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HOT METAL GE ADDITIVE INTRODUCES THE SPECTRA H ELECTRON BEAM MELTING SYSTEM

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THE MAGAZINE FOR DESIGN-TO-MANUFACTURINg 4/23/18 INNOVATION

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HEAD OF CONTENT

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Daniel O’Connor e: daniel.oconnor@rapidnews.com t: 011 + 44 1244 952 398 DEPUTY GROUP EDITOR

Laura Griffiths e: laura.griffiths@rapidnews.com t: 011 + 44 1244 952 389 EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

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PRODUCTION Sam Hamlyn

Aerotech’s AGV-HP eliminates galvo drift for flawless long builds.

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FROM THE EDITOR PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

uring the opening remarks of a conference I attended in May, I felt my eyes roll so forcibly to the back of my head I nearly tipped backward oﬀ my chair. I'm paraphrasing here, but it was basically, "we need to change the way we think about design," we've definitely been saying that for the five years I've been working in the industry, have we still not changed? If not, when will we change? When the first caveperson struck up a fire, for how long were they saying, "we need to change the way we think about heating."

By the third talk at this conference, I wondered if I was trapped in a glitch in the Matrix; I'd seen the videos from two particular companies a good 100 times, I'd seen the applications ad nauseum. Perhaps I'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed, (there was only one side of the bed such was the size of the "hotel" "room"), but it seemed to me like additive manufacturing and the Messrs therein were becoming something of a broken record. Yes, we know additive manufacturing could save time, weight and cost but does it do that? Stop with the could and show us the has. Fortunately, the next two talks were as refreshing as the mojito offered up at the post-conference reception on a particularly scorching day whilst wearing a full suit, coat and lugging my laptop around. Both were talks on how additive manufacturing is being applied to significant effect in the transport industries. The first from Stefanie Brickwede, Head of 3D Printing at Deutsche Bahn (DB), showed us how DB isn't so concerned with topologically optimized prints, finished to an inch of their lives, they want the quick and dirty fixes for spare parts like plastic windscreen washer fluid containers. Stefanie even discussed how DB 3D printed a spare bracket straight from its traditional manufacturing CAD file in metal that was both

heavier and costlier than its conventional counterpart, railing against every fiber of additive manufacturing's touted benefits. Despite those cons, the part convinced some old skeptical engineers of the pros of 3D printing and since they've not looked back, DB estimate that it will print over 15,000 parts in 2018. Stefanie told us not to be afraid of printing boring parts; it's a great way to find out what does and doesn't work. Another way to find out what does and doesn't work is to rigorously test, over and over again until you can certify that your machine works and that the parts you're getting are repeatable enough to be a product from one of the world's most renowned brands. That's what Christian Gröschel, Project Leader, Production at BMW Group demonstrated during his talk. Christian demonstrated how BMW is now in series production in both polymers and metals for end-use parts that go onto cars on the road today. Whereas DB have an almost throw enough mud at the wall to see what sticks philosophy, BMW is methodical in its approach to what can and can't be printed on what machine. After those two talks and that mojito, my enthusiasm for all things additive was reinvigorated. Moreover, to complete the trifecta of transport that heads the top of this page; this issue has a focus on the aerospace sector, the place where 3D printing is applied almost as a matter of urgency. The transport sectors are leading the way in additive; it's time for everyone else to catch up... fortunately there's plenty of vehicles to choose from.

Druck on.

DANIEL O’CONNOR HEAD OF CONTENT

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TCT | VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 3

COVER STORY

6. HOT METAL

A first look at GE Additive’s new Spectra H Electron Beam Melting system.

AEROSPACE 8. LEARN TO FLY

Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griﬃths, takes a look at how 3D printing is changing the aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul industry.

12. MISSION: KEEP BIRDS IN THE AIR WITH AM

Editorial Assistant, Sam Davies, speaks to the U.S. Air Force’s Lifecycle Management Center’s Product Support Engineering Division.

RAPID + TCT 14. REVIEW

A roundup of the biggest launches and talks from this year’s event in Fort Worth, TX.

Tooling, Jigs & Fixtures

21. FIXTURE LIST

Sam runs the rule on the innovative implementations of additive in the world of jigs and fixtures.

24. MOLDING INCREASES ITS COOL

As a growing number of mold and die shops implement AM, it’s time those still on the fence took note.

MACHINING

33. THE RISE OF HYBRID MANUFACTURING

All-in-one additive plus subtractive machinery have had time to settle, Laura dives into this burgeoning sector.

27 SERVICE PROVIDERS

27. 50 YEARS OF ARMSTRONG One family business celebrates a major milestone combining craftsmanship and technology.

SIMULATION

31. GO WITH THE FLO

Simulation could be the catalyst for additive technologies to be truly adopted for series production, Head of Content, Daniel O’Connor looks at why.

Sam discusses new AM hardware and certifications with bureau, Met L Flo.

37. SIMULATE TO STIMULATE

40. READY TO POUNCE

Todd Grimm’s latest column discusses how you make yourself ready to seize on the next additive opportunity.

HOT METAL GE ADDITIVE INTRODUCES THE SPECTRA H ELECTRON BEAM MELTING SYSTEM

espite the leaps additive manufacturing (AM) has made over the past decade, there is one leap in particular so striking that you cannot attend an AM conference without hearing at least one mention of it, The GE LEAP Fuel Nozzle. At the recent Additive Manufacturing Users Group conference, Greg Morris, founder of Morris Technologies which was acquired by GE Aviation in 2012 - recounted the story of how a group of GE engineers in 2014 were tasked with the total re-design of an a-CT7 engine with a specific focus on performance, weight and cost. The project resulted in the additive manufacturing of 40% of its components. According to Morris, it also provided the spark that would ignite the GE Additive business. GE’s acquisition of two major metal AM companies, Concept Laser and Arcam, and subsequent forming of GE Additive was one of the most significant stories to come out of the industry in the last two years. The investment of around $1.5 billion validated the entire metal AM business. In the 18 months since the acquisitions, the speed of GE Additive's activity in AM has been comparable to the jet engines the LEAP fuel nozzle propels. At formnext powered by tct 2017, GE Additive introduced the A.T.L.A.S. Project (Additive Technology Large Area System), one of the largest metal AM systems on the market and can be scaled to suit customer's needs. The A.T.L.A.S system takes the reins from Concept Laser’s M Line Factory concept and to facilitate GE's ambitious growth goals;

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it recently commenced development of a 40,000 square foot facility in Lichtenfels, Germany. If the development and launch of an entirely new metal AM system in just 177 days didn't prove a dedication to R&D, GE Additive also released details of another new machine, the H1, based on binder jetting technology, which took less than 50 days to develop. We’ve also seen the expansion of GE’s network of Customer Experience Centres and strengthening of software and materials capabilities with the acquisition of GeonX and partnership with GKN.

HOT HARDWARE

That initial focus on Concept Laser hardware has left the industry to wonder if and when an Arcam machine would materialise. GE Additive answered those questions emphatically at this year’s RAPID + TCT event in Fort Worth, where the company lifted the curtain on its new Arcam EBM Spectra H system. The Spectra H is the next generation of Arcam’s A2X electron beam melting (EBM) machine. The ‘H’ stands for ‘hot metal’ and builds on the previous system’s capabilities by focusing on additive production of high heat and crack prone materials such as titanium aluminide (TiAl) at temperatures reaching 1000°C. “That is literally the benchmark,” Karl Lindblom, General Manager at Arcam EBM told TCT at the launch. “EBM is still the only commercial AM process which is capable of supporting the TiAl production requirements, and there are a number of unique applications where you need these

type of high heat metals and that's where our sweet spot is.” Compared to the A2X, the Spectra features a 39% increase in build volume at 250 x 250 x 340 mm and 50% faster build speeds. This productivity increase is the result of a 6kW HV-unit - double the power of previous systems - which means that all pre- and post-heating steps take half the time compared to current EBM machines. There is also improved layering which reduces need for heating, saving approximately five hours on a full build, and the incorporation of a moveable heat shield to retain heat in the build area. “Everyone is now asking for faster machines and that’s what we are delivering here, we have increased the build size and build speed,” Lindblom explained. “These things are, of course, extremely important because they are helping users to decrease costs and increase productivity.” The machine was developed by a small team leveraging feedback from a handful of lead customers and learning from its predecessor. This feedback has resulted in an end-to-end approach which reduces dependency on operators and incorporates automation techniques to improve accuracy with an automated self-dosing sieve and hopper filling station process, simplified machine set-up and closed powder handling to reduce risk of contamination. Initially, the Arcam EBM Spectra H will support both TiAl and Alloy 718 with additional Ni-super alloys support coming in 2019. GE Additive‘s materials science team is currently exploring a wide range of high heat

cover story

RIGHT:

THE WORLD’S LARGEST TIAL PART PRODUCED IN A COMMERCIAL AM SYSTEM

BELOW:

THE SPECTRA H EBM SYSTEM

materials, including; nickel superalloys, tungsten, CoCr, stainless steel and metal matrix composites. In doing so, GE is looking to go beyond aerospace targeting any industry where there is a need for this type of high-heat material including oil and gas and renewables.

THE STUDENT BECOMES THE MASTER

GE Additive is in a unique position as not only a developer of AM machines but also a longstanding user of the technology. It currently has more than 1,000 projects in progress and an estimated 50,000 AM parts in the field. One of its biggest customers is its own GE Aviation business which has already produced over 23,000 ﬂightquality additive parts alone but Lindblom believes there is potential to apply this improved EBM technology in other GE verticals such as GE Power. In an industry where non-disclosure agreements are common and major firms can be precious about revealing their competitive advantages to their competition, GE Additive is doing the opposite. The company is applying its knowledge as an AM customer to help potential users determine if the technology is right for them as part of its AddWorks consulting oﬀering which covers design, materials, part production and qualification.

“It's a service which we are providing to our customers to help them on this AM journey because it is not that easy,” Lindblom commented. “GE has been on this journey for a number of years and gained a lot of experience and that's what we want to share with our customers. I still think there is a lot of missionary work to be done by us.” Taking that a step further, the company has also pledged $10 million in investment over five years in educational programs to deliver polymer and metal 3D printers to primary and secondary schools and universities around the world. It is estimated that 180,000 students worldwide now have access to 3D printers because of this education program. The AM industry as a whole is reporting healthy figures, and the most recent Wohler’s report predicts that the industry will grow to around 27.3 billion USD (approx. 20.3B GBP / Euro 23.2B) by 2023. Just last year alone the industry grew by 21% including an 80% growth in metal systems. With record shipments reported last year for Arcam systems and the

GE Additive sales team doubling in size in just four months, GE Additive is certainly following that curve. In GE’s 2017 financial report, the company claimed it will have a specific AM adoption strategy and goals for each of its businesses by the end of 2018. As 69 Airbus and Boeing planes currently ﬂy with those same LEAP engines that provided the spark for AM just a few years ago and over 12,500 more on pre-order, it feels as though there couldn’t be a better time for GE to be expanding those horizons. “Well, it’s the best time isn't it?” Lindblom concludes. “I'm coming from the, I would say, conventional industry, and it's very exciting to be part of this fourth industrial revolution. But I also think it's good to have a number of large companies coming into the business, like GE, because I think that will industrialize the whole technology much faster and that's what we need.”

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LEARN A TO FLY WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

s a somewhat nerdy by-product of working in an industry that looks at manufacturing the world diﬀerently, I too find myself often viewing the world through an additive lens. Perhaps the place I do this most is when traveling on an airplane where I tend to scour the cabin for places where additive manufacturing (AM) could be present someday soon.

A LOOK AT HOW SOME OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST AEROSPACE AND MRO COMPANIES ARE EMBRACING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING.

The lifespan of an aircraft, typically between 20 and 30 years, makes maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and retrofit, both big and necessary businesses. Think of every plane you’ve been on in the last few years that still featured a now-defunct charging socket from the 1980s - aircraft are not changing overnight to keep up-to-date with consumer expectations. However, Airbus’ Global Market Forecast projects that over the next 20 years the commercial aircraft upgrades services market will be worth 180 billion USD. According to a variety of market reports, aerospace accounts for roughly 20% of the AM market. It oﬀers numerous benefits to the sector; part consolidation, reduced inventory, ondemand manufacturing, light-weighting reduced costs and fuel consumption. For replacement parts where timescales are tight, and downtime must be kept to a minimum, speed of delivery can be a game-changer. 

SHOWN:

A380 INSIDE HANGER AT ETHIAD ENGINEERING

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AEROSPACE

“For me, as an innovation director, I was always sure that AM would take oﬀ if you have functional integration,” Büning commented. “With dual extrusion and the right materials such as conductive or capacitive, it is possible to dramatically decrease the manufacturing process by embedding structural and functional performance within a single process chain. In my opinion, this is the way to go, and that's why BigRep is pushing hard on this.”

FLOOR-TO-FLOOR

Can (or indeed, should) you 3D print an entire airplane? Berlin-based BigRep is looking to answer that question from an interior perspective in partnership with Etihad Airways Engineering, taking a close look at every single part you see in the cabin, to explore where AM could offer a better solution. “Currently we are jointly working together with the innovation unit of Etihad Engineering to identify parts within the cabin – predominantly large format parts – that could be candidates for 3D printing,” Daniel Büning, Head of Global Strategy at BigRep explains. “It could be headrests, it could be side wall panels, it could be part of the seats or entertainment system. The core idea is to work with their lead designers and engineers to establish a novel digital workflow for AM cabin design.” Etihad is leveraging BigRep’s large-format polymer FDM (fused deposition modeling) systems, which will soon be located at its Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi, to reimagine non-flying parts for new aircraft and retrofit installations. As Etihad is the first airline MRO permitted by the EASA to certify, manufacture and fly 3D printed parts in-house, it already has a substantial advantage over a significant hurdle.

The project is part of NOWlab@ BigRep, BigRep's internal innovation department which looks at what’s to come in the industry in the next five to ten years. So, while you won’t see these parts ﬂying in your commercial airplane cabin tomorrow, the potential for future applications in functional integration and reducing production costs and time could be tremendous.

CERTIFICATION-READY

Over in Dubai, Emirates Engineering, part of the biggest airline in the UAE, has been actively exploring 3D printing for cabin parts for around two years and recently teamed with 3D Systems. The company, which provides MRO services for a wide range of Airbus and Boeing models, used selective laser sintering (SLS) to produce video monitor shrouds for its aircraft cabins. The first batch was printed in partnership with UUDS, a European aviation Engineering and Certification Oﬃce and Services Provider based in France, using 3D Systems’ new Duraform ProX FR1200 material, a ﬂame-retardant nylon-12 thermoplastic. The 3D printed monitor shrouds were 9-13% lighter than components

manufactured traditionally and could lead to significant reductions in fuel emissions and costs across an entire fleet. The parts have undergone a range of tests and are in the process of receiving EASA certification before they are installed on select Emirates aircraft. Emirates has already used AM to develop EASA-certified aircraft cabin air vent grills that were installed for on-board trials late last year. Both components are currently being evaluated before they are rolled out across Emirates fleet. Airbus, the second biggest aerospace manufacturer in the world, is no stranger to AM and has already produced thousands of parts such as brackets, clips, and holding devices using polymer processes. The latest is a spacer panel, located alongside the overhead storage compartments on commercial aircraft, produced in partnership with Materialise and set to be the first 3D printed parts placed in the cabins of Airbus’s A320 Family jetliners at Finnair. To the passenger, the part won’t look any different on the outside, but its weight has been optimized with a bionic design to achieve a 15% reduction compared to the original. “Conventional manufacturing has trained MRO managers to think in terms of manufacturing at scale to ensure cost benefits. AM is a game-changer because it allows for cost-effective production of even single parts,” Edouard de Mahieu, Project Manager, Manufacturing at Materialise told TCT. “AM enables the production of what is necessary now, even if it’s a highly 

“Imagine you have an aircraft that is 30 years old and there is a need to refurbish or retrofit them every other 5 to 10 years. Every one of those parts has to be certified,” Büning adds. “This is a major problem if you are not able to do that by yourself or with a certified partner.” Taking this a step further, BigRep is already embedding “digital smartness” into parts in combination with digitally tailored design methods. Hybrid manufacturing is also being explored, using oﬀ the shelf 6-axis industrial robots to print onto half-finished parts independent of its geometry or size as a “digital value add-on.” The first proof of concept is a full-scale print of an Airbus A320 sidewall on the BigRep ONE. The part was scanned to create a “digital twin” which is used to provide information to the robot about the part geometry and print conductive tracks, antennas and ornamental features.

ABOVE:

BIGREP HYBRID MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES USED TO EMBED ‘DIGITAL SMARTNESS’ ONTO PARTS AT ETIHAD ENGINEERING.

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Industrial Additive Technologies TRUMPF offers both key technologies for metal additive manufacturing: Laser Metal Fusion (LMF) and Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). Both processes meet the characteristics and quality required in various applications. Industrial solutions for the entire process by TRUMPF, based on the following keys to success: robust machines, intelligent digitalization and clever services. www.trumpf.com/s/additivemanufacturing

AEROSPACE

customized part. Ultimately, when your spare parts production is free from the economies of scale, the winner is performance.” The spacer panels are produced using Materialise’s Certified Additive Manufacturing process and then painted to Airbus cabin requirements, all using flame-retardant Airbus-approved materials. The Belgian company’s Certified AM facility holds several critical certifications including ISO 9001 for manufacturing and EN9100 and EASA 21.G for the aerospace industry which has already seen the company produce flight-ready parts for the Airbus A350 XWB. Materialise describes the process as more than a 3D print but rather “an entire quality system.” “Quality in AM can be affected at each stage of the value chain. That’s why we have defined quality management processes for each step of the manufacturing process, from data capture to build preparation, production to postprocessing, and final quality control,” Mahieu continued. “In order to define and hone these processes, we work very closely with our clients to understand their quality requirements and integrate them seamlessly into our infrastructure and workflows.”

TIME TO SPARE

SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) recently formed a joint venture with Stratasys to establish an AM service center for the manufacture of parts for commercial airlines. The Singaporean firm provides MRO services to more than 80 airlines worldwide. Combining SIAEC’s MRO industry knowledge and Stratasys’ AM leadership, the partnership aims to identify opportunities for 3D printing in aviation whether that’s advanced tooling or end-use cabin parts. “We'll do some prototyping work but we're more focussed on advanced tooling and production part opportunities which are less obvious and may take the customer, such as an MRO, a very long time to discover for themselves,” Daniel Thomsen, Stratasys secondee, Deputy General Manager – Joint Venture with SIA Engineering Company told TCT. “We are trying to work extremely closely with our customers and help them identify these advanced opportunities.”

Initially, they will look at interior cabin components and non-critical, non-loaded, singular parts which Thomsen believes will not only be a good starting point to get engineers thinking differently about AM but also for regulators to understand and become familiar with the utilization of the technology. “For successful deployment of AM, an MRO really needs to look at the pains in their services. The two pains that come to mind are unnecessary repetitive costs and extremely time-consuming workshop activities,” Thomsen explained. “These tend to be two good starting points. AM is an option and with strong knowledge behind that option, in many cases, can deliver the most economical and successful solution.” Whenever an aircraft is not flying, it is losing money, so driving down lead times for replacement components is crucial for airlines. By adopting AM into their spare part workflow, MROs could have the ability to keep stock quantities significantly lower and manufacture lesser volumes on demand with a catalog of parts that have been designed for AM. Unlike some of the more elaborate AM concepts we’ve seen for the aerospace industry, this doesn’t mean overhauling the entire look of an aircraft. In fact, Thomsen says in his view “you won’t see them flying.” Cosmetically, AM cabin parts will look the same, adhering to each airline’s aesthetic, but instead, they might be enhanced by internal features that can’t be seen, such as lattices, to reduce material and weight. “AM can produce more complex geometries where the complexity may not be seen due to being in the back of the part but will provide possibly stronger, lighter and more reliable parts than what was currently installed on the aircraft,” Thomsen adds. “This is certainly not just reproducing an existing part, but designing a new part solution, exploiting the benefits of AM”.

SHOWN:

AIRBUS 3D PRINTED SPACER PANELS WITH MATERIALISE CERTIFIED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

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011

AEROSPACE

MISSION: KEEP BIRDS IN THE AIR WITH AM WORDS: SAM DAVIES

hen Mike Froning settled into the role of Technical Advisor for the Product Support Engineering Division, at the U.S. Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre in 2015, his commanders gave him his mission: ‘We’ve got to get moving on additive manufacturing (AM). Research folks have been doing a lot of work for 20 years, but now we really need to get pumped up and using it.’ Froning tells of his latest assignment, in an almost 40-year-long career, at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference 2018. While he shares the stage with peers from the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps, he’s the only one of them who can boast being part of the consortium that acquired one of the first ever – serial number 6 – Stereolithography (SLA) machines. Installed in the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) it was used by ten companies within the region, including Delco General Motors, who Froning worked for. Back then, 3D printing was merely a rapid prototyping technology, and any idea that it could be anything more was simply pie in the sky. Fast forward 30 years and the U.S. Air Force is using it to keep "birds" in the air. At its disposal, it has more than 60 3D printing systems of varying sizes and process. Around 50 of them output polymer parts, some desktop, some suitable for

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the production of larger structures. There are six metal machines located between its Institute of Technology, Wright Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), OH; Tinker AFB, OK; and Warner Robins, GA locations, and a further ten with the UDRI. The processes include material extrusion, powder bed fusion, VAT photopolymerisation and directed energy deposition. And, so far, the Air Force has ten qualified AM parts on the C5 aircraft, including a door handle and hatch cover, with 17 more requested. The organization has also installed a ball turret disk on the Memphis Belle bomber plane. It’s a good start, but the Air Force is working towards implementing AM with more regularity. Soldiers out in the field need certified parts on-demand to complete missions when problems with their aircraft arise. The issue today is parts typically require certification, as does the process, and the material used, and so on. The solution tomorrow is a digital library that would provide soldiers with a central hub of qualified parts with global access. “Establishing a central 3D parts database is critical to meeting the Air Force goal of being able to print-ondemand, any time, in multiple locations

based upon warfighter needs and machine availability,” explained Debbie Naguy, of the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center’s Product Support Engineering Division. “It enables all Air Force AM sites with qualified machines, processes, and technicians to download and print parts as needed.” A materials database will supplement this library. Currently, the Air Force has in place a platform containing S-basis data (a minimum value dictated by an external specification with statistical assurance not known) of Ti-64 and 17-4 PH stainless steel. It will expand to B-basis (90% of the population values are expected to equal or better the minimum value, with a 95% level of confidence) and A-basis (99% of the population values are expected to equal or better the minimum value, with a 95% level of confidence) within the next year, and then begin to incorporate data on aluminium, Inconel 718 and cobalt chrome. In the long run, the parts library and materials database will both ensure the parts being shipped out to those in the field are safe and eﬃcient, and done so much quicker than is currently possible, particularly important when soldiers are up against the clock. 

AEROSPACE

“As we continue to validate 3D printed components with assistance and participation of our Program Oﬃces, AM part designs will be loaded into the database for use in the field,” Naguy told TCT. “The goal is to print on demand, any time, on any qualified machine in the Air Force inventory to increase mission readiness. This requires validated machines, processes and qualified operators. The Air Force has a longterm plan of rolling AM out to the field with a rhythmic refresh rate in order to support this.” For the validation of parts, the Lifecycle Management Center will require the assistance of the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). There are over 30 people dedicated to AM research, both the processes and the materials, and are motivated by the design freedom that is available to them, the enhancement that can bring to a range of parts, and the impact that can then have out in the field. They began by printing jigs and fixtures – ‘the low hanging fruit of AM’ – to improve their understanding of the technology, but their current work goes more in-depth. One example is with metal powder bed fusion for propulsion applications and how the variability of processes impact on the part properties.

“Understanding the sources of variability, and the eﬀects of defects. Let’s say we have a tiny pore,” Dr. Jennifer Fielding, Section Chief of Composites, Performance and Application, AFRL, begins to explain, “if we have clusters of porosity what does that do to fatigue life? Trying to understand those types of things and then being able to evaluate those defects is a big focus for us. That can be challenging with additive. You can have thick walled areas and thin walled areas and just doing one setting within an NT scan may cause the operator or the capabilities of the machine to miss some defects that are present. “In order for us to recommend additive and adopt additive manufacturing, we really just need to make sure that we have a stable process and that we are able to detect defects that could cause problems.” So, it’s a safety-first approach at the research bases, while the Lifecycle Management Center puts in place a strategy that can kick into eﬀect when the processes and the parts are all certified. “It’s all about standardizing our AM with documentation, certified operators, and machines. It’s all about how we get to the future where we have a global manufacturing network, a digital thread, and a cyber-secure parts library,” stresses Froning. “Our whole goal in the Air Force with

additive is not to become manufacturers but to keep birds in the air. We’re never going to be making more than a few parts at a time, but when we need them we need them.” “This technology provides many wins for the Air Force,” Naguy adds, “and there are thousands more to come.” On Froning’s first day as Technical Advisor for Product Support, the task at hand was spelled out to him. From then to now, the number of 3D printers has doubled, more and more additively manufactured parts are being used safely, and now materials databases and qualified library parts are being established. Froning’s duty only began 36 months ago, but his motivation to help make this reality came six years prior when he first walked through the door at Wright-Patterson to work with the Propulsion Acquisition Division. “There’s a lot of old birds, the P52 first ﬂew in 1952, it was operational in 1955, and when I started at the Air Force nine years ago, the Director of Engineering told me that the last pilot to ﬂy the P52, their mother hasn’t been born yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t a true statement even today.” There’s no surprise, because Froning has seen the development of AM from the beginning, has seen its impact over the last few years, and sees a future of digital parts libraries and materials databases. Fully Mission Capable? You wouldn’t bet against it.

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RAPID + TCT REVIEW WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

their game.

ho knew 3D printing could be so exciting?" asked US Luge Technical Director, John Owen as he took to the keynote stage at RAPID + TCT to talk about how 3D technologies have pushed Team USA to the top of

Who knew 3D printing could be so exciting? Ask the 5,000 plus people who poured through the doors of North America’s largest 3D manufacturing event to get a closer look at the launches and applications that point to a maturing but nonetheless exciting industry. Of those in attendance for the day one keynote, kitted out with impressive large-scale printed props from Titan Robotics, 57% were first-timers. When asked what they believed posed the biggest potential opportunity for AM, a massive 61% said full-scale production. Those responses alone were an incredibly positive start to four days of conferencing and show floor conversations which indicate that the shift to production is gaining the traction it has implored but also that education to support those newcomers in their AM journey is as important as ever. The story continued on the show floor which hosted a myriad of launches and announcements, providing a good cross section of the state of the industry from over 300 exhibiting companies both fresh and established. On the hardware side, GE Additive had big news as it launched its first Arcam EBM machine (more in our cover story on p. 6) along with EOS which launched the EOS P 810, a large frame polymer system designed to process its first carbon fibre-reinforced PEKK material, HT-23 (p. 17). Stratasys revealed more details of its upcoming metal 3D printing solution and whilst there was no metal machine present on the show floor, the company did introduce updated versions of its full-colour J750 and Fortus 900mc platforms (p. 17). Metal 3D printing start-ups, Formalloy and Xact Metal also launched new machines. Formalloy’s X-Series laser metal deposition system provides a cost-effective solution for printing in a wide range of metals while Xact Metal introduced two powder bed fusion systems with an entry point of $80,000. In addition, we saw new machines from ExOne with its compact Innovent + system, three new solutions from Vader Systems based on its patented Magnet-o-Jet technology, parts from UnionTech’s new large-format RSPro 1400, a demo of Desktop Metal’s large Production System, Aleph Objects’ new LulzBot’s Mini 2 printer, and Ultimaker’s larger S5 system (p. 19) – though that’s merely a snapshot of new machines on display.

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RAPID + TCT concluded that the industry is strong as metal AM skyrockets and significant investment in R&D continues to happen.

LEFT:

FIRST EVER #3DTALK PANEL SESSION AT RAPID + TCT

But it wasn’t all about hardware as visitors also got to see more application-orientated developments from the likes of Xjet which announced two medical users. MakerBot showcased examples of its machines being applied to the product development cycle for Kuka robotics and lacrosse equipment manufacturer, StringKing, and MarkForged showed how it’s helping to transform manufacturing lines with printed jigs, tools and fixtures. From the materials market, Solvay oﬃcially launched its high-performance 3D printing filaments and e-commerce platform based on its KetaSpire PEEK and Radel PPSU polymers, and EnvisionTEC showcased E-RigidForm, its strongest material to date, with a 328-foot 3D printed chain. Arconic spoke about the launch of its two thermally stable aluminium alloys which leverage the rapid solidification rate of laser powder bed AM, and NanosSteel introduced its BLDRmetal L-40 material, an aﬀordable printable tool steel capable of producing crack free components such as tooling, dies and moulds.

ABOVE:

THE SHOW FLOOR WAS FULL OF TECHNOLOGY LAUNCHES AND APPLICATIONS

LEFT:

RAPID + TCT KEYNOTE THEATER

Plus, Link3D launched the first blockchain technology for AM, Cideas teased more from its new Paxis technology, supposedly 10 times faster than other SLA technologies, with a fullsize surfboard at 75 inches long, and European companies like DyeMansion made their U.S. debut. The conference line-up was equally stacked with presentations from the Mayo Clinic, LAIKA and Lockheed Martin covering everything from film to defense. Industry analyst Terry Wohlers also gave his outlook on the future of the AM industry which he predicts could grow to $27.3B by 2023. Wohlers

This year also played host to TCT’s second #3DTalk panel session with Women in 3D Printing and Cyant, dispelling the common myths around AM. The panel of industry experts from Caterpillar, Oak Ridge National Lab, Air Force Research Laboratory and University of Waterloo discussed the need for more education to understand the possibilities and limitations of AM but equally, the need for manufacturers to “embrace the fact that [manufacturing] is changing”. Attendees also got an update on the SME’s ITEAM (Independent Technical Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing) platform from Dr Michael Grieves at the Florida Institute of Technology, who said: "By working together in a collaborative effort, we can advance the additive manufacturing industry”. ITEAM was launched last year as a webbased evaluation system designed to support manufacturers using 3D printing technologies. The idea is to build out a platform called RAMP (RAPID Additive Manufacturing Platform) Architecture which will be a secure repository of all AM machines/materials to help manufacturers make informed decisions about AM. The success of this year’s RAPID + TCT, the biggest iteration of the show to date, is a testament to the growth of the industry as a whole whether it’s AM machines, materials, software, postprocessing, metrology or beyond. In his opening remarks, Jeff Krausse, CEO of SME said that events like RAPID + TCT play a “vital role in defining the future of AM” by “convening the most experienced and influential community in the industry”. As the partnership between TCT and SME continues to flourish with the launch of two new events; RAPID + TCT West (set to launch in 2019) and the RAPID + TCT Executive Strategy Summit, that role is going to become all the more prominent, and the community, even bigger.

RAPID + TCT 2019 will take place on May 21-23 at the Cobo Center, Detroit, MI RAPID + TCT Executive Strategy Summit will take place on October 17-18 2018 in Palm Desert, CA

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Strong Enough ? Determine Today Whether Your Part Can Withstand the Demands of Tomorrow

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RAPID + TCT

A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE BIGGEST RAPID + TCT LAUNCHES

STRATASYS ADVANCES PROTOTYPING AND PRODUCTION LINE-UP

EOS LAUNCHES P 810 POLYMER MACHINE FOR PEKK 3D PRINTING

Stratasys made several announcements at RAPID + TCT including enhanced prototyping and production hardware, and a software platform for jigs and fixtures (more on p. 21).

EOS launched its new EOS P 810 polymer 3D printing platform specifically designed to process the new high-performance, ALM material HT-23. Developed in close cooperation with Boeing to target the aerospace industry, EOS claims this is the world’s first economic, high-temperature polymer AM solution that will address industry requirements for demanding high-performance parts.

The new Stratasys J750 and J735 have been designed to enable engineers and designers to produce more realistic prototypes. With over 500,000 colour combinations and enhanced GrabCAD Print software, both PolyJet 3D Printers can simulate parts with full color and textures, ranging from rigid to flexible, transparent to opaque with the added benefit of two new materials, VeroYellowV and VeroMagentaV. Phil Reeves, Stratasys, VP Strategic Consulting told TCT: “There is always going to be rapid prototyping and in a world of VR and immersive environments, there will still be a need for tangible, tactile prototypes, that’s not going away, but what’s happening is that the requirements are getting higher, companies are wanting higher specification materials, higher resolution, higher values in those prototypes.” While Stratasys continues to develop solutions for prototyping, it is also continuing to drive the adoption of AM as a manufacturing tool. The new F900 series is built on the Fortus 900mc platform and is available in three different solutions including; a standard F900 with MTConnect-ready interface and production-ready accuracy and repeatability; F900 Aircraft Interiors Certification Solution (AICS) delivering performance and traceability required for flight-worthy parts; and F900 PRO, a production-grade system, able to produce parts with the 'highest FDM repeatability and performance' in ULTEM 9085 resin. “There have been a number of drivers from our customers, last year we went through this whole aerospace certification program, and then companies started saying, ‘this is amazing but I’m not in aerospace, I don’t want to have to necessarily pay a premium for an aerospace product, but I want to get the benefits of it’.” Reeves added. “So we thought maybe we need to package it in a different way. Let’s utilize all the gains we made for the aerospace work but package it for non-aerospace customers.”

The system builds on the EOS P 800 largeframe system and features a 700 x 380 x 380 mm build volume and two 70-Watt lasers to produce large structural parts with good dimensional accuracy and increased productivity. HT-23 is the first carbon fiber-reinforced PEKK material that can be processed on EOS systems, as such offering isotropic part properties. The material delivers high strength, low weight and is capable of withstanding high temperatures. It is also the first high-performance material with a low refresh rate of 40 percent, contributing substantially to reduced costs-per-part. “Our EOS P 810 polymer 3D printing platform and the ALM HT-23 material enabled us to help Boeing reach high demands for weight reduction, cost efficiency and reduced assembly time for components,” Scott Killian, aerospace business development manager, EOS North America, said. “Intensive testing of the final parts from the EOS P 810 proves the technology platform addresses Boeing’s needs and allows them to achieve homogenous part properties within the overall building volume, a key factor for cost efficient manufacturing of air ducts, small turbines and holders.” VOLUME 4 ISSUE 3

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High Speed 3D Printing SLM | Concept | Arcam | EOS | TRUMPF

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RAPID + TCT

SOLVAY INTRODUCES SPECIALTY POLYMER FILAMENTS

ULTIMAKER LAUNCHES LARGEST PROFESSIONAL DESKTOP PRINTER TO DATE

Global chemical firm, Solvay launched three specialty polymer filaments at RAPID + TCT, the first in a wider portfolio of additive manufacturing (AM) products as the company plans to "take AM to the next level". Based on its KetaSpire PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and Radel PPSU (polyphenylsulfone) polymers, Solvay is gearing up to deliver specialty polymer filaments and powders designed specifically for high-end AM applications.

Ultimaker launched the latest addition to its portfolio and its biggest machine to date, the Ultimaker S5 which it believes is its most eﬀective product yet for the printing of functional prototypes, tools and end-use parts.

“The industry was crying out for new materials because in the last 20 years there have been a handful of materials available for AM,” Brian Alexander, Global Product and Application Manager at Solvay Specialty Polymers explained. “If you want to go into aerospace, you need FST, if you want to go into medical, you need specifications, so people are coming to the limit of what can be done with PLA, ABS, polycarbonate.” Two of these filaments leverage Solvay's highperformance KetaSpire PEEK material, recently showcased in Solvay's AM Cup 3D printing challenge, to deliver good fusion between printed layers, high part density and exceptional part strength including in the z-axis. The third filament is based on Solvay's Radel PPSU, offering excellent layer fusion, high transparency, elongation and toughness for 3D printed parts. Each material is completely open and can be used on any FDM platform. Christophe Schramm, Business Manager AM for Solvay’s Specialty Polymers commented: “We advocate an open system. We believe the industry, at the stage where it is, needs to be able to use different materials and different printers, so that the end customer can choose the optimal combination for the given process, given design and given material.” Alongside materials for extrusion-based processes, the company is also developing an AM powder based on its NovaSpire polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) polymer aimed at applications in aerospace and healthcare.

“The big things about the S5: 1) it’s bigger; 2) in this attempt to continue to evolve the user experience both on the front end and the back end, adding the screen versus the previous screen, there’s the next level up in terms of bed levelling and automation, [the machine] will be enabled for more abrasive materials like carbon fibre with the print head and the feeder at the back, there’s a filament flow sensor now at the back to monitor [the amount of material remaining],” John Kawola, President of Ultimaker North America told TCT on the show floor. “There’s a whole bundle of things that make this easier to use, it’s a lot more capable in terms of range of material. And [although] it’s bigger, we still feel that the very large majority of the parts that are made in the world fit in machines these size.” With build envelope dimensions of 330 x 240 x 300 mm, the S5 boasts fully integrated hardware, software and materials configuration, and supports a wider range of materials, including engineering plastics, like Nylon and PC. Ultimaker also launched its own Tough PLA filament, optimized for large prototyping models, tooling or manufacturing aids. It is said to have an impact strength similar to the company’s ABS filament, with a higher stiffness and matte surface finish quality. Ultimaker has also developed a mobile app which enables users to keep updated with a print’s progress while on the move.

[FOR THESE STORIES IN FULL AND MORE RAPID + TCT INTERVIEWS VISIT: MYTCT.CO/RAPID_TCT]

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3D Metal Printing | Heat Treatment | Machining www.3DMT.com

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Jigs & Fixtures

THE FIXTURE LIST SAM DAVIES RUNS THE RULE OVER NEW APPROACHES TO THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF JIGS AND FIXTURES.

ohn Dulchinos, Jabil’s VP of Digital Manufacturing, holds his thumb and index finger as close together as possible without them touching, the slight waft of air between the two representing jigs and fixtures' chunk of the $12T manufacturing market. Jigs and fixtures don't have the glamour of final parts, they're not even as sexy as prototypes, but they are a necessary evil that the majority of manufacturing requires. With a slew of innovative thinking in additive manufacturing (AM) there's something of a jigs and fixtures revolution. Volkswagen Autoeuropa won a TCT Award by achieving a 98% cost saving and an 89% time-saving by using a host of Ultimaker systems to print tools directly on the assembly ﬂoor. Multi-billion-dollar

manufacturer, Jabil has an army of Ultimakers producing jigs and fixtures in small volumes, as and when required. The results are similarly impressive with an 80% reduction in delivery time and 40% reduction in costs. As the 2018 edition of RAPID + TCT commenced, Jabil announced its Additive Manufacturing Network, which, in the long-term, will see dozens of HP's Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) platforms deployed in manufacturing facilities all around the world. Jabil is serious about leveraging MJF as a volume manufacturing tool to deliver end-use parts to its customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical and consumer goods industries, and such are the capabilities of the MJF machines, foresee manufacturing tooling, jigs and fixtures concurrently to optimize the whole process.

It will be enabled by HP’s 380 x 284 x 380 mm build envelope which can print multiple unique parts at rapid speeds. It means Jabil would be able to let tools ‘ride for free’ as end-use manufacturing ensues, and effectively buy the company time. “Jigs and fixtures are less cost sensitive than making a part. We’re always trying to squeeze costs out of the process,” John Dulchinos, Jabil’s VP of Digital Manufacturing tells TCT, “but the ability to get this to do better, faster turns and get a fixture and jig that streamlines the process is more important than ‘can we save a few pennies on fixture and jigs?’” HP 3D Printing’s VP, Global Head of Customer and Market Development, Scott Schiller continues: “There’s way more cost impact in the flow of the production line, and if you have a change notification coming through and you need to change that jig for the whole production line to work, timing is everything.” Jabil's MJF strategy is designed to optimize efficiency, though the Ultimakers will remain for one-off production runs. The new method will require Jabil engineers to get creative with the design of jigs and fixtures to ensure parts are stackable or collapsible. 

SHOWN:

ASSEMBLY FIXTURE DEVELOPED ON HP’S MULTI JET FUSION PLATFORM

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MAKE THE MOST OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING Autodesk Netfabb helps you quickly get from 3D model to successfully printed parts. Netfabb combines efficient build preparation capabilities with tools to optimize designs for additive manufacturing, simulate metal additive processes, and plan for CNC post-processing.

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Jigs & Fixtures

SHOWN:

AN ASSEMBLY FIXTURE MANUFACTURED BY JABIL USING AN ULTIMAKER MACHINE.

part inside the print preparation tool, and within a matter of minutes, have the design specifications for their jig or fixture that they require. “We’re trying to take the brain of someone who has been doing this for ten years, the tools that are in Insight [a Stratasys print preparation software], and the easy user interface in GrabCAD Print, and put them together,” explained Shuvom Ghose, Go-To-Market Engineer, Stratasys.

BELOW:

THIS 3D PRINTED TOOL, PRODUCED USING TOUGH ULTEM 9085 MATERIAL, MANUFACTURED BY INDAERO, FITS AGAINST THE CURVED PANEL INDEPENDENTLY AND FREES UP OPERATORS TO UNDERTAKE OTHER PRODUCTION JOBS.

That third design consideration is relevant on FDM platforms too. Stratasys, the company famed for bringing the FDM process to market, has a range of industry players harnessing its technology for tooling. The likes of Boeing and Orbital ATK are among those taking advantage of the potential to streamline operations by making jigs and fixtures quickly and almost immediately integrating them into the manufacturing process, and soon they’ll have a platform to help enhance the design of those tools. With its latest software product release, Stratasys is looking to make the entire process as quick, and as easy, as possible. Driven by customer need, the ‘fundamental bedrock’ of Stratasys’ jigs and fixtures software is to pull in native CAD data, rather than require neutral CAD, to design parts. The company has done away with the ‘Stratasysms’, language that was only relevant to Stratasys products, because ‘that’s not how engineers think,’ instead striving for simplicity. Engineers might want to make things smaller, or stronger, or lighter, and so now they can, using a slider to alter these properties to visualize the change better, or for more precision, input the numbers manually. Then with the click of a button, the design is updated. Users can change the geometry of a

From vendors and users of AM technology alike, there’s a concerted effort to enhance an already promising application, proven to yield impressive results, by implementing focused strategies around their development. Stratasys and Jabil are two such companies, and it could have a significant impact on the way we design the tools as well as the way we manufacture them. “If you want to make a jig, it’s got to be accurate,” Phil Reeves, Stratasys VP Strategic Consulting, says. “There’s a whole range of applications where these higher performance materials like ULTEM, PPSF, and PEKK, have a place on that shop floor. Jigs and fixtures is one of them. Until now, the problem has been the people with the prototyping machines haven’t got the software to design the jigs and fixtures. That’s where GrabCAD Jigs and Fixtures software comes in.” “Companies like Jabil make their living in continuous improvement, lean operations, and so we need to constantly be iterating an assembly jig because it streamlines the workflow. It will be a valuable thing to do,” Dulchinos explains. “Seems to me that, in the long run, all fixtures and jigs will be 3D printed, some will be in plastic, some will be in metal, but ultimately it just makes perfect sense.” John Dulchinos points out Jabil’s implementation of AM mainly centers on the manufacture of functional end-use parts. But Jabil is a company that manufactures millions of parts a year, and not all of them will be 3D printed, meaning during the manufacture of many products, Jabil will need a jig to guide tools in operation and fixtures to hold parts down. Eckhart, Volkswagen, and Ricoh will too. And between them, they will soon have tailored methods enabling them to best-use their preferred 3D printing process for tooling components. Jigs and fixtures might only make up a smidge of the manufacturing market today, but taking into consideration the plethora of benefits, the focus from AM OEMs, and the dexterity of users, it just makes sense that this application grows.

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TOOLING, Jigs & Fixtures

MOLDING INCREASES ITS COOL WORDS : LAURA GRIFFITHS

AS A GROWING NUMBER OF MOLD AND DIE SHOPS IMPLEMENT ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING (AM), IT’S TIME THOSE STILL ON THE FENCE TOOK NOTE, AS ONE SHOP TELLS TCT. LEFT:

METAL 3D PRINTED CORES PRODUCED ON THE PRO X DMP 300

BELOW:

JARAD RAUCH, B&J SPECIALITY IT & 3D PRINTING MANAGER

corn field in Indiana isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when thinking about technology, but B&J Specialty Inc., a 35-year old mold, die and build-to-print tooling provider, is showing that you can find innovation in the most unexpected places. Founded as a small shop in a garage by a father and son team to meet the needs of local factories, B&J has grown into a family of organizations that are always striving to be on the cutting-edge of technology. “We have always been able to excel and succeed because we always look for technology to be the answer to how we make that next step,” Jarod Rauch of B&J Specialty Inc. told TCT. “We have seen so many tool shops in our area and the industry, that don't strive to improve and before you know it, they're no more.” B&J invested in a 3D Systems ProX DMP 300 metal 3D printer along with Cimatron mold design and 3DXpert AM software to enable them to create complex geometries and apply conformal cooling strategies into mold designs that would be impossible with traditional methods. In the plastics molding industry, cooling lines and circuits are typically the last things to be incorporated into a design. Traditional methods of cooling a mold have been limited and ineﬃcient, usually done by drilling intersecting holes throughout the geometry and often leading to

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defects such as warping, sink marks, and long molding cycle times. “When we build tools that do not have adequate cooling there is a lot of warping,” Rauch explained. “We have to build adjustment into our design knowing that after we get the sample part molded, we'll have to run it across our blue light scan machine and figure out how it defects from the original geometry and then reverse that. With conformal cooling, I’m able to reduce a lot of that warpage so I can get a mold from build into production much faster.” The cooling stage can take up over half of the overall injection mold cycle, so optimal cooling is vital. With metal 3D printing in-house, B&J can create molds in maraging steel, which can be heat treated and machined, and design peak cooling passages inside a part which maintain a uniform distance between the molding surface and cooling lines. “If you take a high-value mold that's going to produce 2.5-3 million parts

and you reduce five seconds per cycle oﬀ that - if you break that down, you've just paid wages for somebody for two years,” Rauch elaborated. In some cases, the process has resulted in a 40% reduction in cycle times, 30% production rate increase, improved part quality and increased performance of the tooling itself. In one particular mold cavity test, a conventionally manufactured part had over 132-degree deviation in temperature which can be catastrophic for a plastic mold. With 3D printed conformal cooling passages, the part had only 18-degree temperature ﬂuctuation across the cavity resulting in over 86% improvement in cooling. Currently, AM has penetrated around 2% of B&Js business through not only conformal cooling applications but increased part complexity and removal of material with lattice structures. Rauch believes by educating customers and encouraging an open mindset, that number can only continue to grow. “I see that gaining and doubling and tripling, I would say hopefully in the next five years, if not sooner because once we get one customer on board and their results start spreading throughout the molding industry, other customers are going to jump on board.”

BELOW:

MOLD DESIGN WITH CONFORMAL COOLING CHANNELS CREATED WITH CIMATRON

SERVICE PROVIDER MAP 2018

nside this issue, you'll find our annual Service Provider pull-out. There are 21 companies listed across the U.S., who provide services that can help to turn your idea into a reality.

Of late TCT has been extolling the virtues of SMEs, who have changed the way they manufacture with the use of 3D printing. A recent report on the state of the additive manufacturing industry suggested that there wasn't a manufacturer that wouldn't benefit from 3D printing in some way, shape or form. Have a look at your inventory, is there a low-volume part you buy in from a third party? Do you have a lost or broken part? Is your tooling costing too much? Prototyping taking too long? Chances are 3D printing could be the answer, and there's no better way to dip your toe into the waters of additive manufacturing than via a service provider. The service providers on this map have experience by the bucket load; they know how to get your project oďŹ&#x20AC; the ground whether it is sketched on the back of an envelope or a collaborative cloud-based CAD drawing. Their technology is vast from 3D scanners to metal 3D printing systems, all you need to do is pick up the phone, email them or visit the website.

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SERVICE PROVIDERS

50 YEARS OF ARMSTRONG

FROM NASA TO THE ROLLING STONES – A LOOK AT ARMSTRONG RAPID MANUFACTURING’S 50-YEAR HISTORY COMBINING CRAFTSMANSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY

he last 50 years have seen many technological milestones. In 1968, man was yet to walk on the moon, computers were enormous, and the plastics industry was about to boom. For a family business in Syracuse, NY, 1968 would mark the beginning of legacy as a leading manufacturing supplier to some of the biggest companies in the world. Founded by John and Betty Armstrong, who came to the U.S. from Coventry, UK, where John started out as a Wood and Metal Pattern Maker apprentice, Armstrong RM began with modest dreams of building a small firm of five. Today, as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, Armstrong employs over 150 people, headed up by the family’s next generation. “I was 9-years-old and with my dad at the plant when the first equipment was delivered,” Peter Armstrong, President of Armstrong RM recalls. “I didn’t have a clue what it was. Today, decades later, I still see some of that original equipment as I walk around our plant.” When Armstrong started out, the company intended to make cast molds for plastic

molding, but soon got into the RIM (Reaction Injection Moulding) process when a customer problem turned into an opportunity. A clothing designer came to Armstrong to produce a mannequin mold but soon During the 1970s, the struggled to find anyone to run the body forms. A short conversation with a local company expanded, leasing a new facility and ramping its team up to around 75 material supplier later and a 50-piece employees. Throughout the next decade, order for RIM polyurethane was made. rapid growth continued as Armstrong After a few successful years, it was became a primary supplier to companies at decided that getting into the casting the beginning of the telecomm technology business, where John had started oﬀ at explosion. Additional locations were Sims Castings in the early 60s, would be sought, and a machine shop was added. the way to go when a sales rep showed Armstrong currently boasts a state-ofup at the Armstrong home in Minoa with the-art 100,000 square ft. manufacturing 37 aluminum casting jobs to quote for technology giant, IBM. The team can still facility featuring numerous casting, molding, remember the meeting in the Armstrong machining and rapid prototyping processes for prototypes and low volume metal or family living room going on until the plastic production, along with a recently early hours when what was thought to acquired space in Hingham, MA. TCT paid be an initial order for a handful of the a visit to the new oﬃce last year where most suitable parts ended with IBM examples of handcrafted wooden  ordering quantities of all 37.

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that by the early 2000s, the industry landscape looked very diﬀerent. As Armstrong describes, “the honeymoon in manufacturing was over.” But the lean period - “lean” still meaning 150 employees - was by no means the end and as the country started to get its mojo back, so did Armstrong. The company carved itself a reputation within a highly competitive, technology driven market, which saw huge orders from those initial blue-chip customers like IBM. By 2008, Armstrong reached a high-water mark with sales close to 30 million USD.

HAND CRAFTED WOOD PATTERN

BELOW:

ARMSTRONG WAS AN EARLY ADOPTER OF SLA

BOTTOM RIGHT:

ENGINE HOUSING USING AIRSET SAND CASTING PROCESS

protecting the homeland under oceans on submarines; or cast hubcaps for President Obama’s inaugural limo. models and plastic prototypes provided a clear view of how the company has evolved over the years. “We try to utilize any technology that helps us fulfil our mission,” Paul Armstrong, Director of Marketing told TCT. “We find that many time-tested older methods like casting aluminum can provide the best path to manufacture a part especially if taking advantage of more 21st century technology in the process such as AM models, CMM inspection or CNC Machining. We like to think of ourselves as a fine blend of the 14th and 21st Centuries.” Armstrong has always been about embracing old school craftsmanship with modern technologies. In 1994, the company was the first manufacturer in New York State to purchase and utilize a 3D Systems stereolithography machine. Being an early adopter meant Armstrong spent much of the decade focussing on its rapid prototyping business, creating models for manufacturing cast injection molds in a variety of consumer related applications from Black and Decker to Whirlpool, and McDonalds. “Installing 3D Systems equipment was significant as it was new, exciting technology that our customers were just learning about,” Peter explained. “It positioned us as an early technology leader, pulled in a lot of customer interest and was a significant advancement to improve our services and reduce lead times.”

“Over the years, we have made so many interesting parts for the cuttingedge technology of the time,” Paul added. “Most recently we have been working with Rethink Robotics of Boston in developing and launching the Sawyer robot, we worked with Civiq Cityscapes on the Link NYC kiosks all over greater New York City. My favorite part we made in the early days was a cast aluminum guitar body for a local guitar maker named Jim Brunet. He gave one of his first guitars to Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones who used it that night at their concert at the Carrier Dome in front of 50,000 fans.” By the end of the 90s, Armstrong had grown to 240 employees with sales over 20 million USD but technological shifts and major events in U.S. history, meant

Today, customers include the likes of Uber, Rethink Robotics, Medtronic and Boeing, still comprising that old school mentality with modern solutions whether making one or 1,000 parts. The company has grown from a “mom and pop” shop into a modern manufacturing facility, but there are still new challenges, particularly in exciting the next generation to get involved in manufacturing and engineering. “Skilled labor is much scarcer as manufacturing has been perceived as a declining career path when in fact with the advent of all the new advanced manufacturing technologies the high skilled opportunities are endless,” Paul commented. Armstrong’s motto is, “a strong future stands behind us.” There’s a rich history of experience, knowledge and of course, mistakes made, but Armstrong is by no means resting on its laurels. It can’t, the manufacturing industry is constantly changing and in the current age of automation and new processes coming in at a rapid rate, the team is not afraid of getting stuck into the latest technology or opportunity. Paull concludes: “All of that drives us forward, to keep providing high quality castings and molded plastics parts as we head into our next 50 years.”

Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find an area within which Armstrong hasn’t made some form of model or part, whether it’s in space on the NASA shuttle;

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nd-use parts, manufacturing aids, prototypes, presentation models, test and evaluation models, new concept models, interiors,” lists Carl Dekker, the Owner, Chief Sanitation Engineer, and doer of whatever needs to be done, at Met-L-Flo, as per his LinkedIn profile. Nearly 30 years ago, when 3D printing was brought into the firm, those applications were to-dos. Today, they are have-dones. With a couple of new hardware additions, and some ongoing work on the certification side, you can expect Met-L-Flo to keepdoing.

Met-L-Flo serves an array of companies in the aerospace and defense fields, exactly who and exactly what for, must remain undisclosed. What isn’t undisclosed is Met-L-Flo’s reward for continuing to adopt 3D printing technologies. The company started out in 1969 as a consultancy for the metal forging industry, but when Dekker introduced 3D printing in 1991, the consultancy business became a separate entity, and Met-L-Flo began providing a rapid prototyping service. “Met-L-Flo started from a need to facilitate rapid prototyping when stereolithography began,” Dekker tells TCT. “In the late 1990s and early 2000s, we acknowledged the potential of rapid prototyping to become a viable manufacturing technology and began the process of reinventing our organization to also grow manufacturing applications. In the mid-2000s, we actively targeted the aerospace and defense markets.”

opportunities to reliably and repeatedly produce products via additive manufacturing.”

In line with the 3D printing industry, its service has evolved. Rapid prototyping is still part of the business, but gradually the company has aligned with industry players to begin additively manufacturing (AM) end-use parts. Met-L-Flo is also making strides to overcome the hurdles of standardization and certification. “[Aerospace and defense companies] understand and expect quality, they respect their vendor relationships and have applications that benefit from low volume production capabilities,” stresses Dekker. “With our ITAR, ISO 9001:2015 and AS1900D certifications, we are structured to meet the needs of aerospace and defense clients. “Many of [them] have standards of their own already in place. We hope that additional standards may lead to greater uniformity when manufacturing these parts. As these standards become commonplace in manufacturing, new markets will have

TOP:

FOUR POSITION SHIFTER WHICH WON THE TECHNICAL COMPETITION AT AMUG 2013. PROCESS: SLA.

LEFT:

HANS SOLO BLASTER THAT MET-L-FLO PRODUCTION MANAGER, BILL BRAUNE, MADE IN A DAY AND A HALF AS A GIFT FOR CARL TO DISPLAY AT AMUG 2018. PROCESS: SLA.

That vision is a far cry from the first Met-L-Flo implementation of 3D printing for an end-use application that Dekker remembers. It was back in the ‘90s when he used the stereolithography (SLA) process to produce patterns, which were then finished, decorated and molded, to manufacture end caps for cellular communication station testing devices for Northern Telecom of Canada. The 150 castings took almost a month back then. Now, they’d be done in a day. Dekker assesses that AM is growing in parallel with the demand for successful applications, parts that are lightweighted, or cheaper, or made with fewer parts, or any of the other typical benefits you’ve heard about. On the flip side, Met-L-Flo is meeting that demand by developing standards, conducting R&D, and investing in the latest production AM platforms. It offers four of the seven AM processes as defined by ASTM – VAT photopolymerization; Material Jetting; Material Extrusion; and Powder Bed Fusion – and has recently installed Carbon M2 and Roboze One +400 machines. Roboze counts the likes of GE, Airbus and Bosch, to name a few as repeat customers. The extruder on its One +400 can reach over 400°C and print PEEK, TPE and Carbon PA. Carbon, meanwhile, is most famed for its implementation in the consumer goods and dental markets. But Met-L-Flo isn’t ruling out the M2’s use for aerospace and defense parts. “We’re hoping to apply both Carbon and Roboze to aerospace markets if the materials properties are conducive to successful programs,” Dekker said. “We look at the material offerings of these technologies and see that they may enable our customers to produce more direct and indirect end-use applications of their products.”

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RISE THE OF HYBRID MANUFACTURING WORDS : LAURA GRIFFITHS

hen we talk about additive manufacturing (AM) competing with traditional means of manufacturing, the common comparison is with CNC machining. The technology may have a few decades on AM, having been born out of an MIT lab back in the 1940s before stereolithography was even a twinkle in Chuck Hull’s eye, but it’s important not to overlook how both can oﬀer unique benefits to the modern manufacturer. Despite the alleged gripe between the two, these recent forms of manufacturing technology are by no means running in parallel. Many technologies have emerged onto the market oﬀering hybrid solutions such as Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies and a lot of machining OEMs now have some form of additive capability including DMG Mori, Hermle, and Mazak. Established manufacturers like Imperial Machine & Tool Co. in the U.S. have, as the name suggests, been using machining technologies for decades and in the last five years have invested in metal AM, recognizing the benefits of combining the two and treating AM “as if it were any other “traditional” technology.” Christian Joest, VP of Sales & Business Development at Imperial explained: “When commencing new projects, we discuss our manufacturing approach and every department involved has a seat at the table – whether it be multi-axis CNC machining, precision turning, precision

welding, or additive manufacturing. This approach allows us to account for any concessions that must be made to ensure overall manufacturability. For example, we might add additional material to an AM design to enable further machining or fixturing.” Imperial’s New Jersey-based machine shop houses two SLM 280 HL powder bed fusion systems that are used to fabricate complex structures which are then finished using machining centers to achieve critical tolerances and features. “Precision threads, flatness call-outs, mating surfaces, critical diameters, O-Ring grooves… these are all handled using CNC machines,” Joest continued. “It’s only by using additive and subtractive technologies together that we’re able to realize the most innovative designs.” It’s not only end-use customer parts where AM is giving Imperial the edge. The technology has been applied across its entire operation to improve efficiencies meaning every machinist is trained on polymer AM which can be used to create manufacturing aids such as machining fixtures. “Making proper fixtures is traditionally a time-consuming process; especially for intricate 5-axis workpieces,” Joest added. “Utilising AM technology to print the fixtures frees up our skilled machinists to spend time on actual workpieces. More efficient workforce utilization drives increased profitability.” 

SHOWN:

HYBRID-3D METAL 3D PRINTING TOOLS FOR CNC MACHINES

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MACHINING Even generative design, often touted as a software for creating complex components only made possible with AM, is, in fact, enabling exciting solutions with subtractive manufacturing. At Autodesk’s Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Birmingham, UK, the majority of machines in tow are advanced multi-axis CNC systems - 3D printing is primarily in design workshop. That’s mostly down to its origin as a Delcam cutting lab, but one notable exception is its Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing technology (WAAM). WAAM uses standard metal feedstock to rapidly manufacture near-net shape largescale structures, which are machined to exact specifications. The most well-known example of this is the manufacture and installation of a large ship propeller which was unveiled on a Damen shipyard vessel last year. “AM is not a silver bullet and certainly should not be seen as replacing proven, mature processes for making things,” Kelvin Hamilton, Technical Consultant working in R&D projects at Autodesk commented. “It’s another tool in the toolbox to be called upon where appropriate and where there is a clear value addition for using it.” During a recent visit to the facility, Autodesk’s CEO Andrew Anagnost spoke about the need to reach a middle ground between hyper-eﬃcient generatively designed parts and traditional ways of manufacturing by adding material and manufacturability constraints to create designs for a specific process. This will enable more people to benefit from the technology without having to disrupt their workﬂows drastically.

“AM IS NOT A SILVER BULLET AND CERTAINLY SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS REPLACING PROVEN, MATURE PROCESSES FOR MAKING THINGS”.

“Total production time, cost and lot size have a massive impact that requires serious thought and trade-offs to be made depending on the production scenario,” Hamilton continues. “The chosen production method whether it's casting, forging, additive, fabrication, subtractive or their hybrid combination, is a part of the production conversation and one that needs holistic almost systemslevel thought to maximize flexibility and value addition.” A start-up in the U.S. is tackling this head-on, literally, with a trio of tool-heads that claim to give AM capabilities to any CNC machine. The technologies on offer from 3D-Hybrid follow a recent trend for rapid deposition processes, such as wire arc, which use standard materials to build near-net parts which are then machined. Manufacturers can leverage the benefits of Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing, Laser Metal Deposition, and Cold Spray without having to invest in a costly new machine.

Wire Arc is its most popular tool offering low entry costs to metal AM, 5-axis printing and 100% material utilization. But Hybrid3D founder, Karl F. Hranka says it’s not all about the cost. “They [manufacturers] chose our approach because they need to work with application-specific CNC machines, which are ideal for specific materials/applications,” Hranka told TCT. “We are even seeing CNC machine manufacturers embracing our technology to gain access to the metal AM equipment supply industry.” Every generation has its rivalries. Blur vs. Oasis, Joan Crawford vs. Bette Davis – one is rarely better than the other. For this generation of manufacturing, it’s not about this or that; it’s about finding the right solution for the application and leveraging the benefits of both. “One big take away about AM (specifically metal AM) is that the technology is incapable of producing final net shape geometries due to process resolution and thermal effects such as distortion,” Hamilton concludes. “That dependency in effect means that we can hardly expect AM to take away some of the subtractive market. You might be doing slightly less cutting than say starting from a billet of material or some more targeted cutting on critical areas like mating faces but subtractive processes are essential. It’s the marriage of these technologies that make the added value benefits of AM shine.”

LEFT:

THREAD MILLING AM COMPONENT AT IMPERIAL

TOP:

GENERATIVELY DESIGNED MOTORCYCLE UPRIGHT FINISHED WITH CNC MACHINING

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SIMULATION

SIMULATE TO STIMULATE I

WORDS : DANIEL O’CONNOR

t was during a talk by software company, Volume Graphics, on the TCT Introducing stage at formnext a couple of years ago that I had a mini existential crisis about the validity of additive manufacturing (AM). I wondered whether this entire burgeoning industry that kept thousands of people, including myself, in work, was built on a lie.

Volume Graphics' Business Development lead, Gerd Schwaderer, was discussing how the company's software was able to take CT Scan data and detect defects in internal lattice structures. 'Defects in lattice structures?' I thought. Lattice structures are the crux of many an AM sales pitch. Walk past any stand at an AM trade show and, at some stage, you'll hear something along the lines of, "by using lattice structures the weight of this aerospace part can be reduced by 50%." If the internal channels of our topologically optimized designs could have defects, how could anyone in their right mind adopt this technology?

There are that many variables when it comes to metal AM, such as material contamination, energy drops and inconsistent scanning that lead to a widespread distrust of additively manufactured parts. The likes of Volume Graphics and Wenzel America exist in the additive world to ease those worries and to validate parts. However, if AM is to head into certified series production truly, it surely isn't viable for the majority of companies, both in terms of time and cost, to CT scan every single part? "Today, a company like GE does take every part and run it through a CT Scanner," Dr. Brent Stucker, Director of Additive Manufacturing at ANSYS (at the time of writing Brent Stucker was CEO of 3DSIM) tells me. "That only works if you're building jet engines and have those high margins."

Brent's a veteran of AM with over a quarter of a century's experience in the academic side. Like anybody engaged in those early days of 3D printing back when it was called things like Rapid Prototyping or Time-Compression Technologies, the majority of Brent's work was trial and error. Unlike many of his peers, Brent was keen on documenting those experiments. "I was trying to understand how changes to the machine, changes to the material, changes to the process parameters, or changes to the geometry resulted in diﬀerent properties or accuracies," explained Brent. "I joined forces with the guy who is now our chief scientist, Deepankar Pal, and we decided to tackle this issue of trial and error. By developing a whole new set of simulation capabilities, this would allow us to predict from process parameters what is going to happen to your part." The pair joined forces in 2009 and by 2014 had formed the company, implementing years of research and resulting algorithms into an additive manufacturing software platform called 3DSIM. 3DSIM developed two software tools; exaSIM, allowed engineers to predict residual stress, distortion and build failure; and FLEX, which allowed users to dial in the best process parameters for a particular additive manufacturing machine and material combination thus predicting both part integrity and microstructural formations. 

SHOWN:

PREDICTING BEHAVIOUR INSIDE MACHINE IS CRITICAL TO PART SUCCESS

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SIMULATION

In just three years of operation, the world's most renowned engineering simulation software company, ANSYS, acquired 3DSIM in November 2017. Shane Emswiler, ANSYS vice president, and general manager, said at the time: "By bringing exaSIM and FLEX onto our Workbench platform, ANSYS can oﬀer customers the only end-to-end additive manufacturing simulation workﬂow available. That will spark innovation, speed time to market and reduce manufacturing costs for our customers across industries." The way Brent saw it at the time of the takeover was that 3DSIM plugged some holes in ANSYS's already world-class software that made it the complete simulation for AM and for 3DSIM, ANSYS gave access to a previously untapped worldwide market. In April this year, ANSYS announced the full integration of the 3DSIM platform with two products, Additive Suite and Additive Print.

RISK MITIGATION Additive Print will demonstrate to engineers the exact printing process, informing them before the part goes to print whether it will fail or not. If a part is going to fail, the software will detail exactly how, where and why it will fail. Part failures in industrial applications aren't your messy spaghetti on a Yoda head it can mean life or death for a company. "People think software is expensive," says Brent. "But if you think of how much money is wasted in just one failed build of those new large metal machines, we're talking tens of thousands of dollars in a single build failure based on wasted material, time and cost. The cost could be even higher if you're missing a deadline on something like a satellite launch."

For the likes of a metal AM service provider, simulation software could be critical and not only in regards to preventing costly jobs from failing part the way through. "With software, you don't need an expert to build a part anymore," stated Brent. "You can have software to tell me; this is the orientation, this is where I need supports, this is how I'm going to get distortion, with that you eliminate the need for years of built up of intuition. We're seeing people in the service bureau market also use it as a risk mitigation tool, saying, 'if I get the software, make sure I've got it proven for my process, my machines, and my materials, then if somebody comes and takes my people away from me I've some way to continue my operations." A combination of what Ansys is doing with software and what others are achieving with sensors will predict what should happen during a build, measure whether it did happen and then if it does happen we can begin to say that parts are certified. Once that is the case, additive’s shackles are oﬀ, and my existential crisis of additive's validity is banished.

LEFT:

SIMULATION RESULTS FROM ANSYS ADDITIVE PRINT SHOWING DISPLACEMENT FOR A HEAT EXCHANGER PART

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ops, there it goes—another opportunity to capitalize on additive manufacturing (AM) just passed by you.

Didn’t see it? That’s because you didn’t know what to look for. Saw it but didn’t react? That’s because you were ill-equipped to deploy AM when it was needed. Recognized it but didn’t act? That’s because you allowed status quo to obscure the opportunity. This scenario plays out every day, even for run-of-the-mill applications like prototyping and even within companies that are on top of their AM games. As AM for production makes further inroads and becomes increasingly viable, history will repeat itself unless you begin to prepare for that inevitability. For AM production, and other applications, you must be prepared to pounce. AM is not a drop-in solution that fits neatly within the traditional considerations for design and manufacturing. Integration into current operations is a long journey. Taking full control of AM and acquiring the needed intelligence

to do so is longer still. Insights into technical, operational and financial matters, in advance of deployment, are required to enable your company to act when the time is right. To do nothing in advance—to ignore AM in the present—is a complacent approach that will put you behind the competition. Most can’t, or don’t need to, deploy AM for production today; the vast majority have yet to do this. However, all should be, at a minimum, considering the possibilities and requirements. Inaction will leave you behind or place you in the undesirable position of needing to rapidly catch up to those that invested their resources in advance. To be prepared to pounce requires a deep understanding of AM that is converted into a plan of attack. The plan does not need to be perfect—it will evolve—but it must be informed. Investigation begins with a clear understanding of the potential value that AM oﬀers. This will extend beyond incremental gains versus traditional technologies and beyond the platitudes expressed from the stage and in print. A deep, broad understanding of AM’s eﬀect and impact will lead to strong business cases that have merit and hold promise. Having a strong sense of direction and justifiable use cases will arm you with the rationale for pouncing. Next, you will need to understand how to pounce.

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Preparatory research of the AM technology landscape will identify possible candidates and reveal their associated advantages and limitations. This understanding is as much about capitalizing on unique capabilities as uncovering perceived deficiencies. For the things that an AM technology does not do well, the insight supports planning for how to mitigate the challenges and obstacles. AM technology investigation will also reveal the complete workflow, from raw data to finished goods. An understanding of the workflow will then lead to infrastructure requirements, which are rarely discussed but often significant, unseen stumbling blocks. Discovering that you are operationally lacking after initiating AM activities will delay your ability to pounce by months, maybe years. Your understanding of the needed infrastructure will span equipment, facilities, and processes. It will also include human resources in terms of staffing required and skills needed. Convert the infrastructure understanding into a plan, and you are now prepared to pounce. There is a lot to learn and more to discover to prepare for future AM applications. Taking this work on before the need arises or the opportunities reveal themselves is an investment in your future. Don’t wait and don’t fall into the trap of complacency. For if you do, you will be saying ‘Oops, there it goes’ over and over.

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