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PRECISION 3D PRINTED INJECTION MOLDING TOOLS ASIGAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DESKTOP SOLUTION TAKES DESIGNS TO REAL PARTS IN HOURS ACCELERATING 3D technologies

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EDITORIAL HEAD OF CONTENT

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ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

FROM THE EDITOR “NOT EVERYONE NEEDS A ROLEX…”

ometimes a $5 Casio will do just fine.” This metaphor was offered up at the International AM & 3D Printing Conference in Nottingham, UK during a discussion on the merits of desktop 3D printing, and I could not agree more. At the same conference, Gartner offered up its Hype Cycle for 3D Printing, 2017, and it caused something of a stir on social media with debates raging about semantics and what should be where. Placed on the downwards slope after mounting the Peak of Inflated Expectations was Consumer 3D Printing. The suggestion that we have not reached the Trough of Disillusionment after some well publicised debacles may come as something of a surprise. The fact is many of the companies one would have associated with consumers, no longer operate in that market and are, instead, finding niches in industrial applications as ‘desktop 3D printers’ as opposed to ‘consumer’ 3D printers. One superb example of how desktop 3D printing has embedded itself into the manufacturing process for a major brand can be found on page 9 and has even forced its way on to the shortlist of the inaugural TCT Awards. So if the likes of 3D Systems and MakerBot have deserted their one in every home schtick, is consumer 3D printing dead? Not by a long shot, it is just not the companies many of us recognize that are flooding the market with affordable, working machinery. Monoprice, ANet, Creality, TEVO and Kodama have all released sub-$500 3D printers (some sub-$100) that the DIY community on the likes of Reddit and YouTube love. While it may be argued that this not a ‘true consumer’ market, the majority of these people are not professionals, it is akin to the early gaming industry. Moreover, they are buying from consumer websites like Amazon, Gearbest, Banggood and Monoprice.

For another article I was working on, I recently asked 3D printing market expert Chris Connery of CONTEXT how Monoprice (exhibiting at TCT Show for the first time this year) is performing having only first launched a printer in 2015. “Monoprice was one of the key stories to emerge from 2016 in this affordable personal/desktop printer category, jumping to the #2 global market share position for 2016 in the category. Monoprice’s growth is further evidence that go-to-market strategy and implementation is just as, if not even more important than product specifications for market success. Monoprice has a unique go-to-market proposition in that they have their own portal for sales and make their products available through other outlets as well, such as Amazon. Monoprice has become a go-to eShop for techies and hobbyists, with 3D printing being a natural fit for this clientele. It certainly helps that Monoprice, along with market leader XYZprinting, both have the most aggressively priced Desktop 3D Printers on the market, but each also have a robust sales and distribution plan.” The truth of the matter is that 3D printing was never going to experience the same market adoption as the smartphone no matter how many cameras, touch screens or apps the manufacturers promised. But what we see, both industrially and in the home, is people buying the printer to fit their needs, this can only be a healthy thing for the diversity of the market. Druck On

Daniel O’Connor Group Editor

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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Cover Story

PRECISION 3D PRINTED INJECTION MOLDING TOOLS

How Asiga’s desktop solutions are turning designs into real parts in hours with low-cost injection molding.

AUTOMOTIVE

CAN YOU JIG IT?

Group Editor, Daniel O’Connor takes a look at the role desktop 3D printing is playing in the world of jigs and fixtures inside Volkswagen Autoeuropa.

REINVENTING THE WHEEL

Editorial Assistant, Sam Davies delves into the future of tire manufacturing as Michelin presents its Visionary Concept for airless tires.

DRIVING PART OPTIMIZATION

Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griffiths finds out how Concept Laser and GoEngineer re-engineered an off-the-shelf RC car chassis into an optimized, singular AM component.

EXCHANGE AND EXTEND

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

CONTENTS

TCT | VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3

ARCHITECTURE

RAPID + TCT

THE COLOR EFFECT

REVIEW

Bryan Ratzloff explains the importance of color in 3D printed architectural models in an article adapted from the book, Digital Craft.

In this RAPID + TCT focus, we bring together news and interviews on all of the biggest launches, from Desktop Metal to Paxis, that made their debut at North America’s biggest 3D technologies event.

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIA

CASTING

RECASTING ADDITIVE IN THE FOUNDRY

TWO STEPS FORWARD AFTER ONE STEP BACK

Laura speaks to two foundries who have adopted different forms of AM to meet the demands of the most challenging parts.

Sam speaks to a research group exploiting material geometries to produce a 3D sand printed floor structure capable of bearing one ton of weight.

FROM ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TO ADAPTIVE PRODUCTION

RETURN OF INVESTMENT

30 43

John Hart, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discusses the role of academic institutions in driving additive manufacturing.

Dan reports on DSM Somos Elements material which is overcoming the challenges of SLA for investment casting to produce clean, smooth patterns.

9 25

How HiETA technologies used Renishaw’s metal AM solution to develop guidelines for the manufacture of heat exchangers with heat transfer parameters.

REGULARS

03 48

EDITOR’S letter

TODD GRIMM COLUMN VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

COVER STORY

LOW-COST DESKTOP INJECTION MOLDING O M i t c he l l B r o w n f r o m V E R T D e s i g n e xpla in s

UR PRODUCT DESIGN COMPANY was engaged to develop a variation of a hose clip that is used on a high speed production line. The product works through the use of an integral hinge and flexible clipping geometry. Traditionally we would test the design through the use of SLS 3D printed models, however, the results achieved were not accurate. We required the geometry to be proven in the actual

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3â&#x20AC;&#x192; www.tctmagazine.comâ&#x20AC;&#x192;

production materials, which in this case was injection molded polypropylene Through the design phase, we developed multiple iterations. Eventually this was short-listed to two possible concepts. Producing a prototype tool in steel or aluminum would have cost many thousands of dollars and taken a minimum of 6 weeks. We turned to 3D printed tooling as it was faster and cheaper.

PRODUCTION OF THE MOLDING TOOL

We designed the tooling ourselves. Features like a smooth parting line, interlocking geometry and adequate venting were used to ensure that parts could be successfully molded. We printed the tooling on an Asiga Pro2 3D printer in Asiga FusionGRAY high temperature resin.

Asiga 3D printers employ a build process which actively forms fine layers of resin through a sliding action termed “Slide-AndSeparate” (SAS). This gives them a unique property amongst inverted stereolithography systems of being able to print large crosssectional areas quickly in precise layer thicknesses, which is highly applicable to the geometry of injection mold tooling. We were able to print tools of excellent surface finish at 25 microns layer thickness in the FusionGRAY material which is rated to operate above 200 degrees Celsius, sufficient for injection molding polypropylene.

BEHAVIOR OF TOOLING WHILST BEING RUN

A rudimentary metal mold ring was adapted to the printed tooling. This ensured that the nozzle was not in direct contact with the 3D printed tool where it could cause physical damage and/or degradation. Initially we cycled a material with a high mold-flow index. This allowed us to check that the tool could be properly filled and de-molded. Once we achieved fully formed parts we switched to polypropylene. The machine we used is hand operated and a cycle usually takes 30 seconds from loading the tool to de-molding a part. When we observed that parts were not fully forming we applied a thin layer of mold release spray that allowed the material to fill the mold with greater ease. In between cycles we used compressed air to cool the tool as heat is absorbed from the molded plastic. This is to prevent damage to the tool.

QUALITY OF THE MOLDINGS Using a hand operated molding machine we were able to produce parts of excellent quality. The surface finish achieved was similar to a fine EDM finish found in steel production tools. At times we noticed visible flow lines, voids from trapped gas, flashing and noticeable gate remains. Flashing and gate

remains were trimmed by hand to clean up molded parts. That said, it is possible to achieve cleaner parts with better process control and stable material temperature.

For mainstream injection molding applications 3D printed inserts can be installed into a standard mold set and then inserted into a molding machine. In this case the inserts were printed on an Asiga PRO2 and molded on the APSX-PIM desktop molding machine. APSX molding machines offer lower injection pressure, lower clamp force, lower cycle times and slower fill speeds which are ideal for cycling 3D printed tools.

CONDITION OF TOOLING AFTER MOLDING

The FusionGRAY tooling material can wear if not treated with care. Controlled processing of the tool is necessary due to the significant hydraulic pressures involved and over-filling cavities can destroy the tool. In addition, over-clamping can also fracture weak points in the tool. In the course of cycling the tool in our project we noticed a hair-line crack form, however, this did not compromise the performance of the tool. Protection of the tool can be improved through the used of a metal bolster so that the clamping pressure is taken by the bolster rather than the 3D printed inserts.

Specifications on tooling project:

COMPARISON TO OTHER 3D PRINTERS

PROCESSING

We have previously tested digital tooling produced with other 3D printers. In my experience, FusionGRAY displays greater integral strength and produces a smoother tool surface with little to no stepped buildlines being transferred to the molded part.

CONCLUSION

SET-UP Molding machine: APSX-PIM 3D printer: Asiga PRO2 Insert material: FusionGRAY. Print time: 30minutes. Injection material: Polypropylene Part weight: 2 grams Number of shots: 100+ Injection pressure: 90 BAR / 1300 PSI Holding pressure: 40 BAR / 580 PSI Cycle time: 52 seconds

The use of 3D printed tooling in tandem with low pressure molding machines in our design studio has enabled us quickly manufacture real injection molded parts at low-cost. We have been able to validate potential designs as well as produce low-volume runs of components in real engineering plastics. 

www.apsx.com www.asiga.com VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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Automotive ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

CAN YOU JIG IT?

Automotive 3D printing technology stories often deal with lightweighting of parts with complex structures that require months of perfecting. We often overlook how the rough and ready world of desktop 3D printing is now reliable enough to fit into the dayto-day assembly of some of the world’s most recognizable vehicles. Daniel O’Connor takes a look at the world of 3D printed jigs and fixtures inside Volkswagen Autoeuropa.

“E

MBRACE THE MUNDANE,” industry expert Todd Grimm told the TCT Show audience back in 2015. He urged the gathered massed to go forth with the cost and time-saving benefits 3D printing offered for tooling, jigs and fixtures and apply them throughout industry. Judging by the number of tooling case studies we get here at TCT Towers, many have heeded Todd’s words. But ‘3D Printed Tooling, Jigs and Fixtures,’ could be seen in the depths of the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ on Gartner’s 3D Printing Hype Cycle for 2017. The yearly market research also claimed that this application for 3D printing was some five-to-ten years from mainstream adoption. Two of the most mainstream brands in their respective industries, Ultimaker and Volkswagen Autoeuropa, have shown that, in this instance, Gartner’s analysis is wrong. You don’t get much more mainstream than sub $4,000 3D printers being used on a daily basis in the assembly of over 100,000 vehicles a year. VW is the world’s second largest automobile manufacturer, and now, thanks to a forward-

thinking plant management team, a significant chunk of its vehicles benefit significantly from 3D printed tooling, jigs and fixtures. The parts manufactured on machines that some might dismissively describe as ‘hobbyist’, are expected to save VW up to €250,000 ($295,000) a year. The particular plant responsible for the innovations was, in 1995, the largest foreign investment ever made in Portugal. VW Autoeuropa is in charge of the assembly of three of the German manufacturer’s range; the Scirocco, the Sharan and the Alhambra - manufactured for its SEAT subsidiary. “The plant decided to invest in this technology in 2014 with one 3D printer,” Luis Pascoa, Pilot Plant Manager told TCT Magazine. “After checking the potential of this technology, the reliability and the ease of use, we decided Ultimaker printers were the best choice for us. Within two months we have a return on investment for all our printers.” VW Autoeuropa’s team now uses a total of seven Ultimaker systems to make more than 1,000 parts per year, all designed to save time and money on the production line. So efficient is the process that the 3D printed tools are considered best practice across the entire VW Group. ›› VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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Automotive ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

LEFT: The wheel protection jig

THE FIXTURE LIST

Amongst the thousands of parts that VW Autoeuropa develops, the most effective have been the simplest of prints like the liftgate badge gauge. This jig ensures that the model badging on the rear of the vehicle is consistent across the board. Assembly line workers, place the jig in a Japanese Poke-Yoke style and voila! A perfectly placed Sharan here and Scirocco there. Previously VW Autoeuropa sourced all its tooling, jigs and fixtures externally. A part like the liftgate badge took 35 days to develop, costing up to €400 ($470). Using the Ultimakers, the parts, which have proved just as reliable if not more so, are completed in four days at the expense of a mere €10. “Now our gauges are much simpler and have adjustment capacities that were not present from the (external) supplier,” said Miguel Jose, a Process Engineer at the plant. “When one element gets damaged, previously, we had to scrap the complete part; currently (with 3D printing) we replace only the fragile parts.” With a cost saving of 98% and a time saving of 89%, 3D printing is a no brainer for use on an assembly line. Another part benefitting from a 3D printed overhaul is the wheel protection jig. Designed, printed and fitted to surround the wheel nut cavities, it allows the assembler to

ABOVE: This window gauge used to cost €180 per part - it can now be 3D printed at just €35. Development time shrunk from 8 to 6 days.

Manufacturing aids can now be 3D printed overnight

quickly guide and tested the next morning, which speeds up the development process considerably. and tighten the bolts using familiar heavy duty tools, without scuffing the wheel. The wheel protection jig used to cost up to €800 ($940) per part; the desktop 3D printed one? Just €21, a 97% saving. And the time is down to just ten days from a whopping 56 days when supplied externally. our collaborators on development and Thanks to an open material platform assembly process optimization, all with active the team at VW Autoeuropa is able to participation in the brainstorming exercises. experiment with different materials to add They know that the new jig or fixture will flexibility and stiffness where needed. help the exact moment that they use it and Another beauty of desktop 3D printing is improve quality and ergonomics.” the small footprint; it allows the teams to VW Autoeuropa is a company embracing iterate directly on the shop floor. the mundane, and if it continues to generate “Our people are continuously focusing cost-saving like the €150,000 ($176,000) it on innovation, results and optimization of achieved in the first year and the €250,000 our internal processes,” said Plant Manger, ($295,000) it anticipates year-on-year, then Luis Pascoa. “This technology allows us to we can expect many more automotive have more effective cooperation between manufacturers to follow suit.  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

011

Automotive ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

The Visionary Concept by Michelin

WO R D S : Sam Dav ie s

REINVENTING THE WHEEL

T WAS 1913, when the automotive industry first began to build momentum. That was the year Henry Ford installed the world’s first moving assembly production line for an entire automobile in Ford’s Highland Park manufacturing plant. This method of manufacturing was the platform for the second industrial revolution – the automotive sector being one of the main beneficiaries of this modernization. A century on, the same sector is beginning to welcome a technology that might play a part in the next industrial revolution: That of additive manufacturing (AM). Some of the leading companies in automotive are harnessing the technology

to advance their engines, the tools they work with, and even the tires that permit their cars to be mobile. A century on, automotive players are looking to overcome a previously-assumed impossible task, and reinvent the wheel. In 2016, tire manufacturer Goodyear unveiled Eagle 360, a visionary concept tire which is based on a customized design considering road conditions and driver habits. The tire tread will soften on wet roads, creating deeper grooves to enhance grip, and stiffen on dry ones to achieve a similar performance level. Sensors would alert the car to the condition of the tires and the condition of the roads. The tires’ spherical shape

would enable a car to move sideways, making parking easier. A year on, Michelin, one of Goodyear’s biggest rivals, has unveiled what it’s calling the Visionary Concept, which boasts many similarities to Eagle 360. Michelin suggests it will have increased grip on wet roads, and will communicate with the vehicle and inform the driver of the road conditions and tire wear. Michelin’s concept will be airless, made of an alveolar structure, and with stations at the side of the road, tire tread will be able to be replenished as they wear and as road conditions change. Both concepts rely heavily on 3D printing. At those Michelin stations 3D printing technology will be on hand to input a new tread design mid-way through your journey, keeping you safe as you battle wet surfaces or head off-road. With Goodyear’s concept, the tires will be 3D printed prior to their instalment on the vehicle – their interchangeable design catering for roads dry, damp and bumpy. ››

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

013

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Automotive ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

ABOVE: Left: An SLM Solutions 3D printed tire mold segment, right: a casting segment.

These futurisms might be decades away before being remotely possible to impose on the way we travel, but they are extensions of work already done by those two companies. Michelin, in particular, was an early adopter of 3D technology, taking on 3D Systems’ Phoenix platform to print metal blades in the tread area of their tire molds. In recent years, the company has decided to become independent in its 3D printing efforts, ditching the Phoenix for its own metal 3D printer – under the brand, AddUp, with machines created in collaboration with Fives. This change of direction, while birthing new rivalries, is a reassurance that 3D printing has an influential potential in another aspect of the automotive industry. At least, that’s how Ralf Frohwerk, a man of 30 years’ experience in automotive and, in his role as Global Head of Business Development at SLM Solutions, a burgeoning rival to the likes of Michelin, feels. Frohwerk is somewhat of an expert in the production of tires, and he’s working for a company committed to improving their manufacture. SLM Solutions’ most successful 3D printer, the 280 2.0 Selective Laser Melting platform, is a machine well-suited to the production of tire molds. The company presented it at this year’s Tire Technology Expo in Hannover, where Ralf also delivered a presentation on the topic of using metal 3D printing for the serial production of tire molds. Months after relaying his thoughts to an audience at Deutsche Messe, Hannover, he offered TCT his assessment on the growing interest in 3D printing tire molds in the context of Michelin’s Visionary Concept. “Michelin now goes their own way,” Frohwerk said. “That means they use their

own machine and print their parts by themselves. It’s a good sign for the market that one of the big players is convinced that [using 3D printing for tire tread production] makes sense, that this is the best way. This is a great message.” The design of the molds is key. It’s the ability to make the slightest of alterations in the geometry, not possible on more conventional machine processes, that make the futuristic concepts of Michelin and Goodyear appealing. It’s what will enhance traction, and therefore safety. The idea of using 3D printing for the production of tire molds evolved from the method of implementing small metal blades to create slots in the tread area of tires. Now, tire producers are not only beginning to print these metal inserts, but the whole mold of a tire. These molds are made up of multiple segments, rather than being a single sheet of metal, and cut at angles of approximately 30 degrees. With the SLM process, the mold design must be adapted to a Twin Shell tire mold design, optimizing three dimensional geometries slits, a specific split of tread segment, in multiple pieces. This design features, in combination with high productivity due to multi-laser technology, up to 4 x 700W with a beam focus 80 µm, reduces time to market and ensure a perfect accuracy and low surface roughness. This, according to Frohwerk, is the way to success using the SLM technology. SLM suggests its 280 machine can cater for tire molds of small and medium size, while to get the ‘perfect solution’ for larger mold segments is the SLM 500 Quad.

The Goodyear Eagle 360 tire with dry tread

It is perhaps one of the reasons Frohwerk has noticed an ‘extreme push’ from automotive players in the last 18 months to pursue additive technologies, their benefits and potential. He feels that previously aerospace, energy, and healthcare companies have been the pioneers of AM, but now, the automotive industry’s conservatism is beginning to wane. The forethoughts of Michelin and Goodyear, and the reception of SLM Solutions’ 280 2.0 machine, serve to back this up. Beside the tire suppliers, OEMs like Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Toyota are also among those looking at 3D printing as a viable manufacturing technology. Even though that may not necessarily be for the tires of their vehicles yet, it adds to the promising future that additive manufacturing has in an industry that has continually fulfilled promise, ever since that assembly production line was installed in December 1913. “They are interested,” Frohwerk says. “It needs more time, but I see clear statements from these huge players in the market, that it’s maybe not for mass production for the next two or three years, but everyone is talking about perhaps this is really in serious production between 2020 and 2025. “Everyone is looking for a little benefit and [3D printing tire molds] gives them a chance to get an advantage and this is why I’m totally convinced this will drive tire molds [in a new direction] in the next generation.”  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

015

Automotive

WOR DS : L a u r a G r iffith s

DRIVING PART OPTIMIZATION

Re-engineered chassis

F YOU WERE AT RAPID + TCT or the Additive Manufacturing Users Group Conference this year, you may have spotted a strange but undeniably cool-looking RC car racing past your feet on the show floor. That car is the product of a partnership between GoEngineer and Concept Laser, the latest from the 3D technologies provider designed to showcase its capabilities including 3D scanning, topology optimization and 3D printing. Taking an off-the-shelf Traxxas RC car, the team, led by Manufacturing Application Manager, Tyler Reid set out to re-design a traditional race car chassis using reverse engineering to create a complete integrated assembly that could be manufactured as one piece. Starting by taking a 3D scan of the original body, the team used a Creaform HandySCAN 700 red laser scanner to collect 3D data that was then loaded into Geomagic to rebuild its geometry. “In anticipation for upcoming design optimization, we only reverse engineered some of the key mounting points on the chassis - the bits we would have to retain if we were going to re-use a lot of the components,” Tyler explained. “So things like the axel mount, where the electronics mount. For everything in between, we basically created a large working envelope.” That envelope was then transported into solidThinking Inspire, a topology optimization tool which allows you to specify load points, determine where the design will need material and perform FEA and simulation studies to show how the part will perform based on load considerations. Original Traxxas model

ABOVE: Optimized design in SolidWorks

ABOVE & BELOW: Front and rear design 

With a basic, organic shape created, Tyler then used the PolyNURBS tool within Inspire to sculpt the bulk design before moving into SolidWorks to add details such as electronics mounts. “Being a powder-bed laser machine, it had no problem with the complex geometry of the part,” says Tyler, noting that had the design been optimized for metal powder from the start, it could have looked quite different. “Support structures were able to be created and the shape is a great fit for this type of machine.” Because the chassis is roughly 18 inches long, that severely restricts the choices of machine manufacturers that can handle a print of this size and complexity. Concept Laser’s X LINE 2000R is the world’s largest powder-bed metal AM build platform on the market at 31.5” x 16” x 20”, making it ideal to handle this design. Part count was reduced radically from seven individual injection molded components to a singular 3D design printed in aluminium. Further complexity could be designed by hollowing out certain parts or including lattice structures to further reduce weight. “If we can use design optimization to maybe reduce weight, or increase rigidity or stiffness while maintaining strength then we’re ahead of the game,” says Tyler. “We took seven parts on this car and combined them down into one and that’s a key benefit of AM, it encourages part consolidation and complexity on the individual part level rather than simplicity amongst many parts.” Taking the project a step further, Tyler experimented with other parts of the vehicle, optimizing the rear spoiler and bracket, control arms, the wheels and printing mold tolls to create carbon fibre components. Though the race car represents automotive innovation on a small scale, Tyler states that there is potential to use the lessons learned here in a full-scale automotive environment, using analysisled design to create better performing, lightweight parts that reduce material costs and energy consumption. Though right now, it’s about dreaming big and starting small. “To take the full chassis of a vehicle and to design optimize an entire chassis is actually a pretty difficult thing to do,” Tyler explained. “If I were to take one component, in real life in automotive, it could be the entire unibody structure like this, but in reality we would be doing so on smaller, simpler parts.”  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com



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WOR D S : Daniel O’ C on nor

APPLIED SCIENCE

Micro-turbine range extender project, MiTRE and, cuboid heat exchanger

RECENT COVER OF A EUROPEAN EDITION OF TCT MAGAZINE featured a metal additively manufactured part rising from the ocean like a Halong Bay seastack. That part was an annular radial flow recuperator for a micro gas turbine system designed and manufactured by HiETA Technologies in collaboration with Delta Motorsport as part of Innovate UK’s Selective Laser Manufacture MicroTurbine (SLaMMIT) project. The story behind it is a real additive manufacturing (AM) success story. HiETA Technologies, founded in 2011, focusses on implementing AM in two main areas: thermal management and lightweighting. HiETA uses a range of Renishaw systems to achieve this, having just added a RenAM 500M to its AM250. Renishaw’s relationship with HiETA does not stop as machine manufacturer; it has helped HiETA develop processes and data sets for its products and last year deepened its relationship further by increasing investment in HiETA to 24.9%. Traditionally, the heat exchange products that HiETA is improving are made with thin sheets of welded material. The complexity of the designs makes production both challenging and timeconsuming, while the material used

ABOVE: Delta Motorsport micro turbine incorporating HiETA MiTRE recuperator

for the welding process adds to the overall weight of the part. Complex, heavy and labour intensive? Sounds like a job for AM. Relatively little research had previously been carried out in AM’s ability to make the sufficiently thin walls needed for these heat exchangers. The first test was to ensure that there was a data set for manufacturing leak free walls in nickel super alloy that were just 150 microns thick. Both Renishaw and HiETA produced samples using a variety of settings; the samples were heat treated and characterized separately at the respective HQs. The results enabled the companies to confirm the optimum parameters on the machines for thin-walled structures and also allowed HiETA to develop a design guidebook with parameters for heat transfer in heat exchangers manufactured using laser powder- bed fusion technology.

HiETA’s specialized expertise is attractive for automotive applications, particularly for electric vehicles, where AM combines improvements in the heat exchanging efficiency of the range extending power pack with lightweighting and conformal packaging to extend the effective range of the batteries. Delta Motorsport, formed in 2005 and based at Silverstone, has a reputation for highly evolved engineering solutions for the automotive industry and, to improve its electric vehicle offering, turned to HiETA. For another Innovate UK project, Delta and HiETA manufactured a cuboid recuperator as part of the micro-turbine range extender (MiTRE) unveiled by UK’s climate change and industry minister, Nick Hurd at Cenex’s Low Carbon Vehicle Event at Millbrook in 2016. “It (AM) has allowed us to cram a lot of technology into a small space,” says Scott Herring, Senior Engineering Manager, Delta Motorsport. “It (the cuboid recuperator) has been developed over four years, and it is, fundamentally, to fill a gap; the gap is trying to engineer an electric vehicle with a smaller battery pack but still have the range capabilities for those one or two off journeys where you need it.” After demonstrating that manufacturing a cuboid heat exchanger component was feasible, Hieta and Delta Motorsport enlisted Renishaw technology further to create the former cover star that is the annual radial flow recuperator. This project aimed to take the design of components to even higher levels of complexity. The annular form means the recuperator could be wrapped around other components and contain integrated manifolds to give a more compact overall system. After decreasing a build time from 17 days to just 80 hours, detailed testing showed that the component would meet the pressure drop and heat transfer requirements with a weight and volume approximately 30% lower than that of a conventionally manufactured part. A worthy cover star.  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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Architecture ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

After completing his Master of Architecture (RIBA Part II) at the University of Westminster, uk, 3D printing bureau, Lee 3D, commissioned Bryan Ratzlaff to write Digital Craft. The book focuses on the relationship between the architect, the model and the 3D printer and in this article, adapted from the study, Bryan, now of SPPARC Architecture, talks us through the importance color plays in 3D printed architectural models.

THE COLOR EFFECT B

EYOND THE FACT THAT A 3D PRINTED MODEL’S materiality differs from that of a traditionally crafted one, architects can exploit the technology to have a discernable effect on other physical details and qualities of appearance. Combining the capabilities of both a modeling software and a 3D printer, models can easily be colored, texture mapped, incorporate any physical texture, include minute details and be tailored for printing at any scale. Many of these qualities are an extension of the basic geometry being more accurate since a model is composed of a single object rather than a sum of parts. This means each face of geometry will be exactly where it should be and should multiple models be required to fit together; tolerances can be designed into the objects that will allow a perfect fit. Advantages of the technology’s accuracy also extend to the data set of a project as a whole. Models can be built at a particular scale and will precisely match a drawing printed at the same scale. This can also be advantageous in instances where digital information is projected onto the physical object.

 BELOW:

This model was used at a public consultation for the new Camden Town underground station. The 3D printed model suspended on acrylic rods is combined with an Ordinance Survey map printed on the base accurately projecting the location of entrances and underground infrastructure. Color is also used to communicate various elements of this design proposal. Photo by Bryan Ratzlaff.

The independent information resource and discussion forum focused on London’s built environment; New London Architecture (NLA), has taken advantage of this trait with their newly digitally produced London model. According to NLA Chairman, Peter Murray this model, ‘is so much more accurate than the previous hand built model, that we can outlay Ordinance Survey data just by taking it straight from OS drawings and we just project it on, and it is millimetre accurate.’ The use of color in 3D printing can increase levels of realism and create options for representing information that would otherwise be difficult to communicate with an object fabricated from a single material. Used in a similar fashion to a multi-medium traditional model, color has the ability to convey a range of architectural information and imply materiality. While machines with inkjet powder technology can print effectively any color, many architects also make use of the range of greys that can be printed to emphasise spatial qualities or delineate specific information about a project. ››

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Aside from communicating architectural information, the use of color is also an effective technique to imply a range of materiality in the object itself. As is common with traditionally crafted models, differentiating the base of model can have a desirable effect on the aesthetics of the object. Consisting of a single material, a stand-alone 3D printed model requires the use of color if this or other material effects are desired. Again, the use of greys can be particularly useful in this manner, as they also retain a level of neutrality that is often desired by architects. Despite the ability for 3D printing to easily create colored models, color remains a challenging feature to correctly translate on a model. This issue of expressing accurate color, perhaps, is exacerbated with 3D printing, due to some technical variables within the technology. First, there are hardware considerations that need to be understood – primarily print head alignment on an ink-jet 3D printer – for the printer to achieve consistent color results. Furthermore, achieving a color match for the desired color can be difficult; the machine’s ultimate output uses a CMYK process, whereas many digital modeling programs primarily handle color in RGB, and the color samples that architects attempt to match are likely  ABOVE & BELOW: This to be in RAL or Pantone color systems. interactive model has To aid conversions between color codes the qualities of an illustration. Bold use and the printed output, 3D printing bureaux of form and color has and modelmakers can create a range of color been used to show samples upon which accuracy tests can quickly the structure at a major regeneration be based. Despite the possibility of accurate area in West London, color, many architects shy away from its use. produced by Plowman According to Senior Associate Partner at PLP Craven in Revit from laser scanning Architecture, Neil Merryweather, ‘color is so and other survey emotive and so risky to get right, it is just not techniques. Photo by practical’ for regular use in practice. Lee 3D courtesy of Plowman Craven The difficulty of using color in architectural

models helps to introduce one of the more obvious and identifiable physical characteristics of a 3D printed model: literally how it looks. Whether it is the difficulty in matching colors or the architect’s desire for neutral models, the 3D printed model has become well associated with the color white. Further embellishing this neutrality is the fact that entire models are made out of a single material, compared to models crafted in more primitive materials, where an additional medium could visually separate a base or detail. These limitations of the technology are what form the requirement for computer modeling to be creative, maximizing the visual purpose of the model. Although this trend of monochrome 3D printed models may imply a lack of creative input to their style, it could be argued that architects have in fact converged upon a conventional aesthetic. Evidence of this can be seen in the way architects have drifted away from the full-color model samples used to sell the technology to them in the first place. The vision of the Z Corporation engineers that created the full-color ink-jet 3D printing technology was one where the machines would be used to their fullest capabilities, producing colorful, realistic models. However, architects have long had a tendency to refrain from this kind of modeling, preferring a ‘less is more’ aesthetic. As Peter Murray notes, ‘totally realistic models have to be done very carefully. Otherwise they can look terribly naff and crude.’  Digital Craft, published by Lee 3D, can be purchased directly from www.lee3d.co.uk/digitalcraft.

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 www.tctmagazine.com

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Research and Academia ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

WOR D S : SA M DAV IE S

TWO STEPS FORWARD AFTER ONE STEP BACK

TON OF WEIGHT rests proudly on a twocentimetre-thick curved shell floor, 3D printed in sand material, achieved only thanks to the formal freedom 3D technology enables. Accomplished with the ExOne S-Print machine, the Block Research Group (BRG) from ETH Zurich STEM University was inspired to rediscover, and reimplement, forgotten techniques that were harnessed hundreds of years ago to construct some of the finest examples of architecture in the world. The introduction of reinforced concrete in the 19th century saw



ABOVE: Approximately half of the Block Research Group atop of their 3D sand printed floor structure. Philippe Block is joined on the front row by Dr Tom van Mele, co-director of BRG and Dr Matthias Rippmann, post-doctoral researcher at BRG who developed the floor prototypes

Credit: Block Research Group, ETH Zurich.

architects focus more on the material they used, rather than the structure’s geometry, to ensure its strength. Back then it was a development that might have saved a lot of time and effort. Why worry about the complexity of complex geometry, when you can revel in the simplicity of using more material? As we’ve progressed through to the Digital Age, where technology’s influence in every industry continues to grow, nothing has changed, and structures are all too often produced with a materials-driven strategy. Prof. Dr Philippe Block, who leads the BRG, and contributes to the ton of weight atop of the 2 m x 1.4 m 3D sand printed floor structure, is a traditionalist, not for the sake of it, but because giving proper consideration to the geometry of the assembly produces some impressive results. The team designed the complex geometry of the floor’s structure on proprietary software that is a speciality of the BRG. Block and his team demonstrate how a weak material like sand can hold close to 1,500 kg. He explains if you were to take a chunk of the structure out, you could snap it like a chocolate bar. But as a ›› VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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whole, the rib-vaulted geometry provides sufficient strength per construction guidelines, and with less material used, 70% weight reduction compared to a typical concrete slab. It’s an old technique, tried and tested, and then forgotten about, or just ignored. Thanks to the curious brains of researchers, like Block, and the advancements in tech, like 3D printing, it might finally be remembered. “To us, it is interesting to use 3D printing, and use these 3D printed models, to demonstrate something that we’ve forgotten how to do – to get strength through geometry rather than through material capacity,” Block tells TCT. He continues: “We can rapidly generate full-scale prototypes

Cre dit

of our new ideas, load test them and demonstrate that you can walk on it, which immediately convinces people. You can put your entire team on it, and it’s even more convincing.” Of course, it’s only architects who need coaxing. The general public will trust a floor to be safe. In New York’s Grand Central Terminal, the Oyster Bar is sheltered with a vaulted ceiling made of 15cm thick unreinforced tiles. Above them, millions of New Yorkers walk, unaware that a space the size of a small ruler separates them from the atmosphere of a quaint restaurant below. Block, then, has reason to be optimistic

ABOVE: BRG’s 3D sand printed floor is made up of five segments.

BELOW: BRG’s 3D sand printed floor with rib-vaulted geometry.



ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

Credit: Block Research Group, ETH Zurich

Research and Academia that his group’s 3D sand printing method has potential. The team will showcase the sand printed floor structure on-site as of 2018, and will make the computational framework open source this summer. Additionally, Block and his team will be using wax 3D printing, a collaboration with Laing O’Rourke’s FreeFAB, to produce the molds to cast a unit of 5 x 5 m, 2 cm thick, unreinforced concrete floor for the NEST Building in Zurich. Their hope is that it will be a stepping stone in the journey to using an efficient structure in the future. While in this project the material will differ, the geometry remains the key component. “Many people in 3D printing on a construction scale or architectural scale are suggesting that we are far off from relevant applications because the material is not strong enough,” Block says. “But the material is not strong enough because we haven’t coupled geometries that are in line with what the material is suitable for. If you want to 3D print a structure that stands up because of bending, then these 3D printed materials are going to be useless. However, when you discover a geometry that can activate compression, and that can safely carry all the loads to the supports in compression, then suddenly we have geometries that are highly compatible.” And when that happens, a stepping stone can become a destination. 

: He

iko Sta c

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Research and Academia ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

John Hart is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Here he discusses the role of academic institutions in driving the additive manufacturing industry forward.

FROM ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TO ADAPTIVE PRODUCTION

ANUFACTURING IS ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANT AND EXCITING THAN EVER; it is critical to economic growth and to the sustainable growth of our world. The convergence of innovations in robotics, computational intelligence, instrumentation, advanced materials, and new processes is enabling production systems to become more agile, responsive, and data-driven. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a cornerstone of the factory of the future, and offers a unique platform for deploying digital technologies for amplified productivity gains. In the past year, many developments indicate a turning point toward the industrialization of AM. These include major partnerships across the value chain—including design tools, materials, and equipment—and the emergence of novel, highspeed AM processes. Moreover, volume production of parts using AM will soon be a widespread reality. Examples include the scale-up of GE’s LEAP engine which incorporates 3D printed fuel nozzles, and adidas’ partnership with Carbon on the Futurecraft 4D shoe. Countless companies are using AM to improve the efficiency of manufacturing operations using advanced mold tooling and custom fixtures, and to accelerate product development and market testing. These and other demonstrations of AM’s value are driving increased confidence in AM as a production method. Of course, challenges remain, especially in part qualification, post-processing, and surface finishing. Advances in computation and in-process instrumentation are the lynchpin for AM’s ability to reliably produce high-quality, qualified parts: new software will permit upfront simulation of builds, allowing improved design and mitigation of defects; advanced scanning methods will accelerate postbuild inspection, and enable digitization of legacy designs; and, automation is increasingly affordable and deployable into AMbased production systems, a necessary development for increasing throughput and reducing the labor cost of post-processing.

As we master AM’s physical and digital workflows, unexpected possibilities emerge. The interoperability of an AM-enabled factory – its ability to produce diverse parts while adjusting only the machine’s digital input – will create new business models and establish new vectors for the customer to influence the design process. We must envision what AM may produce that it cannot at present, and chart a course for realising the previously impossible: from building individual replacement parts for appliances and vehicles to patientspecific medicines and tissues delivered at the point-of-care. And while the cost-equivalence of AM to traditional forming methods may never approach the largest volumes of consumer products, the responsiveness and reduced risk of industrial AM requires us to build models that effectively capture its end-to-end value. Academic institutions, such as MIT, have a critical role to play in driving the AM industry forward, and in creating its unknown future possibilities. My research group at MIT is focused at the intersection of materials, processes, and automation for advanced manufacturing. Our recent work includes a high-speed extrusion AM process for polymers and composites, AM of cellulose-based materials as an alternative to conventional thermoplastics, concepts for modular high-precision interfaces among AM parts, and an instrumented testbed for selective laser melting that will enable us to derive new process control strategies. More generally, the Boston area is home to exciting startups in this space – including Desktop Metal, Formlabs, Markforged, Onshape, Righthand Robotics, Rize, and Voxel8 -- many of which have involved MIT faculty and students as co-founders, and provide examples of the ability to drive innovative ideas to market. We’re also focused on education, and created a project-based AM course and a professional short course, “Additive Manufacturing: From 3D Printing to the Factory Floor,” that has trained hundreds of designers, engineers, and executives to understand and deploy AM technologies in their organizations. We are proud of this work, but it is a drop in the bucket. The workforce needs self-paced, digitally delivered, and technically rich educational programs that are adaptable to full-time students and busy professionals alike. Moreover, in Fall 2017 we will launch the MIT Center Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies (ADAPT), which will focus on breakthrough research, open education, and technical strategy. By uniting the efforts of universities, startups, and industry, we will best be able to advance our vision of AM and the factory of the future, and create commercial value at a pace that matches our imagination. VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

029

RAPID + TCT

by Daniel O’Connor, Laura Griffiths and Sam Davies

RAPID + TCT REVIEW

HE FIRST EVER EDITION OF RAPID + TCT was the biggest in RAPID’s 27-year history. The 2017 event, which took place in Pittsburgh back in May, marked the first for the partnership between TCT and the SME and welcomed over 6,000 attendees from 45 different countries. With 70,000 square feet of space featuring 329 exhibiting companies, the floor was packed with new technologies and debuts from some of the most exciting startups around. It would be impossible to cram every launch that happened across those three days into one feature but over these next few pages we have compiled a round-up of some of the very biggest. For more from RAPD + TCT including interviews and videos from the show floor, head to www.tctmagazine.com

030

PAXIS

WORDS : Daniel O’Connor

We’ll start with the launch shrouded in the most secrecy, at AMUG 2017, Mike Littrell, Present of multi-award winning service bureau Cideas approached TCT and asked “How do I go about getting you to sign an embargo so I can talk to you about something?” At RAPID + TCT Mike was finally able to reveal “breadcrumbs” of information about a technology that those in the know are suggesting could be a breakthrough for resin-based 3D printing. “I hired a programmer to develop a quoting engine that was able to look at all the different processes,” Mike told TCT at the Pittsburgh event. “In the process of creating the dashboard back-end of the True-Quote software he (Fred Knecht, now Paxis CTO) called me into the office in regards to a problem we’d been having with regards to trapped volume parts within the resin based processes. He started describing it to me and within about ten seconds I said “Stop! That’s it, we are starting a new company, we’re developing this, here’s my credit card, go out and buy what you need.”

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

The technology is called WAV (Wave Applied Voxel) and although Mike and Paxis are still the team are still keeping the fairly tight lipped technology under wraps about the process he did tell us this: “One of the unique features is that based on the way we deploy resins we think that resins that haven’t been able to be used on current systems can be reengineered and utilized on this system. Based on the scalability of the process we’ll be able to build much larger parts, much faster than any other current system on the market.” Usually, TCT would be of the opinion of believing it when we see it, but Mike’s reputation proceeds him, he’s a celebrated and respected person in the industry. His excitement about this technology means we ought to be excited too. 

Technology Launches: Desktop Metal

DESKTOP METAL

You simply could not miss Desktop Metal at RAPID + TCT. From its gargantuan stand down to the venue’s WiFi interface, the Boston start-up left no stone unturned in ensuring that every person in that room knew exactly who the new metals player in town was. We covered Desktop Metal’s technology in depth in our last issue after Dan went along to visit its Boston HQ in April, but we caught up with the startup’s, CEO, Ric Fulop and team during its official launch on the show floor. “One of the really exciting things we’re bringing is the ability for the first time to have metal printing in an office environment,” Ric Fulop, told TCT. “So no need for furnace, safety equipment, the metal is all encapsulated in a polymer so it’s very safe to use. You can print it in your office and sinter it right there and the next day, it’s like Christmas, you’ve got parts.” Desktop Metal has launched two systems, a compact Studio System which uses a patented Bound Metal Deposition process akin to FDM printing, and a Production System which uses Single Pass Jetting to print parts over 100 times faster than current common metal technologies. Both systems benefit from a ceramic release layer that sits in between supports, bound with polymers, which when sintered turns to sand to leave no support marks. “One of the exciting parts about this technology is the ability to eliminate the support removal process that has really plagued DMLS and SLM,” Ric explained. “Our process allows you to remove the support by hand. That’s a new thing that never existed before so it’s a big deal.” One of the most interesting benefits of Desktop Metal’s technology is that it uses common Metal Injection Molding (MIM) materials, which

A part inside Desktop Metal’s furnace

Jonah Myerberg, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) commented: “We didn’t want to launch just a printer, we wanted to launch a system and the sintering furnace is a critical part of the system. The printer and the sintering furnace talk Desktop Metal’s to each other, they know what production system part they’re making, the furnace means users have access to a wide knows what was printed and knows how range of existing materials at a low to sinter it.” cost. Both systems require the use of Desktop Metal also took home the the proprietary microwave-enhanced RAPID + TCT 2017 People’s Choice sintering system which features a Award voted for by show attendees. The reducing atmosphere that makes it Studio System is available to order now possible to use conventional MIM and the Studio System is set to follow powders, safely in an office. next year. 

3DEO

3DEO are, like Desktop Metal, aiming to make metal 3D printing more affordable. And like Desktop Metal and Markforged, they are using MIM powders and a secondary sintering step to achieve that. However the big difference comes in their process, 3DEO describes six steps to achieving a finished metal part that is more affordable and meets the high industry benchmark MPIF Standard 35 while still achieving tight tolerances.  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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STRATASYS WORDS : Laura Griffiths

ABOVE:

deliver the next job.” Though no delivery date has been announced just yet, machines have been installed at several locations in which LEFT: Stratasys envisions will be its three key Stratasys Continuous user groups; colleges and universities Build 3D such as the Savannah College of Demonstrator, three cells. Art and Design (SCAD), low volume production facilities such as In’Tech Industries bridging the gap to tooling, LEFT: and advanced manufacturing providers Stratasys Continuous like FATHOM. Build ejecting For busy, multi-purpose locations a part at InTech plant such as print bureaus or shared labs, the biggest benefit of the Continuous Build is its GrabCAD Print cloud capabilities. Leveraging the software that has been installed on all Stratasys machines since its launch in 2016, it allows multiple jobs to be scheduled to the cluster (from three to 15 machines but potentially limitless) and the cloud will automatically distribute them amongst available cells to enable mass customization projects and accelerate throughput. “This is an evolution of what we’ve already deployed with GrabCAD,” explained Roger Kelesoglu, Technology Leader at Stratasys. “All of our systems today are cloud connected through GrabCAD, which allows for remote printing, access monitoring, queuing and scheduling across all existing systems that we sell. What we’ve added here is starting to take advantage of the interesting things about the cloud beyond that which is to automate and provide management of print production, so the cloud is now determining the best possible way to print something in a distributed fashion and allows you to scale that.” At FATHOM, the Demonstrator is increasing throughput significantly and enabling a greater volume of some 1000+ FDM parts within a shorter lead-time. For SCAD, it means around the clock access to the university’s printing services which Dean, Ermoli Victor says is “changing the way we teach”.  Launch at RAPID + TCT

Last August, additive manufacturing giant, Stratasys did something unusual. Inviting a crowd of tech media to its Minneapolis lab to witness the next phase in FDM, the company unveiled two new technologies, unpolished, unboxed with no shipping date, known as 3D Demonstrators. With names like Ford and Boeing adopting them in their respective factories, these new technologies soon set a precedent for what could be possible with Stratasys’ FDM technology through infinite print lengths and composites using robotics. At RAPID + TCT, a third Demonstrator was unveiled in the form of the Continuous Build 3D Demonstrator, a scalable, multi-cell 3D printing platform designed for continuous production. In contrast to the first two, the technology behind this new system isn’t anything particularly new. In fact, it brings together much of Stratasys’ established capabilities such as its Fortus grade print engines, cloud-based GrabCAD Print software, and even automated build platform technology (previously seen on an early-generation MakerBot), into a cluster of machines that automates the printing process with minimal manual contact. Speaking to TCT at RAPID + TCT, Mechanical Design Engineer at Stratasys, AJ Santiago, explained: “The innovation that’s made this possible is the fact that we’ve automated all the steps in the process from the time that the user submits a part to the system, the system queues it up, takes on the job, completes the job, auto-ejects the print and then goes back into a ready state to

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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RAPID + TCT ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

RAPID + TCT REVIEW

XACT METAL The most expensive part of 3D printing is the laser but as Formlabs has proved for plastics the laser doesn’t necessarily have to be prohibitive towards affordable printing. We met CEO Juan Mario Gomez at RAPID + TCT who told us about how the Pennsylvania-based company is making powder bed fusion metal 3D printing more affordable. “We have a metal 3D printing system that replaces traditional galvo servers that are used in these type of machines to do powder laser fusing. In order to make the

technology more affordable we are replacing the galvo servers and use a different scanning technology to bring the laser to the part.” With a build area of 5 x 5 x 5 inches, able to print in reactive and non-reactive metals the machine is attractively priced at about half the price of similarly sized laser based metal machines. “We believe that customers should be able to print parts and not have to have a big bankroll to do so,” said Juan Mario “The machine is $120,000 and we have a very attractive powder pricing strategy.” 

ALEPH OBJECTS ABOVE: Impossible

Objects Model One

IMPOSSIBLE OBJECTS

Impossible Objects deserves a feature of its own and in a future issue of TCT Magazine you’ll get just that as we go behind the scenes of the company bringing composites to additive manufacturing at unparalleled machines. But it would be amiss not to mention the launch of the Model One at RAPID + TCT. The Model One harnesses the Illinois-companies compositebased additive manufacturing (CBAM) technology to 3D print functional parts, at scale, with a wide selection of materials. Impossible Objects’ flagship machine enables users to use a range of composite materials to build lightweighted parts with maximum strength. These materials might include carbon fibre, Kevlar and fibreglass together with PEEK, and other high performance polymers. Robert Swartz, chairman and founder of Impossible Objects commented: “Until now, there was no way to print functional parts with the mechanical and material properties at the scale these companies need. The Model One is just the beginning of what CBAM can do. Our CBAM technology has the potential to transform manufacturing as we know it.”

Along with showing how its desktop 3D printing solutions have been used to produce end-use parts for Motocross bikes, LulzBot manufacturer, Aleph Objects, announced the launch of a certified Open Source Hardware 3D printing filament, in partnership with IC3D Industries. Releasing a document featuring manufacturing process, parameters, and material grades, the two companies believe this level of transparency opens up more possibilities for users

of 3D technologies and enables a greater chance of 3D printed parts becoming certified in their respective industries. Harris Kenny, Aleph Objects President told TCT: “We think that transparency is going to be really good for end users who need to certify materials, to know what goes into it and have a better understanding of the supply chain. We think there are going to be business reasons for understanding the filament beyond just the maker or hobbyist interest in knowing how it works.”

BELOW: Open source hardware

with Open Source Hardware certification mark

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

035

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RAPID + TCT ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

RAPID + TCT REVIEW

ABOVE: Form Wash and Form Cure “New Balance is excited to work with fellow Bostonbased Formlabs on our next evolution in 3D printing,” says Rob DeMartini New Balance President and CEO. “We have Fuse 1 machine is a high-quality been a leader with 3D printing desktop SLS technology for many years, when we were the first to bring customized spike plates to our professional runners and have expanded into other sports since then. Now we look forward At RAPID + TCT Formlabs showcased to taking this technology to its latest auxiliary technology, the Form consumers to further improve Wash and Form Cure, designed to athlete performance.” automate the sometimes tricky postThen for the left-field process involved in curable resins, they announcement, Formlabs has also dropped a couple of hints as to what had a mysterious page listed on ABOVE: The Form Cell combines robotics, they had lined up for its Digital Factory its site for a month or so prior to 3D printing and finishing technologies for a full event the following month in Boston. the launch of the Fuse 1. Formlabs production system The Form Wash allows users to place is aiming to replicate the success either the Form 2 build platform or printed parts into the it had in transforming the desktop stereolithography (SLA) machine, set the time and wait whilst the Form Wash impeller market but this time with selective laser sintering (SLS). agitates prints in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to unveil perfectly The Fuse 1 aims to deliver the renowned benefits of SLS, cleaned parts ready for post-curing. while also boasting the reliability of its Form 2 3D printer. The Form Cure enhances post-curing of 3D prints by Prices starting at $9,999, the Fuse 1 is at least 10 x less precisely controlling light, temperature, and time to achieve expensive than current industrial SLS solutions on the market. the optimum performance for all Formlabs materials. While not the first company to attempt to crack a desktop SLS Shortly after RAPID + TCT, Formlabs announced two major solution, Formlabs’ reputation for quality and reliability does technologies at the MIT Media Lab event and while one was suggest this is something to get excited about. an innovation on top of existing proprietary technologies, the Supporting Nylon PA 12 and PA 11 materials, the industryother came from left field. standard for strong, durable and reliable prototyping and The Form Cell is an automated production solution end-use parts, Formlabs believes the Fuse 1’s output is as that uses Form 2 machines, the Wash and Cure systems good, if not better, than that of its counterparts with regards alongside a robotic gantry. to material properties. Formlabs, the Massachusetts-based 3D printing company, “When we launched the world’s first desktop has announced the launch of Fuse 1, its first selective laser stereolithography 3D printer in 2012, Formlabs created new sintering (SLS) platform, and Form Cell, an automated possibilities for designers and engineers to create physical production solution that houses Form 2 machines. products by giving them access to professional 3D printing Formlabs says its aim is to promote next-generation digital technology that had historically been unavailable,” said Max manufacturing and 3D printing’s capabilities as a mass Lobovsky, CEO of Formlabs. “With Fuse 1, we are taking customization tool. Fuse 1, the SLS 3D printer, and Form the same approach to making powerful SLS technology Cell, the automated production platform, are already being available to a huge range of customers. And with Form Cell, tested by a number of companies, including Google and we are making an efficient, scalable production solution by New Balance the latter of whom announced an ongoing leveraging the Form 2, an SLA print engine that’s already partnership with Formlabs. stood the test of printing more than 10 million parts.”

FORMLABS

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF 3D PRINTING The European edition of TCT Magazine is up to volume 25 having first launched in the summer of 1993 as Rapid News - The Magazine of the Prototyping and Tooling Industry. Three years before that our partners over in the U.S., SME launched the first RAPID conference and together the companies boasts decades of 3D printing experience. Here is a brief history of 3D printing compiled by the SME and TCT.

1983 • Charles (Chuck) Hull produces

first stereolithography part

• First SME “RAPID” conference

held

1991 • Fused deposition modeling (FDM)

system released by Stratasys, Inc.

1993

• Solidscape founded 1994 • ColorJet Printing (CJP)

commercialized

of SLA-1 at General Motors and Baxter Healthcare

• Scott Crump invents fused

• First medical model produced

deposition modeling (FDM)

using stereolithography by Nick Mankovich at UCLA

1989 • SLS patent issued to Carl Deckard

• Laminated object

• Solid ground curing (SGC)

• Mimics, first widespread software

manufacturing (LOM) system commercialized by Helisys system released by Cubital

link between medical imaging and 3DP/AM, released by Materialise

• Portable CMM for metrology, FAROArm developed

1992 • Selective laser sintering (SLS)

• EOS founded by Dr. Hans J.

Langer and Dr. Hans Steinbichler

• Nova Automation, founded in

1986, becomes DTM Corporation

1990 • Materialise founded by Wilfried Vancraen

038

• Stratasys, Inc. founded by Scott Crump

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

• First selectively colorable

stereolithography material, called Stereocol developed by Zeneca Specialties with Materialise machine, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) system-EOS, released

manufacturing company founded

1988 • First commercial installation

Printing techniques"

to take hold as both a process and a goal

1986 • 3D Systems, first additive

AM system, SLA-1, is introduced

• MIT patented "3 Dimensional

1995 • First commercial metal

(SLA) patent filed

1987 • First commercially available

to TCT, Rapid News launches first edition with cover story on the purchase of LOM 2030 by the Advanced Technology Centre at Warwick University

• The term “rapid tooling” began

1984 • Stereolithography Apparatus

• Precursor

system released by DTM Corp

• Direct Dimensions, Inc.

founded by Michael Raphael

• Z Corporation founded 1996 • First ever TCT Show in Garden

Heritage Motor centre

• Extrude Hone (ExOne) becomes the exclusive licensee of the 3DP process ( MIT ) for metal

1997 • Rapid News magazine changes name to Time Compression Technologies (or TCT for short)

1998 • Global Alliance of Rapid

Prototyping Associations (GARPA) founded, and first meeting held

• FDM patent issued to Stratasys, Inc First additively manufactured • Magics, the industrial software 1999 •hardware put on an airplane solution, released by Materialise

• Phidias project in Europe kicks

off (runs 1992-1995) to gather evidence on medical applications

2000 • First hearing aid

cases produced using stereolithography

History of 3D Printing

• Mammoth Stereolithography developed by Materialise

• Concept Laser GmbH founded by Kerstin and Frank Herzog

• Selective Laser Melting (SLM)

• Objet launch first machine 2001 • DTM acquired by 3D Systems • 3D scanning of Lincoln

to form committee to develop additive manufacturing standards

2009 • MakerBot Industries founded,

• Patent for Digital Light

• Organovo used a bioprinter to

• Electron Beam Additive

Processing (DLP) to EnvisionTec

2002 • First EBM machine released by Arcam AB

• EnvisionTEC launch company with

• Conjoined Egyptian twin boys,

joined at the head, are successfully separated in Dallas, TX with the aid of Complex medical models

• Titanium alloy developed for EBM by North Carolina State University team

2005 • First high definition color 3D

printer in market, Spectrum Z510, launched by Z Corp

• RepRap founded by Dr. Adrian Bowyer at University of Bath

2006 • RepRap releases Darwin schematics

• Fab@home project launched by Prof. Hod Lipson

2007 • Organovo established

• SME/RTAM petitioned NIST to develop standards for additive manufacturing

2008 • Both Thingiverse and

Shapeways launch 3D printing communities

Manufacturing (EBAM) launched by Sciaky, Inc. German and English commercial activities, leading to the foundation of SLM Solutions and an Metal AM division at British engineering firm, Renishaw

2003 • Inkjet printing of viable cells

print the first blood vessel

2010 • MTT Technologies separates

a DLP printer and 3D-Bioplotter

patented by Dr. Thomas Boland at Clemson University

• Exactech becomes the first

company in the US to receive FDA clearance for an additively manufactured metallic implant

2011 • First additively manufactured

• Stratasys and Objet agree merger • America Makes established as flagship institute for Manufacturing USA

2013 • Stratasys acquires Makerbot

• FDA clears first additively

• First Medical Manufacturing

and launch Cupcake machine

Memorial demonstrated

an additively manufactured prosthetic leg

• SME/RTAM approaches ASTM

technology introduced

• First person to walk on

manufactured polymeric implant, cranial plate produce by OPM of PEKK Innovations (MMI) program at RAPID

2014 • 3D Systems acquires Medical

Modeling, Layerwise and Simbionix, establishes healthcare vertical

• Multi-jet fusion technology announced by HP

• Launch of TCT Asia in Shanghai • Airbus use metal additive manufactured by Concept Laser to print connector bracket

2015 • CLIP technology introduced by Carbon

robotic aircraft designed and own by University of Southampton

• TCT Show moves from the

• Ultimaker is founded in

• Members of the 3DS Users

Ricoh Arena to its current home in the NEC, Birmingham Netherlands

Group voted to open the group to owners/operators of all commercial 3D technologies, thus becoming the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG)

2012 • Z Corp acquired by 3D

Systems who also launch consumer range, Cubify

• Formlabs launch on Kickstarter raising $2.9m and instantly become one of world’s largest 3D printing companies by machines ordered.

• Launch of formnext powered

by tct, a new Industry 4.0 show in Frankfurt, Germany

2016 • First FDA approved additively manufactured drug becomes available in the US

• FDA releases draft guidance,

Technical Considerations for Additive Manufactured Devices

• SME and Rapid News

Publications, Ltd, announced partnership to produce RAPID+TCT

2017 • Inaugural RAPID + TCT held in Pittsburgh

• Desktop Metal launches first

• Launch of TCT Awards

system at same show

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

039

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

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RAPID + TCT ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

RAPID + TCT REVIEW The RAPID + TCT conference programme was packed with case studies and research on how 3D technologies are impacting the world, from medicine, to the way we travel. One particular highlight was a presentation from Dr Sue Jordan and Dr Ramille Shah at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, who discussed tuneable 3D printable biomedical material platforms. Sam Davies takes a closer look. A scaffold for a bio-prosthetic mouse ovary 3D printed in gelatin

NEW MATERIALS FOR 3D PRINTING IN MEDICINE

Biomedical scientists from Northwestern University in Chicago are on track to develop ovary implants for humans with 3D printing technology after successfully testing 3D printed scaffolds on mice. After three years of research the group recently publicized their findings, which led to three of seven mice giving birth to pups, with another generation following later. The motivation for this research centered on providing hormone functionality and fertility solutions for cancer sufferers, who have been left sterile after their treatment. Currently, the only option is to preserve ovarian tissue in a freezer. Previously, researchers have had some success with the transplanting of tissue back into patients when they are ready to conceive, or for their hormone functions to be restored. However, for many cancer patients this would be an unsafe procedure since their ovarian tissue contains cancerous cells. “We wanted to engineer an ovary that would be a step forward in trying to have a way to remove the cells that we don’t want, including the cancer cells, and just put in the cells that we do want, which would be the potential egg cells, and the steroid-producing cells,” Monica Laronda PhD, a coauthor on the study, told TCT. “That’s what we did with mice.” Laronda and her colleagues isolated the mice’s ovarian follicle units, which contain the centralized potential egg cells surrounded by the support cells, to produce the ovarian sex hormones. Needing a way to maintain the ovarian follicle’s spherical shape, Leronda and Teresa Woodruff, Women’s Health Research Institute Director, Northwestern University, turned to Ramille Shah, an Assistant Professor, and Alexandra

A scaffold for a bio-prosthetic mouse ovary 3D printed in gelatin

Rutz, a fellow in Shah’s lab. They work in a nearby laboratory and work with 3D printing technology. After a trial and error process, Rutz eventually found an architecture and structure that worked with the ovarian follicles that Laronda and Woodruff had seeded. “After confirming that it worked with our follicles in culture, we transplanted them into mice whose ovaries we surgically removed,” explained Laronda. “We put the bio-prosthetic ovary in the same spot of where their natural ovary was an we mated them, and they were able to ABOVE: Microscopic produce healthy pups.” look at a bio-prosthetic Laronda believes the scaffolds, 3D printed mouse ovary in gelatine with an EnvisionTEC Bioplotter, provided the sufficient support required to maintain a spherical shape. Maintaining the follicle’s natural shape is important to preserve the cellcell connections between the oocyte and the surrounding cells, which enables cells to develop into a fertilizable egg. These eggs were then pipetted into scaffolds, and transplanted into the mice. “Gelatin is derivative of collagen which is the most abundant structural protein in most organs, including ovaries,” Laronda said. “Alex Rutz devised a technique that was able to print gelatin in a very smooth, homogenous way, different to what other people have been able to do before. It provided a great scaffold for us that was able to expand its own weight, it has multiple layers, and normally when you print gelatin it collapses on itself, but she was able to do it in a way that was able to maintain those layers separately.” A five-minute print time is a welcome transient compared to the rest of the project, which has taken the best part of three years. And there’s still some way to go before these 3D printed gelatin scaffolds are implanted into humans – this method would be tested in cultural models first as a safety measure, just as it was for the mice, and as it will be for the next animal model: Mini pigs. “We’re doing the same thing in larger animal models, so we’re scaling it to see if we can restore hormone function and fertility in the same we did in mice. That is our next step,” concluded Laronda. “The animal we’re using is closer with their anatomy and hormone cycles to humans than mice are, so we’re hoping we’ll get some answers from that. We’re really excited to do that research.”

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

041

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Casting ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

WO R D S : Laur a G r iffit h s

RECASTING ADDITIVE IN THE FOUNDRY

ETAL CASTING FOUNDRIES AS WE KNOW THEM, have been around since the 1800s. It’s a proven process; liquid metal is poured into a mold which is then removed once cooled to leave a cast solid metal shape from the mold cavity. The principle remains the same today but modern casting techniques have come in to make the process more efficient, cleaner and better quality. Additive manufacturing (AM) was briefly heralded as a modern replacement to casting. As the hype has calmed and businesses have come to understand more about the benefits and current limitations of AM, there’s certainly no necessary urgency for foundries to close their doors. On the contrary, in a resilient twist, some facilities have embraced the benefit of those 3D technologies that are playing a pivotal role in this well-established industry.

ExOne printed core



ABOVE: Lestercast foundry

A CASTING CHALLENGE

Minneapolis-based Prospect Foundry has been dealing with iron castings in low to medium volumes for over 80 years, supplying primarily to OEMs in agriculture, mining and construction industries. Three years ago the foundry came across a particularly challenging project from a customer, Sunstrand, who required around 1,000 hydraulic valve cores for a piece of machinery. This particular part had been sent around to several foundries who were unable to accept the challenging job before it landed on Prospect’s desk. Having struggled with unsuccessful cores for two months, going back and forth trying different types of sand, binder, coatings and temperatures, in a last ditch attempt, they sought a solution that was less conventional. Back in 2012, the company had spotted a possible technology investment that could help them in accepting more complex parts. Greg Colosimo, Metallurgical Engineer at Prospect Foundry explained how sand printing technology from ExOne looked cool but figured it would never become that useful. Fast forward to 2014 when this particular challenge arose, the team took the plunge and gave ExOne a call. “I asked them about being able to print this core up,” Greg explained. “We use CAD models when we’re making the pattern boxes so we sent the CAD file for the core and they produced them for us. We had stupendous results, we were getting 75% scrap or worse and I think the first time we ran them we had over 90% good castings.” Rather than investing in its own machine, the team outsourced the job to ExOne’s on demand 3D printing service which produced the cores ›› VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

043

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Casting

Old style assembled



LEFT & ABOVE: Unassembled cores



ABOVE: Cast automotive parts (Lestercast)

using its S-Max Binder Jetting technology at a facility in Houston. A more economical solution due to the size of the cores, ExOne’s process offers design freedoms not possible in traditional cores and machining approaches using industrial grade materials. Since implementing, Greg estimates that these cores have been used for around 4,000 parts, with Sunstrand continuing to order 500 at a time. Though right now 3D printing only impacts a small part of Prospect’s business, Greg believes that “there is a huge opportunity for 3D printing in the foundry,” depending on the use case. For example, that particular valve core is just one that the foundry produces for Sunstrand, the rest are made via more traditional methods. However, Greg notes that in the past when the team had to turn down certain jobs where the cores proved impossible to make, had they known about the idea of 3D printing them, those cores might not have been so trying. “I thought it was something that was way out there and it would never become a critical part of the foundry,” Greg commented. “Now I can see that it could very easily become a huge part of the foundry business and eventually pay off to have several printers, or at least one in every foundry. Right now it’s a big cost. I think that foundry owners are going to still go with conventional methods of making cores because they’re proven over such a long period of time.”

The wider casting business has progressed from very simple parts that required excess machining to creating more complex near-net shape parts that have holes and passageway built in. Greg suggests that features such as small and intricate parts, like valves, which would normally be cast heavy and then machined to finish, could be cast to shape in future with 3D printed cores, significantly saving on time and costs. “If we can cast those parts with the holes and passageways already in, you wouldn’t have to drill them, you wouldn’t have to machine, which could have huge savings in the end. In the future I believe it will find a huge spot in the foundry but I think it’s a part of the whole industry moving forward, it’ll take small places like us to take the first steps and the bigger foundries will move forward with it. Once they get a big foundry to move forward with printed cores, that will be it.”

THREEFOLD BENEFITS

A more common form of 3D printing used in the casting industry is resin-based stereolithography. Popularized by the jewelry industry, the range of castingspecific resins on the market, optimized to deliver better burnout performance, allow designers and manufacturers to capture the finest details on tiny parts. But industrial users are also benefitting from SLA in a bid to reduce the need for costly tooling in the casting process. By no means a new methodology, UK-based Lestercast has been using 3D printing for over a decade. The foundry works with Digital Echo, the UK’s largest 3D printing bureau dedicated to foundry and jewelry investment

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

045

ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES



ABOVE: Rapid prototyping tooling at Lestercast

casting, to produce wax molds for prototyping. Using 3D printed wax patterns brings lead times down from anything up to nine weeks to a matter of days. “The time scale aspect is obviously the main thing but also expense as well because if you’ve got a low quantity of parts then tooling can be reasonably expensive,” Marc Healey, Sales Manager at Lestercast explained. “It can also be used as a very good technical tool because it can create shapes that tooling would find it very difficult to make.” After starting out with 3D Systems’ Thermojet technology, the team now uses the service provider’s 3D Systems ProJet machines to create complex castable shapes primarily for the automotive industry. Having a 3D printing service to hand, Lestercast has been able to deliver parts to customers who have been let down by other suppliers and in need of a quick turnaround solution. Working closely with the motorsport sector, having the ability to prototype new designs and make quick changes is imperative and using 3D printing in the tooling process is a major asset. In addition to making wax castings, Lestercast has found other novel ways of incorporating 3D printing into the business. The team has its own in-house Stratasys Objet30 3D printer which was initially brought in to produce plastic tools overnight instead of waiting several weeks for aluminium. Moreover, it’s been useful in providing proof of concept models for machinists working on the shop floor. “It saves time because we can print out a model, give it to the machinist and they can work out the fixtures using a tangible model. Then we’re ready to go when our castings arrive so it also saves time at the front end.” Contrary to the short-lived belief that additive posed a significant threat to the casting business, these foundries are showing where, if used effectively, it can be an asset. Though additive is certainly a tool, there’s a strong belief from the industry that the flexibility, history and cost benefits of investment casting show it will be a long while before AM, particularly in terms of metals, commandeers the market. But to remain competitive you’ve got to take those leaps of faith and keep your finger on the pulse. As Greg said to TCT, “You can’t stay backwards forever, you have to move forward.” 

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Casting ACCELERATING 3D TECHNOLOGIES

WO R D S : Daniel O’ C onnor



TOP LEFT, LEFT & ABOVE: Parts printed in Somos Element by Peridot Inc. to be fired out in investment casting process.

RETURN OF INVESTMENT

INCE THE DAWN OF 3D PRINTING users have wanted to create sacrificial patterns to be used in casting applications. It is the next logical step from rapid prototyping; In 1995 Professor Phil Dickens authored a paper on Conversion of RP (Rapid Prototyping) models to investment casting, and in a 2003 publication called, ‘Developments in Rapid Casting’ editor Graham Troman surmised, “This book should leave no doubts in the minds of readers that rapid casting is playing a significant role in the development of prototype castings.” 3D Systems launched Quickcast material for stereolithography (SLA) in the early 90s and since, there have been relatively few developments, much to the frustration of potential super-users. Take U.S. based product and tool development service bureau, Peridot. An early adopter in using stereolithography (SLA) patterns for investment casting, it has been reluctant to use it on jobs for clients like Whirlpool, Caterpillar, ITT Defense, and Taylor Made Systems. The main concerns are residual ash content, leftover elements that may affect alloys and the overall accuracy. At RAPID in 2016 DSM Somos introduced a new material claiming to solve many of these problems. Former Product Manager at Somos, Clive Coady told TCT at the time, “In tooling we’ve seen Somos Perform come on line and revolutionize tooling for some companies, Somos Element is a material that could do

the same for investment casting applications, thanks to its burnout properties and low antimony content.” After Somos Elements the launch at RAPID, Peridot’s interest was piqued. The company decided to give the material a trial run for a foundry client manufacturing pump equipment. “There is increasing demand from foundry customers for high-quality patterns that allow them to produce flawless, end-use parts quickly and efficiently,” says Dave Hockemeyer, President of Peridot. “With Somos Element, finally we have a material that can be used to create patterns on an SLA machine that burns out and performs well in the foundry. It is a significant improvement on what we used to do with SLA patterns and means we can help customers produce clean, smooth parts. The customer was very pleased with the parts and has confirmed that they would like to continue using 3D printed patterns.” As machines get incrementally better, the importance of huge chemical companies behind the like of Somos ever increases. DSM, Somos’s parent company, has decades of expertise in formulating chemistry that solves problems exactly like the leftover antimony or residual ash, if this can be applied more companies like Peridot simply, will have to speed up the adoption. Peridot says the Element material cuts investment casting costs and time to market by up to 20%. That pilot scheme is now a fully-fledged solution for the bureau. “Somos Element is proving to be a very important innovation for Peridot,” says Hockemeyer. “We have a long and rich history in metal casting products. Element is quickly becoming a critical part of our business as it provides us with a new, more reliable and better quality alternative to metal printing.”  VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

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GRIMM COLUMN

WORDS : TODD GRIMM

ALL FOR ONE… When it comes to AM and an understanding of how it compares to other alternatives, the solution is to build a support group.

Todd Grimm

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

tgrimm@tagrimm.com

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HEN IT COMES TIME TO MAKE PARTS, who is making the process selection and with what depth of information? In many cases, the decision is up to an individual or small workgroup. The process selection is often made based on high-level knowledge coupled with some real-world experience. It is rare to find a guru that knows it all, and even rarer to have a deep pool of gurus. The outcome is that you have team members that prefer a few alternatives over all others because they understand them best and feel most comfortable. The deeper process knowledge promotes an expectancy of success. All others fuel a fear of failure or some sense of risk. The fix for this is to know it all—having a working knowledge about all available options so that the best decision can be made. However, at the individual level, this fix is not reasonable; there is simply too much to know. Now add additive manufacturing (AM) into the mix, and the fix becomes ludicrous. When it comes to AM and an understanding of how it compares to other alternatives, the solution is to build a support group. There is too little time and too much to discover to place this burden on individuals in the product development and manufacturing processes. Without a support group, individuals make decisions based on limited knowledge and their preferences and comfort level, In this mode, AM often becomes a runner-up solution no matter how much value it could deliver and how competitive it is. Without a knowledge base and some experience, it can be seen to be a risky proposition. In the last issue, I spoke of the avalanche of new AM solutions being presented. That avalanche is laid upon an already broad base of AM options. What makes investigation quite challenging is that each AM technology is different. There are no generalities that can be loosely applied to a decisionmaking process. AM has the diversity of all other manufacturing processes combined. To investigate the AM possibilities and interrogate the considerations would be a full-time job. Moreover, since your team members already have full-time jobs, there is no hope of acquiring all the knowledge needed to decide if AM is the best alternative and then to select the best AM technology for the project. For those that regularly use AM, you may counter that your team members have the knowledge and experience. However, the odds are that they have one or two go-to AM technologies and the rest are ignored. The hands-on experience creates

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3 www.tctmagazine.com

confidence with a small slice of AM capabilities while the rest are unknown, risky options. The knowledge gap challenge exists at the highest level when determining time, cost and quality in general terms. However, it gets even more challenging when tackling details that influence success. Many of the “givens” expected in traditional processes, such as achievable accuracy, material properties and surface finish, are often not available. Instead, AM technologies offer “typical” values that then need to be qualified based on specific operating parameters. This is information that needs to be quantified through evaluation, not uncovered through individual investigation. Moreover, it needs to be quantified for each AM technology from each AM supplier. Placing the education burden on the individual leaves too much to chance and creates pockets of AM users and non-users. The stronger, wiser approach is to build support groups for the individuals. These teams, which can be informal or formal, amass the needed AM information and then disseminate it, as needed, to offer guidance and suggestions. The support group becomes a resource that enables designers and engineers to make informed decisions. A formal support group would be a dedicated team that has one goal: thorough understanding of all AM technologies, shared as needed. In essence, it would be a corporate help desk for AM. For those that lack the resources for a dedicated team, the informal support group would be the next best thing. In this structure, the individuals with AM experience band together to share what they have learned amongst themselves and throughout the company. Collectively, the support group knows it all without placing the burden on the individuals to become gurus. This opens the door to more AM deployment through a sound understanding of when, where, why and how to use AM. 

Make everything except compromise. HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing is up to 10x faster1 at half the cost.2 hp.com/go/3Dprint

1. Based on internal testing, HP Jet Fusion 3D printing solution average printing time is up to 10 times faster than average FDM and SLS printer solutions from $100,000 USD to $300,000 USD on market as of April 2016. Testing variables: Part Quantity: 1 full build chamber of parts from HP Jet Fusion 3D at 20% of packing density versus same number of parts on above-mentioned competitive devices; Part size: 30 g; Layer thickness: 0.1mm/0.004 inches. Fast cooling module available in 2017 with some models will further accelerate production time. 2. Based on internal testing and public data, HP Jet Fusion 3D average printing cost per part is half the average cost of comparable FDM and SLS printer solutions from $100,000 USD to $300,000 USD on market as of April 2016. Cost analysis based on: standard solution configuration price, supplies price, and maintenance costs recommended by manufacturer. Cost criteria: printing 1 build chamber per day/ 5 days per week over 1 year of 30-gram parts at 10% packing density using HP 3D High Reusability PA 12 material, and the powder reusability ratio recommended by manufacturer.

• Life expectancy of LED light is 10,000 hours • Improved light source yields better detail • Lower costs than UHP light systems • More powerful than existing DLP 3D printers

E-Poxy delivers strong, thin-walled models.

Continuous High-Speed 3D Printing • Exceptionally fast builds • Minimal post-processing • Strong and reliable system Watch the video: envisiontec.com/cdlm