TCT Europe 25.5 by TCT Magazine

EUROPE EDITION VOLUME 25 ISSUE 5 www.tctmagazine.com

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ADDITIVE IN ORBIT 3D SYSTEMS TO DELIVER FIRST FLIGHTWORTHY METAL PRINTED RF FILTER

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

VOLUME 25 ISSUE 5

ISSN 1751-0333

EDITORIAL

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HEAD OF CONTENT

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

FROM THE EDITOR

CALL ME MATERIALISTIC

hen we were setting out the editorial calendar for 2017, it came to my attention that, in years gone by, materials was merely a feature. They’ve just won promotion to a focus, as is evident from page 13 and the ensuing nine pages of copy, dedicated to the latest developments in materials science for additive manufacturing (AM).

When it comes to industrial 3D printing, the materials science scope is far greater. In this issue, we’ve got news, interviews and columns from companies that, five years ago, wouldn’t have shown up on the first five pages on a Google search for 3D printing like BASF, HP and Malvern.

When I started at TCT, I was concentrated more on the growing desktop side of 3D printing. Most printers on the market could use either ABS or PLA. My first realisation of how far behind materials science was in the world of 3D printing came during a discussion at TCT Show 2013.

This influx of larger companies from the outside getting into 3D printing via the materials channel makes this year’s TCT Show even more exciting. With our sister show and the largest plastics show in the UK, Interplas, just next-door, who knows what conversations will spark new business ventures as additive technologies are no longer seen as just a fad.

A former colleague introduced me to a materials scientist from the chemical company, Clariant. I was already in conversation with an exhibitor who was complaining about the hue of a blue filament postprinting. It quickly became a parley on how a little chemical engineering could ensure any colour or property needed.

One company that has been in the game for a considerable amount of time is LPW, and an enlightening conversation with CEO, Dr Phil Carrol (page 23) left me both petrified about the power of the pen and amazed at the lengths companies in this industry go to, to ensure AM is THE manufacturing process of the future.

Four years down the line from the ability to print ABS and PLA we see hundreds of materials available from carbon fibre blends like Markforged’s high-strength Onyx to ultra flexible materials from the likes of NinjaTek. And that’s just for the desktop.

Druck On DANIEL O’CONNOR, GROUP EDITOR

Correction: In the last issue (25.4, p23) the centre image was wrongly attributed. The image was supplied by HiETA and Renishaw and should have read: “Delta Motorsport micro turbine incorporating HiETA MiTRE recuperator.”

QuantAM build preparation software... ...quick to learn, intuitive to use Renishaw QuantAM is a dedicated file preparation software tool for Renishaw additive manufacturing (AM) systems. With an intuitive workflow and easy navigation QuantAM accepts CAD exports in the form of .STL data and allows you to prepare your model for the AM process. Find out more at www.renishaw.com/quantam

www.renishaw.com Renishaw's QuantAM Strip ad TCT 0817.indd 1

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EMO Hanover, from 18th to 23rd September 2017

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

33. FEELING SUPERSONIC

COVER STORY

Laura investigates new Australian metal 3D printing company, SPEE3D.

8. COVER STORY

3D Systems on 3D printed flightworthy RF Filters.

MATERIALS Sponsored by Somos

A guide from Jabil.

37. GATEWAY TO CERTIFICATION

77. “PEOPLE SHOULD USE 3MF”

Lloyds Register and The Welding Institute on qualifying metal AM.

39. THINK SMALL

Laura on the smallest, highest resolution revolution in metal AM.

DESKTOP 3D PRINTING Sponsored by Stratasys

13. MATURING MATERIAL

Editorial Assistant, Sam Davies on BASF’s entry into 3D printing.

41. ULTIMAKER EVOLUTION

19. ARMOR FOR THE ECO WARRIOR

47. AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTING: A NEW DAWN

Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griffiths’ look at a novel approach up cycling 2D printing waste for 3D.

21. REMANUFACTURING SINTERING MATERIAL GS Pro is looking to cure the SLS process waste issue.

23. THE POWDER PERSPECTIVE

Group Editor, Dan O’Connor goes behind-the-scenes at LPW.

29. OPTIMISING METAL POWDERS

An interview with the 3MF Consortium Foundation’s executive chairman.

79. ADDITIVE’S AURORA

How Repair Kit could save legacy stereolithography from the rubbish dump.

83. NOTHING IS SET IN STONE

A look at NOWlab’s use of 3D printing for concrete casting.

87. LET’S #3DTALK ABOUT MATERIALS

Laura speaks to TCT Show’s all female panel on 3D printing materials.

90. CURB YOU ENTHUSIASM

15. MAKING IT MATTER

How HP aims to conquer manufacturing with an open arms approach.

73. FIVE STEPS FOR INTEGRATING 3D PRINTING INTO MANUFACTURING

Laura speaks to John Kawola, President of Ultimaker North America.

Todd Grimm’s regular column zooms in on resisting the urge to impulse buy.

Dan looks at the most meteoric rise in 3D printing history.

51. ADD LIGHTNESS, DRIVE SUCCESS

How a student team is winning the race thanks to new computing hardware for 3D printing.

55. SEEING IN COLOUR

DyeMansion on adding colour to 3D printing.

Malvern on the critical role of metal powders for AM.

57. 3D PRINTING EN MASS. Laura reports back from a tour of the hotbed of 3D printing that is Boston.

63. END OF YEAR REPORT Sam reports on a variety of courses attempting to plug the oncoming skills gap.

71. JOIN THE CLUB

A look at Cambridge University’s 3D Printing Society.

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COVER STORY

ADDITIVE IN ORBIT W O R D S : Da n i e l O ’C o n n o r

3D SYSTEMS AND AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE DELIVERS FIRST FLIGHTWORTHY METAL PRINTED RF FILTER

n October 4th, 1957 a polished metal sphere, 58 cm in diameter, with four external radio antennas blasted into space from a Kazhak mountain range. Its name was Sputnik 1, it was the first artificial satellite, and its launch caused widespread panic throughout the U.S. that if the Soviet Union’s communistic ideology could win the space race, surely it could conquer the world? 60 years later a fight between a man that had never boxed professionally and the greatest living pugilist was beamed from Las Vegas across the globe thanks to satellite technology. The fighters are expected to earn more than $400m, for less than 30 minutes in the ring. It is safe to say capitalism won out. The U.S. owns approximately a third of 1,400+ satellites orbiting the globe. Whether it is broadcasting sports, surveilling insurgents or monitoring weather, each satellite is transmitting and receiving information using radio frequencies (RF). The way satellites decide which frequencies to receive and transmit has largely remained the same for 50 years. Metal RF filters allow frequencies from selected channels to pass through, rejecting the rest. A modern satellite like the Eutelsat KA-SAT manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space carries nearly 500 RF filters

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and 600 waveguides. There’s a trend in the space industry for increased capacity for multiple beams within a single satellite using tailored RF filters. Adding more components means lightweighting has become ever more crucial. Blasting technology into space is not cheap; it takes as much as $20,000 per kilogram to send a vehicle into geostationary orbit. Added complexity and increasing weight saving? Sounds like a job for 3D printing. Using a 3D Systems ProX DMP 320, 3D Systems Leuven and Airbus Defence and Space have created the flight-worthy 3D printed RF filter that consolidates two parts, resulting in a 50% weight reduction at the same time as improving the RF performance. The project built upon research funded by the European Space Agency (A0/1-6776/11/NL/GLC: Modelling and Design of Optimised Waveguide Components Utilising 3D Manufacturing Techniques).

DISRUPTIVE DESIGN INNOVATION RF filters are traditionally designed based on libraries of standardised elements, such as rectangular cavities and waveguide cross-sections with perpendicular bends. Shapes and connections are dictated by typical manufacturing processes such as milling and spark

COVER STORY ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

eroding. As a result, cavities for RF filters typically need to be machined from two halves bolted together. This increases weight, adds an assembly step to production time, and requires further quality assessment. Designing the parts for 3D printing enabled Airbus Defence and Space to explore complex geometries at no additional manufacturing cost. CST MWS, a standard 3D electromagnetic simulation software tool, was used to design the 3D printed RF filters, with little time spent on optimisation. The increased manufacturing flexibility enabled by 3D printing led to a design using a depressed super-ellipsoidal cavity. The unique shaping helped to channel RF currents and deliver the required tradeoffs between Q factor—a measure of a waveguide’s efficiency based on energy lost—and rejection of out-of-band signals. “The disruptive innovation lies in the fact that pure functionality, not manufacturability, now determines how the hardware will be designed,” says Koen Huybrechts, project engineer for 3D Systems in Leuven. “This project is a classic example of ‘form follows function’.”

Three aluminium samples printed on the ProX DMP 320 using different processing paths were tested by Airbus Defence and Space at its Stevenage facilities. Tests mimicked conditions the parts would face during launch and orbit, including vibration, shock and thermal situations such as temperature extremes and vacuum conditions. All three samples met or exceeded requirements, with the best performance coming from a filter that was silver-plated via an electrolytic process. Beyond 3D printing, 3D Systems delivered added value that is critical to this kind of project, including certified powder handling, process control for superior material density, proven post-processing, and reliable quality control. Booth recognises that this added expertise played a key role in the project’s success: “We realise that this is not just down to using a good machine to manufacture the part but also the result of a good understanding by 3D Systems of the manufacturing process.”

ELIMINATING SURFACE CONCERNS Initially, the different surface topology in 3D printed metal parts was thought to be an issue, but extensive testing by Airbus Defence and Space eliminated those concerns. “The microscopic topology is different in the 3D printed part than in a machined part,” says Paul Booth, the RF Engineer for Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK “Machined surfaces have sharp peaks and troughs, while the 3D printed surface is spheroids melted together so there is less sharpness.” “The spherical shape of the powder particles used in 3D metal printing lead to a certain waviness rather than steep transitions,” says Huybrechts, “but the ability to shape a part for more effective signal filtering more than overcomes any concerns with surface topology.” “We were very pleased with the work that 3D Systems did for us and many inside Airbus have commented on how good the surface finish is,” says Booth. “We did some x-ray CT scans and have been impressed with the density of the part and the general surface quality.”

top: THE RF FILTER IN SITU above: THE NEW DESIGN FOR

3D PRINTING WITH A DEPRESSED SUPER-ELLIPSOIDAL CAVITY

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McLAREN DEPLOYS STRATASYS ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE Explore the car up close and personal Experience driving it on the official simulator Discover how Stratasys is making the difference

ALL AT THE TCT SHOW

COVER STORY NEWS ROUNDUP ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

NEWS FOR THESE STORIES IN FULL CLICK TO mytct.co/25_5news

MARKFORGED INTRODUCED TWO NEW 3D PRINTING PLATFORMS TO INDUSTRIAL SERIES

AMT PARTNERS WITH MIDWEST PROTOTYPING Additive Manufacturing Technologies has partnered with Midwest Prototyping, one of North America’s leading AM service bureaux. As part of the alliance, Midwest will welcome an AMT PostPro3D machine which automates the surface finishing of 3D printed polymer parts. The machine has been developed after an Innovate UK grant of £624,000 and allows for the automated surface finishing of Laser Sintered and Multi Jet Fusion parts.

Markforged has strengthened its industrial 3D printing offering with the addition of two new platforms, the X3 and X5. The X3 platform supports Onyx, a high-temperature resistant carbon fibre filled nylon, and is thus able to produce engineering-grade parts. The X5, meanwhile, also supports Onyx but also houses the ability to reinforce it with a strand of fibreglass, producing parts with up to 19x the strength.

THYSSENKRUPP TECHCENTER ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FACILITY UP AND RUNNING Thyssenkrupp has announced its first additive manufacturing facility is now up and running. The company plans to combine its own experience in 3D printing with the knowledge of its research partnerships to ‘unlock the potential’ of the technology, serving its customer base with parts fit for a range of industries.

SCIAKY TO INTEGRATE SIEMENS PLM SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS INTO EBAM 3D PRINTING SYSTEMS Sciaky Inc. is to adopt Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) products to support its EBAM solution. Working together, Sciaky and Siemens PLM believe they will better serve their customers, making easier their decision making behind product development, as well as offering a solution that integrates with the same technology they use every day.

MERCEDES-BENZ TRUCKS METAL 3D PRINTED SPARE PART QUALITY ASSURED Mercedes-Benz Trucks has seen the first metal 3D printed spare part pass all stages of its stringent quality assurance process. The component is a thermostat cover for truck and Unimog models from older model series. Metal 3D printing technology was harnessed by the Mercedes division because of its ability to provide high strength, thermal resistant parts, with ‘any geometry and in any numbers’.

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3 D AD D ITIVE MANUFACT URIN G SLA

Stereolithography

SLS

Selective Laser Sintering

DMP

Direct Metal Printing

CJP FDM

I N V ES T MEN T C A S T I N G ColorJet Printing Fused Deposition Modeling

Quickcast Patterns

Cast Urethane

MDC

PJW

ProJet® Wax Patterns

CNC

CNC Machining

UK + 4 4 (0)1 4 9 4 4 1 2 3 2 2

I T + 3 9 (0 )1 2 1 3 9 0 310

FR + 3 3 (0)2 4 3 5 2 0 4 3 7

NL + 3 1 (0 )4 9 5 4 9 9 287

DE + 4 9 (0)6 1 5 1 3 5 7 1 5 1

A DVA N C ED MA N U FAC T U R I N G

Castform Patterns ®

Metal Die Casting Sheet Metal

Injection Molding

On Demand Manufacturing

MATERIALS

n Heidelberg, Germany on September 1st, a new business was born. A business convinced of the influence it will have on a $5 billion industry. For any normal company in its first weeks of operations, it would be outlandish at best. This company, though, is different, because it stems from one of the oldest and largest material developers in the world.

BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH marks not only the commitment from one of the leading chemical companies in the game but an encouraging development for an industry that has seen its growth stunted by the limited supply of materials. The motivation to form the wholly-owned subsidiary coincides, not by accident, with the additive manufacturing (AM) industry’s evolution from prototyping tool to manufacturing process. BASF has been monitoring the 3D printing market for years now. Its relations with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) has given the company even greater insight into the needs and wants of AM users. And with its knowledge in materials; 3D printing processing; geometric design; part property simulation; and surface finishing, BASF deems itself well positioned to inspire further growth. “Given our experience in material and in consulting, we are convinced that we can contribute substantially to this emerging technology,” Dirk Simon, BASF’s Global Business Director, 3D Printing, told TCT. “While establishing a legal entity dedicated to 3D printing we demonstrate to serve the needs for solutions specifically to the requirements in 3D printing.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

MATURING MATERIALS I

S P O N S O RED BY

W O R D S : S A M DAV I E S

“Our goal is to produce resilient plastic materials that can be used for series production of functional components and for continuous operation of finished goods, for example in automotive and electronics applications or the sports articles and machinery industry.” Simon highlights the company’s wideranging material portfolio, claiming it’s the broadest in the industry. Beyond polymers, BASF develops formulations for ceramics and metal 3D printed parts too. He points out BASF supports the 3D printing market with ready-made materials, as well as chemicals and raw materials which can be harnessed by companies for their R&D. The new company will focus on expanding that catalogue of materials, working closely with researchers and application engineers from both BASF and its external partners. “BASF is strongly positioned to support 3D printing end applications as we already have an understanding of the markets and application requirements from our engineering plastics business that are now being translated into 3D printing,” Simon stresses. “[We are] of the opinion that

chemistry is one key enabler for the transition from using 3D printing primary for prototyping to the broad industrial use in series products.” The products benefit players in a variety of industries, like automotive and aerospace. BASF believes it understands the OEMs that it works with, and can provide them with access to the 3D printing market, and vice versa. While the parts made as a result of BASF 3D Printing Solutions vary across a plethora of applications, the machines they are printed on does too. “BASF is familiar with the key technologies in 3D printing, such as Multi Jet Fusion, laser sintering, stereolithography, and 3D extrusion. In effect, this means we can support our customers along the whole value chain of 3D printing. BASF thinks in the long-term and is strongly committed to 3D printing,” Simon concludes. “To our customers, this means they gain a reliable partner is this volatile market. Based on our experience in developing sustainable solutions, we can also help our customers to address the market needs.”

shown: TWO AIRLESS TIRES

CREATED WITH 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES USING THERMOPLASTIC POLYURETHANE FROM BASF.

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MATERIALS ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

MAKING IT MATTER

S P O N S O R ED BY

W O R D S : S A M DAV I E S

HP HAS EMBARKED ON A QUEST TO REINVENT MANUFACTURING WITH ITS ‘TRULY DISRUPTIVE’ MULTI JET FUSION SYSTEM. THE COMPANY STANDS AS ONE OF THE GIANTS OF TECHNOLOGY, WORTH AROUND $50BN. DUE TO THOSE RICHES, THE $6BN 3D PRINTING MARKET HAS NEVER BEEN ALL THAT APPEALING. THE $12TRN MANUFACTURING ONE, HOWEVER…

othing has really changed in manufacturing for about 100 hundred years,” HP CEO, Dion Weisler said at the company’s Reinventing Manufacturing joint event with Deloitte on 24th August 2017. “There’s a meaningful way to make a very broad impact on the way companies all around the world design, procure, manufacture and deliver their products to customers. “When you 3D print, complexity is free. That enables you to change the design in a very different way, and so now companies all around the world can think very differently about how they manufacture in the future.” The cornerstone of these efforts to disrupt manufacturing – Weisler hopes in a similar vein to Netflix’s disruption of media and Amazon’s disruption of retail – is its Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D printer, backed by the Open Applications and Materials Lab which launched this Spring in Corvallis, Oregon. The size of the task at hand is best exemplified in the comparison of material selection between 3D printing and injection moulding. “If you look at how the world works today with injection moulding, there are tens of thousands of materials. Maybe even more than that – 50,000,” begins Dr Tim Weber, Head of the Open Applications and Materials Lab. “And people who aren’t engineers and who haven’t played in that space [might ask] ‘why are there so many materials?’ It’s because each material company tailors a material for a specific application, for a specific customer.” It is a widely-held opinion that material selection has held additive manufacturing back. It forms one of six ‘strategy levers’ that will help HP ‘unlock the market’ (others include product capabilities; material price; design for additive; supply chain;

above: HP OPEN MATERIALS LAB standards and regulations). While HP is a daring, confident and ambitious company, it’s also a self-aware one. Rather than go it alone in a state of hubris, it has recruited the likes of BASF; Evonik; Arkema; and Henkel to work in the Open Applications and Materials Lab to develop materials for its MJF platform. “Four or five materials is not going to cut it. We need thousands of materials,” stresses Weber. “This is where the open materials platform was born. There’s no way we have the resources to do that. Materials companies have been doing it for years and years on their own, and we got to the point where we want to have an open materials platform, and let materials companies do what

“FOUR OR FIVE MATERIALS IS NOT GOING TO CUT IT. WE NEED THOUSANDS OF MATERIALS.” they’ve done, which is tailor materials for their specific applications.” Participation in the lab is expected to grow quickly and significantly. Weber says HP is confident another ten companies will sign up and is in communication with a further 40 after that. Currently, on any given day, you can expect between 10 and 20 people in the lab carrying out tests and other experimentations. Colour-coded lab coats are used to differentiate between companies, designed to avoid any accidental spillages of information that might compromise respective intellectual properties. It’s a controlled environment, but an unconstrained one.

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MATERIALS ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

“THAT’S WHERE THE POWER OF THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM WILL COME IN. I EXPECT COMPANIES TO DO THOSE VARIATIONS WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS AND I THINK WE’LL SEE AN EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF MATERIALS AS WE MOVE AHEAD.” HP is keen to emulate the Apple App Store, giving developers the creative freedom to produce materials they feel will be purposeful. Weber’s team will then certify it through its Materials Development Kit, making sure the MJF system supports it, and it meets certain quality and reliability standards. The Materials Development Kit is a multi-step process thought up by HP to standardise the results of the research and development taking place in the lab. The first step will see the material developer make a batch of 100g to make sure it can be turned into a powder and spread. Then, the company will need to produce around 5 kg of the material for a simple fusing test in a powder bed of 6 inches cubed. If it is compatible with the MJF system, and its fusing and detailing agents, the material can be tested on the third step after a few iterations to make clear what the melt and crystallisation points are. This third phase sees 50 kg of the material tested against the Material Build Unit, Weber’s team assessing how it runs through the delivery system – refinements may be needed at this stage. Finally, if the material has come through the three steps, between 500 kg and 1,000 kg will be run through an MJF 4200 and parts will be printed. Though the concept is in place, Weber says the

Materials Development Kit still needs stabilising. It is partly the reason why HP won’t set time frames against its Materials Roadmap. The company has released a brief insight into some of the material types it is looking to release. It begins with the PA12 High Reusability that is already available, and extends to elastomers, polyamides, thermoplastics, commodity plastics, and highperformance materials. Each of these types or ‘platforms’ as Weber refers to them, will have some variations each tailored to specific applications. “You can imagine as we have stabilised our business, as we have stabilised our hardware, and we’ve learned to certify, we’ll start to see a lot of variations, first of the polyamides,” Weber expands. “We will sooner than later introduce a number of elastomers, probably GPE, GPU, polyurethane – we are working on some low-cost manufacturing material that will be coming out shortly. We’re not throwing a date out there, but they are on their way, being delivered in the building I am in today, as we speak.”

Materials Lab, but doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Moving forward, and in addition to the many variations of each platform, Weber expects to see more work done on coloured materials – even white – which will do away with the ‘Any colour as long as its black’ policy it has borrowed from early 20th century Ford. He also confirms HP’s partners are exploring conductive inks to enable the printing of circuit boards; static charge dissipation of plastics to prevent charges building up in electrical parts; and in HP Labs in Palo Alto, investigations are taking place in relation to metals and ceramics. Together, they all contribute to an extensive roadmap and a potentially prolific 3D printing material development program: “We can probably do a couple of new platforms a year, but the ability to do many, many variations for those at the same time,” concludes Weber. “That’s where the power of the certification program will come in. I expect companies to do those variations with their customers and I think we’ll see an exponential growth of materials as we move ahead.” An approach HP believes will help to reinvent manufacturing.

TOP: CHECKING

THE SPREADABILITY OF NEW POWDER

The segment of HP’s roadmap revealed to the public gives a fair reflection of what is to be developed in the Open Applications and

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.aerospace

www.concept-laser.de Concept Laser GmbH An der Zeil 8 | D 96215 Lichtenfels T: +49 (0) 95 71. 1679 200 | F: +49 (0) 95 71. 1679 299 | info@concept-laser.de

Photos: uwe-muehlhaeusser.de, finamedia.de | Machine layout: newkon.info | Artwork: brandnew-design.de

SEE YOU AT TCT Show 2017 | Booth D66

Source: Airbus Operations GmbH

MACHINE SOLUTIONS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH METALS

MATERIALS

WOR DS : Lau r a Gri ffi t h s

f you’re a regular reader of this magazine, the likelihood is you don’t need to be told that the benefits of 3D printing are bountiful. Still, as great as the technology can be, the behaviour of prototype, iterate, prototype again, does pose an environmental issue for waste plastic.

A handful of startups and university research groups have attempted to tackle the problem, typically by way of grinding up print waste, melting and turning it back into reusable filament. But a 90-year old company from Brittany, France is taking a different approach, using waste from the standard 2D printing industry and repurposing cartridge plastic into a range of recycled filament for FDM printing. Established chemical company, Armor, has been producing laser and inkjet cartridges since the early 1990s. Two years ago, the team was busy working on a project looking at recycling waste from its 2D printing activity into usable material and observed a gap in the growing 3D filament market. It proved a success and saw the launch of a dedicated 3D printing subsidiary in 2016, specialising in producing technical materials for 3D printing, under the name of OWA 3D. “Never before have people been given the ability to produce themselves with a machine, this is what 3D printing is going to change in our world,” Pierre-Antoine Pluvinage, Business Development Director, Armor 3D Printing, told TCT. “I think people are more and more aware of what material they are using, where it comes from and where it goes after. It makes sense to make sure that we don’t produce waste, that we don’t just throw away materials. Companies have to do it more and more, it’s becoming mandatory and they’re really looking for a solution like this to differentiate themselves.” OWA adopts a circular economy method to reduce waste print supplies from both 2D and 3D printing output and has created the world’s first QUALICERT certified laser cartridge recycling line. It’s not just a new product, it’s an entire philosophy, and the company is now looking to work with other industrial companies and manufacturers to provide a solution for their own plastic waste and develop specific materials. “We want to build partnerships with these companies because we

need to setup a process to collect the waste, make sure it’s correctly separated with other waste and develop a proper process to make materials for 3D printing,” Pierre-Antoine continued. “This process is not just about picking waste and trying to do something with it, it’s really a matter of companies that have the same aim and want to really push recycling to an extreme.” OWA currently offers several filament types; a 100% recycled range including a world-first recycled polystyrene (PS) filament, a technical range of PLA aimed at providing high-impact functionality, and TPU for elastomeric properties, sourced from plastic used in ski boots. Pierre-Antoine says it’s responding to a growing demand from industrial and professional users for better, high-quality materials, and on a recent visit to a 3D printing event in Lyon, it was clear the OWA brand has already infiltrated the desktop space with filament spools spotted everywhere alongside various machines. “We are working with some printer manufacturers that are interested in testing our

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ARMOR FOR THE ECO WARRIOR

S P O N S O RE D BY

materials to make sure that they are suited to their printers. Lots of printer manufacturers have users that are really sensitive on the recycling aspects,” Pierre-Antoine explained. “With 3D printing you have the material that becomes the product which is really amazing and users are conscious that they can’t just use any material, they have to think about the end-oflife waste.” With both filament lines already available in France, Belgium, UK, Canada and Japan, the company is keeping a close eye on the needs of other standard 3D technologies, resin and powder, which it hopes to address in the future, and finding partners that share this vision to enable them to take it to a truly global scale. “[3D printing] is a young industry, fast growing and I think users are pre-occupied by other aspects such as new machines, new materials,” PierreAntoine concludes. “But I think that the 3D printing industry is more advanced than other industries, such as 2D printing, regarding waste. The positive aspect is that I think people are conscious about the need to deal with waste and the materials that they are using.”

LEFT: OWA’S WORLD FIRST RECYCLED PS FILAMENT

above right:

BRACELET PRINTED IN TPU

right: “3DBENCHY” DEMONSTRATING PLA-HI QUALITY

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ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

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MATERIALS ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

REMANUFACTURING SINTERING MATERIAL

S P O N S OR ED BY

E D I T E D BY : DA N I E L O ’ C O N N O R

common misconception of 3D printing is that the industry just uses what raw material is needed having zero waste. While it is true, the industry uses significantly fewer materials than subtractive processes, anybody who has operated a selective laser sintering (SLS) machine will tell you that waste is a huge problem. “SLS materials must be refreshed at rates of between 33% to 50%,” says Dr Sören Grießbach Managing Director of GS Pro GmbH. “Not refreshing or refreshing with less virgin powder can cause inappropriate parts. On average, SLS builds yield or consume about 6-8% of the powder in a whole part cake, losing approximately 25-40% of the unfilled PA12 powder because suggested refresh rates are around 50% part cake material. A mid-frame machine has an average throughput of about 1 kg/h meaning that 0.25-0.4 kg of waste is created per hour. Production machines run about 5,000 h/year, potentially losing 1.3-2 tonnes per machine per year. “In financial terms, this translates to throwing away about 60.000-120.000EUR per year.” For companies like Digits2Widgets, a UK based service bureau that prides itself on its powder refresh rates, it isn’t just the cost of the waste material; there’s a cost for collection and disposal. “Used powder is considered hazardous both regarding the inhalation of fine particles and also because it’s highly combustible,” says Design Director at Digits2Widgets, Jonathan Rowley telling the cautionary tale of exploding windmills when the miller lit a pipe, igniting the flour particles in the air. “We accumulate the waste powder until our designated storage area is full. We then order a collection, and the disposal costs a couple of hundred pounds about four times a year.”

possible to reduce that amount down to 10-15% by using 35-40% refined powder alongside regular overflow, and part cake blend.”

to use as virgin powder, with no wastage.”

GS Pro has been working with clients across the globe for the past eight years to establish some best practices when using refined powders. The technology is verified to work on 3D Systems SLS machines including its HiQ, higher speed range and recent test results have proven the possibility to run it on EOS and Farsoon systems. “Some customers run 100% refined powder mixed with overflow powder for the best surface finish, part quality and mechanical properties,” explains Sören. “There are benefits like eliminating the sieving of part cake powder and because our system is a closed loop the part cake gets saved, sent for remanufacturing and the customer gets their recycled powder back

As well as a reduction in your carbon footprint, other benefits include less outgassing and condensation of vaporised polymers on filters, sensors and lenses, potentially extending a machine run time between service calls. But, material properties are the number one priority for end-users, how do GS Pro’s refined materials compare? “The values for impact strength and Elongation at break are approximately two times higher than regular OEM nylon 12,” says Sören. “Not only are we able to attain higher peak values, but we can also get more stable material characteristics and part quality across the entire build. With our full tested machine parameters, it is now possible to build parts with stable quality even at cold spots of the part bed.”

Density

Tensile Strength

Young Modulus

Charpy impact strength

Units

g/ccm

MPa

kJ/m²

Datasheets by 3D/EOS

0,95-1,00

43-48

1.600-1.850

Recycled

0,98-1,02

45-52

1.600-1.900

>100

ABOVE: GS PRO’S MATERIAL MECHANICAL BEHAVIOURS

Dr Sören Grießbach’s company, GS Pro have been working on a proprietary remanufacturing process from their Chemnitz, Germany base, which seeks to improve this wastage issue. “Our recycled powders and associated process parameters can create parts with superior mechanical properties as compared to OEM powders,” Says Sören. “GS Pro refines powder for repeated use, and there are several ways to use it. It´s possible to use standalone refined powder or to create a closed loop of material use and recycling. “Instead of mixing in 50% virgin powder it is

SHOWN: ISO-TENSILE BAR MADE OF PA12-RC ON SPRO60HD-HS BY 3D SYSTEMS

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MATERIALS

DANIEL O’CONNOR EXPLORES HOW LPW ARE PICKING UP THE BATON WHEN IT COMES TO TRACEABILITY OF METAL POWDERS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING.

n July 19th, 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 departed Denver; Colorado bound for Chicago with 296 souls on board. One hour and seven minutes into the flight, during a shallow right turn at 37,000 feet, the fan disk of the DC-10’s tail-mounted engine disintegrated. The plane lost all hydraulics, and the captain declared an emergency to air traffic control. With the odds stacked against them, the crew attempted to land the aircraft on runway 22 at Sioux City, Iowa, travelling and descending almost at double the speed as would be required for a safe landing. The plane’s right wing hit the runway first causing the vehicle to cartwheel landing upside down and immediately catching fire. Remarkably the actions of the crew and emergency services on the ground meant 185 lives were saved; there

were 111 fatalities. The National Transportation Safety Board identified the cause of the accident as a failure by United Airlines maintenance processes and personnel to detect an existing fatigue crack. That fatigue crack, however, resulted from a microscopic contamination of tungsten in the titanium used to make the engine’s fan disk. Contamination of this kind keeps Dr Phil Carrol, CEO of LPW, up at night: “If you go into some powder mills making nickel and steel alloys, it’s like going back 100 years. There’s a wake up call required for this industry. Within the titanium powder that people are using for their AM processes there are risks around tungsten contamination.” 

THE DEVIL PARTICLE This is an output from a CT scan of titanium alloy powder, the CT scan differentiates material by density. Materials of higher density, relative to one another, appear brighter, the bright particle in the image must be of significantly higher density than the rest of the powder particles, and in this case is an unwanted contaminant or the Devil Particle. LPW refers to this type of contaminant as a High Density Inclusion (HDI). Often, the HDI has a significantly higher melting point than the bulk powder, and therefore does not dissolve into the material during the melting process. This creates a point of weakness within the material, and can cause premature part failure, especially in high stress environments.

TOP: CONTAMINATION

SCREENING AT LPW USING SEM AND EDX ANALYSIS

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

THE POWDER PERSPECTIVE

S P O NS OR ED BY

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MATERIALS

The tungsten contamination conversation was brought on by a recent visit to LPW’s soon to be former HQ in Runcorn (the company is set to move to a larger, purpose built premises across the new Mersey Gateway bridge in Widnes within the next six months). Upon entering, at reception, we were asked to hand in any ball-point pens. Ballpoint pens often contain, you guessed it, tungsten. This level of thoroughness makes its way past reception throughout the premises as a whole. “At LPW, we’re taking a pharma mindset and putting that into powder manufacturing environment so that we

don’t have a repeat of the DC-10 incident in AM,” explains Phil. “We need to instil a clean-room discipline and develop a culture with all our employees to think about contamination at all times.” Dr Phil Carrol attained his PhD in Alloy Development from the University of Sheffield. After working with companies like Siemens, TWI and Trumpf developing machines and AM processes, Phil realised that no matter how good the hardware and processes were, if the materials weren’t consistent, parts never could be. Phil has a mantra, which if you meet him (he’ll be on LPW’s stand at TCT Show) he’ll be sure to repeat, it’s a slightly less clean version of, ‘you get

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

A PHARMACEUTICAL PHILOSOPHY

out what you put in.’ He set up LPW to ensure what was going in was good enough for stringent aerospace qualifications. Since employee number two, hired in 2012, the company has grown to 90 employees and within the next 12 months is predicting to have upwards of 200 members of staff on board, dotted in locations across the globe. “The numbers miss a couple of subtle points,” explains Phil. “It has been a challenge to grow from a consultancy of a couple of engineers with PhDs through to all the skills you need to run a lean manufacturing facility that makes powders, develops software and manufactures hardware.” 

RIGHT: LPW’S

POWDERTRACE SMART HOPPER DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF METAL AM POWDERS

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MATERIALS ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

FUTUREPROOFING A keyword in Phil’s quote is data. In a world where GE is bringing its “Brilliant Factories” to fruition complete with digitisation at every juncture, firms will begin to require their entire supply chain to be ‘smart’. As a materials supplier with a complete monitored solution and a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in its trophy cabinet, LPW looks to be way out ahead of the competition, and Phil believe big data will be the driver for further success. “In the consumer world, we’ve talked about the use of big data with Apple, Facebook and Google trying to utilise our data to sell us products,” says Phil. “In an industrial environment, it is harder to integrate because you’ve got the encumbrance of big machinery that you’ve spent a lot of money on and it’s not just about putting sensors in left right and centre you have to change cultures.

A SMART SOLUTION A significant challenge for Phil and his ever-growing team is the fact that nobody has done this before, everything LPW is doing from its array of materials called PowderRange to its material lifecycle solution, PowderLife, is brand-new R&D. “In traditional manufacturing a company would buy material, get a certificate of conformance to say the material is good, they’d go off and use it, and that’s it,” states Phil. “The difference for metal AM is that the economics only work with the reuse of the material. “The elephant in the room for AM is the powder surrounding the part during build; it changes, and it can degrade. For example, some [of the powder] might pick up oxygen; a higher oxygen content means a stronger but more brittle material. If you’re making a paperweight, nobody cares, but if you’re in production, you need a component to have consistency no matter if the powder used once or used ten times.” To achieve said consistency Phil believes the solution lies in PowderLife, LPW’s platform consists of five products; PowderTrace - a hopper for controlled metal powder storage and transport; PowderEye - sensors to measure powder condition; PowderFlow - a simple powder flow measurement kit; and PowerLab - LPW’s analytical testing and consultancy services. All of which provide data for powder lifecycle management software, PowderSolve. “With PowderLife, operations teams have the benefit of traceability,” says Phil. “The second benefit is that data generated by PowderEye means you can start to do predictive trends, you can start to see before the material goes out of specification before making a part, saving a lot of time and money.”

TOP: DECANTING

“But AM, and specifically us at LPW, can get that right from the outset. We’re building a new factory; we’re not inheriting a powder atomisation factory that has been there for ten or twenty years, we’re building an AM materials plant, specifically to be digital.” There’s a further benefit to gathering data at every step, by monitoring processes and analysing trends the ability to develop new alloys is significantly improved. In August this year, LPW announced a Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship with Professor Pedro Rivera of Lancaster University - a world leader in alloy development. Phil believes that the data gathered will help this LPW / Royal Academy of Engineering Chair develop statistical models, which consider powder size, composition and atmospheric conditions, as well as component properties, like strength and ductility, allowing for the creation of robust processing parameters and novel alloys. All this points to a rosy future for manufacturing in the UK, but Phil offers a word of warning about the current state of AM affairs: “It is important the focus, for now, should be about doing what we do now with more stability. Everybody talks about production, but there are very few in full production. So let’s iron out the creases and deliver on the hype, let’s walk before we can run.” We can start by handing our ball-point pens in at the door.

METAL POWDER INTO A CONTAINER FOR DELIVERY

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606730-AM Advanced Eng mediaplan_TCT_136mm(h)x192mm_V2.indd 1

07/06/2017 09:43

MATERIALS

WOR D S : Cath r yn Lang ley, Associat e Pr odu ct M anag er – Analy ti c a l Imag ing , M alver n Instr u m e n t s

hen additive manufacturing (AM) was in its infancy, developing a machine that could ‘print’ a component was challenging enough, and the focus was very much on reaching a point where the hardware was commercially viable. However, those working at the forefront of AM soon realised that the hardware was only half the story; the powder was equally important. As the knowledge base grew, it became evident that existing metal powder supplies did not serve the AM market. Today we understand far more about how to identify, optimise, manufacture and recycle metal powders for AM, and indeed the critical role that advancing this understanding will play in our realisation of the full potential of the technology.

SO, WHY DO AM POWDERS NEED TO BE DIFFERENT? As AM moves from a design and prototyping technology to a manufacturing support tool, it is being exploited more and more for metal applications. In particular, its ability to produce complex parts in a single piece, without design constraints, has attracted many industries to its promise.

the GE LEAP engine are 25% lighter and five times more durable than the previous part – making them a highly attractive choice. In these challenging applications, however, powder selection, production and quality are of critical importance. Depending on which AM process and machine is used to create a part, the powder used will be subjected to different flow, stress and processing regimes. Ensuring the raw material can stand up to the job is the difference between metal AM success and failure.

YOU’VE MADE YOUR POWDER BED, NOW LIE IN IT! Powder bed AM processes involve construction of the component on a progressively retracting platform, with a fresh layer of powder spread across the bed following the selective fusing of specified areas. A roller spreads the exposed powder across the bed to create a thin, uniform layer around 20 to 50 microns in depth. A cycle of spreading, melting and fractional platform retraction is repeated, up to thousands of times, to build the finished component, layer-by-layer.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

OPTIMISING METAL POWDERS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

S P O N S O RED BY

AUTHOR BIO: Cathryn joined the diffraction and imaging development team at Malvern Instruments in 2012 after completing her PhD studies in Chemistry at the University of Oxford. She has recently taken up a new position as Associate Product Manager for Malvern’s Analytical Imaging and Laser Diffraction products following an 18 month secondment at Malvern Japan.

POWDER PERFECTION IS ESSENTIAL Current AM machines offer little opportunity for any form of responsive control, meaning that inconsistent input material properties will translate directly into inconsistent finished component properties. Reduced powder quality can produce defects in the end part including pores, cracks, inclusions, residual stresses and sub-optimal surface roughness, as well as compromising throughput. 

In the aerospace and automotive sectors where part failure risk is everyone’s nemesis, delivering metal parts that have consistent strength throughout can be a real advantage. For example, AM-produced fuel nozzles for

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MATERIALS

METAL POWDER ANALYSIS Particle size distribution and morphology data to help determine packing density and flowability can be measured using laser diffraction and automated imaging techniques. Laser diffraction measures particle size distributions by measuring the angular variation in intensity of light scattered as a laser beam passes through a dispersed particulate sample. Large particles scatter light at small angles relative to the laser

beam and small particles scatter light at large angles. The angular scattering intensity data is then analysed to calculate the size of the particles responsible for creating the scattering pattern, using the

“UP TO ONETHIRD OF THE PRODUCTION COST OF AN AM COMPONENT IS THE COST OF THE POWDER USED, WITH COMMERCIAL VIABILITY RESTING ON ESTABLISHING A ROBUST SUPPLY CHAIN AND EFFICIENT POWDER RECYCLING STRATEGIES.”

Mie theory of light scattering. The particle size is reported as a volume equivalent sphere diameter. Automated imaging systems capture tens of thousands of particle images

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Beyond chemistry, it is the physical characteristics of a metal powder that define AM performance. These characteristics include both bulk properties of the powder and properties of the individual metal particles. Key bulk properties are packing density and flowability. Powders that pack consistently well to give a high density are associated with the production of components with fewer flaws and consistent quality. The ability to spread evenly and smoothly across a bed, to form a uniform layer with no air voids is essential – and this, the flowability of the powder, is also critical. Both bulk density and flowability are directly, though not exclusively, influenced by particle size and shape.

in just a few minutes and, from these, generate statistically valid size and shape distributions which can be used to characterise particle morphology in a more precise, objective and robust way than is achievable with, for example, Scanning Electron Microscopy. Those involved in metal AM, including powder suppliers, machine manufacturers and end users, are well advised to use these technologies to ensure the characteristics of the powders they select will meet their end part requirements.

FUELLING THE AM REVOLUTION Up to one-third of the production cost of an AM component is the cost of the powder used, with commercial viability resting on establishing a robust supply chain and efficient powder recycling strategies. It can be a real challenge to establish specifications for AM metal powders, especially when their application is broadening every day. Many savvy players are turning to complementary analytical techniques, such as laser diffraction and advanced automated image analysis, to identify and specify suitable powders, optimise AM processes, monitor batch consistency, implement effective powder recycling strategies and achieve consistently high-quality parts. Together, if we can build a supply chain of consistent and appropriate quality, the feasibility, reliability and long-term viability of metal AM across countless industries may be closer than we think.

Somos materials ®

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FEELING SUPERSONIC WORDS : L a u ra Gri ffi t h s

he number of low-cost metal printing technologies that have arrived on the market over the last twelve months indicates that one of the major barriers to mass adoption is starting to come down. Desktop Metal, MarkForged and Xact Metal have each launched their own versions of affordable metal tech, typically producing “green” prints bound by polymers that are then sintered to leave a dense metal part. Speed is the next big hurdle, and as its name may suggest, an Australian start-up called SPEE3D is targeting just that with a completely different approach to metal additive that can achieve speeds up to 1,000 times faster than conventional laser-based systems. This isn’t just any old startup, in addition to substantial government backing, the company’s founders have the credentials to back up its lofty ambitions. CEO, Byron Kennedy and CTO, Steven Camilleri, have worked together for 15 years previously spinning off a company called In Motion Technologies from Charles Darwin University, raising capital and exiting to NYSE listed company, Regal Beloit who they worked with setting up production lines for SHOWN: LIGHTSPEE3D electric motor company, Fasco Motors. ROBOTIC ARM UP-CLOSE

“WE’RE NEVER GOING TO BE THE POSTER CHILD OF 3D PRINTING - WE’RE GOING TO BE IN THE BACKROOM DOING THE HEAVY LIFTING, REALLY MAKING WHAT INDUSTRY WANTS.”

“We learned a lot about manufacturing in that process and really we saw 3D printing coming but in the world that we lived in, which was sort of commodity production or commodity manufacturing, the technology was just too slow and too expensive,” Byron told TCT. “So we really set ourselves a challenge. Could we solve that speed and cost issue? And thus the company SPEE3D was born.” They came across a process that was already being used by the U.S. military for repairs called cold spray. With this method, air is accelerated at “supersonic speed”, or 1000 metres a second, and metal particles are injected. When particles hit the surface, the kinetic energy generated causes the particles to deform and stick, forming a part. “It’s not used to manufacture parts,” Byron commented. “We saw that technology and we then had to develop all of the software algorithms and the hardware to be able to build parts using this relatively known process.” 

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SMALL IS THE NEW BIG IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

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MATERIALS SPEE3D ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

With investments from the Australian Government’s Accelerating Commercialisation program, Victorian and Northern Territory Governments, the resulting technology is called Supersonic 3D Deposition (SP3D) and its first machine is called LIGHTSPEE3D. Described as the “world’s first fully integrated cold spray 3D printer”, it features a 300mm x 300mm build area and a customised head on board a six-axis robot. Because this technology uses normal air there is no need for inert gases commonly used in metal AM and it also benefits from the use of low cost powders. And it really is fast. A video of SPEE3D’s process shows a metal golf putter being produced in less than 10 minutes. Admittedly, that’s just the “printing” portion, but SPEE3D isn’t shying away from AM’s “dirty secret” in promising speed. In contrast to the direction the rest of the industry appears to be steering in, SPEE3D isn’t going after complexity, and it is not out to reinvent the wheel in terms of design for manufacture. SP3D aims to enable customers to produce the parts they’re already currently making, but much faster. Its attitude is simple, rather than trying to eliminate post-processing, as others are attempting to tackle, SPEE3D acknowledges the inevitable bug bear of additive manufacturing by making parts as fast as possible knowing that, no matter how you slice it, you are ultimately going to have to heat treat and post process. “That’s what people actually want to do,” Byron explained. “When you get into the real manufacturing world, people don’t want to have to use algorithms or special techniques to design high-end, high-cost parts. People want to make brackets, they want to make adapters, they want to make stuff which industry actually uses today and that’s where 3D printing hasn’t really targeted the parts that people want. Our vision is, we’re never going to be the poster child of 3D printing making stunning medical parts, we’re going to be in the backroom doing the heavy lifting, really making what industry wants. We don’t need PhDs to design the parts, you can build what you want and the reason for that is because it is a fast and low-cost process.” Building on that familiarity even further, the machine uses standard metal powders, currently aluminium and copper. This keeps costs down even further compared to systems which require specially formulated metal powders. The next material on SPEE3D’s wish list is steel. “This technology is suited to standard industry parts,” Byron said. “We are not focusing on high-end materials like stainless steel and Inconel, for us they’re niche markets, that’s where traditional 3D printing suits those very high, expensive, complex materials but that’s not us. We can absolutely do it, there’s no problem in terms of the technology, it’s just that we’re choosing a different end of the market to go after.” The fact that those material choices are some of the

most widely used in the industry is no happy coincidence. Byron insists that the technology is all about production and in doing so says SPEE3D is targeting a market that’s already been infiltrated by 3D printing, though not on a huge scale, and worth around $90billion; casting. SPEE3D believes the process, including setup, print and finish, can cut down the traditional time taken for casting production - up to 10 weeks - down to just 90 mins. “Our focus is on aluminium parts at this time,” Byron explained. “The reason for that is, aluminium is used everywhere in industry today in some big markets, automotive, aerospace and then also general industry. So our focus is on those industries. What we’re doing here is making additive manufacturing or 3D printing cost comparative with cast parts, that’s really our target.” The technology has already been successfully installed at Charles Darwin University but the official launch of LIGHTSPEED is set for formnext powered by tct on 14-17th November. Pricing and availability details are expected to be announced around the show where SPEE3D will be exhibiting on stand C90 in Hall 3.0 of Messe Frankfurt.

“WHAT WE’RE DOING HERE IS MAKING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OR 3D PRINTING COST COMPARATIVE WITH CAST PARTS, THAT’S REALLY OUR TARGET.”

top: LIGHTSPEE3D

MACHINE BY SPEE3D

MIDDLE: FINISHED GOLF PUTTER

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CERTIFICATION ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

GATEWAY TO CERTIFICATION

BELOW: SAFER PLUG’S GATEWAY MANIFOLD

ack in 2015, a joint industry project was launched by Lloyd’s Register (LR) and The Welding Institute (TWI), to develop a global certification framework for metal additive manufactured components in the energy and offshore sectors. Earlier this year, that framework ‘Guidance Notes for the Certification of Metallic Parts made by Additive Manufacturing’ - was updated, drawing on experience from numerous client projects and partnerships focussed on driving the safe adoption of AM. One of those projects recently came to a close and signals a major milestone achievement with the world’s first certified additively manufactured part for oil and gas successfully produced in partnership with AM service provider, 3T RPD. The part is a titanium gateway manifold for pipelines designed by Safer Plug Company and produced by 3T RPD, both UK-based firms. The manifold is to be included in an assembly for a suite of pipeline isolation tools, which will feature the world’s smallest tool suitable for six-inch diameter pipework. The project began over a year ago using LR’s industryfirst framework. Led by Amelia Stead, LR AM Surveyor, the thorough certification process included a manufacturing facility audit at 3T RPD, to ensure that the facility was capable of making the part consistently, a review of the build plan layout to ensure enough test specimens were printed, resulting in a statement of endorsement to confirm there would be enough information to certify the product. LR then witnessed powder testing on-site at 3TRPD to review the titanium material and purchase specifications. Once the build was completed using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), LR oversaw all of the relevant testing and made sure that all results were within the repeatability limits, followed by heat treatment, dimension, calibration checks, which was all compiled into a document before the certification was issued. “When you look at something traditionally from a point of assurance, you would normally have a standard that you can go to and within that standard there are a set of parameters and instructions of the sequence you need to go to and what those acceptance criteria are to determine whether or not it is going to be acceptable,” Andrew Imrie, LR Global Product Launch Manager told TCT. “We were really starting almost from scratch with this project, there was no real acceptance or methodology of how this is actually carried out or how you determine what good looks like. There were some existing things around which could be adapted but really the key thing around this one has really been creating the template, or the blueprint, for what will come in the future and how these advancements will be certified.” This particular part would have been nearly impossible to produce using traditional manufacturing techniques due to its

complex internal channels and as Amelia describes is “a great example of how innovative companies are making great use of additive manufacturing benefits”. “This is a very new manufacturing technology, although it has been around for 30 odd years it has really come to the forefront in the last few years,” Andrew continued. “From the point of view of aerospace and medical they’ve got things that are being certified against FDA requirements but for the wider world, things like the nuclear, oil and gas, power industries which are very prescriptive in their certification requirements nothing like this has been done before.” Going forward, LR will certify the next batch of 10 manifolds produced by SPC and 3T RPD. SPC is also working with LR on a Type Approval certificate which would enable them to produce the manifolds and pipeline isolation tools on demand. The team believes this research will form the basis of further certification in the industry. Luke Rogers, New Product Introduction Project Manager for 3T RPD, commented: “Hopefully SPC will set the example and demonstrate how the oil and gas industry can realise the benefits of AM.”

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Höganäs

WOR D S : La ur a G r if f ith s

hen you’re already the world’s leading producer of metal powders, you might think, job done. For Höganäs, a Swedish company forged in 1797 as a coal mining firm, now a leader in metallurgical industries and more specifically since 2010, metal powders for additive manufacturing (AM), it is moving onto its next job, taking years of learned experience and conquering another frontier in metal AM; hardware. “We have had a lot of demand on buying machines,” Alexander Sakratidis, Sales Manager, Höganäs AB, Digital Metal told TCT as the company announces it’s opening up Digital Metal P2000 metal 3D printer machine sales. “We weren’t quite ready but now we are taking up the discussions again.” This is not just another machine launch. Höganäs has been successfully using this technology, a proprietary precision ink-jet process for making complex highly detailed metal parts, in-house with its Digital Metal service. Production began around four years ago with the intention of specifying in small-part manufacturing. Since then the equipment has been expanded and refined and over 200,000 components have been produced. Höganäs says it is now the right time to open the market and allow manufacturers to get their hands on the technology for themselves. Digital Metal allows for printing without support structures, delivering a resolution of 35 µm and an average surface roughness of Ra 6 µm that is ideal for internal channels. Keeping small, the machine is focussed on components up to just 50mm, which it says shows the best results for its two-step ink-jet and binder process, followed by sintering. “From the beginning we had a vast knowledge of the processes,” says Alexander. “We had a good knowledge of powder, binders, different glues and

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

THINK SMALL

we had a very good knowledge of sintering. All of those components are combined in our printing process so it was a good fit.” The intricacy in the parts shown here is unlike anything else in the industry and it’s this level of accuracy that has made Digital Metal a sought-after partner for both serial production and tailored components. “There is a need for highly complex, small components with high resolution and fine surface quality. That is what we can offer and that comes all ready out of the machine, so there is very little postprocessing in our parts,” Alexander commented. “We feel that this system we have built, is so robust and reliable that it can be offered to the public without problem.” Two customers have already invested in the machines, the first is undisclosed but Höganäs says the unnamed customer is a global leader in the design industry. The second and most recent is CETIM (Centre Technique des Industries Mécaniques), a French technical centre in the field of mechanical engineering, designed to promote leading industry technologies. The CETIM team spent time at Höganäs’ production facility where they were given training on the machine in order to ensure that once installed, it could be up and running in just two days. This education period is something Höganäs will be offering

to all customers. “The customers place a lot of orders for different components to see if this technology is what they are looking for. We work with them closely prior to buying the machine to test different geometries, and so on,” Alexander explained. “Once they have decided to go we make an education plan for them that is customised for their needs and then they have a two week education on the machine on our premises so they can be up and running as soon as they receive it.” The system currently prints in two alloys of stainless steel, one that’s more ductile and a second that’s much harder and brittle. These materials are widely used in the areas that Höganäs believes will be key markets for its technology; industrial, dental/medical, aerospace and interestingly, fashion. With strong foundations in metal powders, it’s no surprise that the company is already running tests on three other materials, including titanium, which it plans to develop in parallel with the hardware. Alexander says that Höganäs is already in negotiations with more customers, though all tightly under wraps, and will be inviting potential customers to take a virtual tour around its production facility in a virtual reality experience at TCT Show. To learn more, visit stand F14.

LEFT: DETAILED

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above: DIGITAL METAL P2000 3D PRINTER

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Desktop 3D Printing ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ULTIMAKER EVOLUTION U

S P O N S O R ED BY

WOR D S : La u r a G r if f ith s

ltimaker is one of the most recognisable names in the desktop 3D printing space. The product of a ProtoSpace FabLab project founded in the Netherlands in 2011, the company arrived right when the 3D printing bubble was about to reach peak hype. Whereas the inevitable consumer bubble pop signalled the end of the road for some, Ultimaker now has a staff of over 200 people and a network of sales and distribution in over 50 countries. Given the company’s international acclaim, it’s hard to believe that its products were only officially launched in North America in 2014 with offices now in New York, San Francisco and most recently, Boston. Somewhat of a magnet for 3D printing (Formlabs, Desktop Metal and Rize can be loosely considered neighbours), the new Boston space is where I meet with John Kawola, President of Ultimaker North America.

Inside there are a cluster of machines and samples alongside a museum-style display of two original wooden laser-cut Ultimakers demonstrating the evolution of the hardware across the last six years. John has been in the industry since 1997, having started out with Z Corporation in the golden age of closed loop 3D printing before becoming president and CEO. In 2012 he decided a change of direction was needed and went on to become CEO of robotics company, Harvest Automation, joining two other Boston companies Voxel8 and LabMinds, along the way. By 2016, he decided to make his return to 3D printing at a time when the industry was picking up the pieces from the Trough of Disillusionment and building its way through Slope of Enlightenment. “In the last five years, you could make an argument that the desktop 3D printing space, from a technology evolution point of view, has moved pretty quickly, part of it is because of open source,” John told TCT Magazine. “Between the consumer hype, the financial run up and then the bubble, it brought people into the industry.” Much has happened in that time. There are no longer just a handful of major players keeping IPs close to their chests, instead, collaboration is king. Desktop at-home dreams

above: SAMPLE ULTIMAKER

3 DUAL PRINT FEATURING PVA FILAMENT, BEFORE AND AFTER SUPPORT REMOVAL.

RIGHT: JOHN KAWOLA, ULTIMAKER CEO

have come and gone, and marquee names like GE and HP have entered making phenomenal investments and chasing production. But there is life in the desktop yet.

ON TO THE IRON AGE The desktop shift was alluded to during the launch of the mini Ultimaker 2 Go and Ultimaker 2 Extended machines back at CES 2015, when the company’s Cofounder and CTO, Siert Wijnia, told TCT he believed we were moving “out of the stone age of 3D printing into the Iron Age”. Hyperbolic? Maybe, but Siert explained that while back then users were printing just “things”, in the next few years this would evolve to products with genuine functionality and purpose. Judging by Ultimaker’s recent collaborations with the likes of Volkswagen and Jabil, that prediction was dead on and the professional market now accounts for more than 50% of its business.

“WHAT DESKTOP 3D PRINTING HAS DONE, AND OTHER INNOVATIONS OUT THERE ARE TRYING TO DO, IS DRIVE THE RATE OF ADOPTION EVEN DEEPER.”

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Desktop 3D Printing

Cost and improved functionality are making the current generation of desktop machines in the $2,000 - $3,000 price bracket particularly attractive. Big companies are now looking at the desktop as a serious contender for both prototyping and end-use parts. The Jabil story in particular, is an interesting one. At this year’s Additive Manufacturing Users Group Conference, the manufacturing services company spoke of how they set aside a large chunk of money to go invest in new equipment. They installed some big industrial machines but being incredibly cost conscious, decided it wasn’t the best bet. They began talking to Ultimaker two years ago, did the math and realised desktop could be the way to go if the print quality could measure up. They now have a wall of Ultimaker 3 machines installed at their Florida facility printing prototypes and jigs and fixtures to be used on the production line.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

“Having done this for almost 20 years, I haven’t actually heard of an idea yet that I haven’t heard before in terms of using 3D printing for a jig or fixture, medical visualisation or museums etc,” John commented. “Those ideas have existed for the last 15-20 years but the number of people who would actually implement them was limited because of price, ease of use and availability of materials. What desktop 3D printing has done, and other innovations out there are trying to do, is drive the rate of adoption even deeper. For a lot of these areas, such as more tooling examples, medical visualisation, real production, the common denominator there is cost.”

“The level of awareness and penetration of a 3D printer into those professional organisations is relatively high at this point, 50% or more,” John explains. “That wasn’t true ten years ago but it’s certainly true now. But then we would argue, if that’s true, the number of parts they’re actually making is still not that great. Even though they might have an industrial machine, how many parts are getting

made every week? We think that’s still relatively low. We’re starting to see more and more examples where people would rather have 10 or 20 of these [desktop machines] spread around the building or centralised but it’s about access.” 

“I think it sort of opened their eyes,” John explained. “We still deal with that bias a little bit where the professional, the hardcore additive manufacturing people, may look at desktop 3D printing and think that it’s not for them but those barriers are starting to come down.” Ultimaker is biting back at those assumptions with its latest updates including a new version of its Cura slicing software and industrial-grade material capabilities. A new Polypropylene filament and printing profiles for a wider range of engineering materials mean that users are able to print functional prototypes closer to end-use parts. With the Ultimaker 3 and 3 Extended, launched last year, its dual printing feature enables engineers to print in two materials including its PVA water-soluble support filament.

QUALITY VS. QUANTITY An increasing number of companies are opting for this multiple desktop printer approach rather than a single industrial machine. Whilst users are getting more bang for their buck by simply having access to more than one system, Ultimaker has been researching how it’s also changed behaviours in these professional spaces where access to more machines has increased machine use.

TOP: FINE DETAILED PRINT OF BOSTON

BOTTOM: THE ULTIMAKER 3

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Desktop 3D Printing ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

One of the features driving this surge in engagement is connectivity. The previous generation of Ultimaker machines required users to submit designs via USB. Now that this latest family of machines is connected, it means that organisations can grant access to a number of printers distributed across an office or factory floor and as a result, more parts, particularly prototypes, are getting made. “We still believe there is a huge opportunity in prototyping, everyone is drifting off into manufacturing but we think there is still a huge opportunity in prototyping, it is the killer app, it always has been for 3D printing,” John commented. This focus on prototyping and an industrial demographic doesn’t mean that Ultimaker has neglected another of its key markets, education. The sector still counts for more than 30% of its business in the U.S. alone and it continues to grow its education Pioneer programme which was launched last year inviting educators to access and contribute 3D printing projects that can be carried out in the classroom. But education has always been a clear market winner for 3D printing. What wasn’t clear was the impact desktop technologies would eventually have in industry, particularly from, and thanks to, an open source perspective. “You could make an argument that things like bubbles, while they happen and they pop or are painful, they do move things forward. The open nature of what Ultimaker and a few desktop players are doing has brought a whole bunch of people in. We’ve had big companies go to the big plastics companies of the world, who they buy hundreds of tonnes of resin to manufacture their products and they’re saying to those same chemical companies, ‘we have a bunch of 3D printers in our organisation, why don’t we make the filament out of exactly the same resin?’. That’s an intriguing idea. None of the small filament companies can do that but BASF can do that. There are lots of things like that happening that could have never been done, certainly in the early years but can be driven by big those big customers now.”

TOP: SAMPLE ULTIMAKER 3 DUAL

PRINT FEATURING PVA FILAMENT, BEFORE AND AFTER SUPPORT REMOVAL.

BOTTOM: ULTIMAKER

OFFICE IN BOSTON, MA.

Visit Ultimaker at TCT Show on stand F18 (26-28th September) and at formnext powered by tct on stand C20 (14-17th November).

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DESKTOP 3D PRINTING

uring the TCT conference at CES in 2015, Dr Phil Reeves then of the Econolyst pointed out that 3D printers had dropped in price so dramatically that they were now the same price as the latest Xbox.

Fast-forward 32 months and the most recent XBox, the One X, will retail at USD 499 whereas Monoprice’s latest printer the, the MP Mini Delta, has shipped for as little as USD 169. Hackaday, home of fair but very firm hardware reviews, just called the MP Mini Delta an “excellent printer.” The MP Mini Delta is a follow up to last year’s MP Select Mini v2, you may not have heard of it, but it is arguably the most popular 3D printer series of all time. Last year the amount of Select Minis sold meant that, according to CONTEXT’s market analysis, Monoprice shipped more printers than ANY other company in the U.S. and the second most amount of machines globally.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

AFFORDABLE 3D PRINTING: A NEW DAWN

S P O N S O RED BY

I n t e r v i e w by Da n i e l O ’ C o nnor

TO OPTIMISE OUR MACHINES TO BE A TOOL FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IS NOT A FAR STRETCH - SHANE IGO

“Monoprice’s growth remains impressive,” says Chris Connery, Vice President Global Analysis and Research at CONTEXT. “At the heart of their business strategy is not only a growing line of aggressively priced printers, but equally important is their distribution flexibility and pan-channel go-tomarket approach. Not only do they leverage their own Monoprice.com to reach hobbyists and educators, but they also make their brands available via other outlets including Amazon. com and even Indiegogo where they recently ran a campaign for their Delta printer.”

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DESKTOP 3D PRINTING

Daniel O’Connor (DOC): How did Monoprice, a company mainly known for cables, get into 3D printing? Shane Igo (SI): We make thousands of products. Our team has been using 3D printing, mostly for rapid prototyping, for over a decade, so we’re very familiar with the technology. We saw the rise of desktop 3D printers and this ability to manufacture without as heavy of an investment, and we saw the hype beginning to wane. As users, we realised there was no champion taking this and running with it. Prices weren’t dropping, and products weren’t getting more robust.

way, and that’s why you see our products get better and better. DOC: That community, what does it look like? Is it just consumers or do you see industrial companies using your machines? SI: The foundation of our market are the makers and the hobbyists but we get some great feedback from large enterprises, who already have an additive manufacturing team. They’re used to prints from machines that cost up to $10,000, and they’re now seeing what’s possible on a $200 printer. That gets people in the industry excited. To optimise our machines to be a tool for additive manufacturing is not a far stretch, it is something that the

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

This year, Monoprice will be showcasing its range at TCT Show (Stand B30) for the first time this year. In fact, it will be the first time the company has ever exhibited at a trade show outside of Maker Faires. We caught up with VP, Product at Monoprice, Shane Igo to find out the secret of this meteoric rise.

community is asking for, so we’re looking at that very seriously and working on solutions towards that, that’s one of the reasons we will be showing at TCT this year. DOC: In your opinion how does Monoprice’s model effect established desktop 3D printing companies in the industry? SI: When you start to get into the $25,000 range there are some exceptional printers out there, there are some that do certain things well, but there are some that don’t have a clear value proposition. As the industry progresses and people start looking for specific tools, I think there is value in having some of those better features. The community is fairly astute at identifying what is real and what is a gimmick. I have seen that over the last couple of years; the community will selfregulate.

We’re pretty good at taking products, making them very costeffective and very robust. That’s what we started doing [with 3D printers]. DOC: What makes Monoprice’s range so popular? SI: We looked at the market and thought about what people want; they want a printer that actually prints and they want the print to resemble the file. The colour of the machine or the continuous curvature of the housing doesn’t matter; it doesn’t achieve the objective of getting good prints consistently. The community has embraced that and helped us along the

Strip.pdf

17/08/2017

14:39

CMY

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1st munich technology conference 11â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12 October 2017 Technical University of Munich

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COMPUTING HARDWARE ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ADD LIGHTNESS, DRIVE SUCCESS WOR D S : SA M DAVIES

ompetitiveness is often discouraged, positioned as an undesirable trait. But try telling the thousands of motor racing engineers across the continent that ‘it’s the taking part that counts’. It’s their job to put the best race car on the track, to not be an also-ran, but to be the winner. While race car drivers chase their peers on the tarmac, the team behind them must chase the thousandth of a second difference in the turn of a corner. It might be the difference between a podium finish and simply being an afterthought. At the University of Wolverhampton Racing (UWR), the students learn this on the job. They’re thrown in at the deep-end. Student teams are involved in the Formula Student; Formula 3 Cup; Morgan Challenge Cup; and Hill Climb competitions. By the end of their very first semester, students are expected to meet a design freeze deadline for Formula Student and have fully prepared race cars for the start of the other championships. In the 30 months that follow they will be educated in motorsport engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering.

ABOVE: A PAIR

OF EXHAUST MANIFOLD TUBES

TOP: LENOVO

WORKSTATION THINKSTATION P310 HARNESSED BY UWR

Lenovo Workstations are providing the platform for the 30 UWR students to integrate 3D metal and polymer printing technologies; CAD software; CNC manufacture; aerodynamics; wind tunnel testing; and race car data acquisition to find those fractions of a second needed. The fact that the four teams are made up primarily of students, and not qualified engineers, shows how committed UWR is to ensuring they bridge the socalled ‘valley of death’ between higher education and industry. It’s perhaps why UWR has seen 100% of its students from these

engineering disciplines find work within the motor sports industry upon completion of their degree. For that to happen, though, they must impress the UWR educators through their work in whichever of the four competitions they participate. Like many universities, UWR competes in the Formula Student championship, which sees students design, build and race their car on the track. Its Formula 3 team supports professional driver, Shane Kelly, who has achieved nine podium finishes so far this term. A group of students

supports two non-professional drivers in Morgan Motor Company’s Morgan Challenge. Meanwhile, in the British Hill Climb Championships, just two students share the workload between them. While the teams, workloads and responsibilities differ, they all have access to the Lenovo Workstations. These machines run software which includes solutions from Autodesk, SolidWorks, Ansys, and Materialise, and underpin file preparation for 3D printers from EOS, 3D Systems, and Stratasys. 

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“You want to be chasing the very best time. You’re talking probably a thousandth of a second per corner on any given lap that you’re trying to find to beat the competition with. Aerodynamics is critical to that, and when every element of the car is completely adjustable, a lot of simulation goes on behind the scene. This year we’ve spent a lot of time on the Lenovo Workstations simulating, by Computational Fluid Dynamics, the airflow over the F3 car. We’re looking to add lightness, to quote Colin Chapman (founder of Lotus Cars).” After each race of each car in each championship, analytics are carried out to examine exactly where the race was won and lost, and how the race could be better driven next time round. They’re up against the clock, races are often bi-weekly,

SHOWN: UWR TEAM

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

“Lenovo has been fantastic to work with, and they kit the whole facility out effectively, so we’re able to simulate,” Dave Tucker, Principal Lecturer, Faculty of Science and Engineering, begins. “On the Formula 3 team, we spend a lot of time looking at the aerodynamic set-up. The car is one thing, but every element of the car is adjustable.

SHOWN: UWR TEAM

WORKING ON A CAR

right place on the car” that “can take the loadings and the stresses that we need when we design.” While passing safety standards, they’re also contributing to the lightweighting of UWR’s vehicles. For three years now they have been racing in the Formula Student Championship, and from the first year to third year, the car design has seen dramatic changes in look and performance alike. “The improvement has been significant,” assesses Tucker. “As soon as you talk race car dynamics, inevitably the weight of the vehicle becomes a key factor. The weight saving across from the first year car to the third year car is over 60 kilograms, and that accounts for a quarter of the car. They’re only a couple of hundred kilos, these cars, so the percentage weight differential is massive. That’s where the agility comes from, that’s where the competitive edge is going to come from.”

but when parts need to be designed, produced, and in some cases shipped, time is of the essence. It tests the students engineering ability as well as composure. UWR has sought to acquire a range of 3D printing platforms to support their races against other teams and the clock. Tucker tells TCT Formula Student acts as a good platform to test conceptual designs ‘in anger’ before implementing them in the F3 Championship, for example. This year, the Formula Student car has driven with 3D printed uprights, in titanium, which hold the wheel bearings; 3D printed exhaust manifolds; 3D printed suspension components, and 3D printed rear disc bracketry. “Anything on the car that would benefit from lightweighting,” summarises Mark Stanford, a UWR Professor. “If we could lattice a part out and remove the internal structures of the part and add a lattice structure internally to remove weight, we tended to 3D print it, and we tended to produce mainly in metal. To do that we utilised the [EOS] M 270 and M 290. “We benefitted from the parts being lighter, being quicker to make. If there were duplicate parts to make then, we could make them and build them on the same platform. We could build ten of one part at the same time, rather than one by one.” UWR’s M270 platform is an extended machine that, as well as running titanium, can also support reactive materials – a perk of the university’s partnership with EOS. Between the metal parts on the EOS machines and the ABS parts on the Stratasys platform, Tucker feels they are “getting the right material in the

For many of the students involved in the four championships, Formula 1 is the aspiration. For Tucker and Stanford, Formula 1 is the inspiration. Seven of the leading F1 teams have incorporated Lenovo Workstations to streamline their workflows. Many of them have also publically announced their adoption of 3D printing technology. Due to their financial clout and competition regulations, they can harness it to greater effect. For example, they can conduct real-time analytics while the car is on track. UWR can’t in the F3 or Formula Student competitions, instead of having to wait until the car is back at base. They’re virtually the same technologies, a calculated decision by UWR to make their students familiar with industry-standard equipment, but also to add lightness and drive success in the grassroots competitions. “The key thing for us is performance,” explains Mike Leach, Lenovo Workstation Technologist and Business Development Manager. “In motor racing, they will do whatever they can to extract the absolute best out of the tools they’ve got to play with, and our Workstations give them the edge that they can translate onto the racetrack. The race car you finish the season in is nothing like the one you start a race season. Our Workstations are dynamic enough to support that throughout the lifecycle of their season.”

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DYEMANSION

WOR DS : La u ra Gri ffi t h s

he eyewear industry is an opportune market for 3D technologies. Big names like Materialise have already tapped into its potential from using 3D printing to create avant garde designs, to 3D scanning for perfect fit personalisation. Now, according to information by Munich-based DyeMansion, an estimated 600,000 eyewear frames will be produced this year, and the additive manufacturing solutions provider believes that’s just the beginning.

Back in 2015, when DyeMansion achieved its first promising results from its industrial colouring post-processing solution designed to deliver vibrant colour for powder-based AM plastics, one of its first prospective customers was German eyewear manufacturer, IC! Berlin, a specialist in handcrafted, screwfree fames. “Their feedback was very important for us and meeting their requirements was one of our main drivers in developing our colouring process further,” Felix Ewald, DyeMansion, CEO told TCT Magazine. “This example is the perfect proof that additive manufacturing is finally able to go into the consumer market.” Seeing the value of 3D printing for cost-efficient low volume products, IC! Berlin began designing and developing a collection of frames to be manufactured with SLS in its own polyamide “plotic” 3D printable powder, along with “plotic hybrid” frames combining its signature stainless still material. Using DyeMansion’s Powershot S system, standard white prints go through a “shot peening” process with a special blasting medium to produce a smooth surface finish. Then using its industrial DM60 colouring system, the parts are submerged into a liquid featuring a dye which penetrates the raw material through a chemical reaction under pressure and heat. Using this technique, DyeMansion says it is able to deliver nearly every Pantone colour and has even developed four unique shades for IC! Berlin’s collection.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

SEEING IN COLOUR

DyeMansion has a solid history in supplying to the consumer products market, having began as a service provider for additive manufactured mobile phone accessories under the name, Trindo. Early on, the team realised the colour on its accessories, particularly phone cases, was wearing away in customers’ pockets, and so they began developing their own dyeing solution for powderbased AM plastic parts. This caught the attention of EOS-founder Dr. Hans Langer who invested in the company to help with the scaling of its DM60 automated dyeing solution four years ago, and DyeMansion has since teamed with consumer 3D printing giant, Shapeways to develop a beta program for surface finishing strong and flexible parts. Now the team believes that the eyewear industry offers the first true consumer product application for 3D printing at scale. “Of course, right now there’s a hype around 3D printed frames but we believe that additive manufacturing will have a sustainable impact on the eyewear industry,” Ewald added, citing reduced production and prototyping cycles, reduced warehousing and mass customisation as some of the key areas where the eyewear industry will see the biggest impact. “The eyewear application shows impressively that the time has come to produce additive manufactured consumer products in high volumes. Even if the production costs for the raw parts are still very high today, that will definitely change in the future. With lower production costs and our industrial solutions for colouring and surface finishing these parts, applications like eyewear or midsoles will definitely increase.”

“Our colour technology and our solutions for surface treatment enabled IC! Berlin to finally offer 3D printed frames that meet their requirements in terms of quality and aesthetic,” Ewald explained. “When it comes to 3D printing, many people think that this means rough surfaces or rather cheap looking parts. Our technology shows that we pushed 3D printing to a stage where it stands for high quality and an exceptional wearing experience.” Quality control is a big deal for IC! Berlin. In fact, the company is so confident in its products that every frame it produces, comes with the phone number of company founder and CEO, Ralph Ander, engraved onto them. So the stakes were, understandably, incredibly high. “DyeMansion offers the ideal package for finishing our polyamide frames,” Julika Zobel, Head of Design of IC! Berlin explained. “Their services include surface finishing, colouring in almost every shade and a functional surface seal against sunlight and water. Additionally, their systems allow a very reproducible accuracy of colours and fantastic surface results for a fair price.”

above: IC! BERLIN URBAN

UTOPIA 3D PRINTED FRAMES

FAR LEFT: THE DYEMANSION FAMILY



LEFT: METROPOLIS EYEWEAR WITH SLS FRAMES

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3DP in Boston ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

3D PRINTING EN MASS. A

W O R D S : L a u ra Gri ff iths

s if Carol Hardy and I hadn’t filled our yearly quota of time spent in an Uber back in January (CES Las Vegas to LA - the road trip that never was (TCT NA 3.1)), we decided to head back to the U.S. last month, this time to Boston, where the Ubers are in abundance and 3D printing companies are aplenty.

Additive manufacturing is everywhere in Massachusetts (MA). Whether in industrial estates across its neighbouring towns, or in the window of a University of Boston lab, it’s almost as prevalent as Harvard paraphernalia and seafood restaurants (completely wasted on us, as my Wahlburgers expense receipts will testify). Our first stop was Arcam, the metal additive manufacturing leader that made headlines last year thanks to a major 76% acquisition from GE as it laid the foundations for its new GE Additive vertical. Known for its Electron Beam Melting process, the Swedish-founded company has been around since 1997 and offers a range of metal systems specifically designed for the manufacture of end-use orthopaedic and aerospace components. The transition for Arcam following the GE purchase is an ongoing process. We arrive at the facility shortly after Arcam reported the sale of ten of its systems to the company, further solidifying the engineering giant’s commitment. Arcam has recently undergone a rebrand, adopting GE blue, and together with Concept Laser, the other firm to be acquired by GE for a sum of $1.4 billion, will have one of the biggest spots on the show floor at TCT Show this year. Arcam truly is a global operation. In the space of an hour with Leslie Frost and Bruce Bradshaw, we cover activity in China, UK, Europe and the U.S, including China’s first certified orthopaedic part produced using EBM and the role Arcam is playing in the new GE Additive Engineering Services. Lots to keep a close watch on over the next year. Across the way in Woburn is industry newbie Rize. The tech may be new but the team behind it boasts a level of experience most startups could only dream of. In January the company introduced the Rize One office-friendly printer promising true functional prototypes with limited post-processing thanks to a unique

ABOVE: OUTSIDE RIZE 3D HEADQUARTERS

BELOW: CUSTOM SHOE CREATED FOR IGOR

Augmented Polymer Deposition process that creates a layer between print and support, meaning supports can literally be popped off - it is oddly satisfying. Here we caught up with Julie Reece and the company’s new President, Eugene Giller. As one of its founders, Eugene has temporarily taken the reigns following the departure of Frank Marangell (now President of BigRep America) in May while the company continues an executive search for a permanent CEO. We took a tour around the lab which houses several iterations of the machine, showing how it has evolved into a system that’s easy to operate and fits comfortably on a desk in your office.

the printer would enable fieldbased on-demand manufacture for parts that can be labelled using its durable blue ink functionality.

“RIZE IS PURELY INTERESTED IN THE INDUSTRIAL PLASTICS SPACE WHICH IT BELIEVES REPRESENTS THE BULK OF THE MARKET AT 80%.” - RIZE

Rize is purely interested in the industrial plastics space which it believes represents the bulk of the market at around 80%. Within that, it’s ideal for mechanical assemblies, spare parts, tooling and low volume custom parts. It could benefit a range of industries, particularly medical due to the safety of the material and process, and also applications where

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3DP in Boston

NEW MACHINES ARE ALL FAIR AND GOOD BUT SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING STORIES IN THE INDUSTRY ARE OF USERS APPLYING THESE TECHNOLOGIES IN REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS

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Rize is busy building up its sales channels, focussing first on the U.S. and commencing its global effort at TCT Show where it will be actively seeking partners. A closer look at the machine, and a quick peek behind the scenes, shows that the Rize One has been smartly built with room for upgrades. Rize clearly has a plan for where this technology could go next, whether that’s colour or possibly electronics due to its unique blend of FDM and inkjet, the roadmap for the near future is very open. In Cambridge, Dutch desktop printer manufacturer Ultimaker is putting its latest family of 3D printers through its paces with a range of functional materials. Ultimaker has only been in the U.S. for little over three years and the MA office, its third in the country, is manned by a small team of 12. We sat down with Ultimaker’s CEO, John Kawola to talk expansion, the Ultimaker 3 and its growing roster of industrial customers that are showing there is more to the desktop than trinkets and consumers.

The Ultimaker 3 line, launched towards the end of 2016, represents the biggest portion of the company’s sales and much of that is a result of this surge in industrial customers which Kawola says has made the desktop become a “serious contender” in the space (full interview on page 41). In contrast to the other companies we visit during our stay, family owned business, Armstrong Mold doesn’t manufacture machines but it sure knows how to use them. We were met by Vice President, Paul Armstrong and Marjorie Finer, VP New Business, who took us on a whistle stop tour of Boston before we sat down to chat at the company’s new office in Hingham, MA.

3DP in Boston

The evolution of the company can be seen in the examples of handcrafted wooden pieces, a highly-skilled process, which has now evolved to modern techniques having spent the 1990s primarily focusing on its rapid prototyping business. Now with multiple stereolithography technologies under its belt it facilitates production for some major names, all of which are kept on the quiet, including some in the Boston area. We will be covering more from Armstrong next year in honour of its anniversary. This was a trip of serious office envy and a visit to Formlabs had us ready to hand in our CVs thanks to an R2D2 at reception, staff polaroids on the fridge and cute dogs hanging around the office. The Formlabs’ building is huge, with multiple levels of office space and a workshop on the ground floor where its new Fuse 1 selective laser sintering was going through its final stages of development before it becomes available for general sale later this year.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Armstrong has a long history of craftsmanship behind it and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year. Blending tradition with technology, it has never been adverse to trying new things in terms of the latest manufacturing technology. Paul tells us it was the first company in the state to buy an SLA system and now operates a close-to-100,000 square feet production facility at its New York headquarters for short-run manufacturing of metal and plastic components.

After launching to the industry in June with a system that came as a complete surprise for the desktop stereolithography leader, it was great to see the machine in person and hear about the company’s plans to disrupt the industry all over again with an affordable and reliable SLS solution. Not content with just one product launch, announced at the same time was the new Form Cell, a compact manufacturing system that connects a cluster of Form 2 printers with the new Form Wash post processing unit via a robot gantry system. A robotic arm removes parts the printer into the wash and takes them to a tray to automate the entire 3D printing process for users looking to print larger volumes. It’s fast and can be scaled up to address user requirements, but the one running at Formlabs isn’t an imposing system (just five machines), showing that it’s possible to bring an automated production line into a small-medium sized business. The Formlabs story is one of crowdfunding success. Just five years ago the little-known Somerville company launched its Form 1 printer, raising almost $3 million on Kickstarter and the story of its iteration decorates the walls of its current home where various development pieces of the Form 1 are displayed. Since then it has grown to become the producer of the world’s best selling stereolithography machines (based on units shipped) including its Form 1, Form 1 + and Form 2 models, used all over from dental labs to robotics manufacturers, and even acquiring 3D marketplace Pinshape along the way. Now it’s out to try something new and from the application examples we saw on our trip including a set of flexible headphones printed in nylon on the Fuse 1, it could lower the barriers to industrial 3D printing even further. Office-envy round two arrived in the shape of Desktop Metal’s Burlington office where there’s a comprehensive production area and a stage for TED Talk-style presentations. This provides a good snapshot of the company itself (bold but with the goods to back it up) which for the last two years has been teasing its revolutionary new technology that would change the metal AM game, supported by serious investment - over $210 million to date - from the likes of GV, GE Ventures and BMW. Validating the hype is a team is made up of leaders and engineers from software to robotics and beyond, who have been working behind the scenes since 2015, to ensure that this technology lives up to its claims. On its launch at RAPID + TCT it certainly appeared to and our visit showed how much the company has grown substantially since then as it gets ready to start shipping machines. 

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3DP in Boston

New systems are all fair and good but some of the most interesting stories in the industry are of users applying these technologies in real world applications. A fantastic example and our last stop before we headed home was Reebok where of course there was a full scale running track circling its sprawling campus. Reebok has been using rapid prototyping for two decades and at the helm of its Rapid Prototyping Lab is long-time friend of TCT, Gary Rabinovitz, alongside Rapid Prototyping Specialist, Carlos Bolanos. Carlos gave us an all access tour of the lab which is equipped with Z Corporation and Stratasys machines, and its latest installation the Carbon M1. Reebok’s Liquid Factory 3D manufacturing process which was introduced last year is located in its high-tech Rhode Island lab, the MA facility is purely focussed on prototyping. There is an entire room dedicated to just SLS powders, a visible reminder that the footwear which ends up in the store upstairs, started out in those boxes followed by a multi-year development process. Not every design makes the cut and there is a diverse compilation of prototypes on display in the lab that range from the experimental to the downright strange. But that’s the beauty of 3D printing in this environment, you can go a little crazy and for those designs that do make it, Carlos says it’s rewarding to see those shoes eventually go to retail. It’s not all about the general consumer and Reebok has had some interesting partnerships with string of famous names thanks to its former contract with the NFL and one that was a little more from the left field, a project with musician, Alicia Keys. The lab was involved in making

a metal belt clip for the singer which was originally intended for direct metal printing. A quick run through the Objet machine followed by electroplating saved around 50% on production costs. Plus we got a closer look at the the Reebok Checklight, an impact indicator worn on the head to provide a visible display of impact severity, which took around four-years of development, relying heavily on 3D printing to put prototypes through around 15,000 drop tests. Reebok is set to move its HQ to central Boston in the coming months where it will have a rapid prototyping space including a room dedicated to powder technologies and another for resins. In terms of any future tech installations, Carlos says flexible multicolour is high on the wish list.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Split between office space and a production facility for a team of around 150 people, the workshop provides a story of how Desktop Metal’s Studio and Production Systems came to be with everything from software to sintering equipment all in development under one roof. There are a row of machines, both desktop and industrial, that the team use to to test and prototype and a selection of beta Studio units which are used to test parts for potential customers, of which there is already a lengthy queue lining up to be the first to get their hands on the system. We took a look around the facility, from prototyping to rigorous testing, with Desktop Metal’s, JP Shipley and AJ Gosselin, who alluded that some of those customers may become clear soon. For a company that has only just unveiled its technology, and already has been named in the MIT Technology Review’s list of 50 Smartest Companies, it’s clearly doing something right and it will be interesting to see how those customers start implementing the technology when machines begin shipping this month (September).

“BLENDING TRADITION WITH TECHNOLOGY, IT HAS NEVER BEEN ADVERSE TO TRYING NEW THINGS IN TERMS OF THE LATEST MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY.” - ARMSTRONG MOLD

Reflecting on the journey home, the university legacy in the area means it’s no surprise that Boston is a hotspot for innovation. In our last issue, John Hart, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, suggested that academic institutions have a critical role to play in driving the AM industry forward. MA is a model example of what happens when that is put into play with Desktop Metal, Formlabs and Voxel8, to name a few, coming out of colleges and establishing themselves as major players in the industry. There’s also the small fact that it’s where the concept of three-dimensional printing originated. Our trip was merely a snapshot of the 3D activity happening here and that’s before you even begin looking at the software collective with the likes of SolidWorks and OnShape calling Massachusetts home. With big names gravitating to the area, and startups taking their first steps in MIT labs, that community can only continue to flourish.

TOP: DESKTOP METAL HQ ABOVE: CUSTOM SHOE CREATED FOR IGOR

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EDUCATION ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

END OF YEAR REPORT W O R D S : S A M DAV I E S

“2017 IS, I HOPE, THE YEAR THAT EVERYBODY ACKNOWLEDGES THE FACT THERE IS A MASSIVE DESIGN-KNOWLEDGE DEFICIT, A MASSIVE DESIGNPROCESS DEFICIT OUT THERE. IF WE WANT TO MAKE METAL 3D PRINTING REALLY POPULAR, WE HAVE TO START GIVING COURSES ON HOW TO DESIGN USING 3D PRINTING.” – GORDON STYLES, STAR RAPID FOUNDER, SPEAKING TO TCT MAGAZINE IN DECEMBER 2016.

o be built up and then knocked down is par for the course whenever someone or something passes through the limelight. The hyperbolic estimations serve as only a future context to measure that the subject isn’t all that it was cracked up to be. It offers a new angle when the first one becomes obsolete. It leaves the subject at a crossroads, in need of a solution to return to the heady status it once enjoyed. The outcries for the educating of engineers and designers is not only cited as a reason for 3D printing not living up to the hype, it is also a product of it. It turned out the hype was illmeasured. While evangelists of the technology were predicting a printer in every home, 3D printing was about to enter a transitional phase, from a ‘hobbyist environment to a hardcore manufacturing’ one, as Gordon Styles would put it in a second interview with TCT in August 2017. There was an increased interest in 3D printing, and sales briefly shot up. Now, with some manufacturers’ sales coming down by 25-40%, the industry is experiencing a hangover to its celebrity.

LATE REGISTRATION Many have concluded that education is the solution. Plastic processes were deemed simple enough not to need it, but the industry has been caught out supposing metal processes would be much the same. They are ‘fundamentally different’ – so much so, Styles believes mentioning them in the same breath is to do both a disservice. Now, it has been realised the approach for metal printing needs to be different.

Firstly, extra consideration must be given to the design. With plastic parts, thinner designs are printed using SLA or SLS platforms, thicker parts with multi-jet modeling technologies. If needed, supports can be used and easily removed by hand. Users can move on from inappropriate designs, without having to worry about the financial implications, or the possibility of a part falling to pieces, like with metal. “Once you’ve actually done some building you get it. You really get it. When you see a build fall apart you [realise] you made a classic mistake. And then when you’re designing later in life, you’ll know not to design it like that because the thing will fall apart. It’s practical knowledge,” reasoned Styles back in December 2016. Then there are the health and safety measures to consider. The latest metal machines have heated print beds and high-powered lasers. The powders used, meanwhile, can be explosive if exposed to oxygen or moisture. Supports can’t be removed by hand if you value your fingers. And parts are built at extremely high temperatures. “If you have these high powered, heated machines, you need to know you cannot build, for example, square horizontal holes greater than 2 mm in size, you need to know that you can’t have overhangs of 3, 4, 5 mm without them having to be supported. Then you have to start cutting those supports off, it’s not

like plastic where you can tear them off with your fingers, you’ve got to get some hardcore engineering equipment to get them off,” stressed Styles eight months later. “From our perspective,” begins Gungor Kara, Director of Global Application and Consulting at EOS, “[education is] the key element to access the full potential of the technology. The situation in the past, the educational programmes [have been] connected to universities, and the professional training for experienced engineers in companies was missing.” By educating, manufacturers are hoping to enamour designers and engineers with the additive processes. The theory is that with more people engaged, sales will pick up, and manufacturers can reinvest these funds to ensure the industry’s future. 

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EDUCATION ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

“If people can design for the process, they can find more and more appropriate applications for metal 3D printing,” Styles adds. “For the health of the industry generally, we need to educate people, and by doing so, we will make [the industry] more profitable. We will invest more back into products and back into the machines, and ultimately, the customer will get [better] results. I think it’s a symbiotic relationship and it all starts with education.” A FOR EFFORT Nine months on from Styles’ plea for education across the board, his company has successfully run the first of an initial three Metal 3D Printing Training workshops. Days earlier, EOS had announced an expansion of its Additive Manufacturing Academia Programme – the ‘Scientist’ grade seeing a greater focus on metal powders. Additionally, the German company has partnered with the IESE Business School to provide a program on AM and other technologies under the Industry 4.0 umbrella.

“I LOVE METAL 3D PRINTING. IT’S A LOT MORE COMPLICATED THAN PLASTICS 3D PRINTING AS A BUSINESS, BUT IT’S WHAT I’D CALL A SLOW BURNER. IT’S SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO TAKE A LOT MORE EFFORT, AND A LOT MORE TIME.” - GORDON STYLES

Added Scientific followed suit with a series of additive manufacturing (AM) courses, one of which will have an in-depth look at metal 3D printing in November. Meanwhile, in the last 12 months; GE Additive has invested $10m into two educational programmes; the MIT continues its ‘From 3D Printing to the Factory Floor’ annual week-long course; ThreeD Materials is now supporting 100 schools in the implementing and advancing of 3D printing initiatives; Jabil is tackling the ‘definite skills gap’ as Head of Additive Manufacturing, Geoffrey Doyle describes it, by conducting internal webinars to educate its designers. There are plenty more examples too. Styles is pleased with the collective effort, though he acknowledges the importance of not expecting too much too soon. “I think [the progress] is excellent,” he assessed. “What you’ll find is as people leave universities and go out into the real world you’ll see that influx of experience with how to design with 3D printing, but that might take five, ten, 15 years until we see that effect.” ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL While it might be reassuring to see an industrywide commitment to education falling into place – something National and International Strategy reports have recommended – it can’t be relied on unilaterally. Tim Minshall, the Head of the Centre for Technology Management, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, sees education as a reason, not the reason, additive manufacturing has fell victim to the hype. He is acquainted with Phill Dickens, co-founder of Added Scientific, and Rob Scudamore, two academics involved in the UK National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing. 

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EDUCATION

AM is in its infancy, by comparison, there’s not the same information available, and if AM manufacturers have it, they’d sooner garner the commercial advantage it brings than share it with the world. It has

an indirect impact on the education that is offered to designers and engineers. The CECIMO European Additive Manufacturing Strategy, published in June 2017, provided this honest verdict on AM training initiatives in Europe: “Education systems across European countries have at time shown signs of obsolescence. Educators find [it] difficult to catch up with the fast-paced developments of AM technologies. As a result, skills acquired by entrants to the AM labour market are at risk of misalignment with the current skills’ needs of companies. There is a need for a step change in approaching the preparation of curricula and setting out teaching strategies.” “The problem is the technology has not completely stabilised. It’s continuing to evolve quite rapidly,” Minshall offers.

“WHATEVER YOU’RE TEACHING, YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THAT IT IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT IN THE FUTURE.”

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Minshall cites the 2016 report which, as well as calling for education, found standardisation and characterisation of AM processes to be the biggest problem faced by the industry. Without the processes and the subsequent parts standardised, and without greater communication and information publication from manufacturers, Minshall believes industrial players will remain reluctant to adopt. He compares AM to subtractive technologies, like CNC Machining, and references the decades, and even centuries, of data available to back up their capabilities.

“Whatever you’re teaching, you need to be aware that it is going to be different in the future. That’s a problem with any emerging technology, but particularly of additive.” The solution, Minshall suggests, is “taking a joined-up approach. We need to have the people defining the standards for the technology engaged in this. We need to have the people who are designing these education programmes talking to the people who are defining the standards. We need to have the people who are developing the technologies talking to the people doing the standards and the education. I could go on, but it’s having a joined-up approach because as soon as you break that chain, as soon as people start going off and doing things separately, that’s when problems will occur.” He also believes educating people on how to use the technology is an obvious and necessary service, but it needs to span wider than that, to the business side as well as the technical side. People need to know when to use additive, as well as how. They need to know what the technology can realistically do, and how it could fit into their business model. 

- TIM MINSHALL

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EDUCATION

Minshall, Styles and Kara alike are passionate about AM and, working with it on a daily basis, know there was logic behind the hype. They hope, like the whole industry does, that it won’t be judged against it forever. They hope that by educating people, additive’s potential can be fulfilled, that aircraft will become lighter and lighter, and jigs and fixtures become more and more efficient. “It has enormous potential in lots of different areas,” Minshall says, “but the fact is we need to be training people in the core knowledge. If they have the core understanding of how additive works and how it can be either incremental or massively disruptive, that leads to all sorts of

benefits. It means that they can use it now, but they will also have the skills to say, ‘as these technologies evolve, we can go on a journey with them.’” “I’m 52 now, so I don’t get excited about much anymore,” Styles jokes, reminiscing about a time when his first SLA machine would keep him awake at night for thinking of how it could make him money whilst he lay in bed. “But I love metal 3D printing. I think it’s a fabulous process. It’s a lot more complicated than plastics 3D printing as a business, but it’s what I’d call a slow burner. It’s something that is going to take a lot more effort, and a lot more time.” It’s uncommon to associate gradual progression and 3D printing, especially from an advocate of the technology, but it acts as a refreshing

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

BURNING SLOWLY

realism as opposed to typical marketing spiel. The evaluation came from a man who has been a 3D printing fanatic for over three decades, and one well-placed to offer suggestions on how to direct the future of the technology. Styles, like Kara, believes in education, Minshall does too if it covers all bases and inputs emanate from more parties, and they’re all contributing to the effort. An effort that gets the A grade from Styles. Education is by no means the single, definitive solution to unlocking additive’s potential – it’s more complex than that. But to educate is to ensure metal additive manufacturing is a slow burner with a bright future, operated by the well-read, and not the cause of mis-controlled explosions and unusable materials, handled by the mislead, who think it’s okay to work with the doors open in atmospheric conditions.

“FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE EDUCATION IS THE KEY ELEMENT TO ACCESS THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE TECHNOLOGY.” - GUNGOR KARA

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EDUCATION ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

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he Cambridge University 3D Printing Society (CU3DSoc), founded in 2016, is in its infancy. Entirely student run and comprised of more than 30 first and second year undergraduate students, the team has ambitions to become the focal point for student 3D printing at the university.

James Roberts, CU3DSoc Director, was a firstyear undergraduate student when he co-founded the society. Additive manufacturing is not currently an official part of the engineering curriculum for first and second year students; all society members are self-taught. Thanks to access to several Stratasys printers, the society is undertaking complex engineering projects, while also setting about its mission to educate peers and create a nationwide 3D printing network.

SELF-TAUGHT, INDUSTRY RELEVANT SKILLS For Roberts, the attraction of a 3D printing society was simple. As individuals, they were undertaking personal projects, but it soon became clear that larger collaborative projects were much more productive. “Every week we have a set of students who have access to our 3D printers. They come up with all kinds of designs and within a few hours they can 3D print the final product,” says Roberts. “This is invaluable for teaching our members.” To strengthen the offering of their society, the team has partnered with Stratasys to provide access to 3D printers, parts, consultancy and expertise. According to Roberts, exposure to the technology has enabled members of his society to learn how to solve complex problems effectively and deliver the knowledge and skillsets required to prepare them for their future careers. “Stratasys’ commitment to education inspired us to reach out and form a partnership,” says Roberts. “They provide us with advice, expertise and projects, which will help set us up for our future endeavours and prepare the students for tomorrow’s STEM jobs. We are looking forward to the enhanced opportunities this will offer our members.”

3D PRINTING FOR ALL Currently, the students of CU3DSoc are predominantly engineering students, which represents only a marginal percentage of the

“The team’s biggest problem was reliability,” explains James. “A lot of force goes through the handle and the current strap simply wasn’t strong enough to withstand the force passing through it.” undergraduate body. That said, the team has ambitions to include arts, architecture and medical students in their membership over the coming year and it is working with 3D Printing Societies at the University of Oxford and Huddersfield University in the hope of creating a national network. “Additive manufacturing and companies like Stratasys will continue to play a larger role in advancing multiple industries,” explains Roberts. “We want the next generation of engineers to be prepared, to have knowledge of additive manufacturing and to be able to confront the problems of the modern global workforce head on.”

DELIVERING REAL-LIFE SOLUTIONS CU3DSoc members are involved in several projects aimed at providing effective 3D printing solutions to real-life problems. Roberts and the team recently approached REMAP, a disability charity creating custom sports equipment. The current approach to producing a robotic archery turret for paralysed children is very complex, involving woodworking, metal and Velcro straps.

To overcome this challenge, the team 3D scanned the bow handle and frame, and 3D printed a unique part to replace the strap and hold the device firmly in place. With 3D printing, the team could produce this component within 24 hours, compared to the weeks required to produce a similar component traditionally. A team of CU3DSoc members are currently working on the ‘flexible prosthetic hand project’ having received the brief from the Bristol-based company Open Bionics. The project aims to create a flexible, 3D printed prosthetic hand for amputees with some remaining wrist or elbow function. The final products are being designed to be sent to developing countries where access to prosthesis is limited. The team chose to bypass the traditional, timeconsuming and expensive plaster-casting method and opted for 3D printing to keep costs down to £10-£20 per product. Due to the toughness of the material, the final prosthesis will also be durable, reliable and easily reproducible.

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JABIL ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

FIVE STEPS FOR INTEGRATING 3D PRINTING INTO MANUFACTURING WOR D S : Ge off r ey Doyle , Dir ector o f B u s i n e s s De ve lopme nt, Dig ital M anu factu r in g, J a b i l

s someone who’s spent time at 3D printing service bureaux, I know taking an idea all the way to final 3D printed part often entails a lot of trialand-error. It’s crucial to perfect the process, especially when it comes to navigating the path to mainstream manufacturing as there’s little time for trialling and limited room for error. 3D printing already is a great asset for shortening New Product Introduction (NPI) cycles and accelerating time-to-market for a range of products. The aerospace, dental and medical markets have benefited from early adoption while most other sectors are just beginning to consider 3D printing for tooling or making products in small quantities. To take advantage of 3D printing as a viable production solution companies must adopt best practices to mitigate risk and apply manufacturing rigour from design to delivery.

shown: AN ‘UNDER THE HOOD’

AIR DUCT PART PRINTED ON HP’S MJF PLATFORM IN PA12 MATERIAL WITH VAPOR POLISHING POST PROCESSING. CREDIT: JABIL.

HERE ARE FIVE STEPS FOR GETTING STARTED: STEP 1: Identify the Right Project; Avoid the “Paperweights” or “Rabbit Hole” The first step requires the alignment of executive, engineering, operations and supply chain teams around a business problem you are trying to solve as their collective input will determine the success - or failure - of any 3D printing project. Without consensus, you’ll end up with a fancy paperweight for the CEO’s desk or a trip down the product “rabbit hole,” followed by a steeper uphill climb for the next 3D printing project. Equally important is avoiding the “complexity is free” trap. While 3D printing facilitates design freedom, it’s not always going to be the best solution for producing incredibly intricate, complicated product designs. Start by identifying the right project, the ideal part and the best business case for introducing 3D printing. Jabil recently helped an industrial customer produce “under the hood” air ducts for trucks using advanced 3D printing technology.

The organisation only needed a low volume; the material and aesthetics could be supported easily, and the economics made sense. Ultimately, the success of this project was an excellent entry point for 3D printing, and it’s creating interest and analysis of follow-on opportunities. STEP 2: Build the Business Case; Understand “True Cost” Impact Building a business case entails an analysis of the economics - not just the price per part, but the allinclusive cost to integrate 3D printing into the manufacturing process. Real costs include floor space, utilities, depreciation, maintenance, inspection, packaging, shipping, etc. The list goes on and is often overlooked by team members outside the manufacturing realm. Apples-to-apples cost comparisons between 3D printing and traditional manufacturing methods require careful analysis to determine all variables, such as the value of shorter delivery times or reduced inventory. Some variables will resonate more with R&D, others with supply chain, so it’s important to consider all sides with quality, cost and risk as the primary decision drivers. 

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Most global manufacturing solutions providers have teams of business operations and supply chain experts that are motivated to reduce risk at each stage of the production and manufacturing lifecycle. Supply chain risk often is associated with quality and cost, but it goes much deeper. A bolt that costs a penny can still pose as much risk to a company’s product as a component worth hundreds or thousands of dollars—if it’s single sourced and not readily available. As sourcing poses a significant risk, it’s worth considering multiple 3D printing technologies or solutions to lessen exposure. Another way to mitigate risk is to work with trusted manufacturing partners that have accumulated early track records of 3D printing success. Business and supply teams, however, must be brought along on the journey so they too can identify opportunities to de-risk their investment and create avenues for aggregating demand. Positioning these key players to win more bread-and-butter business will turn them into 3D printing champions, which ultimately will pave the way for greater adoption. Step 4: Apply the Rigours of Manufacturing, Every Day, Every Phase World-class brands expect best-of-class products from their manufacturing partners. Quality is paramount, regardless if you’re using traditional manufacturing methods or additive manufacturing. Extensive qualification and validation of materials, processes and machines (MPM), as well as complete supply chain integration, are the price of entry for any manufacturer adding 3D printing technology to its solution mix. A vigilant focus and application of manufacturing rigour is required to ensure consistent parts quality and mechanical integrity over time–no different than traditional manufacturing. It’s worth noting that supplier qualifications can be extensive, and encompass stringent standards and auditing requirements. For instance, Jabil recently worked with a large manufacturer of medical implants with stringent requirements, including clean rooms for packaging inspection, quality assurance/quality control, MPM qualifications and lockdown, as well as complete audit trail, post-processing, packaging sterilisation and recycling.

design flare/cost out. Initially, companies should exercise caution in implementing DfAM as there’s a careful balance between designing in additional value without making the design so complicated that it impacts the economic model. Step Five: Educate, Evangelise and Engage Constituents

• product enhancements – better performance, such as high heat transfer from an engine • cost-out opportunities with parts consolidation by combining multiple parts into one –the poster child is GE’s 3D printed fuel nozzle, which combines around 20 parts into one

To drive 3D printing momentum, it’s vital to showcase milestones and share early success stories so customers can begin to envision what’s possible for them. Moreover, open communications with key members across the 3D printing ecosystem is crucial for propelling the 3D printing industry forward as a whole.

• light-weighting by applying additive design methods to reduce part weights– topological optimisation to reduce the weight of a satellite going into space

Remember, your overarching goal should be to communicate progress and ignite imaginations on what’s feasible today and possible tomorrow. Reaching the right audience at the right time is essential, which is why engaging design engineers early in the product development process is crucial. To that end, companies must ensure design engineers understand the value and can identify all the ways to bring in 3D printing. A few are listed to the right:

• accelerated schedules resulting in faster time-to-market – classic prototyping, also accelerating automation process development and supplying traditional volume manufacturing fixtures and fillings.

shown: THE

‘POSTER’ BOY FOR PART CONSOLIDATION: GE’S 3D PRINTED FUEL NOZZLE.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Step 3: Bring Business and Supply Chain Teams on the 3DP Journey

• reduced costs, such as materials and eliminating tooling costs – designing with structures and prototyping on the same manufacturing methodology

• new business models encompassing personalisation/ customisation, low volume/ high mix, the unit cost of one, distributed manufacturing/local to local, physical twins For most companies, the 3D printing journey has just begun. Following a pragmatic approach and best practices will help early adopters bridge the gap in bringing 3D printing into mainstream manufacturing. To borrow some wisdom from Bill Gates, we’ll likely overestimate what can be done in one year and underestimate what can be accomplished in ten years. While the pace of adoption remains uncertain, 3D printing will most definitely make an indelible mark on the future of manufacturing.

Sophisticated process engineering ensures process repeatability and full machine utilisation, which is crucial in providing Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), both regarding the particular process and

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Composite 3D Printing (3DP) is most often used to describe either multi-material 3D printers from the likes of Stratasys, or materials with secondary material infills such as Markforged offer. There is however, a much simpler and more obvious route to a “composite” part: Adding inserts or components of other materials after printing. In its simplest form this might be the inclusion of a standard nut or bolt within the part but there could be a lot more. For production 3DP parts the combination of additive manufacturing and traditional techniques has enormous potential. 3D printing is inherently a relatively expensive process. The cost of a 3D printed part can easily come to between a hundred and a thousand times the raw material cost, so it is clear that it is necessary for production parts to add significant value to become viable. In fact a 1cm cube of DLM printed aluminium can cost upwards of £5 whereas a section of aluminium bar the same size might cost £0.04. If the same cube was hollow the cost of the 3DP part might be the same but the material cost might be only £0.004. While 3DP polymers are significantly cheaper than 3DP metals, they still represent a high premium versus the raw material. Despite possible additional assembly costs, combining standard or pre-existing components with 3DP parts to create ‘composite’ parts will typically have significant cost savings over ‘printing the whole thing’. “Think Composite” Designing for production 3DP should not exclude traditional manufacturing methods.

▲ Above: Bearing Cages and Triple Labyrinth Seals Two examples of where Bowman Additive Production have been able to combine the complex geometries and design flexibilities of SLS printed Nylon with laser cut metal inserts to create entire product ranges of high performance engineering components. In both cases, while the SLS nylon 11 material allows otherwise impossible, performance enhancing geometries and the flexibility to allow parts to clip together, the limiting factor was wear. Running at speed against metal components can result in a high wear rate in the Nylon. The solution was to design voids within the 3D printed parts and insert laser cut bronze or stainless steel pieces to virtually eliminate any wear of the 3D printed Nylon component. Bowman’s Composite 3D printed Cage design can outperform traditionally manufactured components by 30-40% in load rating and 300% in life rating. It is widely understood that design should take into account the manufacturing process, and whilst in 3DP the design parameters are particularly unique, design without consideration of including other techniques and materials would be unwise. In some applications 3DP material may not give the desired properties. Whether the application calls for heat dissipation, strength, flexibility, electrical conductivity, impact resistance or any other properties, there are often more suitable materials to aspects of a design outside of 3DP but the form or envelope itself requires 3DP. The complexity of form which 3DP allows, empowers the designer to consider the 3DP component as an interface component enabling the use of multiple materials and manufacturing components exactly as the application requires. Laser cutting in particular has significant compatibilities with 3DP parts. Sheet materials are typically relatively cost effective, as is laser cutting, which also allows complex shapes (even if only in 2 dimensions). The ability to design easily assembled components with snap fit or complex interlocking joints with minimal assembly cost is a key benefit

of this composite thinking. With the relatively high costs of metal 3DP, it is also a great example of where the smaller the 3D printed metal element, the lower the total component cost. Utilising 3DP only where it adds the most value greatly increases the potential for viable production parts. In short 3DP technology adds a very useful ‘tool’ into the toolbox available to the design engineer – complementing existing manufacturing methods, unlocking design freedoms to create previously unavailable superior production parts. W: www.bowmanap.com E: sales@bowmanap.com

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PEOPLE SHOULD USE 3MF WOR DS : L A U RA GRI FFI T H S

ack in 2015, a collective of industry figures got together to put forward a modern file format that would better support the current and next generation of 3D printers and ultimately replace STL. Dassault Systèmes, FIT AG/netfabb, Microsoft, HP, Shapeways, SLM Solutions and Autodesk established the 3MF Consortium to deliver a new interoperable file format, of the same name, that would be information rich and capable of supporting new innovations in 3D printing. Speaking back then, Adrian Lannin, executive director, 3MF Consortium, said the 3MF specification (3D Manufacturing Format) would “empower people, maximise productivity, and unlock the full capabilities of 3D printing.” Two years on, an A-team of industry leaders, including 3D Systems, GE, Materialise, PTC, Siemens, Stratasys, Ultimaker and EOS, have joined as founding members to develop and promote this new full-fidelity format. But has it had the impact it set out to achieve and is there still a place for old faithful, STL? I caught up with Adrian to get an update. AT TCT SHOW IN 2015, IT WAS SAID THAT THE GOAL OF 3MF WAS TO BECOME UBIQUITOUS - IS THAT STILL THE CASE? IF SO, HOW FAR AWAY ARE WE FROM THIS BECOMING A REALITY? Becoming ubiquitous remains our vision. We are seeing the most interest in 3MF from industrial applications, where several of our members have released products that work well with 3MF. For example, HP has included the 3MF file format as a native format in their 3D printers. Of course, since 3MF is free to download, there is no requirement to join the consortium to use the standard, so there is an active ecosystem that’s developing 3MF solutions outside the core consortium members. When people are focused on looking at the best solution for their business, we believe, the answer is 3MF, and we certainly have examples where 3MF support has been added due to customer requests, which we’re glad to see. DOES THAT MEAN THERE IS STILL A PLACE FOR STL RIGHT NOW? 3MF is a complete functional replacement for STL, and it does more.

The only reason to use STL is to get access to models that already exist in STL, and to use workflows that support STL. So it’s all completely backwards-looking, which is a peculiar approach for building a modern manufacturing system to build a forward-facing manufacturing technology on. STL does not contain colour or other material/property information, and has no extensibility mechanism to add it. STL does not save mesh topology, leading to larger file size, loss of manifoldness due to rounding errors, resulting in ambiguity. 3MF solves all of these problems. People should use 3MF. HAVE YOU COME ACROSS ANY CHALLENGES SINCE FOUNDING THE CONSORTIUM? Focus. This is an exciting time to be in 3D printing. It’s a new frontier with lots going on. It is easy to become distracted. Without focus and discipline one can be pulled in many different directions. At 3MF, we are focused on additive manufacturing in the industrial space right now. We intend to become the leading file

format in this market before moving to other areas. In parallel to this market focus, we will endeavour to maintain the discipline to keeping 3MF a simple, easy-to-use and lightweight software available to all. THERE HAS BEEN AN INFLUX OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES ON THE MARKET IN THE LAST TWO YEARS - HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THESE COMPANIES? We’ve been selective in accepting companies into the 3MF Consortium. Members are required to contribute to the continued improvement and proliferation of the software. In order to make the 3MF file format the best it can be, we look for leaders in the industry that can provide insight in all areas of 3D printing. SINCE ITS INCEPTION, THE FORMAT HAS GROWN TO INCLUDE TWO FILE EXTENSIONS - PRODUCTION AND SLICING. IS THERE A ROADMAP TO EXPAND THIS FURTHER? Yes, we do have additional extensions under active development. This work is specifically underway to meet the needs of products that are planned or already shipping. WHAT ROLE HAVE THE FOUNDING MEMBERS PLAYED IN SHAPING THE DEVELOPMENT OF 3MF? These companies have been actively involved in the original software and format extensions. In order to continue in our progress, we meet a handful of times per year to further processes. The benefit of having access to a talent pool that is deep and broad is having a truly industrylead organisation. In addition to consortium expertise, we’re privileged to have had some industry experts recognise the importance of this work, seek us out, and contribute ideas and advice.

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t the time of writing, Aurora means little to the makers and users of additive manufacturing (AM). The word is most associated with a natural light display in the sky, typically only seen in the high latitude regions. Aurora is one of the universe’s phenomena, a real wonder that can be theorised but still not explained for certain. Its namesake, the result of the ‘repair kit’ developed by AMUG European Ambassador, Andrew Allshorn and Materialise, couldn’t be more different. Allshorn knows it like the back of his hand, and it’s much more accessible too. Its marvel, in the context of the 3D printing industry, he hopes, will be no less.

Until now it’s been additive manufacturing’s best-kept secret. Four years ago, Allshorn and Materialise, long-term business partners, conceptualised the idea to revamp still-functioning legacy machines that 3D Systems no longer services. They started at Materialise HQ, getting to work on SLA 250 and 500 systems, before graduating to the larger platforms, like the 5000 and 7000. Soon the same service will be offered for 350 and 3500.

first time, the user can build Hi Res and Standard Res parts on the same platform at the same time. It comes fitted with a choice of spectra physics laser, which can either be 350MW or 1W.” The supporting software is a build processor that fits into Materialise’s Magics suite. It allows users of the technology to ‘open the machine up’, set parameters, queue prints and re-order them. Materialise is not only responsible for the software, but also much of the support service for customers. So far, five companies boast an Aurora platform. In addition to Materialise, who house around 20 updated legacy machines, an American company called Interpro and Dutch firm, SKM followed Michelin and Von Allmen in purchasing an Aurora system.

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ADDITIVE’S AURORA A

W O R D S : S A M DAV IES

Von Allmen is a Swiss company specialising in mould making and was the first to have an Aurora machine up and running. For 23 years, Von Allmen has been using SLA and SLS 3D printing methods for its moulds, mainly for customers who request prototypes. Founder of the company, Michael von Allmen told TCT his business was the first in his homeland to produce parts in SLA and SLS. He first began working with Allshorn over a decade ago, and since utilising his repair kit is receiving better quality parts, and better feedback. The parts and the benefiting industries vary, but there is some consistency in Von Allmen’s workflow at least.

“It was a joint [venture] because I’ve been servicing Materialise’s machines for years and I taught their guys how to service the SLA machines. They just wanted something better,” Allshorn told TCT. “Materialise supply the software and I re-manufacture the machine using the repair kit. “The legacy machines do just as good a job as new machines, but the build parameters are more open. The problem is they run on Windows XP which is no longer supported. What we do is a bit like a re-fabrication. We strip the machine down to its bare frame. It’s basically built from the ground up, runs on Windows 10, and has Solid State hard drives – two of them so when it’s running it backs up, and if one drive fails, the other keeps it building. It has a digital scanner with a variable optic so you can choose your beam size. This means that for the

shown: MORE PARTS PRINTED ON AURORA SYSTEMS

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REPAIR KIT ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

TOP: A COLLECTION OF

AURORA (FORMERLY SLA) 250 MACHINES

LEFT: TEST PART FROM

VON ALLMENN TO SHOW THE CAPABILITIES OF THE AURORA 5000 LARGE FRAME MACHINE.

“We are faster. We have nicer sidewalls. We have really nice parts,” Michael von Allmen boasts. “We save electricity because the whole system runs on 24 volts, and the other thing, all the parts inside the machine are standard parts. It’s nothing special from 3D Systems. “[Our customers] are impressed, because we also need [less] time for finishing the surfaces. For example, I have a client who makes lamps for outdoors and indoors, and he mostly needs parts that are transparent. That means in the past we had to sand blast parts outside until we got nice surfaces. We save about 50% of our surface finishing time now after we have installed the repair kit.” Michelin, meanwhile, was encouraged to purchase in September 2016, the installation following in December, after confirming the quality and accuracy of parts made with the machine at Materialise: “We already had an SLA 5000, and the cost of the Aurora repair kit is much less expensive than buying a new machine,” Patrick Andanson, a Michelin manufacturer explained. “Our management team has decided to launch a project, of which I am project leader, to test the capability to build

some mould tooling parts in our workshop with this process.” The intricate details of this project remain confidential – Michelin is reluctant to divulge for fear of losing a competitive edge. Patrick could only reveal it focuses on the manufacture of tyre moulds. He also told how Michelin is looking into the purchase of a second Aurora machine, though a final decision will only be made once the parameters are tuned, and parts can be made to maximum accuracy – and when they first purchase a legacy machine to ‘repair’. Von Allmen, too, is considering using the repair kit on its Viper S12. One of the primary reasons these companies are exploring this avenue is cost. For the larger legacy machines, an SLA 5000 for example, with the smaller laser option (350mw) the cost is €139,000, while the larger laser option (1W) is €159,000. A Viper, should Von Allmen go through with the purchase, will cost €99,000, as will the 250 platforms. Undoubtedly the main reason, though, is the output quality: “The new technology can’t do the detail. It can’t do the surface finish,” Allshorn emphasises when Michelin’s preference to source and

purchase a legacy machine to update rather than invest in a new platform is questioned. It was just after Allshorn’s most recent visit to Michelin, and while he was in Belgium with Materialise, that he decided to break the silence on the repair kit and resulting Aurora technology. Until now, there has been no marketing, no publicising, nothing. But after years of development, and now a full 12 months of customers putting it to good use, Allshorn felt the time was right. And so long as other companies keep introducing new machines, and removing support service for their older ones, the time will continue to be right for Allshorn’s product. “The idea is that there are thousands of these machines out there and they still work and still do such a good job,” he summarises. “The cost of it is half the price of a new machine, and the customer already owns the kit. You don’t have to get rid of it, and it’s all done on-site as well. You order it, and we come in, and within seven to ten days you’ve got a new machine.”

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NOWLAB ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

NOTHING IS SET IN STONE I

W O R D S : S A M DAV IES

n issue 25.4, TCT reported on ETH Zurich’s Block Research Group (BRP), which has found its footing on what they hope is a stepping stone in the journey to the commercial use of its ribvaulted geometry-reliant 3D printed sand floor structures. The researchers face the sternest phase of their challenge yet, that is convincing players in construction and architecture that the technology behind its structure is reliable. They might want to look north, to the capital city of one of its neighbours across the border, to garner some inspiration. “This is one example of how an initial idea can turn into a fully developed product,” begins Jörg Petri, the Director of Innovation at NOWlab, the innovations and solutions centre of Berlin-based BigRep. His initial idea was born from a research project he was busy with over two years ago at the ITE in Brunswig. It centred on how the 3D printing technology could be utilised to improve the concrete casting of functional, dependable structures. Petri remembers being in the position BRP find themselves in. The main factor in his ‘Print Cast’ idea evolving from research to real-life product was the willingness of GEIGER GmbH, a construction company in Germany, to take a risk. And it was a risk, because NOWlab had never before tested the idea on a real building site. The task was to recreate five window frames of an old brewery in Kempten, South Germany, a listed building which was developed with masonry techniques. With only five of the building’s windows needing renovation, GEIGER wanted to make sure the new window frames, made from concrete rather than stone like their original construction, would be identical.

Having approached NOWlab, and taken the measurements, conducted scans and modelled the full construction of the window frames, GEIGER allowed Petri’s team to calculate how much material and time they would need. The calculations were made at the end of March. Two months later the project was finalised, all windows in place, and the building ready to be used as an office and events centre. “That was convincing for the team at GEIGER GmbH,” Petri told TCT. “We were the only ones at that point on the market to be able to 3D print a formwork in this scale and create these elements in a very short timeframe. They took the risk and it actually developed really well.” 

LEFT: AN EXAMPLE OF A

STRUCTURE WHICH HAS HAD ITS DESIGN INFLUENCED BY NOWLAB’S WATER SOLUBLE PVA MATERIAL.

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Company

NOWLAB

All parties are happy with the outcome, yet it only shows off some of what NOWlab can do with this technique. A research project digging deeper into its potential is live, and the group has developed a water soluble PVA material, unharmful to the environment, and able to be put into normal water circulation. This material enables concrete to be

casted around the PVA deposit, and when it is washed away, hollow structures are created. As architecture progresses, NOWlab is sure there’s room in the market for this faction of their technique too, and are working to improve the material. “We are working on optimising [the water soluble] material because it is made for support structures, it’s made to be washed out, but we are still developing a special material that could be better utilised for concrete parts so that it can be washed out faster, and it could be more stable. There is still a bit more development necessary but we have a demonstration in the pipeline which we will be presenting in mid-September.” The demonstration will present the full potential of NowLab’s ‘Print Cast Formwork’ idea and the water soluble materials that are in development alongside it. Petri says the demo will

be about 2.5m high, and 2-3m wide, and hopefully convey how formwork 3D printing can change construction techniques. During his initial research, Petri found a real need for 3D printed formwork. Innovative building design is more and more often featuring curvatures, as opposed to the traditional rectangular shapes. He names the London Aquatics Centre, used for the 2012 Olympics, and the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, as prime examples: “When we start to develop concrete elements that are moving out of the more rectangular geometries then the use of 3D printed formwork becomes feasible,” he reasons. “If this new technology becomes market proof, non-standard, form active and sustainable concrete elements can become the standard.” Yet, more testing and research is required to get there. Though Petri’s initial project has ascended into its practicing in the real world, thanks to the daring of GEIGER, his team is striving to expand the scope further, and for good reason. “This new technique enables more freedom for the designers and engineers to actually realise complex concrete structures that were much too expensive in the past,” Petri concludes. “We are quite positive that the overall 3D printed ‘Print Cast Formwork’ idea enabled through 3D printing will grow, and that the demand is already there.”

above: A NEGATIVE CAST FORM OF THE

WINDOW FRAME BEING PRINTED ON THE BIGREP ONE.

LEFT: THE PVA MATERIAL IS WASHED AWAY TO LEAVE THE HOLLOWED INDENTATIONS IN THE CONCRETE STRUCTURE.

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

The process began with Geiger scanning and modelling the window frames, before NOWlab 3D printed the negative cast forms on the BigRep One platform. Then the forms were passed onto Concrete Rudolph GmbH, who took charge of the pre-fabrication of the concrete elements. Finally, the segments were taken to a masonry where they were post-processed, ensuring the aesthetics of the structures were suitably identical to the old window frames, and then fitted onto the building.

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APRIL 8-12, 2018

WOMEN IN 3D PRINTING ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

LET’S #3DTALK ABOUT MATERIALS WOR D S : LA UR A G R IF F ITH S

arlier this year I wrote about the experience of being a woman in additive manufacturing (AM), particularly at industry events where the gender gap is often at its most evident. In response, it was great to hear from women, and men, in the industry, speaking of their experiences and more importantly about what more can be done to overcome these issues. One of those conversations led me to Nora Toure, founder of Women in 3D Printing, a group dedicated to supporting women in the AM industry. The group, along with Cyant, led by Barbara Hanna, hosts a series of established industry events called #3DTalk, designed to bring together female thought leaders and experts to discuss a given industry topic. This year we are excited to be teaming up with Women in 3D Printing and Cyant to bring the UK’s first #3DTalk event to the TCT Show at the NEC, Birmingham. This free panel session will focus on “Materials - A Driver in Advancing AM” and discuss advancements, impact on industry and what’s next. “#3DTalk is about educating and sharing knowledge about additive manufacturing through panels of female-speakers, all over the world,” Nora commented. “This #3DTalk panel is about sharing the knowledge and experiences of four women who are shaping the additive manufacturing industry. We will be focusing on materials for 3D printing, covering multiple materials and printing processes with our panelists. At Women in 3D Printing, it is our great pleasure and honour to be associated with the TCT family with this event.” “At Cyant we share the excitement about this event - it’s a great pleasure working with TCT,” Barbara added. “This is a very exciting area of discussion that carries implications for current and future processes, and will therefore impact existing professionals and future ones.”

The brilliant thing about this event is that it’s not just about pulling together four women to talk about being a woman in the industry. This is a panel of people who are great at their jobs, experts in their fields and happen to be women. Our esteemed speakers are: • DANA MCCALLUM, Head of Production Partnerships at Carbon and Vice President on the Board of Directors of the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG). Dana is also an active member of Women in Manufacturing (WiM) and Director for WiM’s California chapter. • SOPHIE JONES, General Manager at Added Scientific, a spin-out of the University of Nottingham, helping companies exploit additive manufacturing technology. Sophie has five years experience in the AM sector, helping companies to understand and build business cases for technology adoption. • DR. NICOLA JONES, Marketing Manager at LPW Technology focusing on innovative end to end solutions to complement high-quality metal powders specifically for AM. A PhD Chemistry graduate of The University of Manchester, Nicola’s research centred on metal oxide surface reactivity.

DANA MCCALLUM

NORA TOURE

SOPHIE JONES

• MARTINE VAN DER ENT, European Sales Director at Somos and former president of the Dutch Composites Association, where she helped to promote the benefits of composite technology and innvation policy in the Netherlands. The event will take place on 26th September on the TCT Tech Stage at 3.15pm followed by a networking drinks reception for all attendees. I would encourage everyone, no matter your gender or background, to join us.

DR NICOLA JONES

MARTINE VAN DER ENT

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