manufacturing process used in aerospace and defence, and oil and gas, OR LASER is turning its efforts to industries that demand much smaller, complex parts, particularly jewellery, dental and medical. “Whoever has ever wished for such a creative tool next to his desk or in his tool box and couldn’t afford it until now, now they have the option,” Camarda added. Several customers have already jumped at the opportunity to own an affordable metal AM system with the company amassing 43 direct pre-orders for the machine on the formnext floor. Following the huge success of its debut, OR LASER is now ramping up its production capabilities to deliver the machine starting Q2 of 2017.

ABOVE:

Additive Industries’ MetalFAB1

ADDITIVE INDUSTRIES Stealing the award for the biggest machine at the Frankfurt event, formnext saw the official debut of Additive Industries’ MetalFAB1 system. The virtual reality goggles seen in the soft launch at formnext 2015 were gone as we got to see the mammoth modular machine in the flesh. Designed for series production, this metal powder bed fusion technology can be characterised and expanded to target the most demanding regulated industrial environments such as aerospace, automotive, medical and equipment manufacturing. “We started out targeting the most demanding markets in regulated areas like aerospace, medical, automotive and hightech equipment parts but we’ve been able to increase the productivity to such a level that all of a sudden also general machine building becomes an attractive market for this machine to build parts in series,” Daan Kersten, Additive Industries’ CEO explained. Prior to the grand unveiling, the company handed over its first MetalFAB1 to Airbus subsidiary APWorks as part of its beta programme, followed by Kaak Group and United Grinding Group. Now Additive Industries is working on a project with global engineering group, GKN to further reduce cost-per-part in the automotive industry. “One of the aspects they’re focussing on is supplying the powder and they’ve got to come up with a powder that is water atomised instead of gas atomised and that will further reduce cost-per-part,” Kersten added. “So we work on the machine side to reduce cost-perpart and we have been able to do that already with 40-50%. They will help us to do that on the materials side and together I’m sure we can get this technology a much broader base in the automotive industry.” ›› 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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FORMNEXT REVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

This is backed up by a partnership with Materialise, which sees the development of a Build Processor that will run in the background of the software. In addition to printing and software, FormUp 350 benefits from the AddUp Flex Care System unit, a controlled-atmosphere, scalable, compact and portable solution that aims to protect operators and surrounding buildings from risks associated with AM and powder usage.



ABOVE: Fraunhofer’s low cost SLM machine

FRAUNHOFER ILT If metal alone is a hot topic, then affordability is scorching as the demand for accessible metal 3D printing technology from small and medium businesses continues to grow. Answering the call at formnext was the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), which together with GoetheLab, setup by FH Aachen, Aachen University of Applied Sciences, showcased an SLM system available for less than 30,000 Euro. The first functional prototype of the powder bed fusion-based system employs a 140 W laser diode and is able to produce metal parts up to 90mm tall and 80mm in diameter. Though it may not possess the biggest of build areas, thanks to a focus diameter of 250 µm, the machine is ideal for fine detailed applications in areas such as dental, jewellery or high-precision mechanics. According to Dawid Ziebura, Project Engineer at Fraunhofer ILT, an equivalent SLM System would cost at least €100,000 making this machine, which boasts a relatively small footprint of 1.3m x 0.8m x 1.4m, an attractive entry level machine for SMEs. Lowering the barrier to entry even further, Fraunhofer ILT says a beginner with just a couple of hours training can use the system and will be able to determine the speed and production quality at which the machine operates at. The team is currently working on optimising exposure strategies, improving the speed and increasing the range of printable materials to include aluminium alloys and stainless steel.

ADDUP Moving from the compact to a complete metal 3D printing solution, AddUp, a joint venture between Fives and Michelin, debuted its new system, the FormUp 350 at formnext. The latest in a range of direct metal multilaser melting machines, the FormUp 350 is a flexible and industrial AM system that can be used for mass production of metal prototypes and parts. With a 350 X 350 X 350 mm production zone, the FormUp 350 is capable of producing parts in stainless steel, nickel alloys, titanium, aluminium and maraging steels. The full system includes AddUp Manager 2016 software, a user-friendly solution that provides a link with the print driver in each machine for the manufacture of metal parts.



ABOVE: AddUp FormUp 350 metal 3D printed parts

CONCEPT LASER At formnext 2015, German machine manufacturer Concept Laser previewed its vision for the “AM Factory of Tomorrow” in the form of a new machine architecture. Returning to Frankfurt one year on, the metal AM leader unveiled the core of its concept with the launch of the new modular M Line Factory system. Designed for serial production, the M Line Factory is made up of two separate units, the M Line Factory PRD and M Line Factory PCG, one for production and another for processing. Serving separate operations, the idea is that transport units will carry modules between the two to create a more connected, automated manufacturing process. “With a standalone machine we always have a lot of down time and with these machines we really reduce the down times to a minimum because we can do all the post processing and preparation [on a different unit],” Oliver Kaczmarzik, Product Manager at Concept Laser, told TCT. “What we also can do later on is line up the production units so we can increase the capacities.” The principal of this modular system is the decoupling of the machine units for component production, and upgrading and dismantling operations, which can now be performed in parallel or independently from each other thanks to the modular architecture. Any number of machines can be linked to one another to create an automatic network, which enables serial production of metal components. Though the technology has been on our radar for quite some time, the M Line is only set for commercial availability towards the end of 2017. 

LEFT:

Concept Laser M Line Factory 25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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FORMNEXT REVIEW

How GE will accelerate the additive manufacturing revolution



LEFT: LEAP fuel nozzle

WOR D S : L A U R A G R I F F I T HS

T FORMNEXT POWERED by tct 2016, General Electric made its intentions clear: it is going big with additive manufacturing. That should come as no surprise, since 2010 the company has invested $1.5 billion in manufacturing and additive technologies at its Global Research Center (GRC) in Niskayuna, New York and at the Frankfurt event, Mohammad Ehteshami, Vice President and General Manager at the recently launched, GE Additive addressed the crowd with bold plans to lead the additive revolution and grow its new additive business to $1 billion by 2020. When a major player comes into the industry, there’s a worry we will be spoonfed the benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) for the hundredth time whilst trying desperately not to shout “we already know this”. With GE, the tone is a little different as the company is keen to endorse its external efforts (the goal is to install 10,000 machines outside of GE, around the world, in the next 10 years) rather than pushing why its offering is the first or better than its counterparts. That’s largely a product of how this new venture came about with the high-profile acquisition of two major metal AM companies laying the foundations for a new subsidiary, GE Additive. In case you missed the recent headlines, which were responsible for two consecutive “stop the presses” moments at this very magazine, GE announced in September it was to acquire both SLM Solutions and Arcam for the impressive sum of $1.4 billion. Whilst the industry was quietly celebrating a deal that many believed would finally rubber stamp the technology, behind the scenes the SLM agreement fell through due to GE failing to meet the terms after activist investor Elliot Advisors, who have a 20% stake in SLM, rejected the bid making it harder for GE to reach the 75% minimum threshold. Without wasting a second, enter

another German metal AM leader, Concept Laser, which agreed a $599 million deal to give GE a majority stake in the company. So now GE has two metal technologies at its disposal and a new vertical, which aims to take additive to the next level. “We want to grow, once we go through the legal procedures and we acquire those companies, our goal is expand them to make sure they serve their present customers and grow, and develop the technology, the speed, the capability of the machines so we can serve the industry better,” Mohammed told TCT back in November. “Our goal is to produce 10,000 machines over the next 10 years for our customers around the word, in addition to 1,000 or so for internal consumption of GE.” In the same way Avio Aero is branded as a GE Aviation business, the idea is that Concept Laser and Arcam will, in time, be known as GE businesses, meaning their technologies will continue to serve their current customers but GE will be able to influence and expand their respective technologies. With both Arcam’s electron beam melting (EBM) and Concept Laser’s powder bed-based laser additive processes, GE Additive is fully focussed on becoming a leading supplier of additive machines, materials and software.

Our goal is to produce 10,000 machines over the next 10 years for our customers around the word, in addition to 1,000 or so for internal consumption of GE.

INVESTING IN FUTURE TALENT In a press briefing at formnext, Mohammad explained how GE wants to make AM as intrinsic to the next generation as using an iPhone. Similar to how smartphones have become second nature, GE wants to provide the necessary tools in schools and colleges to educate young people about AM so that they grow up with a thorough understanding of the technology. That’s a big ask, but it’s making a serious $10 million investment

››

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FORMNEXT REVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES



RIGHT: Inside GE Additive part

in two education programmes, under the GE Additive Education Program (AEP), aimed at developing future AM talent to ensure that it happens. GE is planning to spend $2million in the first two years to subsidise up to 2,000 desktop polymer printers for primary and secondary schools, of which it has formed an agreement to do so with education focussed 3D printing company, Polar 3D. The remaining chunk of investment will be spent on implementing metal 3D printers in colleges and universities across a five-year period. Schools can now apply to be a part of the GE AEP. “We have to make sure that children get exposed to technology at an early age,” Mohammad explained. “If you look at my son versus my generation, my son got his iPhone when he was five-years old, I didn’t have an iPhone until I was 40-50 years old so when they grow up with it, it becomes second nature. We are committed to give $10 million over the next few years to both elementary and grade schools, and also higher education, universities and colleges around the world to print both plastics and metals so students get used to AM and this becomes second nature and something that we can collectively collaborate and push forward.” Mohammad has been a GE man for over 30 years. During the same briefing he explained how he was all set to retire from the company but put his plans on hold when the GE Additive opportunity came knocking and it’s easy to understand why. Mohammad’s enthusiasm for the technology is palpable, describing it as a “totally different game” for the manufacturing industry after first coming into contact with it in 2007 and then in 2011 when working on the LEAP engine in one of those Eureka moments you hear about when the team was so excited they stayed at the office all night. Now he’s passionate about the ways in which GE can take the technology further. “We want to make sure we can continue to print larger and larger parts, more and more accuracy, faster speeds,” Mohammad continued. “It’s all about speed, size and ability to change the game and I believe that AM is transformational, it will be the next industrial revolution, I truly believe it.”

GE has invested significantly in AM technologies building dedicated facilities across the globe focussed on R&D, metal powders, machines, engineering and production. It already has 12 Arcam machines running non-stop at Avio Aero and is planning on pushing additive in all verticals of the business such as power, medical and automotive, to find out where it can add real value. At the very start of this year, GE Additive announced it will collaborate with GE Capital to sell and finance additive manufacturing through a range of customised financial solutions that will make it easier for businesses to adopt additive technologies. Mohammad’s keynote address at formnext centred on “accelerating the additive revolution”, which for some will be a contradiction to the epiphany that additive hasn’t exactly been the industrial revolution it set out to be. Yet with increased investment and GE’s credentials, maybe being bold is a good thing and a welcome reminder about how revolutionary additive can be when used effectively. As deals are finalised and investments are put into action, GE Additive will certainly be one to keep a close eye on over the coming months. 

It’s all about speed, size and ability to change the game. I believe that AM is transformational, it will be the next industrial revolution.

Head over to tctmagazine.com to watch Mohammad Ehteshami’s keynote in full or download the audio version with the TCT podcast



ABOVE: Mohammad Ehteshami, Vice President at GE Additive

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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GUEST COLUMN ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

THE STATE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN 2017 WOR DS : G or don St yl e s , f o u n d e r a n d Pr e s i d e n t o f S ta r R a pi d

W According to SmarTech Publishing, annual shipments of metal additive manufacturing systems will grow between 20 and 25 percent in 2017.

HILE 2016 PROMPTED a more widespread use of 3D metal printing, this year we can expect to see varied applications of this process as it comes to the forefront of manufacturing for production. According to SmarTech Publishing, annual shipments of metal additive manufacturing systems will grow between 20 and 25 percent in 2017. We will also see a rise in using 3D printing for conformal cooling cores in toolmaking and new postprocessing techniques for plastic and metal parts.

THE 3D METAL PRINTING DESIGN LEARNING CURVE 3D metal printing is unlike 3D plastic printing so the industry is experiencing a learning curve when it comes to designing for this process. 3D metal printing requires the ongoing education of designers on how to design parts to avoid excessive support structures. There are two factors hindering the adoption of 3D metal printing: topological optimisation and part weight/volume reduction. Topological optimisation improves material layout within a given design space, but with metal parts, this presents a challenge. Manufacturers have to EDM wire the build off the plate, with all the supports still attached to the part, and then spend hours using robust engineering tools to remove each support, one at a time. Go through this process a few times and you are desperate for parts that can be oriented where only one or a few supports are required. That’s why there are key rules that designers must abide by to help reduce costs associated with support removal. These include: overhangs need to be less than 0.5mm; all downward facing structures must be designed so that they can be built on at least a 45-degree angle from horizontal; horizontal holes cannot be less than 0.5 mm and holes greater than 10 mm need supports. Weight/volume reduction will also drive adoption of 3D metal printing. To do this, one must consider making hollow or highly-optimised and organic designs. Programs such as Altair’s OptiStruct, AutoDesk’s Within or Dreamcatcher are helping designers create extremely

organic and highly evolved structures that optimise the weight to performance ratio dramatically.

RAPID TOOLING THROUGH 3D PRINTING GOING MAINSTREAM 3D printing of tooling in both metals and polymers is simpler and creates fewer barriers to adoption. The use of 3D printing for conformal cooling cores (CCC) in toolmaking can improve the accuracy and aesthetics of the resulting injection moulding. First, it allows the tool to be cycled between hot and cold for each moulding right at the surface of the core or cavity. The capillary cooling channels are very close to the surface of the core or cavity and therefore the entire mould does not have to be cycled. Having a hotter mould surface during injection allows the melt to flow further, have fewer gates, and/ or reduces the effects of weld-marks. It also reduces the effect of sink marks and improves the quality of textures on the part. Secondly, you can improve cycle time by being able to remove the energy from the part much faster since efficient cooling is so close to the surface of the tool face. This can reduce cycle times by as much as one-third of the regular time.

POST PROCESSING OF 3D PARTS For plastic and metal, post processing improves the quality of parts and ensures that they meet the design specifications. PVD coatings and vacuum metallisation creates stunning finishes for plastics and metals including gloss parts, various colours, and textures. One post-processing method that is truly cutting-edge is the texturing of 3D printed parts directly by Mold-Tech. Manufacturers can have any pattern from their library or a special design directly onto the prototype part. Although this texture can be applied directly to the model, it is common that the plastic or metal part is first sanded or painted to improve the quality of the texture or pattern applied. These three trends present an exciting future for the additive manufacturing industry so we’ll just have to wait and watch.  For more information visit www.starrapid.com

25 : 1 www.tctmagazine.com

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BIG CES INTERVIEW REVIEW

CES 2017 REVIEW WOR DS : L A U R A G R IF F I T HS

In the TCT event calendar, CES stands out for two reasons; it’s a massive, global event where the world’s technology leaders in everything from autonomous vehicles to drones come together to launch their latest concepts and products, and two, it’s a show entirely dedicated to consumer technologies.

HE CONSUMER SECTOR is one that many high-profile 3D printing companies have chosen to halt their efforts as they focus on more industrial technologies but it’s also an undeniably big part of the overall industry, which recent statistics from CONTEXT show accounts for more than 90% of total machine sales. I asked several companies that would be classed as industrial/ professional machine manufacturers, Markforged, Fusion3 and CRP Group, about why they would come to a show focussed on consumer electronics, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. The general consensus was that it’s not consumers coming to CES to buy machines, but rather engineers and developers of consumer products that are looking to find the best way of making them. Perhaps the biggest news on the floor was the launch of MarkForged’s low cost metal 3D printer. Unlike other metal technologies, the Metal X can print internal honeycomb structures in a range of materials and is the first printer of its kind under the $100K price point (full story on page 50). Online 3D printing service provider, Sculpteo also launched its foray into metals with its new Agile Metal Technology system which helps designers and manufacturers analyse and evaluate metal 3D printing projects (full story on page 51). Artec 3D, a leader in 3D scanning technologies, showcased two new products, a new handheld 3D scanner with built-in screen, the Artec Leo, due later this year and the RoboticScan, a high-precision automated scanning solution featuring a UR3 robotic arm. After a hugely successful 2016, scoring itself a place as the only 3D printing company on the Inc. 500, Aleph Objects was back at CES with a new software update and toolhead, the MOARstruder, designed for 3D printing large parts quickly. CRP Group brought along a Smart Golf Club 3D printed in collaboration with Krone Golf. The prototype features motion sense technology in the head and grip, which can detect and improve inefficiencies in a player’s swing.

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

ABOVE CLOCKWISE L-R: Panel Session - From left: Todd Grimm, Derek Mathers, Shashi Jain and Dror Danai. SprintRay MoonRay S. Reebok at the CES 2017 3D Printing Conference.

RIGHT

LulzBot MOARstruder

Colorado-based Titan Robotics brought along a brand new multi-gantry FFF style printer, the Cronus, featuring five print heads for bigger and faster printing and built using Project Escher technology from Autodesk. SprintRay was back with two new machines including an upgrade to its Kickstarter funded MoonRay DLP machine, the MoonRay S and a dental-specific system, the MoonRay D both supported by the startup’s own dedicated software and resins. Formlabs highlighted its reformulated Grey Resin and Form X experimental product platform, the first product of which is a Ceramic Resin that allows for structures and complex geometries not possible with traditional ceramic fabrication methods. Plus, exactly one year after the launch of its first 3D printing product, imaging giant Polaroid expanded its range with three new low-cost printer models and ever-popular 3D pens. Other launches on the floor included a new enclosed desktop machine from Shining3D, the Einstart-C priced at $499 targeted at schools and home-use whilst Robo 3D showcased two app-powered desktop printers, the Robo C2 Compact Smart 3D Printer and the Robo R2 HighPerformance Smart 3D Printer. Manufacturer of the teeny Micro 3D printer, M3D, brought along two new printers, the Micro Pro and Micro Plus. The Plus has taken the original Micro and renewed it with full third party support, untethered printing and doubled print speeds. As always, XYZprinting, launched several new printers including the

TCT @ CES 3D PRINTING CONFERENCE Elsewhere in the Sands Expo, TCT hosted its fourth CES 3D Printing Conference with topics on everything from Oscar-winning animation to how the HBO series Westworld isn’t so far fetched thanks to advances in 3D printing. Kicking off the day was GE veteran Greg Morris who elaborated on one of the biggest stories of 2016, in a talk about how GE plans to accelerate additive manufacturing (AM) with its new division GE Additive. Explaining the influence AM has had on the manufacturing landscape, Greg commented: “It would be difficult for me to find an industry where additive metals hasn’t come into play.” Next, Xjet’s Dror Danai stepped up to present the company’s Nanoparticle Jetting technology, props in hand to demonstrate the benefits of using nano-sized metal particles and Xjet’s three dimensions; particle size, dispersion and design freedom. Reebok’s Bill McInnis presented how the company is hoping to fundamentally change the manufacture of shoes with Liquid Factory, a new ‘3D Drawing’ method, which uses polyurethane and robotics to eliminate the need for tooling. Bill commented: “Our ultimate goal is production at the speed of design.”

LEFT: Markforged Mark X BELOW: Shining 3D Einstart-C. CRP Group 3D printed smart gold club

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

da Vinci Nano aimed at first time users for $229.95, the da Vinci Junior 2.0 Mix, which allows users to create prints that gradually change colour, the Nobel 1.0A SLA printer and Nobel Superfine DLP printer. Away from the 3D Printing Marketplace in the Taiwanese Excellence Pavilion, ComeTrue 3D demoed its ComeTrue T10 full colour powder-based 3D printer for the first time in North America.

Formlabs were on hand to show how professional desktop printing will make a real impact in 2017. Stating that, “Professional 3D printers are the most exciting part of the industry right now,” David Lakatos explained how we’re at a key moment in the industry where 3D printers are getting to the point of affordability. Outlining how 3D printing stands to shake up the manufacturing supply chain, Gil Perez from SAP, Derrick Johnson from UPS and Andre Wagner from Authentise explained how there are three modules of industrial 3D printing; digitisation, collaboration and approval, and distributed manufacturing production. Now companies are asking how 3D printing impacts their decisions today in terms of supply and distribution, Gil commented, “The logistics networks of the future will have manufacturing capabilities built into them.” Using educational reform as an example of how diverse characteristics and skillsets are needed to solve various problems, Alex Fietcher from Local Motors explained how manufacturers need to understand that consumers are a diverse group, which, if addressed on an individual level, can provide more value. One of the most vibrant talks of the day came from Brian McLean at LAIKA, an animation studio that was awarded a technical Oscar thanks to its pioneering work with 3D printing. Presenting some mind-blowing facts about the intensity of working in stop motion animation, we heard how LAIKA’s first movie required 20,000 3D printed faces for just one character! Shashi Jain from Intel followed with a talk on combining IoT (Internet of Things) with 3D printing shown in a revolutionary Scoliosis brace, designed in collaboration with Bitonti Studios and featuring embedded sensors that gather data from the wearer to show their progress and improve functionality. Continuing the topic of IoT, Clement Moreau, CEO of Sculpteo spoke about how the iPhone launch in 2007 marked the birth of IoT and the trend for individual products becoming their own platforms.

BELOW:

CES 3D Printing Marketplace

Next, Derek Mather from Worrell Design gave an eye opening talk on the feasibility of Westworld. From dental devices to living tissues, Derek covered the entire spectrum of 3D printing in healthcare, demonstrating how unique materials in VAT photopolymerisation and functional inkjet printing could open up a new world of manufacturing for the human body. Derek said: “As we’ve seen in 3D printing, developing technology is about smart people taking absurd risks and doing something incredible with it.”

Finally, the one and only Todd Grimm gave his thoughts on the current state of the industry, underlining the present trend for “getting real” in terms of applications, solutions and less hyperbole. Highlighting the many new technologies on the horizon, Todd said: “I want to encourage you to don the methodology of a chameleon - keep scanning, you’ve got to keep your eye on this industry.” 

CES 2018 will take place in Las Vegas on 9-12th January 2018.

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DESKTOP CES REVIEW 3D PRINTING

A Mark in

BELOW: Parts printed on the machine after the sintering step

the Sand

WOR D S : DA N I E L O ” C O N N O R

“The first thing you’re doing is N 2014, MARKFORGED made a splash burning off the plastic binder and at Solidworks World by launching a the metal particles do what is called 3D printer capable of embedding a necking where the little spheres of continuous carbon fibre into plastic the metal are just starting to bond parts for added strength. In the three years to each other and hold the shape. since, Greg Mark’s company has developed Then when you ramp up to the new software, hardware and materials like sintering temperature atoms from the chopped fibre filament, Onyx, gradually outside spheres will pull into each evolving into one of 3D printing’s mainstays. other and mass will fill in the gaps.” At CES 2017 that evolution went revolution When described in this manner, with the launch of a more affordable metal the ADAM process shares 3D printer, the Metal X. similarities to that of XJet’s Markforged is using what it is calling NanoParticle Jetting, which uses an Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing inkjet print head to lay down metals (ADAM) to make, with a further sintering that have been suspended in a step, fully dense, functional parts in materials liquid bubble that evaporates in the like stainless steel, Inconel and titanium. build chamber leaving an unsintered MIT graduate, founder and CEO, Greg Mark metal part. It also shares similarities tells TCT that the technology his firm has with a less well-known project by a developed would allow for the manufacturing company called the Virtual Foundry. of metal parts with a solidity of 99.7% at a fifth The Virtual Foundry successfully of the current cost. funded its range of filaments called “When you look inside powder-bed fusion “Filamet”, through Kickstarter back machines everything is stainless steel, in February 2015. The Canadian firm everything functions at a super high-temp claimed and did show that it could and sometimes vacuum sealed,” Greg told ABOVE: create pure bronze, copper and TCT. “Because we don’t have to build our The Metal X was launched at CES 2017’s 3D Printing Marketplace brass materials using any desktop geometry inside a furnace we don’t have to 3D printer capable of printing PLA worry about moving parts in such a harsh and a sintering oven. Much the environment, other companies have to run same way as Markforged is doing. The marked difference motors inside a vacuum chamber, it’s harder. That’s why between Virtual Foundry is execution, not only is the Metal the machines are so expensive. By decoupling the thing X printing in materials that its customers have requested that makes the shape and the device that produces the but it has features like in-process metrology and its temperature cost base is way down.” feature packed software. The manufacture is two-fold; first the Metal X machine Filamet has not struck a blow to companies like takes the material in the form of filament that is 60% metal Renishaw, SLM Solutions, Concept Laser, EOS, 3D 40% plastic, melts and extrudes in the same way all FDM Systems or Arcam and Greg Mark admits that, “If you can printers do. Once the part is completed on the Metal X it is afford a million dollar metal 3D printer, buy one. For the transferred to a sintering oven (sold separately) where the rest of the world, this is for you.” But with Markforged’s plastic is burnt off and the part binds. It shrinks from the ever-growing reputation for quality and companies like print to final part by 20% and Markforged’s software, Eiger, Vader Systems and Desktop Metal joining the fight, 2017 can be set will automatically adjust the size. is shaping up to be an interesting year in the fight for “It is like printing a negative of a film,” says Greg. “You affordable metal 3D printing.  print the negative and then you’re developing it into the positive.

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CES REVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Intelligent digital manufacturing WOR DS : L A U R A G R I F F I T HS

T CES 2017, Sculpteo, the online Batch Controller, a replica of the Sculpteo 3D printing marketplace that’s batch control tool for metal 3D printing. Over built up a reputation in plastic over time, user data will be gathered to feedback the last seven years, declared into the system and improve its AI. its excursion into metals with the launch Last year Sculpteo expanded its digital of its Agile Metal Technology platform, an manufacturing capabilities beyond 3D online system that helps designers and printing with laser cutting and engraving manufacturers evaluate metal additive services and demonstrating the marriage manufacturing (AM) projects. of those capabilities on the show floor Detecting a shift in its customer base which was the Sculpteo Digital Bike, the first fully now consists of small businesses and startups functional, digitally manufactured bicycle. looking to explore metal AM, this new system Anyone Led by industrial designers Alexandre aims to address that demand in an easy to use, d’Orsetti and Piotr Widelka, 70% of the who has ever bike’s components were built on Sculpteo’s intelligent platform that helps users find “best fit” processes. tackled metal platforms in less than two months at a cost “Three or four months ago we thought, “okay AM before of $4,200. Ranging from titanium to Carbon’s let’s put our expertise into another type of CLIP 3D printing, a technology offered by will know it only a handful of service providers, the bike material”. We are the expert on polymers, we know very well how to print polymers so we put is a complex features a nod to every one of Sculpteo’s that knowledge inside this system,” Clement process from tools. Moreau, CEO at Sculpteo told TCT. “I believe in economic sense, I don’t want deciding how to try to push a technology where it makes The first module we were able to get a demo of at CES was the Business Case tool, a selfto fix the part to no economic sense for our customers,” learning artificial intelligence that evaluates the build plate Clement commented. “What we have done whether a CAD file is optimised for metal AM. is select the right technology at the right to assigning place.” Users can upload their file or drawing and are taken through a series of questions about support Is it truly functional? Well, I spotted material, size, ideal unit price and so on, to structures. Clement, an avid cyclist himself, riding the deliver an estimated cost and time and evaluate bike on the way to the Sands Expo on day whether AM is the right process. one of CES and if that wasn’t enough, the “We understand that metal 3D printing is very bike’s two designers took it on a 100 km ride complex so we wanted to have this tool to help from Las Vegas to San Francisco straight people grow, help customers and engineers to after the show. There’s a great blog about be better, that’s the purpose to create better engineers the journey over on Sculpteo’s website, including how and better designers,” Clement explained. they modified some of the 3D printed bike’s parts along Anyone who has ever tackled metal AM before will the way to accommodate particular road conditions. At know it is a complex process from deciding how to fix the the time of writing this article, the duo part to the build plate to assigning support structures. To was on day five on their way from simplify these considerations, more modules are set to Bakersfield to Santa Margareta. be added to the suite in the coming months including a Clement added: “We think it’s a trend Design Optimizer, which provides a deeper analysis of now that digital manufacturing is going the design’s compatibility, a Lattice Generator to facilitate to be useful, that’s the real trend of weight reduction, a Support Optimizer, Post-Processor and 2017.” 



BELOW: 3D Printed Bike with designers

ABOVE:

Example from Business Case module

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TCT ASIA PREVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

TCT ASIA RETURNS TO SHANGHAI FOR ITS THIRD YEAR IN MARCH, THE SHOW HAS OUTGROWN THE VENUE USED FOR THE 2015 AND 2016 EDITIONS MOVING TO THE POPULAR AND GIGANTIC SHANGHAI NEW INTERNATIONAL EXPO CENTER (SNIEC) IN THE PUDONG REGION OF CHINA’S LARGEST CITY.

TCT Asia 2017 Preview

ELD 8-10 MARCH the 2017 edition will be the biggest edition of the show organised by VNU Rapid News Co. Ltd. With a floor space that has increased by approximately 40 percent and visitors expected in their droves (13,000 visitors is the current estimate based on pre-registrations) to see the latest innovations from companies like Siemens, Stratasys, 3D Systems, Materialise, Renishaw and more.

Head over to tctasia.com.cn to get the full rundown of features like TCT Inspired Minds and register to attend for free.

SHOW FLOOR HIGHLIGHTS 3D SYSTEMS

Stand

3D Systems will be showcasing the newest members of the ProJet family, the ProJet MJP 2500 and 2500 Plus. The new machines, which will be there alongside a range of 3DS projects, are said to offer better fidelity and accuracy than printers 10 times their price capable of printing in 3DS’ new advanced plastic and elastomeric materials.

N5-G30

STRATASYS

TCT Asia 2017 will be one of the first opportunities to see the new FDM F123 series of printers in the flesh (read more about the new line on pages 34-35). The new design-to-print GrabCAD enabled line will be on display on the Stratasys booth alongside machinery lines in the MakerBot, Fortus and Connex ranges.

TSC LASER TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Stand

N5-G18

Stand

N5-D10

TSC will be debuting its TSC-X350C, independently researched and developed metal 3D printer at TCT Asia. Thanks to its 500W fibre laser TSC say that the machine is able to process a wider range of materials more efficiently. Also interesting to note is the machine’s gas circulation system that doubles up as a self-cleaning function, prolonging the service life of filtration products. The system’s software has what TSC are claiming is the first cellular scanning strategy, meaning the temperature is more evenly distributed throughout the build chamber decreasing the rate of deformation and cracks in builds.

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DESKTOP TCT ASIA 3D PREVIEW PRINTING

HUNAN FARSOON HIGH-TECH

Stand

N5-G20

Laser sintering pioneer Xu Xiaoshu’s company, Farsoon will be showcasing its latest laser sintering device, the 403P. The machine can process highperformance materials with a melting point up to 225C, such as PA6. Its max build size can reach up to 400×400×600 mm, and its max scanning speed can reach up to 15.2 m/s. Equipped with an open-source platform and advanced dynamic temperature-controlling system, Farsoon 403P can print parts with high precision and high efficiency. Farsoon will also have some of its metal 3D printing technology at TCT Asia including the recently launched FS 271M machine.

SHINING 3D

Stand Better known for its popular Einstart desktop 3D printers, Shining 3D will be appealing to the more professional visitor base of TCT Asia by showcasing its powder-based metal 3D printer, the EP-M100T and large stereolithography machine the iSLA-350. The metal printer is the company’s second foray into metal printing but as opposed to the large EP-M250 SLM 3D Printer the M100T is designed for dental and jewellery industries and is capable of printing in Titanium alloy, cobalt chromium alloy, gold, silver and other precious metals. Shining will also be demonstrating its new EinScan-Pro a multifunctional handheld scanner along with a host of other 3D technologies. Making Shining, one company certainly worth watching at TCT Asia.

N5-H36 and N5-G36

Stand

ZRAPID TECHNOLOGIES

N5-K16

We first saw ZRapid at last year’s TCT Asia and in the year that has passed the Chinese company has moved very fast with its technology. At TCT Asia 2017 the company will showcase, much like Shining, a new metal 3D printer and stereolithography machine. The metal printer, the SLM150, joins the family of powder-bed fusion printers that are offered at an affordable price-point, the 150 is the smallest in the range and will likely be aimed at dental labs and jewellers alike.

RAYCHAM LASER TECHNOLOGY

Although a name not too familiar to these shores and these pages, Raycham is one of China’s largest advanced manufacturing companies and specialises in laser processing technology. Such is its experience in laser processing the launch of its metal 3D printer is much anticipated and TCT Asia 2017 will offer one of the first opportunities to see the technology. The LDM8060 Five-axis powder metal 3D printer is developed on the basis of laser cladding technology, using a high-power laser to melt metal powder. A five-axis CNC numerical control system ensures moulding dimension and precision of form and position of metal parts.

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Stand

N5-F40

TCT ASIA PREVIEW ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

XI’AN BRIGHT LASER TECHNOLOGY

Stand

N5-F16

Bright Laser Technology (BLT) were one of the surprise packages at the inaugural TCT Asia in 2015, relatively unheard of at the time their powder-bed fusion machinery caused quite the stir. In 2016 its BLT-S300 won a Red Dot Award and at TCT Asia 2017 the company will be launching the next gen of this machine, the BLT-S310. The previous generation of this metal 3D printer has already proved popular with Chinese defense and nuclear applications, the new machine is sure to be one to watch.

GUANGDONG INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSING

Stand

N5-K66

Another company specialising in metal powder for additive manufacturing at TCT Asia is a spin off from the Guangdong Academy of Sciences (GDAS). The materials from GDAS are high-performance and suitable for all metal AM techniques from selective laser melting to direct metal deposition.

TEKNA PLASMA SYSTEMS

TCT ASIA SUMMIT 2017

A Stand

N5-A2

With such a proliferation of metal 3D printing technology at this year’s event, you’re going to need somebody to supply the raw materials and there are plenty of companies at TCT Asia ready to meet your powder needs. One of them, Tekna specialises in the production of metal powders and its Ti 64 Titanium Alloy material has a high-level of sphericity, low-oxygen content, high density and are compatible with the most demanding industrial applications. Tekna is also able to supply a range of highmelt-point metal powders like Tungsten and can completely tailor a solution to your needs.

LONGSIDE THE EXHIBITION, there is a two-and-a-half-day conference programme. Keynotes include the venerable Todd Grimm, who will be dishing out his usual insight into the state of the 3D printing industry worldwide alongside local keynotes giving an insight into regional AM affairs. “The ‘Global Keynote Series’ at TCT Asia Summit is a concept that we are looking to export to all our events,” says Head of Content at TCT Group Jim Woodcock. “In China this is made up of a China-based speaker talking on the local market, followed by experts from the UK, Germany, USA, Korea and Japan giving an overview of those markets and local development initiatives.” What follows is a stream of talks split up into application streams including aerospace, automotive, medical, dental and orthopaedics. Talks have been curated from organisations like Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Medtronic Shanghai Innovation Center and Stockholm University. As well as the Summit tracks there are workshops and user groups from Materialise, Stratasys, 3D Systems and Siemens. The evergreen expert Graham Tromans will also present his, “How to Evaluate 3D Printing Machinary among Various Opportunities” on the second day of the TCT Asia Summit. For a full programme and more head over to www.tctasia.com.cn/en

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

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057

GRIMM COLUMN

JOINT VENTURES – DON’T GO IT ALONE WOR DS : TODD G R I M M

Some may consider collaboration with those outside of your organisation to be optional, but collaboration within is a necessity.

Todd Grimm

is a stalwart of the additive manufacturing industry, having held positions across sales and marketing in some of the industry’s biggest names. Todd is currently the AM Industry advisor with AMUG

tgrimm@tagrimm.com

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ITH THE PACE of additive manufacturing (AM) advancement and the breadth of possible applications, there is much to discover, investigate and learn. In the last issue of TCT Magazine (24.6), I suggested that companies appoint a “Sherpa” to monitor changes and guide activities. This month, the call to action is even greater—join forces to accelerate your AM success. This message of collaboration was sparked by two events, one past and one coming soon. A few weeks ago, I participated in a meeting of CEOs and CTOs, representing large, global companies. We enjoyed discussions of additive manufacturing successes from the aerospace, medical and energy industries. Although the participants were sharing their triumphs, these conversations served only to fuel the primary reason for the meeting: discuss collaborative efforts that can accelerate victory in each company’s AM ventures. These companies have varying degrees of measurable AM success, yet all were supportive of efforts to collaborate. Their rationale was straightforward—AM is too big, too dynamic and too important to tackle alone. While all the companies shared that rationale, the motivation varied. Some of the attending companies feared that they were falling behind while others yearned to accelerate innovation. Collectively, these companies can create a body of knowledge, one that is not readily available today, that offers direction coupled with practical science and technical instruction. This knowledge improves the odds of success of all contributors. If large, global companies with AM successes see the need to collaborate, what does that say for all those without similar resource availability? Quite simply: Small and mid-sized enterprise can advance by pooling resources and sharing knowledge. The coming event that turned my thoughts to collaboration is the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference. Annually, those that use AM come together to share their experiences and exchange knowledge. Those exchanges—the collaboration at the user level— are what make the AMUG Conference unique and what justifies return visits year after year. The discoveries at the AMUG Conference— which range from practical tips to insights on stealth technologies to strategies for advanced applications—allow companies to do more with, and get more from, AM. Listen in on the

conversations in the hallways and dining areas and you will witness new ideas and better solutions being born from the back-and-forth banter. These two events illustrate the extremes of collaboration. The AMUG Conference is individual and informal. The C-level meeting envisioned a structured, corporate venture. Between the two, there are many other collaboration opportunities for your teammates, departments and organisation. Certainly, there is an option that fits your needs, your plans and your AM vision. Some may consider collaboration with those outside of your organisation to be optional, but collaboration within is a necessity. With few exceptions, organisations have pockets of AM information. Even companies that are in the spotlight for using AM in advanced and creative ways have internal factions that struggle to understand and use the technology or beg for the funds to properly equip and staff an AM lab. Knowledge and understanding are lacking in these situations. Those that have the insight have contained it within a silo. It is time to free that information so that others across the organisation can capitalise on it. It is time to free the knowledge through collaboration between departments, locations and business units. You would also be wise to consider collaboration along the supply chain. As illustrated by the C-level meeting, virtually all organisations are in need of guidance, insights, research and data. Since there is already some degree of information transfer, why not extend that exchange to AM? Make AM excellence a joint venture between suppliers and manufacturers, a venture that can make the output better, faster and cheaper. There is so much to learn and discover, and that body of knowledge will continue to expand as the future for this dynamic technology unfolds. Collaboration, in any form, will play a positive role in deploying practical applications today and building roadmaps to tomorrow. 

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