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FROM THE EDITOR

must admit, I had a slight moment of despair a few months back. As I did my usual morning search to brief myself on what’s new in the world of 3D printing, the top results looked like something straight out of 2014. The words “3D printed gun” were everywhere alongside jolting terms like “downloadable death” after the Trump administration agreed to allow printable gun files to be released online, a decision which has since been blocked. Cue the opinion pieces, factual inaccuracies and hyperbolic headlines. ‘Are we really back to this?’ I wondered. Don’t get me wrong, there are very real reasons to be concerned about plastic 3D printed guns. Save for a small metal component to serve as a firing pin, they can go undetected at security points, and the omission of serial number renders them untraceable. Not to mention, the quality of low-cost desktop printed components means they’re highly unreliable and a risk to the user. However, when I inevitably fall down the Twitter rabbit hole to find comments from those who are feared of not just common plastic printers but metal machines getting into the wrong hands, it’s clear that public knowledge of 3D printing hasn’t moved on as much as we would have liked. More education (as we cover in this issue’s Education feature on p.29) is needed to understand firstly, the reality and capability of the technology, and secondly, that it’s very unlikely Jonny hobbyist has got a powder-bed metal machine tucked away in their garage, never mind the appropriate knowledge or infrastructure

to deploy it successfully. The problem is, when the conversation resurfaces, it can displace all of the good that is being done with this technology elsewhere in the world. Personalized medical implants, reduced energy consumption in aeroplanes, humanitarian support in disaster areas, the list goes on, but I can guarantee none of the above ranked as highly as this divisive piece of plastic. The mass media loves a technology devil. If it’s not children being brainwashed by video games, it’s the negative effects of social media or robots taking over your job. So, if you too find yourself fraught with the 3D printing albatross that continues to cling on, let this issue be your alternative guide to the news you should be talking about instead. Perhaps how those same feared desktop 3D printers are being used on real production lines to reduce lead times and costs (p.34)? Or Sam Davies’ report on how one company is harnessing 3D printing to serve 70 million people with bespoke wheelchairs (p.22)? Thankfully, my recent moment of dejection turned out to be a fleeting one and within a few weeks, the concentration of bad news was displaced by stories on factories of the future and technologies like AM blockchain – the kind of buzzwords I welcome (for now). There are plenty of reasons for 3D printing to be making headlines right now, and this issue is full of them. LAURA GRIFFITHS DEPUTY GROUP EDITOR

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COVER STORY

6. INTEGRATING DIGITAL MANUFACTURING Race Dental talks us through the implementation of a suite of digital technologies at its leading dental laboratory.

MATERIALS 9. MATERIALISE AND BASF OPEN UP

PRODUCT DESIGN 22. WEAR YOUR CHAIR

Sam reports on a company aiming to serve 70 million people with customized wheelchairs.

25. NO SHORTCUTS

How SCOTT Sports leverages 3D scanning in the development of safe and comfortable sports products.

Assistant Editor, Sam Davies gets the lowdown on BASF’s multimillion-dollar investment into Materialise.

EDUCATION

13. SOLVAY’S SPECIALTY

29. TCT EDUCATION GUIDE

15. ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING FLUROPOLYMERS

31. EDUCATION INDUSTRY UPDATE

A closer look at the chemical giant’s new high-performance additive manufacturing filaments.

Carlo Campanelli, PHD Researcher at the University of Nottingham on the potential for fluropolymers in AM.

A round-up of courses and training programs answering the call for more AM education.

Sam looks at the organizations investing time and money into AM education.

19. IN OTHER NEWS: MATERIALS

News in brief on some the most recent AM materials announcements.

32. SUM OF ITS PARTS

Head of Content, Dan O’Connor explores the components giving low-cost desktop machines engineering-grade capabilities.

34. DON’T DOUBT THE DESKTOP

Deputy Group Editor, Laura Griffiths finds out how desktop 3D printers are fast becoming an integral part of industrial workflows.

38 IMTS 2018 38. REVIEW

Dan reflects on five days of manufacturing technology innovation in Chicago.

40. ALTERNATE REALITIES

17. THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS

How Voestalpine is creating some of the most advanced metal materials on the market.

DESKTOP

Todd Grimm contemplates how interpretation of facts and assumptions can lead to disparate conclusions on AM.

INTEGRATING DIGITAL MANUFACTURING RACE DENTAL IS AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST DENTAL LABORATORY. CEO BRAD RACE DISCUSSES HOW HIS COMPANY APPLIES 3D DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES TO STAY COMPETITIVE.

SHOWN: 3D PRINTERS PRODUCE DENTAL SURGICAL GUIDES AND TEETH MODELS FROM INTRA-ORAL 3D SCAN DATA.

SHOWN: MILLING IS USED FOR PRODUCING CERAMIC CROWN AND BRIDGE COMPONENTS.

allowed Race to successfully scale our operations to continue to produce high quality 100% Australian and New Zealand made dental prosthetics and orthodontic appliances. The investment in technology has allowed us to keep manufacturing on-shore and compete against cheaper labor markets.

What does Race Dental do? Race Dental is a full service digital dental laboratory servicing Australia-wide and into the Asia-Pacific region. How did your company begin? Established in 1936, Race Dental is a 4th generation family business established in the heart of Sydney. Now 82 years old, the company has grown significantly with manufacturing centers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. How many staff do you employ? Race Dental currently employs approximately 150 people. How many dental cases do you process a year? Race Dental currently produces well over 100,000 cases a year. What fraction of your cases involve digital production? Approximately 75% of all cases involve digital production, from scanning, CAD, through to milling and printing. Race Dental also employs a dedicated R&D team to understand and efficiently implement emerging technologies. The adoption of digital technologies has been critical in sustaining our growth and has

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What fraction of your cases involve digital production? Approximately 75% of all cases involve digital production, from scanning, CAD, through to milling and printing. Race Dental also employs a dedicated R&D team to understand and efficiently implement emerging technologies. The adoption of digital technologies has been critical in sustaining our growth and has allowed Race to successfully scale our operations to continue to produce high quality 100% Australian and New Zealand made dental prosthetics and orthodontic appliances. The investment in technology has allowed us to keep manufacturing on-shore and compete against cheaper labor markets. How has digital dentistry changed in the past 10 years? As with any other globalized industry, the dental industry in Australia was hit with the import of cheaper products from Asia in the early 2000s leaving Australian labs in a vulnerable state. Rather than joining the outsourcing movement or scaling back to reduce costs, Race Dental significantly invested into emerging technologies and teams designed at maintaining higher quality Australian made products at a price point competitive with the imported prosthetics.

cover story What is your digital production setup? What do you produce on each machine and why? Race Dental operates the largest network of intraoral scanners in the region which give us direct digital impressions for almost half of our cases. Traditional mold of patient's teeth are also digitized as the first step of production as the majority of products are produced using CAD/CAM. We run a variety of 5 axis milling machines from small desktop units from vendors such as Roland DG, through to large automated industrial units from DMG Mori with a total of approximately 20 machines in use. Milling remains and important part of our production process as many of the prosthetics are produced in ceramics and metals such as titanium and cobalt chrome. The limitations in terms of material selection or additive technology precision prevent these products being produced using additive technologies. Race Dental has also made large investments in additive manufacturing for certain products including castable frameworks, models, molds and biocompatible prosthetics with machines from 3D Systems, EOS and Asiga in daily production. Significant R&D expenditure has left a graveyard of unsuitable equipment, such is the nature of evaluating the various products offered to market and wading through marketing claims.

The units we use now in production have proven themselves to not only deliver the results, but also long term consistency backed with good manufacturer support. How do you see the division between processes that are performed with subtractive manufacturing and additive manufacturing? I.e. what processes are most economically suited to subtractive and which are best for additive? The selection of additive or subtractive manufacturing starts with the materials requirements for the specific prosthetic device or product. Many products are either impossible to produce with additive manufacturing or are prohibitively expensive due to immature technology. An example is ceramics where we have not found any additive technology that can compete with milling. For products that can be produced with either additive or subtractive techniques it then comes down to an assessment of economics, reliability of process and the ability to obtain the required precision. Products particularly suited for additive for example are dental models which can be milled, but are much more economically produced with printers such as the Asiga 3D Max which we use heavily for this purpose. Although not strictly required to produce prosthetics, models are demanded by dental customers who like to visualize the restorative work before the patient fitting consultation. Frameworks in Cobalt Chrome are produced in-house using SLS technology from EOS. The high cost of these machines is offset by the large capacity which can result in favorable economics. It is also possible to produce for example, Chrome Cobalt partial denture frameworks

SHOWN: A MILLED ZIRCONIA CROWN IS FITTED TO A 3D PRINTED VERIFICATION MODEL.

Describe the journey you went through in evaluating 3D printers for your application. In short it was a long, expensive and often frustrating journey. With any machine, we start by requesting samples which is a good way to see what the printer is capable of. Samples produced from manufacturer's designs will show the printer in its absolute best light, so it is best to send you own designs. However, receiving a nice sample back and checking it for accuracy is only the start of the evaluation - you really need to use the printer day in day out in your own facility to see how it fares as a production machine. For example, we ran some DLP printers in our R&D department from a European manufacturer that appeared to tick all the boxes, but turned out to be quite unreliable and more often than not failed to complete builds for one reason or another. Tearing the machine down we could see that it wasn't ready to be released as a product - the build quality was quite poor (it was not an inexpensive machine) with a lot of "hacks" - tape and cardboard for example. Another example was a low-cost laser scanning stereolithography system which performed well initially but quality rapidly degraded with every build rendering them useless after a short period.

using SLS but the finishing steps required due to the extensive support material required. For this reason instead of SLS we use 3D systems Multi Jet machines to produce castable resin frameworks using wax supports. Removal of the wax supports is easy by melting and leaves us with a clean framework ready to cast. In addition, advanced biocompatible resins are now available which allow us to produce prosthetic devices and surgical guides which can be used intraorally. Again, here we use the Asiga3D Max range as their completely open system allows us to utilize resins from almost any vendor. Yes, we actually 3D print teeth that go straight into a patient's mouth! What is your vision for the dental laboratory of the future and how are you preparing for this? We see further developments in additive technologies making this the preferred option for more and more of our product range. Increasing printer performance and lowered costs of consumables is already evident and this trajectory is expected to continue. The ultimate aim is for better patient outcomes through application of advance technologies. Asiga 3D printers are available in the US from Whip Mix Corp, https://whipmix.com/ VOLUME 4 ISSUE 5

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MATERIALS

MATERIALISE AND BASF OPEN UP WORDS: SAM DAVIES

hat seemed like a significant industry development 12 months ago, looks a potentially even more profound one today.

Upon the formulation of a dedicated 3D printing business this time last year, BASF told TCT it understood the markets and the application requirements through its engineering plastics business, and its goal was to produce resilient plastic materials for series production. One of the largest chemical companies in the world caught a whiff of a burgeoning sector like a shark sensing blood, and wanted a piece of the action. A company of this stature doesn’t make such a move without expecting a return on its investment, but nor does it make it without a nudge from those markets it mentioned. What do they want that BASF can bring? The material manufacturing expertise, of course, but more than that: an influence.

unit, made that point at the Materialise Experience Conference, where he literally spelled those concerns out.

industries in which BASF has had a strong presence throughout its history, and Materialise is no stranger to either.

‘There needs to be a change of mindset. You can make money off materials but you can’t lock your machine to a material or you’re not going to be successful. Industry just won’t adopt it.’

“BASF, I think you’ll recognize, is renowned for bringing very tailored materials to specific applications inside automotive and aerospace. That’s what they do,” Bryan Crutchfield, VP and General Manager, Materialise, North America, told TCT. “I came from an injection molding background and we had many specialized blends that we used for very specific applications.

His open source rallying cry mirrors that of the wider automotive industry, and almost certainly a wealth of other vertical markets. BASF already knew that, and in the host of that very conference, has found a partner who gets it too, a partner who itself isn’t lacking authority. The collaboration between Materialise and BASF will look to develop materials agnostically, while optimizing AM workflows to suit them, for the major polymer 3D printing processes. Announced in July, the partners will pool together their respective expertise to target applications in automotive, aerospace and consumer goods,

“But also, I think they are going to [want to] focus on bringing large families of materials out. They’re going to be looking at the portfolio of products that they have currently in those verticals and saying, ‘how do I make those materials available so they can be used in an additive way?’” That not only means today’s AM climate, but tomorrow’s too. The aim of the Belgium-based group of 4

From industry’s point of view the potential of additive manufacturing (AM) is being stifled by the vendors that inhabit the volatile market. In June, Michael Whitens, Global Director for Ford’s Vehicle and Enterprise Sciences

SHOWN:

SLS MACHINES AT MATERIALISE’S LEUVEN FACILITY

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MATERIALS

LEFT:

CONSUMER GOODS, SUCH AS CUSTOMIZED EYEWEAR, WILL BE A FOCUS OF THE MATERIALISE AND BASF ALLIANCE.

Their alliance is one that drives the philosophy of open and agnostic materials and machines, but as BASF picked up 25m USD worth of shares in its new partner, also demonstrates another ringing endorsement from one of the world’s biggest companies in AM technologies. “Additive is getting serious,” Crutchfield remarked. It sounds like it has to.

Materialise and BASF specialists is to inspire a step-change in how materials are developed and commercialized in the AM industry, accelerating the technologies’ transition from low-volume manufacturing tool, to a high-volume manufacturing one by embracing openness. “I think we are coming to an inflection point where many large manufacturers such as GE, Adidas, HP, even other manufacturing groups, are looking to apply additive manufacturing for high volume series projects,” Crutchfield said. “From our point of view, why not partner with one of the largest chemical companies in the world that is currently supplying all of those major manufacturers in the plastics industry with their raw materials? They have interesting access to the design and process engineering groups of those large manufacturers, and understand what they are looking for, maybe where they are headed.”

“Certainly, the closed ecosystem model that is embraced by a number of large OEMs at this time is still the major hindrance,” Crutchfield considered, “but I believe that will resolve itself over the next five years or so as new machine manufacturers enter from all corners of the earth. They have a very different philosophy about that. They're more open to an open architecture, and just like in an injection molding setting, you don't buy an Arburg machine and then Arburg materials, or Cincinatti machines and Cincinatti materials. You buy the appropriate machine for the application, and then you run the appropriate material for the application through that machine. That is certainly where additive is going. It's just taking a little longer than it might." Perhaps now, it’ll get there a little bit sooner.

Materialise is looking to drive some of those projects forward by providing a stern backbone to an open materials approach. That backbone refers to supporting the materials developed, potentially application-specific, with tailored software tools, adjusting its control software to better deal with hatching patterns and laser power, for example. The idea is to look at the digital thread, from content generation to shipping, optimizing the builds, preserving mechanical properties so materials can be run through machines more frequently, streamlining the whole process to better resemble current high volume manufacturing methods: “How that whole system works together to try to improve the speeds, scrap rates, the usability of the process itself,” Crutchfield explained.

“THE CLOSED ECOSYSTEM MODEL THAT IS EMBRACED BY A NUMBER OF LARGE OEMS AT THIS TIME IS STILL THE MAJOR HINDRANCE.”

The importance of efficient workflows is just as important as opening up on the materials side, but the AM industry seems more willing to negotiate the former than the latter. The loser if that situation is to remain, Materialise and BASF think, is the vendors. How many more machines could they sell if the user could pair it with a wider range of materials?

SHOWN: THE FRAMES FOR AOYAMA OPTICAL’S WE DDD COLLECTION OF CONSUMER GLASSES ARE MANUFACTURED WITH SLS TECHNOLOGY BY MATERIALISE.

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MATERIALS

SOLVAY’S SPECIALTY WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

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SOLVAY E-XSTREAM DIGIMAT PLATFORM

he additive manufacturing (AM) world can often feel like stepping into the void. As with any new technology, whether you’re an established company or a newcomer, there is no one-size-fits-all method for success. This year at RAPID + TCT, global chemical firm, Solvay launched its first AM specific materials onto the market, and I was interested to hear how the company, loaded with over 150-years of chemical knowledge, is entering the market with the wide-eyed mind-set of a newcomer. “We know we are a big old materials supplier but we are in business incubation so my whole intention is to run this as a start-up,” Christophe Schramm, Business Manager AM for Solvay’s Specialty Polymers told TCT. “The resources hopefully are those of a big company, but we try to be a little bit more agile, a little bit more flexible.”

Solvay first set out its intentions to align its specialty polymers and engineering plastics with AM in 2016 with the launch of a dedicated lab at its Research and Innovation Center in Alpharetta, Georgia. Set amidst the sprawling Georgia greenery, the lab officially opened this year complete with three industrial machines catering to powder-bed and extrusion-based processes. Specialty Polymers already has one of the broadest portfolio of high-performance polymers in the industry. Having previously focused on stereolithography with its range of Sinterline Technyl polyamide 6 (PA6) materials, the announcement in Fort Worth marked the launch of its first FFF (fused filament fabrication) commercial products in the form of three high-performance filaments. Based on Solvay’s KetaSpire polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and Radel polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) materials, the filaments are available through Solvay’s online platform with transparent pricing. One is a neat PEEK product, the other a 10% carbon fiber-reinforced grade, both designed to deliver excellent fusion of printed layers, high part density and exceptional strength, including in the Z-axis. The PPSU material is formulated to allow good layer fusion, high transparency, elongation and toughness.

Publishing prices like any other e-commerce site (upwards of 270 USD a spool) is relatively unheard of in the industrial space but Solvay is confident that it is “not competing on price” but “competing on value”. In addition, KetaSpire PEEK AM filament is the first PEEK material to be included in e-Xstream engineering’s Digimat software, launched in June, designed to deliver simulation and testing for “print right the first time” assurance. “We see this as the embryo of a platform to provide material solutions and for us, that means materials and anything that goes around them to print the best possible part as quickly as possible,” Schramm elaborated. “Simulation solutions, testing data, prototyping, processing data and so on - we believe we have a value proposition that goes beyond just providing people with filaments.” PEEK, a highly

sought after yet challenging polymer, is high in demand in industries such as healthcare and aerospace. Earlier this year, the filament was put to the test in Solvay’s first AM Cup, a competition which asked an international roster of university students to print the best possible version of Solvay’s logo. There were some interesting results ranging from novel hacks installed onto sub 300 USD machines to industrial grade platforms. Mirroring this ethos, the commercial materials on offer are completely open to any FFF platform. Schramm 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.” This approach, Schramm believes, will lead to a new set of customers including smaller designers and engineers. These first three filaments, Solvay confirms, are just the start.

ABOVE:

HIGH-PERFORMANCE FILAMENTS BASED ON SOLVAY’S KETASPIRE POLYETHERETHERKETONE (PEEK) AND RADEL POLYPHENYLSULFONE (PPSU) MATERIALS. VOLUME 4 ISSUE 5

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MATERIALS

ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING FLUOROPOLYMERS Carlo Campanelli, PhD Researcher, Additive Manufacturing CDT, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham

t is well-known that additive manufacturing (AM) has great potential but several limitations, one of which is the narrow material portfolio.

In 2012, of the tens of thousands of polymers available on the market, less than 30 were available for laser sintering (of which Polyamide 12 comprised over 90% of the market). This limited number of materials is due to the specific requirements for powder-based AM, such as precise particle size distribution (~45-90 µm) to guarantee good powder flow; relatively low viscosity to avoid porosity; absorbance in the wavelength of the specific heating element (e.g. CO2 laser); and a wide processing window (i.e. the difference between melting and crystallization temperature) to supress dimensional warping.

high processing temperatures required cause degradation of the polymer chain, which generates corrosive by-products that necessitate specific alloys for handling. The number of challenges further increases in AM as the commercially-available grades are tailored to traditional processes such as injection molding (pellets) and coating (fine powders).

The investigation of fluoropolymers in AM is still very limited and mainly focused on one particular fluoropolymer - polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) - which has piezoelectric properties and a relatively low Fluoropolymers are an interesting family of polymers. melting temperature (<180 °C). 3M, PTFE, better known by the trademark Teflon, is the most a North American manufacturer, is famous and widely-used fluoropolymer. The Carboncurrently working on the use of PTFE Fluorine bonds present lead to many desirable properties in stereolithography by using a resin such as biocompatibility, non-adhesiveness, wide binder which is then removed by service temperature (−260 °C - +260 °C), high chemical sintering. resistance, high resistance to sunlight, flame retardance At the University of Nottingham, and weathering without the addition of fillers, plasticizers we have been investigating three or stabilizers. Any of these properties can be found in fluoropolymers with melting other materials but fluoropolymers are uniquely suitable when two or more of these properties are required in the temperatures of around 100 °C, 200 °C, and 300 °C. The first issue same application. encountered was to find these The downside of all these amazing properties is that fluoropolymers in a powder form with fluoropolymers are quite difficult to process. Because of the ideal powder size. This was not its high crystallinity and viscosity (1010-1012 Pa*s), PTFE is possible so we worked with a particle not melt-processable in contrast to most thermoplastics size below the optimal values. As a polymers and requires special manufacturing processes. result, the powders were cohesive Their high chemical resistance makes them insoluble in and did not flow well. Good flowability most organic solvents at room temperature, while the

4 SHOWN:

was achieved by adding a flowing agent. A second issue was the high melting temperature of the 200 °C and 300 °C fluoropolymers, which were too high for the laser sintering system used (EOS Formiga P100, maximum powder bed temperature of ~180 °C). Isothermal crystallization measurements confirmed that the ideal processing temperatures were above 180 °C, which caused warping after a few tens of layers for the 200 °C polymer and warping at the first layer for the 300 °C polymer. The upside was that the polymer did not age at the processing temperature and could be recycled without issue. Different scan strategies and the use of a build platform considerably reduced warpage. The third issue was the high molecular weight and consequent viscosity of the polymer melt. The melting and solidification of the polymers occurs too quickly and the resultant layers were porous. Higher laser powers can reduce porosity but they are limited by the onset of the decomposition of the polymer which must be avoided. A solution to this is to scan the same area multiple times with a laser power that does not cause decomposition. This is not an ideal solution as the printing times would be extended for large parts. These initial results show that fluoropolymers have the potential to be used in AM but they require high temperature printers and the collaboration of the powder suppliers to design polymer grades with properties tailored for AM (particle size, viscosity, etc.).

THIN, LASER-SINTERED FLUOROPOLYMER SHEET (TM ~ 300ºC) SHOWING GOOD FLEXIBILITY.

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MATERIALS

THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS

TCT SPEAKS TO DANIEL HUDSON, AM MANAGER AND DR HELEN FAMODIMU, AM ENGINEER AT VOESTALPINE HIGH PERFORMANCE METALS UK TO FIND OUT HOW THE FAMOUS STEEL COMPANY IS CREATING SOME OF THE MOST ADVANCED METAL MATERIALS ON THE MARKET. Q:When does a material become worthwhile to develop for additive manufacturing? A: The core competence of the voestalpine mills is material expertise, in combination with material application and existing customer requirements. We have therefore tapped into those resources to establish the additive manufacturing (AM) powder ranges. AM powders developed with properties to provide specific solutions that meet the requirements and expectations of our customers. This makes them more competitive in the market. The route to developing AM powders is two-pronged:

Q: How is a new material tested? A: As metal particles are susceptible to environmental degradation (moisture and oxygen), testing is carried out under controlled atmospheres during the melting stage. During gas atomization, a test sample of the current powder is sent to the test lab for analysis. The analysis includes the morphology/rheology (Shape and surface) of the powder particles, porosity, flow rate, density (relative and tap) and particle size measurements.

1. Optimize existing alloys in the market for improved processability. For example, the Uddeholm AM Corrax was developed to aid in plastic injection molding markets as it has improved corrosion resistance, wear resistance and polishability. 2. Developing innovative and novel alloys to corner the market especially for tool steels as this is the most under-developed market for AM. Q: What are the cost implications of developing an AM speciﬁc material? A: Alloy development is a time and cost consuming activity but the Uddeholm mill has 350 years’ experience in developing new grades, so it’s nothing new for them. The mills have been able to embrace new technologies in the past and harness their knowledge into developing new and/or improved alloys, with AM being the latest step in technical development. Powder development for AM needs a lot of effort but this is necessary, the cost implications are not much higher than that of developing new alloys for other applications/technologies. Some of the costs in developing AM specific powders are driven by: 1. Carbon content of the metallic alloys (as tool steels tend to have higher carbon content than the AM procedure can usually process) 2. Metallic alloys are required to have specific properties (e.g. low melting/solidification range) that would make them suitable for the process. 3. Considerable investments to ensure alloy development and handling would meet both Quality and Health & Safety requirements are undertaken. This includes the building of new Gas atomizers, test melt plants and various powder handling/storing equipment. Q: How does the R&D process work? A: Inert gas atomizers are utilized in melting the bars (which have been obtained from the mill directly hence ensuring full traceability). VIM furnaces are installed directly above the atomizer to increase capacity and powders obtained are usually spherical with particle

sizes suitable for the AM process. The particle sizes are influenced by varying the gas flow rate dependent on the alloy been atomized. Mass spectrometry is conducted to verify the chemical composition during the atomization process and monitor the oxygen content. Once melted, powders are sieved into two sizes – 0.015 mm – 0.045 mm and 0.045 mm – 0.150 mm. Q: What does the traceability of the material look like (in terms of contamination risks)? A: Traceability is integral to production in the mills and AM powders are no different. Bars for atomizing are obtained, with already established melting routes, heat number and lot traceability number. Each batch of powder after atomization is further assigned its own heat number and material certificate that incorporates the chemistry, particle size distribution and aspect ratio.

Once established that the powder is viable for the PBF/LMD process, we take the testing further in determining its viability for melting and full densification as a part. This involves testing on several different machines available in the group AM Centers. Dusseldorf and Toronto (for Powder beds) and Singapore (for LMD). This is done with a view to establish a suitable process window, also process robustness tests through its physical and thermochemical properties. When a working process window (through the modification of the laser spot size, layer thickness and scanning speed of the equipment) is obtained, we continue to investigate the heat treatment and other post-processes to verify the properties essential for the targeted application. This is an important step as our alloys should not just be printable but also offer benefits to our customers.

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MATERIALS

IN OTHER NEWS: MATERIALS ROYAL DSM ANNOUNCES CARBON FIBER FILLED 3D PRINTING FILAMENT

Royal DSM has announced a new carbon fiber-filled grade PA6/66 filament designed for extrusion-based 3D printing technologies. Novamid ID1030 CF10 is said to enable industrial parts boasting properties close to injection molded components, while matching the quick and easy printing of other reinforced plastics. It has been developed to meet the requirements of structural parts which are strong, stiff, tough and possess high tensile strength and high dimensional stability, free of warpage. The material’s proficiency in supporting these traits, for DSM, make it an ideal option for a range of robust applications that perform in high temperature environments, like under-the-hood automotive parts, or other demanding surroundings, like manufacturing jigs and fixtures. DSM says it can also be harnessed to print lightweight components.

DSM has tested the material on a number of open extrusion-based platforms, including the Ultimaker S5 and machines from German RepRap, and says it is suitable for standard desktop machines with a hardened nozzle.

EVONIK DEVELOPS FLEXIBLE PEBA-BASED 3D PRINTING POWDER

Global specialty chemicals firm, Evonik has developed the world’s first flexible plastic 3D printing material based on PEBA (polyether block amide). The new high-performance powder, recognized for its high elasticity and strength, is suitable for a variety of powder-based 3D printing technologies, such as laser sintering (LS), high speed sintering (HSS) or binder jetting. Parts produced in the new PEBA powder present a high degree of flexibility, chemical resistance and durability over a wide temperature

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP NEW WAY OF 3D PRINTING COMPLEX STRUCTURES WITH GRAPHENE

Researchers from Virginia Tech and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a new way to 3D print with graphene, which could benefit industries and products including batteries, aerospace, heat management and sensors. The ‘2D material’, known for its superior strength and conductivity, has previously only been used in extrusion-based processes to print single sheets and basic structures at a resolution of around 100 microns. This latest research shows it is now possible to use a stereolithographybased technique to print “pretty much any desired structure” down to 10 microns, close to the size of actual graphene sheets. The team started with graphene oxide, crosslinking the sheets to form a porous hydrogel. Breaking the graphene oxide hydrogel

range from -40°C to 90°C. Application areas include high quality, fully functional, flexible plastic parts for prototyping or series production. The material was developed in collaboration with German industrial 3D printing leader, EOS for use in its plastic laser sintering systems. The powder is available under the name "PrimePart ST" and has already been successfully adopted into the portfolios of multiple service providers.

with ultrasound and adding light-sensitive acrylate polymers, they used projection microstereolithography to create a solid 3D structure with the graphene oxide trapped in the acrylate polymer. The 3D structure was then placed in a furnace to burn off the polymers and fuse the object together, leaving behind a pure and lightweight graphene aerogel.

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MATERIALS

VOXELJET ADDS PP AND TPU TO ITS HIGH SPEED SINTERING MATERIALS PORTFOLIO

voxeljet AG has announced the launch of two new speciality materials for its High Speed Sintering (HSS) line of 3D printers. The company, which specializes in binder jetting technology for plastic and sand, is now able to print in Polypropylene (PP) and Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and is currently evaluating these new materials with partner customers from the sports and automotive industries. Polypropylene is one of the most versatile polymers on the market with good electrical and chemical resistance at higher temperatures and resistance to stress-cracking. The material is currently being tested on voxeljet’s smaller entry-

PYROGENESIS COMPLETES METAL AM POWDER PRODUCTION FACILITY

PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a manufacturer of plasma wasteto-energy systems and plasma torch systems, has announced the completion of its additive manufacturing metal powder production facility. This state-of-the-art facility will be strictly dedicated to the production of plasma atomized Ti-6Al-4V powders, primarily targeting the aerospace and biomedical industries. This facility houses a new plasma-based atomization unit, inventory storage

level VX200 HSS systems but the company plans to apply the material to its new VJET XHSS product, a larger automated production system, set to be commercially available at the end of 2019. The second material, TPU, is a fully thermoplastic elastomer which can be used to print ultra-flexible objects with very high levels of precision and resolution. Due to its unique structure, TPU offers a considerable number of physical property combinations with good impact resistance, compression set, and resilience. Potential application areas include sporting goods, industrial parts, and manufacture of hydraulic seals and gaskets.

and logistics operations. These first innovations have reduced capital cost significantly and the company says further advances will also increase yield and production rates. “This next logical step of incorporating some of the previously announced improvements into a cutting-edge facility is now complete,” said Mr. P. Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis. “After investing over 2.5M USD into this facility, all that remains is to incorporate post treatment equipment for it to be a stand-alone facility.” The facility is ISO 9001:2015 certified and is on track to be AS9100D (Aviation, Space, and Defense) certified by year-end. PyroGenesis will then pursue ISO 13485 (Medical devices).

CARPENTER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION ACQUIRES LPW TECHNOLOGY

Carpenter Technology Corporation has acquired LPW Technology in a deal of around 81 million USD. Headquartered in the UK with additional processing operations in Pennsylvania, LPW is renowned for its additive manufacturing (AM) metal powders and management, storage and monitoring systems. It has attracted the interest of Carpenter, who itself has expertise in metal materials and is no stranger to the AM market. The company has previously invested in Puris and CalRAM, and also has links with GE Additive. In more recent times, LPW has stepped up its embrace of automation and endto-end solutions, bringing to market its PowderLife portfolio, which ensures powder can be properly managed and assured. Upon announcing the news, Carpenter cited quality lifecycle management and the ability to understand how materials behave before, during, and after production in powderbed fusion processes as ‘critical’ if AM is to become more widely implemented.

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WEAR YOUR CHAIR WORDS: SAM DAVIES

nder a grey cloth centre stage at Autodesk University London 2018 sat an exponent of the company’s Generative Design tools, and to its right, two champions of the technology.

Side-by-side, Rachael Wellach, founder and CEO of Disrupt Disability, and Steve Cox, 3D Tech Consultant, AMFORI Consulting, had delivered a proof of concept for the goal they had been working towards for nearly two years. As the cloth lifted, Cox introduced the audience to the world’s first generatively designed modular wheelchair. It has everything Wellach wants in a wheelchair. Well, almost. It’s comprised of five interchangeable modules, customized in accordance to her measurements and preferences, puts the user forward and itself in the background, and the potential to be retailed under the 2,000 GBP (2,600 USD) price point of typical personalized models. It’s a step in the direction of doubling a wheelchair as a medical device and a fashion item, just like spectacles. All that’s left to fine-tune is the weight, which will come as

SHOWN:

PROOF OF CONCEPT MODULAR WHEELCHAIR.

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metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology develops, Cox believes.

For those working on the project, the lightweighting of a wheelchair is as important as it is in the automotive and aerospace industries. It means less material usage, and less cost in both the production and shipping stages, but most importantly it makes life easier for the user. In a world where they are continually restricted, be it through accessibility, stigmatism, mobility, making life easier is Disrupt Disability’s motivation, and through a range of collaborators has the technology at its disposal to achieve that. “I’ve been involved with Disrupt Disability for two years,” begins Cox, “and right from the very beginning I’ve had this itch I wanted to scratch of throwing Generative Design at a wheelchair to see what it could produce in terms of making something as lightweight as possible, so it takes the least amount of effort for the user to move it around. Casting into the future when metal additive manufacturing is more

PRODUCT DESIGN

This was just the first go at producing a customized modular wheelchair. Lessons have been learnt, some pieces of technology that weren’t used this time round, almost certainly will in the future. Metal 3D printing will enable lighter side frames in quicker time, while 3D scanning will return more precise measurements. “There’s no way I’m pretending this is a final product, it’s there as a thoughtprompter and a discussion promoter,” remarks Cox.

SHOWN:

THE LATTICE SIDE FRAMES WERE CNC MACHINED IN ALUMINIUM.

efficient, it will give you the opportunity to put a lattice structure inside instead of having them solid which would save more weight.” He’s mainly referring to the wheelchair’s side frames, which have been CNC machined at the Autodesk Technology Centre in Birmingham, UK. By harnessing metal AM, and implementing an internal lattice design, Cox projects weight reductions of around 40% in the future. The design of the side frames was the winner of hundreds of options thrown up automatically by Fusion 360 after variables like material and measurements were manually inputted into the software. Viewing the designs on a scatter plot, Cox was able to see which design was the most lightweight, had the best aesthetics, and was most in line with the user’s preferences, just by running his cursor over each plot. He also ran simulations of some of the other wheelchair modules, such as the seat, which was designed inside Fusion 360’s Sculpt workspace and will be SLS printed in the future, to see how it would perform if the user leant forwards, backwards, or to the side. For Disrupt Disability, this is an important capability because an SLS seat costs 1,500 GBP (1,900 USD), a big chunk of the organization’s budget. The simulation capabilities not only gave the partners the confidence to print the seat, but the seamless way in which Fusion 360 enabled alterations to be made post-simulation, then update and run the simulation again, was a key part of an efficient iteration process.

Disrupt Disability was born out of a series of hackathons, taking on board the suggestions from wheelchair users and professional designers, and is aiming to serve the 70 million people worldwide who require a wheelchair, of which around 14 million feel their requirements are not met. It operates with a mantra of ‘able-bodied people don’t wear the same shoes every day, so why should wheelchair users use the same wheelchair every day?’ If the user wants to go to the beach, the wheelchair should be able to go to the beach without its front wheels sinking into the sand. That’s why the five core modules: the seat, backrest, rear wheel axle, cast support and footrest, can all be swapped out to better suit the function at any given time. The organization has heeded assistance from several outlets: Cox’s consultancy has been ever-present; the hackathons helped get the ball rolling; and the likes of Salomé Bazin from Cellule and Julien Vaissieres from Batch Works helped to prototype different components of the modular system, like the front wheel casting forks, which were 3D printed for less than 30 GBP (39 USD). With the concept now proofed, all that’s missing is the investment to help make the idea of a functional, fashionable, customized, modular wheelchair a reality. “One of Rachael’s visions is making a wheelchair more of a wearable device, in the same way that spectacles are a medical aid but they’ve become a fashion item. Why can’t we do the same for wheelchairs?” asks Cox. “A key part of that was clearly to make a modular wheelchair that allows you to a) customize for your own preference, and b) change it on a day-to-day basis depending on what you are doing. I think the proof of concept shows that could potentially work.”

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[Anything goes here]

Once upon a time, a factory could only make one thing or a few things. Now, by partnering with GE Additive and our additive consultants, it can make anything. And can help make it stronger, faster and for less. Turn your factory into an Anything Factory. For more, visit ge.com/additive and letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s build anything together.

PRODUCT DESIGN

NO SHORTCUTS WORDS: Simon Côté, Product Manager at Creaform

SCOTT SPORTS AND CREAFORM: COMMITTING THE “NO SHORTCUTS” APPROACH TO SPORT’S SAFETY AND COMFORT

nown for its wide and complete range of quality sports gear, SCOTT Sports has a bit of a peculiar history: the company was founded in Idaho in the north-western USA, back in 1958. It first came to the market with ski poles, followed by goggles, then slowly branching out into biking in the 1980s.

B:11.125” T:10.875” S:10.375”

In 1998 came an unusual twist: the company was acquired by what was then its European sales and distribution office, effectively moving the headquarters in Givisiez, a picturesque small town near Fribourg. Moving the headquarters to Switzerland seemed to give a second wind to the company, which greatly expanded its product line from then on. Nowadays, SCOTT Sports develops and produces head-to-toe gear for skiing, biking, motorcrossing, snowmobile riding and trail running. The common thread: All these sports are suited to a mountain, outdoorsy environment.

A PASSION FOR PUSHING THE LIMITS In the highly competitive sports gear market, what sets SCOTT Sports apart? According to Bertrand Didier, Chief Engineer for the company’s Sports Division, it’s first and foremost an intense drive to innovate and constantly push the limits of its products. The company’s tagline is “No Shortcuts” - and it is nothing less than a motto that permeates the whole design and development process. In order to create gear that is perfectly suited to the sport and truly corresponds to its practice, they must constantly rethink all the

most important aspects: security and protection, ergonomics, reliability and, of course, style. While SCOTT Sports likes to continue playing on and drawing upon its American heritage, it is now a Swiss based company, with all the efficiency and precision that this implies. In Givisiez, there are currently over 20 engineers working for the various sport divisions. Every new product development stems from a collaboration between three teams: Product Managers, Designers, and Engineers. The latter becomes more and more involved during the project lifecycle, as the technical aspects gradually takes center stage. 4

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THE NEED FOR 3D SCANNING TECHNOLOGY At first, SCOTT Sports weren’t sure if their engineering division actually needed a 3D scanner of their own. They had partnered with external services in the past, but could an in-house device really be useful and a sound investment? So, the company initially decided to make a minimal investment in a “nearly homemade” mini 3D scanner, just as some sort of proof test. After a while, it became clear that: 1. SCOTT Sports could definitely use 3D scanning technology and; 2. their mini-scanner was not up-topart. For Bertrand and his team, the HandySCAN 3D was the right choice because it was “so much more intuitive, quick, and comfortable to use” than their “test” scanner. Furthermore, they were impressed by its resolution and ability to work on any surface or color while they appreciated that Creaform software was powerful yet simple to use. It made post-scanning work with meshes a cinch.

A COMPETITIVE EDGE When asked if the HandySCAN 3D brought SCOTT Sports a competitive edge, Bertrand responded with a resounding affirmative. The whole team uses it and has quickly integrated it into their workflow. “We like that it’s right there, so easy to take out of its box to operate. Its availability means we never have to hesitate to measure something, even to obtain a reference or make measurement comparisons” between prototypes, for instance. Case in point: Using Creaform technology when developing the recently launched Symbol 2 ski helmet, “was useful for the flexibility and speed it brought us in the design phase, the comparison between different versions, as well as the product control at the end of the development lifecycle. All of this led us to deliver a great product on time, with the shape and fit that everybody expected.”

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Bertrand estimates that using the HandySCAN 3D saved SCOTT Sports “at least a few weeks” of trial and errors, including the designers and engineers’ salaries as well as a few prototypes (which generally cost between 700 and 1,000 euros each). Since a helmet is a very complex object, one that presents particular challenges in terms of both volumes and ergonomics, it simply wouldn’t have been possible to “go as far” while designing the product without a 3D scanner. This type of product features both safety and comfort (pressure points) issues that could prevent it from reaching a perfect fit. But the TRUsimplicity of the HandySCAN 3D rose up to the challenge with its user-friendliness and versatility, contributing to the Symbol 2 success (the helmet won the gold award at the ISPO Award in 2017). On top of using it in its development process, SCOTT Sports utilizes their Creaform 3D scanner for reverse engineering, dimensional control as well as to obtain renderings of all their products to keep on file and to provide 3D models to the manufacturers they work with.

PRODUCT DESIGN

L EFT:

THE HANDYSCAN 3D HELPS THE COMPANY’S ENGINEERING AND DESIGN TEAMS TO GET THE SHAPE AND FIT THAT PEOPLE CAME TO EXPECT FROM SCOTT SPORTS PRODUCTS.

GEARED TOWARD THE FUTURE What are the next steps for SCOTT Sports? 3D technologies such as scanning and printing have opened up new possibilities for the dynamic company. Armed with an extensive industry knowledge — very few companies offer such a broad product line, which enables them to easily transfer knowledge and features from one sport or one equipment piece to another — Didier and his team want to continue improving the products and constantly make them safer, more comfortable, more versed in aerodynamics, etc.

Furthermore, they are not afraid to question their own processes and challenge themselves, willing to change direction quickly if need be, all in the name of perfection. Focusing on the details and transitioning the products into a technology realm are two upcoming challenges for SCOTT, and for sure “no shortcuts” will be taken. And they can rely on the HandySCAN 3D to help them achieve their goals.

SHOWN:

HANDYSCAN 3D IS VERY VERSATILE NO MATTER THEIR SPORT GEAR.

SHOWN: HANDYSCAN 3D SCANNER HELPS DESIGNERS ACCELERATE TIME-TO-MARKET FOR THEIR NEW PRODUCTS.

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The MAGAZINE for

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EDUCATION

THE TCT EDUCATION GUIDE

WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

s adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) increases, the demand for qualified engineers well-versed in the specific processes, materials, design principles and optimization methods, follows suit. Education is high on the wish-list for manufacturing and engineering firms looking to secure a skilled workforce capable of operating the factories of the future. A recent study, commissioned by Ricoh Europe, found that nearly nine in ten higher education professionals believe the skills developed through use of digital fabrication and 3D printing technologies are vital for graduates entering the job market. Education and training are essential to filling the gaping skills deficit facing the high value manufacturing sector but the availability of educational programmes specific to AM and 3D printing technologies remains limited. TCT spoke to a number of academics and course leaders about the crucial need to deliver more AM-focused education and training in order to keep up with industry demand.

It is certain that AM will play a significant role in shaping the future of production, and that we are in the early stages of transformation,” Prof. John Hart, MIT said. “To that end, we need engineers, designers, technicians, executives, and others to understand AM and to build the full spectrum of supporting technologies and infrastructure. Our ambition is that, by developing a scalable, learner-centric online program, we will grow a global community of practice in AM, and expand our efforts for many years to come.”

TYPES OF COURSES AVAILABLE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FOR INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION – MIT (ONLINE) MIT’s online course is tailored for professionals, from engineers to executives. The course presents the technical foundations of AM, teaches how to design parts for AM using advanced digital tools, and equips learners with the knowledge and confidence to identify and evaluate applications of AM across the product lifecycle. Start Date and Duration: Various, 11 weeks UL ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TRAINING UL’s three-tier curriculum guides participants through foundational industry knowledge to in-depth, hands-on experiential learning. UL’s courses help facilitate the safe and successful implementation of AM for many industry audiences, including engineers, designers, production technicians and business professionals. Courses may be taken independently or as part of the industry’s first professional certification in AM. Start Date and Duration: Various Master of Science in Additive Manufacturing and Design Penn State's one-year course offers students and working engineers the opportunity to become technical experts in AM in residence at University Park. Courses are designed to provide the analytical and practical skills required to digitally design, develop, analyze, numerically model, optimize, fabricate, and inspect new components and subassemblies using AM. Start Date and Duration: Fall/Spring, 1 year

The knowledge gap continues to be one of the top hindrances in global adoption of additive manufacturing,” Melissa Albrecht, Global Program Manager, AM, UL commented. “UL is passionate about helping the AM industry understand and navigate the best possible solutions – relative to safety, quality and performance – for unique business needs.”

To highlight the opportunities currently available in AM education, we have rounded up the courses and training programs on offer in an online guide. To ﬁnd an AM course or training program, visit the TCT Education Guide at: mytct.co/TCTEducation

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EDUCATION

EDUCATION INDUSTRY UPDATE

o encourage new talent into new businesses you have to have the right level of tech. Delivering that kind of innovation to the next industry leaders, the people coming from university, it’s awe inspiring because then they’ll learn from that and drive that further and continue to perpetuate the market.” – John Burton, Dell Precision Workstation. Thankfully, the additive manufacturing (AM) industry hears Burton loud and clear, and this year a range of organizations invested their time and money in education initiatives. Here are some of the highlights.

GE ADDITIVE The company immediately outlined its intentions upon its formation back in 2016, investing 10m USD between 2017 – 2021 through its GE Additive Education Program. Now in the second cycle of the initiative, GE Additive has delivered a Concept Laser Mlab 200R machine to Calhoun Community College, University of Illinois, and West Virginia University, hundreds of desktop machines into primary and secondary schools, and also opened up the parameters of the Arcam ABM A2X platform for universities.

ULTIMAKER Ultimaker agreed to become a sponsor and supplier to GE Additive’s education endeavours, seeing its desktop machines installed at a host of schools across the continent.

MIT For years, now, Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been hosting training initiatives to help promote additive manufacturing, and enable industry professionals to apply it efficiently – 2018 was no different. In the summer, the Additive Manufacturing: From 3D Printing to the Factory Floor workshop returned for a fifth year, and in the spring, a nine-week long online course was delivered to address the fundamentals, applications and implications of AM across the product lifecycle.

DASSAULT SYSTÈMES In partnership with UMass Lowell, Dassault is looking to secure the future workforce available to many of its industrial partners by teaching young engineers how to design and create. Enabling the next generation to have hands-on experience with its software applications, students will learn how to design products with AR and VR technologies, apply IoT and AI, and produce products with robotics and 3D printing. JOHNSON & JOHNSON J&J opened a 3D Printing Center at the University of Miami’s College of Engineering, which will enable engineering students to work side by side with the company’s scientists. The 5,850-square foot facility boasts ten desktop FDM machines and two larger format metal systems, and gives the young engineers the chance to put into practice what they’ve picked up through theoretical sessions.

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SUM OF ITS PAR C

hristmas 1999, as an excited 15-year-old, I unwrapped my first Personal Computer, purchased from the now-defunct British electrical retailer, Comet (think, Best Buy). Less than one month later my father, in dispute with the branch manager, was threatening to launch the painfully sluggish machine through the shop window and it had nothing to do with the Millennium bug.

Before Comet eventually relented and refunded the money, my uncle, a local IT whizz said of the terrible PC, "a machine can only be as good as its components." When looking at a couple of shortlisted entrants to this year's TCT Awards, I wondered whether Uncle Patrick's statement was as true now for desktop 3D printing as it was then for personal computing. After the experience with the shop-bought PC, Patrick taught me to build PCs, scouring computer fairs across the country on the hunt for appropriate components that I'd then assemble with varying degrees of success. Theses clunkilyput-together machines, with their parts exposed and super-loud fan systems, ran my video games much faster than the shinier looking, shopbought, CE marked Comet one ever mustered. We've had our fair share of 3D printers on loan at TCT that are comparable to that Comet PC. Assembled, 'plug-and-play' machines that have been, by and large, slow, unintuitive, prone to failure, and frustrating to the point where if I'd have paid for them, I too would be looking for a shop window for which to launch through. However, there's a raft of hobbyists building their own or upgrading on existing desktop 3D printers. Thanks to that ever-growing demand there's also a steady supply of manufacturers producing components that move the dial on 3D printing's viability as an easy-to-use, reliable technology be that for the home or the engineer's desk.

TIPS OF THE ICEBERG Take the Olsson Ruby FDM Nozzle, a finalist in the TCT Hardware Award 2018 – Non-polymer systems. The add-on has the potential to take sub 500 USD FDM printers and have them churning out parts in engineering-grade carbon filled filaments.

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Designed by Uppsala University research engineer Anders Olsson and commercialized by 3DVerkstan, the nozzle is brass but has a ruby gemstone mounted to the tip. Whereas the majority of nozzles are entirely brass, which wears quickly when printing with abrasive materials such as carbon filled nylons, the Olsson Ruby's tip is much harder wearing. A test showed that a brass nozzle degraded beyond usability after printing 0.3 kg of a carbon fiber filled filament, whereas after printing 8 kg of the same material there was no visible wear under a microscope to the Olsson Ruby nozzle. Then there's E3D Online, whose tool-changer concept won the TCT Hardware Award 2018 – Polymer systems category. E3D's components, and in particular its hot-ends, are revered by both the knowledgeable hobbyist market and industrial OEMs like Lulzbot and German RepRap.

Although E3D will be the first to admit that a tool-changer is not a new concept, the company is renowned for perfection and the overseeing of successful step-changes in extrusion-based 3D printing. The R&D that has gone into creating a better solution for multi-material extrusion-based 3D printing at E3D's British HQ is staggering. Multi-material printing has been a goal since the days of Adrian Bowyer's first RepRap work. Effective multi-material printing can unlock applications that have proved out-of-reach to desktop systems. With the E3D concept a 3D printer would be able to pick up different hotends at speed to combine materials; imagine being able to use a Olsson Ruby Nozzle for a sturdy carbon-filled structure, a 1.2 mm E3D Volcano nozzle for fast and fat layering of support material and then a 0.4 mm nozzle for fine details, all without the need for human interaction. To achieve effective multi-material printing E3D has developed both a tool-changer and a new motion system from scratch. After trial and error experimenting with pneumatic sucker grabbers, electromagnetics and the likes, E3D's tool-changer uses extremely precise (sub five microns) kinematic coupling alongside a permanent magnet tool dock and a sprung bayonet cam-loc - the prototype of which was manufactured using metal powder-bed fusion technology.

The beta product for the toolchanger looks like a fantastically fast factory pick-and-place system that could well prove to be a huge leap forward for desktop 3D printing.

ABOVE BOARD Back in the PC building days, the motherboard was the key, get the right motherboard, and everything else would fall into place, with 3D printing that is no different. Much like the early days of the PC, where hobbyists were cobbling together existing microprocessors to process logistical problems, in the early days of the desktop 3D printer, the RepRap community was using readily-available PIC microcontrollers and Arduino-based electronics to drive the stepper motors, control temperature, slice files etc. The sophistication of off-the-shelf electronics only goes so far, if you wanted to control a system like E3D's pick and place or even just an extra stepper motor you'd come unstuck. Bart Meijer, a founder of the component and filament supplier RepRapWorld, decided there needed to be a better option and created

DESKTOP 3D PRINTING

PARTS WORDS: DAN Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;CONNOR

SHOWN:

THE OLSSON RUBY NOZZLE ENABLES LOW-COST FDM PRINTERS TO PRINT IN ENGINEERING-GRADE CARBON-FILLED FILAMENTS.

a line of motherboards engineered explicitly for 3D printing. Minitronics, Megatronics and Ultratronics is a line of increasingly advanced boards for hobbyists and industrial OEMs alike. The cheapest board, Minitronics, allows users to add functionality like dual extrusion; the midrange board, Megatronics was the first single-board solution for 3D printing; and the high-end Ultratronics board is the only board to support up to seven stepper motors, five thermistors and four thermo couples.

Investigating the home computer revolution and some of the famous failures like the Honeywell Kitchen Computer and its tagline, "If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute", it's hard not to compare with the heady days of Bre Pettis vs. Avi Reichental at CES with the "3D printer in every room," declarations. The fact was that the components inside those early desktop machines were not up to scratch, much like the Comet PC, and it was enough to put many people off. However, thanks to the thirst of dedicated hobbyists baying for more advanced componentry, the desktop 3D printing revolution still has a beating heart.

OEMs like professional 3D printer expert, Tumaker, calls Megatronics the "brains" of its machinery and for the Italian manufacturer, Kentstrapper's latest industrial machine, RepRapWorld proved to be the only place it could turn for its significant electronic enhancement. "MAVIS has automated calibration and is equipped with a [power management] system that significantly reduces the risk of print failure," explained Lorenzo Cantini, Chief Product Officer and Cofounder of Kentstrapper. "We decided to use Ultratronics because we needed a powerful, 32-bit board that would also allow us to add additional stepper motors when we add extruders to the machine. As we've worked with RepRapWorld since 2011, we knew how they work and had trust in their boards."

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WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS

he humble, plastic extrusion desktop printer is probably the image most synonymous with 3D printing in the public eye. Your child’s school may have one, local library or makerspace, and every now and again you may even spot one on “special buy” in the electronics aisle of the supermarket for less than the cost of a games console.

has gone from being a hobbyist favourite to finding itself an invaluable place on assembly lines at Volkswagen Autoeuropa, where 3D printed tooling, jigs and fixtures are expected to save the company up to 250,000 EURO (287,000 USD) a year. But there are plenty of other areas where desktop is making an impact on an industrial scale.

Desktop 3D printing, namely in the consumer space, has had its fair share of hitches. We’ve seen layoffs, short-lived partnerships with consumer brands (Did ANYONE buy a Martha Stewart 3D printed napkin ring?) and closures as the consumer 3D printing dream failed to live up to far-fetched expectations.

MakerBot is arguably the most recognizable desktop 3D printing brand having gone from being king of the maker community, proclaiming its machine will change the world, to an acquisition by Stratasys, with plenty of highs and lows along the way. Now, with its ten-year anniversary just around the corner, it’s done a bit of a U-turn and found itself a comfortable position serving the education and professional markets. Over 5,000 schools in the U.S. have a MakerBot installed and at this year’s RAPID + TCT back in May, there was no sign of a consumerfocused past on the MakerBot booth with examples from robotics company KUKA to lacrosse equipment manufacturer StringKing, showing how desktop 3D printers can be an integral part of industrial product design.

However, that dip and subsequent disillusionment has allowed for the hardware, materials and software to mature, and useful applications to materialize. In fact, a recent report suggests that as many as 75% of the desktop machines sold in the industry have gone to companies rather than individual users, with engineering departments and designers thought to be the biggest user base. The poster child of this desktop industrial revolution has to be Ultimaker, a company who in the space of a few short years

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MAKER TO MANUFACTURER

DESKTOP 3D PRINTING

 BELOW:

MAKERBOT Z18 IS IN OPERATION FOR AROUND 7,000 HOURS A YEAR AT KUKA.

bureaux order, so we had one of the saddles come in after a week with expedited shipment. It's that story of opening the platforms. They need to be a tool that you can use to just get that idea out of your head and put it in a physical manner.”

“The way that we see it, AM (additive manufacturing) has two big applications, either for actual manufacturing or prototyping,” Felipe Castaneda, Senior Industrial Design Manager at MakerBot told TCT. “With prototyping you need something that's going to take you to the next step. We are not trying to substitute industrial systems, we are just trying to get you as close as we can to that final part of the prototyping process.” At KUKA’s Development and Technology Center in Augsburg, its MakerBot Z18 is in operation for around 7,000 hours a year and was recently applied to the development of the company’s small-scale KR 3 AGILUS robot, savings weeks on development time. In environments like this, accessibility is one of the main advantages desktop machines have over large industrial systems. These low-cost, compact systems

can be set atop a designer’s desk rather than locked away in a dedicated lab or outsourced to a service bureau which, according to internal studies, MakerBot believes encourages use. “We did this study last year on bicycle seats. We had a bunch of printers and I was trying to prove a point of what happens when the designer is exposed to as many printers as they want,” Castaneda explained. “The good thing about these machines is the turnaround is about 12 hours, so I was printing, in this case, five sets of bicycle saddles in a week. Whilst that experiment was running we did our service

CONVENIENCE ENCOURAGES CREATIVITY Mara Hitner, Director of Business Development at MatterHackers, a technology solutions provider specialized in primarily sub 5,000 USD printers and materials, believes that aside from prototyping or jigs and fixtures, giving engineers access to desktop printers in large corporations can be a real access point for creativity. Hitner points to a small plastic ring on her finger which was produced on her first desktop machine and ignited her interest in the technology.

“NASA is pretty famous for having a makerspace but I feel like the word ‘makerspace’ used to be a dirty word for a major manufacturer,” Hitner explained. “All these engineers and creative people, they can’t mess up when they're on the job, they can't try something new on a rocket and then have it fail. But if they have a certain percentage of their time where they can go down to the makerspace and just play, they can do what they started in their careers doing, just trying stuff.” MatterHackers is completely technology agnostic, delivering over 50 machines, kits and 700 materials from partners alongside its own range of filaments, to both the education and professional markets. In addition to big machine launches like the larger Ultimaker S5, materials have also benefitted from some serious 4

SHOWN: ENGINEERS AT VOLKSWAGEN USE ULTIMAKER DESKTOP MACHINES

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DESKTOP 3D PRINTING

HK Technologies, Inc. AN AFFILIATE OF

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THE POSTER-CHILD OF INDUSTRIAL DESKTOP 3D PRINTING, ULTIMAKER HAS TEAMED WITH GLOBAL MATERIALS COMPANIES TO MEET DEMAND FOR ENGINEERING-GRADE MATERIALS.

advancements over the last year as material science has moved on and companies, namely Ultimaker once again, partner with major materials manufacturers such as BASF and Solvay to bring engineering quality to the desktop. What may once have been the province of larger industrial machines, engineers are now able to print with high-temperature resistant, nylon and carbonfilled filaments to produce functional parts which could potentially save thousands in production costs. “Volkswagen is a really great example and there are so many more companies that are seeing where this technology fits in their workflow,” Hitner continued. “Most people, once they start seeing these use cases, the wheels start turning and they start to understand how having a fabrication machine on every engineer’s desk just sparks that creativity. It helps people to iterate faster and is really going to bring us to the next generation of products and services that are available to the public.”

INDUSTRY-FIRST

Markforged is a company that has always been industry-focused, bringing engineering-grade materials to the desktop starting with its Mark One 3D printer back in 2014. Unlike the colorful polymer prints produced on machines of a similar stature, the Boston-based company’s machines are designed to produce functional end-use parts in carbon fiber, Kevlar and fiber glass. Jonathan Reilly, VP of Product at Markforged commented: “I think the general shift to a more industrial focus is very interesting and also very necessary because it expands the capabilities of 3D printing and I think it’s the right place to start pushing towards more and more high-volume applications.” The company has since turned its attention to developing larger industrial solutions and a low-cost metal 3D printing machine but Markforged’s continuous carbon fiber desktop systems are proving to be an invaluable access point to the technology as they’re leveraged on manufacturing lines to print jigs, tools and fixtures. This flexibility is enabling companies like Centerline Engineered

SHOWN:

FORMED PARTS WITH PRINTED TOOLING PRODUCED ON A MARKFORGED MARK TWO.

Solutions, a U.S. contract engineering business, to significantly reduce costs and lead times with printed inspection, welding and assembly fixtures and custom tooling. In the recent case of a press brake punch and die used to bend and form a custom sheet steel part, which would typically cost up to 2,000 USD if machined, the company decided to use a

“WE ARE NOT TRYING TO SUBSTITUTE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS, WE ARE JUST TRYING TO GET YOU AS CLOSE AS WE CAN TO THAT FINAL PART OF THE PROTOTYPING PROCESS.” fixture, 3D printed in Markforged’s Onyx carbon-composite material reinforced with continuous Kevlar fibers. The part was able to successfully form steel and resulted in an 86% reduction in costs.

Proving the durability of the technology in end-use applications, Humanetics, a crash test dummy manufacturer recently utilized a Markforged Mark Two 3D printer and Onyx material to produce a complete set of ribs in just a week. The company was able to save up to 60% in assembly and labour costs and the printed ribs were still going strong even after over 150 impacts. Reilly added: “I have this saying, “the part is our product, the thing you're buying from us is a delivery system for your part”, it's easy to get stuck focused on your printers or your materials but the customer really only cares about their part at the end of the day and if you can build the right delivery mechanisms that make it easy and repeatable for them to get what they expect, you'll win and you'll succeed and grow.” For the industrial sector which may have once overlooked seemingly simplified desktop systems, it looks like that message is finally getting through.

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IMTS

IMTS 2018 THE REVIEW WORDS : DAN O'CONNOR

he International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2018 was a peculiar experience for me. On one hand, there was evidence that the additive manufacturing (AM) industry was actually moving more quickly than I thought and on the other, there's no place quite like IMTS to bop AM on the nose and put it in its place. The AM pavilion at IMTS had outgrown its home from the last show two years ago where it was front and center at the North Building of Chicago's McCormick Place and had moved over to the West Building. Although this growth in floor space for AM is a sign of a growing industry, North Building is undeniably more of a prime location - home to the media centre, the opening ceremony activities and close to McCormick's largest entrance, West Building feels much more like somewhere you'd have to seek out. When you take the size of the booths and machinery of additive technologies compared with the more traditional approaches, you'll see how dwarfed AM is, but perhaps the new home could be seen as an industry that has grown up, no longer the shiny toy begging for attention but a serious manufacturing technology that deserves to be sought out.

Upon such seeking, there was plenty of new tech to find and plenty to illuminate conversations. Possibly the biggest news came out of HP, which used the mainly metal focused show to launch HP Metal Jet - a new bind and sinter approach to processing metal injection molding (MIM) powders. Building on its MJF architecture, Metal Jet adopts voxel-level binder jetting technology which uses low-cost off-the-shelf metal injection moulding (MIM) powders and a binding agent to build parts within a bed size of 430 x 320 x 200mm. Once unpacked, these “green parts” are then sintered in a standard furnace to produce high-quality isotropic components which meet ASTM and MPIF standards. Unlike MJF, which was introduced as an end-to-end 3D printing solution including printer and postprocessing station, HP hasn’t made any plans to include the necessary sintering hardware in its metal offering. Explaining the decision at TCT Show 2018, Paul Gately, Business Manager, HP 3D Printing UK, said the company is working under the notion that most organisations HP

is talking to already have sintering equipment in place and though he suggested HP may offer its own solution in time, right now it’s a case of, “why re-invent the wheel?". Elsewhere, 3D Systems announced a collaboration on metal AM with GF Machining, EOS unveiled its M 300-4 multilaser system, Optomec launched its LENS 860 Hybrid Controlled Atmosphere system, there was a first look at Velo3D's technology (after a ludicrous trek) and Stratasys debuted its Fortus 380mc with some parts on a Team Penske car. We'll have more on each of these in upcoming issues. Away from launches, it was on the GE Additive stand I had a conversation which most intrigued. The discussion was with GE Additive Addwork's General Manager, Chris Schuppe, a former GE Aviation man who has seen first hand how rapidly additive manufacturing can turn a company upside down. "If you look at the parts we [GE AVIATION] were making in 2014 there were less than a handful of applications destined for production," explains Chris. "With additive today, if you went and talked to the GE Aviation guys they'd probably tell you there are over a hundred destined for production. You've gone from zero to four or five in eight years, to over a hundred in two years, you're really starting to get on that ramp." These comments hit home particularly as I'd been starting to think that additive was going nowhere fast, but that is just a view from inside the industry. Take a step back and you'll see a technology portfolio that has a large place inside the world's largest manufacturing technology show and that is being applied at a rate of knots.

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THE DIRECTORY

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ALTERNATE REALITIES

WORDS: TODD GRIMM

ruth is I doubt my opinions and beliefs on what the future holds for additive manufacturing (AM). The doubt doesn’t arise from a lack of confidence nor from a lack of conviction. Instead, it arises because there are many possible realities when it comes to the future. The alternate realities are each based on a set of facts, nuances, caveats and details that must themselves become real. Not knowing exactly how these pieces of the puzzle will come together, it makes little sense to be overly confident and to not re-evaluate my beliefs frequently.

The most common situation that causes me to reassess what I hold to be true is when I join the audience to hear what a keynote speaker has on their mind. Coming from a pragmatic position, the thought-provoking commentary often disagrees with my thoughts. This causes me to pause and to contemplate what she knows that I do not. Surprisingly, follow-up conversations often reveal that while our predictions are drastically different, our facts are not. Instead, it is our interpretation of the facts coupled with the underlying assumptions that leads to disparate conclusions. A few weeks ago, this situation played out once again. An informed keynote speaker from a large corporation, one firmly rooted in technology, clearly and enthusiastically laid out the future of manufacturing. AM was a key to this future and one that she stated would profoundly impact all companies. She advised preparation for the big changes that were coming, changes that would fundamentally alter manufacturing strategies, plans, actions and control. I stepped up on the stage after her presentation and delivered my message: sweeping change is possible but not probable without significant developments. Lingering in my head as I presented was the voice questioning if I was wrong. The keynote speaker had no hidden agenda and nothing to sell to those that believed her words. Her motivation was pure, which furthered my doubts. So I made it my mission to chat with her, to compare notes, and to discover where my blind spots existed.

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Pleasant, approachable and open minded, she engaged with me in a 90-minute conversation. Our dialogue was exhilarating, challenging and, most importantly, productive. When we ended our discourse, neither of us had changed our opinions of AM’s future, but each of us understood the underlying tenets that led to our conclusions. I found that our thoughts were not that different. Instead, our assumptions about how the pieces of the puzzle would come together were the cause of the divergence. Through the conversation, and others like it, I discovered how we could devise alternate realities while sharing many beliefs. Simply stated, the devil is in the details, and that is the crux of my message to you. To understand how AM can help or harm you in the years to come, you must understand the planks that support the opinion or forecast. Don’t accept others’ positions without first appreciating the details and caveats on which the premise is made.

grimm column

Start by being receptive to ideas that appear to be contradictory, treating each as a possible reality. Then dig in to discover the details that are fundamental to the possibility becoming a reality. Next, determine which of these details are pertinent to your business and then distill this list to the five or so critical elements. Armed with this insight, investigate the current state of each element and the probability of change. Now, you can come to your own personal conclusion, not those of a few pundits, as to what role AM will play and what you need to do to get the most out of it. What the future holds, and how to plan for it, that is up to you to decide. Rick Riordan, a bestselling American author said, “It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.” Don’t get caught up in another’s reality; determine your own. And remember, according to John Lennon, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”

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

tgrimm@tagrimm.com

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

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Prototypes, Production Parts, Injection Molds and More At EnvisionTEC, we have been building better additive manufacturing machines for 15+ years. Our printers build durable, large and small parts that are accurate and have a smooth surface finish without sacrificing speed. Simply put, our 3D printers make better parts. Whether you are looking for faster, more accurate prototypes for design verification and testing or for real mass production of custom products, EnvisionTEC can help. Our printers use light to turn liquid resin into production parts and prototypes for manufacturers. Also, we use robots to build large sand castings for foundries. Customers with EnvisionTEC 3D printers make packaging, electronics, bottles, auto parts, pumps, airplanes and more.