TCT Europe 20.4 by TCT Magazine

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TCT LIVE

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ONSITE ISSUE

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ParaNorman: a 3D Printed, Full-Colour Hero Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling Technology for High-Cycle Moulding Through The Doors: at BluePrinter leading product development and additive manufacturing since 1992

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Volume 20/Issue 5 www.tctmagazine.com

EDITORIAL Group Editor James Woodcock E: james@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 1829 770037

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Todd Grimm, T.A. Grimm & Associates, Inc. Jeremy Pullin, Renishaw PLC Dr Joel Segal, Nottingham University Graham Tromans, G. P. Tromans Associates Terry Wohlers, Wohlers Associates Dan Johns, Bloodhound SSC

SALES Group Advertising Manager Carol Hardy E: carol@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 1829 770037

ART Production & Design Manager Sam Hamlyn E: sam@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 1829 770037 Graphic Designer Adrian Price E: adrian@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 1829 770037

PUBLISHER Duncan Wood E: duncan@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 7798 844259

C.E.O. Mark Blezard E: mark@rapidnews.com T: + 44 (0) 1829 770037

The TCT Magazine is published bi-monthly by Rapid News Publications Ltd Unit 2, Chowley Court, Chowley Oak Lane, Tattenhall, CH3 9GA, UK. Telephone: + 44 (0) 1829 770037 Fax: + 44 (0) 1829 770047 © 2012 Rapid News Publications Ltd

While every attempt has been made to ensure that the information contained within this publication is accurate, the publisher accepts no liability for information published in error, or for views expressed. All rights for The TCT Magazine are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. ISSN 1751-0333

The TCT Magazine is endorsed by the following organisations as a leading resource for information on Rapid Product Development and Additive Manufacturing technologies.

AMUG

The Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Associations

The Additive Manufacturing Association

Medilink WM

Member of Gauge and Toolmakers Association

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!From The Editor

Coming of Age

It is important of course to consider the backgrounds of each of the Top 5, their motivations and what it is that they’re selling! While the lens cap looks to be a somewhat inferior offering when compared to bespoke surgical guides, it is something that has greater mass appeal. The problem comes in identifying how many people will want to print their own! In the industrial space, the world of metals AM is looking set to capitalise on the increased awareness generated over the last 24 months and make some form of break into the mainstream. IMTS in Chicago has an AM feature zone that many are hoping will

This issue contains articles about metals and nonmetals AM, for example you can see two quite different applications of 3D printing in animated films (3D Systems and ParaNorman on the cover and pages 8 & 9; EnvisionTEC and Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! on pages 20–23), how hybrid laser sintering and milling technology is helping to make more efficient injection moulds (Matsuura and OPM Laboratory on pages 42–48), how 3D printing enabled the creation of an entirely new fastening, encapsulation and drive system (Rotite on pages 28–29) and more… If you have comments on any of the content in this month’s magazine you can drop me a line via james@rapidnews.com — I’d love to hear from you. Jim Woodcock Group Editor james@rapidnews.com

FROM THE EDITOR

bring the technology to a larger audience and start to put AM in the mainstream niches where it can affect most benefit. A slew of new machines, improved processes and fascinating applications are also coming to light.

The publishing of the Top 5 Talk Back in last month’s issue caused, as I knew it would, a slew of comments from readers agreeing with, disagreeing with and challenging the sanity of some of the responses (and respondees). One outlook that was almost universally accepted as ‘correct’ came from both Fried Vancraen and Abe Reichental — that medical applications of AM and 3D printing are some of the most inspiring, challenging and ultimately rewarding. Other comments — such as Bre Pettis’ assertion that one of the best applications of AM was an SLR lens cap — were met with a certain degree of incredulity.

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www.tctmagazine.com

TCT VOLUME 20 | 5

contents

through the doors:

feature: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is the most recent feature film from animation specialists Aardman Animations, find out how EnvisionTEC played a major role in the modelling for this spectactular film.

feature: Rotite See how 3D printing was instrumental in the development of a new mechanical system for coupling, fastening, connecting and more.

Duncan Wood, Publisher-atlarge

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BluePrinter, Denmark Eager to see what would be on show at TCT Live, and find out a little more about the Denmark-based outfit, TCT dutifully boarded a plane to wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen to take a peek.

special report: TCT’s intrepid publisher brings us a glimpse into the AM world at this year’s IMTS.

20 News for engineering, product development and manufacturing.

column:

Todd Grimm

editorial insight

tct news and comment

25 Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know.

For more detail, please see pages 8 and 9.

Special Report: AM at IMTS

3D Systems’ ZPrinter technology has been used by film company LAIKA to create one of the most spectacular stop-motion animation feature films to date, ParaNorman. Find out how they did it here.

tct news and comment

on the cover:

column Todd Grimm

Through The Doors BluePrinter

08 cover star Lead News

editorial insight

on the cover

The Pirates!

feature: Materialise Software is fundamental to AM processes, and one company in particular — Materialise — offers solutions for preparation, build and process management of AM.

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leading product development and additive manufacturing since 1992

feature: Hybrid sintering and milling in mould production Japan-based OPM Laboratory has two of Matsuura’s LUMEX Avance 25 hybrid machines, and they put them to good use making complex moulds and dies.

feature: AM’d lower jawbone LayerWise has been involved extensively in the production and fitting of a titanium lower jaw bone to a senior patient — find out how the medical team was helped by cuttingedge technology.

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feature: CRDM A look at how the veteran RP bureau is continuing to bring customers new offerings — by buying even more machines!

feature: Long Term Data Archiving The final installment from Theorem Solutions, bringing you a Top Ten that you need to follow to successfully implement your LTDA system.

through the doors: Materials Solutions and GOM, UK Materials Solutions has been helped in its quest to make aerospace grade parts very quickly by GOM, so TCT took a trip to Worcester to find out how the partnership works.

63 Long term Data Archiving

61 CRDM

Christie Seen at the AMUG conference in Costa Mesa this year, Christie Medical Holdings Inc., has use of an enviable rapid prototyping, testing and manufacturing setup with AM/3D printing technology from four major suppliers — giving them the ability to see where the real strengths and weaknesses lie.

55 Through The Doors Materials Solutions & GOM

feature:

51 LayerWise

Christie

Materialise

Rotite

Hybrid Sintering & Milling

3D Printing Matrix A roundup of the offerings across the industrial 3D printing space.

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!Cover Star

ParaNorman: Artfully powered by 3D printing For well over 15 years colour 3D printing has been available, but not always well understood. Ongoing innovation has delivered some rather amazing enhancements whereby today ZPrinters from 3D Systems can yield a colour pallet over 396K shades strong. It is this level of colour quality and fidelity that attracted LAIKA Studios and convinced them to consider integrating old-school techniques with state-of-the-art 3D printing, enabling animators to create more expressive puppets for their latest stop-motion masterpiece, ParaNorman. Here’s how it all came about... Stop-motion animation has given us classics like King Kong, Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas, the AT-ATs in The Empire Strikes Back, and others. But compared with the puppets in ParaNorman, those characters are decidedly primitive. LAIKA, the studio that created ParaNorman, carefully blended old-school methods with the latest in 3D printing, to build more expressive puppets. The end result is an amazing film that looks more like true animation than stop-motion. LAIKA has always been a technology-based studio. They have actually used 3D printers for a number of years including in a prior film, Coraline. However to help explain the level of expertise and commitment that was made to embrace 3D printing as the centrepiece — the actual puppets of ParaNorman — we should describe how the stop-motion process works in some detail. LAIKA’s first step is to create a pen-and-paper character sketch. Next, they sculpt those characters in clay and make a mould to create a maquette, or model. The animators place a metal skeleton armature inside the body, which will allow them to manipulate the puppet’s movements. They also scan the puppet into a computer. Using a 3D animating program called MAYA, the team goes through a process similar to one on a 3D animated film, said Brian McLean, director of rapid prototype at LAIKA: “What we do differently is that we dive in and start designing and engineering all of the inner components of the heads.” There are two types of heads on stop-motion puppets. The first is a mechanical head, which has clock gears that control facial movement.

“Norman’s head is made up of 78 individually engineered and designed pieces, including an eye rig, which is a little mechanical functioning eyeball and eyelids,” McLean says. “At any point in time you see three of those, basically his ears and his face, but it’s all designed to give the animators as much performance as possible.” The second type of head is called a replacement head. These heads have faces held on with magnets, so they can be removed and replaced to create an extensive variety of expressions. “It’s basically like a mask that pops on and off,” LAIKA president and CEO Travis Knight explained. For ParaNorman, LAIKA used mostly replacement faces, which are traditionally sculpted from clay. “The problem with doing them all by hand is that there are limitations — there are only so many different iterations you can make. You can get a lot of broad, clear expressions, but you can’t get a lot in between, so it ends up being a little clunky.” But 3D printing changed all that. Creating ParaNorman’s replacement faces with a full colour 3D ZPrinter — the colour is a stop-motion animation first — allowed LAIKA to give Norman 8000 different facial expressions. “Some are very subtle, and some are broad in scope,” McLean said. “It means that we can take this age-old technique of replacement animation, mix it with a new technology and get unbelievable performances and some really unique designs for stop-action.” (LAIKA used a different type of 3D printer to build parts for the mechanisms in the mechanical puppets.) Using a printer that baked colour into the faces allowed them to create many details — like thousands of freckles on one character’s face — that would have taken too much time in the days of hand-painting puppets.

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The biggest challenge was getting all those heads to come out the same way with the exact quality each and every time. LAIKA’s team used powder material to create the faces, but the material had a lot of inherent slop and didn’t print perfectly during the rapid prototyping process. “The team went through a lot of trial and error to figure out how we can make those things fit in the exact same place every time,” Knight explained. “The heads are 3 inches in size, but magnified on the big screen, any little variance is going to look like it’s shifting all over the place. The colour itself was a struggle. “People take for granted that when you print out a photograph on an traditional 2D colour printer that the colour is pretty much going to match the screen,” McLean said. “But the colour profiles that you see onscreen and what colour the 3D printer actually produced — that communication wasn’t really there.” To determine which on-screen colour corresponded to what printed colour, the team went through a pantone book and printed each individual colour to see what it would come out looking like — and that became the colour palette for ParaNorman. But all of that trial and error did lead to some happy surprises. “Sometimes the printer would print two faces on one, and that got us thinking, ‘Hey, we can use this to do the standard smears that they used to do in handdrawn animation to simulate motion blur,’” Knight said. “That gave us the impression of fast motion, and we happened upon it by mistake.”

“With each technological advance, it makes things easier, but then it gives us a more expansive vision,” Knight said. “We have this new technology and it opens up new creative doors for us, so we push it hard and push it further. Let’s do more, let’s do bigger, let’s do better. So it makes it no quicker or cheaper to do.” Clearly full-colour 3D printing has come a long way. It seems to be making its mark in the movies and as the LAIKA team believes, with the success of ParaNorman, it will change stop-motion filmmaking forever. And this is just one application of full colour 3D printing — anyone that needs to make a point or get a message across quickly and clearly can now think directly in colour. For the architects who don’t want to labour over hand crafted models only to have the client request an additional copy — think colour 3D printing. Researchers looking for a cure for a common virus could more easily share findings through colour 3D printing. The opportunities are endless and the time is now. 3D Systems would like to invite you to explore more full colour 3D printing at TCT Live in 3D Systems booth number N12.

COVER STAR

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3D Systems www.3dsystems.com | www.printin3D.com LAIKA www.laika.com

You might think these new techniques would make stop-motion filmmaking faster. But truly, it’s making stop-motion filmmaking bigger.

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!News

The enhanced ROMER Absolute Arm with integrated laser scanner is now more rapid compared to previous versions, offering an acquisition speed of up to 50,000 points per second. This enables users to move the scanner over the measurement object faster than before, while achieving the same high data quality that ROMER users have come to expect, even on difficult to scan surfaces like high-gloss carbonfibre. This means that users can now scan up to 66% more surface area in the same amount of time as with previous versions of the ROMER Absolute Arm with integrated laser scanner.

!MCOR EXPANDS TERRITORIES WITH A NEW PARTNER PROGRAMME Mcor Technologies Ltd has announced the launch of its New Partner Program. The company has been expanding its operations over the last few months and now has launched a partner programme to extend the reach of its line of 3D printers. In recent months, Mcor has moved to a new HQ in Ireland, opened a second office in the US, added key staff and announced a new product, the Mcor IRIS fullcolour 3D printer. Mcor is now looking to add new channel partners to its team who have technical expertise, focus on customer service, and a solid track record of business growth and success. “Mcor’s aim is to build a strong network of channel partners around the world that sell and support our 3D printing solutions,” said Mcor co-founder and CEO Dr Conor MacCormack. “We are developing a growing portfolio of products to distribute and now it is about developing the right channel to support that. The business opportunity is attractive for our partners as we have a unique

Along with this development, Hexagon Metrology is also launching a wireless scanning option for the ROMER Absolute Arm with integrated laser scanner. This new Wireless Scanning Pack allows any arm with integrated scanner to be operated completely wirelessly, and at the same data transmission speed as with a traditional cable. Furthermore for unlimited wireless operation in the field, the Wireless Scanning Pack also includes a dual ‘hot swappable’ battery system where one battery can be charged continuously, while the other is in use. The Wireless Scanning Pack is offered as an accessory and is compatible with all new and existing ROMER Absolute Arms with integrated laser scanner. Installation can be completed by the user and in just a few minutes. Hexagon Metrology www.hexagonmetrology.com

offering with some unique selling options including our popular free D plans”. Comment: Mcor have been one of the more innovative 3D printing companies in recent years — starting from their first 3D printer, the Matrix — which uses standard paper as the build material — through to the novel business model available. The launch of the Iris fullcolour 3D printer will be a significant development for the company, with initial prints promising unsurpassed colour reproduction and detail. As a small company, looking to build partnerships with resellers makes perfect sense — and judging by the rate of developments within the company they will soon have a truly global reach. The company has recently recruited a number of industry names to the team, both in the US and Europe — definitely one to watch in the coming months and years.

NEWS

!FASTER AND WIRELESS SCANNING NOW AVAILABLE FROM HEXAGON Hexagon Metrology is further developing its laser scanner technology for portable measuring arms. The integrated laser scanner for the ROMER Absolute Arm is now significantly faster. Also, laser scanning can now be carried out wirelessly.

Mcor Technologies www.mcortechnologies.com

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!News

!3D SYSTEMS’ PROJET 5000, LARGE FORMAT PRECISION PLUS SPEED 3D Systems has launched the largest in its line of ProJet 3D printers, the ProJet 5000 large format. The Projet 5000 reportedly offers twice the speed of former systems with the highest print

!NCDMM IS CHOSEN TO MANAGE US NAMII Frank Kendall III (Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) along with Dr. Rebecca Blank (Acting Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of Commerce) and Gene Sperling (Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy) announced the NCDMM was selected to manage the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), the pilot institute for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). In March 2012, President Obama announced the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, with up

housed in a build chamber of 400 mm x 250 mm x 250 mm that can achieve build speeds of 30 seconds per layer – compared to previous build speeds of approximately oneand-a-half minutes per layer. Comment: Since last year’s rebranding ExOne has become more aggressive in the sector, with heightened development and marketing activity on both sides of the pond. The company’s involvement in the AM area at IMTS in Chicago, USA, as

well as TCT Live in Birmingham, UK will bring the technology to the view of more people. With many in the industry looking for metals-based AM to surge forward in the coming years ExOne’s realignment now may pay dividends in the future. ExOne Corporation www.exone.com

resolution ‘in its class’. The new system has what the company calls its ‘most advanced print-head technology’. The print heads come with a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty, which should help to keep the total cost of ownership at a lower level. Built for factory performance, the ProJet 5000 is reportedly compact, quiet and easy to use. 3D Systems believes that companies of any size can enjoy the benefits of on-demand, in-house production of high-quality, extremely detailed prototypes and functional parts up to 21 inches, or 550 millimetres, in length. “With the ProJet 5000, our customers can economically print larger, single piece, high-definition parts inhouse,” said Buddy Byrum, Vice President Product & Channel Management for 3D Systems. “With faster print speed and higher resolution, the new ProJet 5000 delivers even more value for automotive, aerospace, footwear, appliances and packaging design and manufacturing applications.”

Comment: 3D Systems seem to be ‘keeping up appearances’ in both the emerging consumer 3D printing space and the industrial 3D printing and AM space at the moment. The latest addition to the company’s range, the Projet5000 looks to appeal to the professional user with speed, build size and a welcome 5-year warranty — ticking the three most important boxes for the industrial user. It remains to be seen whether one company can hope to dominate both of these very different areas of the diversifying technology ecosystem, but with the history and resources 3D Systems has they are undoubtedly one of the best placed to try.

to fifteen Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation located around the country. These institutes will bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and the states to accelerate innovation by investing in industrially relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications. Each Institute will bridge the gap between basic research and product development, provide shared assets to help companies – particularly small manufacturers – access cutting-edge capabilities and equipment, and create an unparalleled environment to educate and train students and workers in advanced manufacturing skills. These Institutes will serve as regional hubs of manufacturing innovation, and will be known as world-class centers for applied research, technology incubation, and commercialisation.

Comment: Governmental interference is a hugely divisive topic across the USA and Europe, but few in the industry would argue against projects like this. The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute could be just the scheme to ensure that the USA remains at the forefront of AM technology for some time to come. I would imagine setting up a pan-European initiative with similar scale and scope would be considerably more difficult. It will be interesting to see how the NAMII enables technology transfer in an industry that has had such a litigious past and to a lesser extent present.

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3D Systems Corporation www.3Dsystems.com

NEWS

!NEW 3D PRINTING SYSTEM FROM EXONE The Ex One Company (ExOne), producer of industrial 3D printing equipment, has recently introduced its newest state-of-the-art 3D printer. The M-FLEX 3D Printing System – on display in the AM area of the IMTS Emerging Technology Center – The company claims that the new system dramatically increases the capabilities of a 3D metal printer, offering more than seven times the volume output of machines currently in use. Streamlined and sleek, the mid-sized M-FLEX system is primarily designed for manufacturing metal parts, for use in industries such as mining, automotive and energy. Eventually, additional material sets can be printed on the M-FLEX, including tungsten, glass, ceramics and a variety of materials used for the casting industry. The M-FLEX’s productivity improvements and increased flexibility are

Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute www.ncdmm.org

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!News !SOLIDSCAPE LAUNCHES 3D PRINTING SYSTEM FOR CUSTOM RETAIL JEWELLERS Solidscape Inc., a manufacturer of highprecision 3D printers for direct manufacturing applications, has launched the 3ZStudio 3D printer. Designed specifically for the needs of custom retail jewellers, the fully automated 3ZStudio printer brings the jeweller’s bench to the retail table top with the company’s industry-leading surface quality and precision. With one-touch simplicity, jewellery designers and retailers of any technical level can now produce their own intricate wax patterns, ready for casting. The 3ZStudio offers an effortless, affordable workflow that delivers high casting yields, consistent turnarounds and low cost-per-parts economy. “Our partners share our excitement about bringing to the custom retail jewellery market Solidscape’s legendary high precision at an affordable price of $24,650 USD,” said Fabio Esposito, VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Solidscape, Inc. The 3ZStudio features include a compact retail table top design, an intuitive icon based one-touch screen and variable resolutions for greater control. The 3ZStudio uses Solidscape’s next generation of stronger, more durable materials, 3XModel and 3ZSupport. These materials produce wax patterns that are easier to work with, while retaining the precision and smooth finish characteristics required for successful investment casting. “Until now jewellery retailers were forced to choose between the precision they needed, a performance level that fits their business and a price they could afford,” stated Esposito. “Now they no longer need to compromise on any critical feature — it is jewellery perfection simplified.” Comment: After a quiet period following Solidscape’s acquisition by Stratasys the Merrimack outfit has launched two new (similar looking) machines in a couple of months — the 3ZPro and 3ZStudio printers. The most recent offering is aimed directly at the jewellery industry, which is a slightly at odds with what the company was aiming for when TCT’s Publisher, Duncan Wood, visited them pre-acquisition. However, the Solidscape process and materials are well respected by jewellers and this move, which aims to improve the accessibility of the process, is a smart move. Incremental improvements in the materials properties are also likely to be well received by users. Solidscape Inc. www.solid-scape.com

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Didn’t Know What I Didn’t Know WORDS | TODD GRIMM @ T.A. GRIMM & ASSOCIATES, INC

investment level rises, so do the stakes. The pressure is on to pick the best technology and gain a firm grasp on operational considerations and ongoing expenses.

I didn’t know — or more accurately, I lost sight of — the challenges when evaluating and selecting an additive manufacturing system. I came to my senses as Kevin Ayers, an industry expert and avid supporter, and I stepped from the stage at the 2012 Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference.

This is definitely a case of “what you don’t know can hurt you.” An informed decision — picking wisely — can make you a hero. Pick poorly and your reputation can suffer while AM initiatives stall.

Kevin and I had just discussed a roadmap for system evaluation and selection. Hundreds of AM professionals packed the hall. Honestly, I thought the room would be empty and that the few who attended would soon be catching up on their sleep. As I stepped on stage and looked out at the audience, I was anxious. I thought that this topic was too basic, well below the level of experience that AMUG members possess. I thought we’d let them down. I didn’t know that our presentation would end with many thanks and just as many questions. But I should have known; I shouldn’t have been surprised. Even for AM professionals, evaluations can be a challenge. For those new to the industry, it can be a monumental endeavor. AM evaluation isn’t straight forward, and there are few resources for information, comparison and guidance. Novices and professionals alike want a roadmap, a guidebook to navigate system options, and the tools to help them get the job done. As the AM

For AM, picking the best means that you must untangle the interrelations of product, application, options, operations and requirements. I was reminded of this as I prepared a webinar titled “The Speed Myth.” As I compiled facts on what affects speed, each bullet point was relative to the parts, parameters, materials and requirements. And that is just one consideration. Add in cost, quality, labour and operations, all of which are just as variable, and you have a quagmire of unknowns. These unknowns can only be qualified with hard work and a keen understanding of your applications, products, expectations and requirements.

GRIMM COLUMN

Why is it so difficult? For starters, every technology is unique, so nothing can be taken for granted. On top of that, very few general statements hold true in all circumstances.

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It begins with homework. Before venturing into evaluation, you must understand your organisation’s needs, expectations, intended applications and financial matters. Department-by-department and product-byproduct, this information is vital for a successful evaluation and productive implementation. Armed with the facts that are pertinent to success, you then dive into the research phase. Our recommendations were: Comprehensive, high-level investigation: Use the Internet, go to trade shows and read trade publications to build a knowledge base of all that is out there. Log the vendor claims and industry perceptions; then test them to discover fact. Benchmark all candidates: Have vendors run your parts and report the details of every step. Then review the parts to determine which systems perform to your quality requirements.

Granted, it is hard, time-consuming work, and it is made tougher when there never seems to be enough time to get your “real job” done. But it is worth it. As you proceed with your investigation, don’t be afraid to ask any question of anyone. There is nothing too basic or too obvious to be ignored. As Kevin stated, “Would you rather appear dumb in the eyes of a stranger or look stupid when management questions your aptitude if an AM system fails to perform.” I think that there are few things sadder than an idle machine that sits empty because it doesn’t do the job as expected. Then again, maybe the saddest thing is the face of those that made an ill-conceived selection without the facts that the most basic questions can reveal.

Reach out: Validate what you’ve read and what you believe to be true by contacting references, industry experts and any users you can find.

Following the AMUG presentation, a lunch conversation shifted to a recent AM purchase. That individual said, “I made my decision with little more that salesman’s facts and a quick demo. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I’ll do things differently next time.”

Analyze operational and technical specifications: Get the details for items such as: • • • • • • • •

Investment Dictates Effort The larger the investment the more I encourage you to follow through with this exhaustive procedure. If purchasing a low-cost 3D printer, you can cut corners. The risk is much smaller, and a poor selection can be written off as a learning experience. However, as you get into hundreds of thousands of pounds, euros or dollars, you’d be wise to follow the plan step-by-step.

Materials and properties Throughput and capacity Machine size (facility access and floor space) IT needs Facility needs Maintenance and service Training Delivery

GRIMM COLUMN

The Process Building from Kevin’s hard-learned lessons and my involvement with benchmarking, we laid out a roadmap for success.

I hope you do things differently the first time.

After all of that, you still aren’t ready to make a selection, but you can create a short list of the most viable options. For these systems, repeat all the previous steps, digging deeper to make sure you have all the details and facts. Along the way, get your company’s stakeholders involved. Show them your benchmark parts, discuss your early findings and reconfirm the project goals, budget and expectations. The last step before signing on the dotted line is to get everything in writing that is important to your successful AM implementation.

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ExOne and Additive Manufacturing at IMTS WORDS | DUNCAN WOOD

The International Machine Tool Show takes place at the McCormick Place convention centre in Chicago every two years. Aside from this being the venue with, in my opinion, the best view in the world (see Picture 2) it is an event that this year promised a much larger focus on additive manufacturing.

The ETC, located in the heart of the venue, had displays from ExOne, 3D Systems, Objet and Renishaw. It certainly had a consistent flow of visitors throughout the day but I do wonder where EOS, Arcam, Stratasys, Sciaky and others were. The companies present were doing a great job of demonstrating the technology but if you only saw additive manufacturing for the first time at IMTS you'll leave with maybe just 40% of the picture. It was nice to see UK innovators Renishaw waving the flag in the ETC with its additive manufacturing equipment. Of course it is a regular IMTS exhibitor with its metrology equipment, ExOne is also an IMTS regular and given the attendance demographic it's no surprise the metal AM players were taking it seriously. ExOne has taken it so seriously it has made IMTS the launch pad for its new machine. The M-FLEX 3D Printing System (interesting that it has used the term "3D Printing", although they cover that by refering to themselves as an additive manufacturing company) was launched at the show.

ExOne's latest machine is primarily designed for manufacturing metal parts, for use in industries such as mining, automotive and energy. It is also capable of building in glass, tungsten and ceramics. The M-FLEX’s productivity improvements and increased flexibility are housed in a increased build chamber of 400 mm x 250 mm x 250 mm that can achieve build speeds of 30 seconds per layer — compared to previous build speeds of approximately 90 seconds. It offers a print resolution of 0.0635 mm (X/Y), 0.100 mm (Z). It continues to use ExOne’s “Digital Part Materialization” process. This process builds objects by treating a powdered material with a bonding agent from a print head. The object is then placed into a furnace for sintering, which burns out the binder and fuses the metal molecules into a solid part. “We’ve made tremendous strides in 3D printing in the last decade and what our machines can do today is simply remarkable. We are printing engine castings for helicopters and replacing broken pumps in oil fields in days – not months,” said Dave Burns, President of ExOne. “The M-FLEX continues our leadership in developing the 3D printing technology that has made additive manufacturing the most compelling advanced technology used in industry today.”

The machine and furnace will require an investment in the region of $500,000 USD but you get a serious piece of kit — this isn't producing coloured plastic toys. If you want to take closer look at this technology on the UK side of the pond then ExOne will be at TCT Live on booth S14.

SPECIAL REPORT

The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), organisers of the bi-annual event, are keen to promote the growing importance of additive manufacturing and it took a central place in the Emerging Technology Center (ETC), an area dedicated to disruptive and developing technologies.

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How to make a Pirate! (so they can have adventures, with scientists) WORDS | JIM WOODCOCK

Image courtesy of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation Image courtesy of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation

Above: A set of painted Cutlass Liz mouths

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! is the latest blockbuster from Aardman Animations — one of the foremost names in the animation world globally. Responsible for, amongst other things, the wildly popular Wallace and Gromit franchise, Aardman have teamed up with Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures to bring Pirates! to the big screen. This time, EnvisionTEC’s Perfactory system took over some of the work of the modellers — though you’d have a hard time noticing that. Here’s how they did it. Amanda Darby has, for the last 5 years at least, had a job that no doubt ranks in the top five of any ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ list. Amanda has been working with 3D printers (as well as a myriad of other tools) to help create an action-packed, funny film with pirates and monkeys and a dodo. If you didn’t want to do that when you were younger, you’re probably an accountant. To get a glimpse into this usually hidden world, TCT caught up with Amanda to find out exactly how she got involved and what the process is all about.

I asked Amanda how she came to be involved in 3D printing at all: “I have been a sculptor and model maker as far back as I can remember. I started to cross-train in zBrush and Maya so that I could be more adaptable as an artist within the TV and film industries. I first became aware of 3D printing about eight years ago. 3D printing was an ideal connection between disciplines, a great new tool, blending traditional skills with modern, state-of-the-art technology.”

Whilst working at Aardman Animation as a senior model maker, Amanda was recruited to the very early development work on the Aardman/Sony Animation production ‘Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists!’. During these early stages all steps of the production process are analyzed by the team. It was evident from the beginning that Pirates! would have a very large cast of characters, with lots of crowd shots, which meant it would be heavy on the use of dialogue and facial expressions. Amanda’s role began in a technical capacity, to research the possibility of using 3D printers as part of the lip-synch process (an all important aspect for stop-motion animated films, where the first stage is recording the actors voices to which the animation is set). The original idea was to use 3D-printed mouths and heads for a few of the background characters, to help shorten the time it takes to shoot crowd scenes. As Amanda explained, things snowballed from there: “As we did more tests and became more confident with the results, we expanded to using the process for all the characters in the film. With a total of over 8000 mouths and over 200 complete sets of eyelids (Figure1).”

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Image courtesy of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation

Above: Fresh off the EnvisonTEC Perfactory and onto the sanding stage, the luxuriant beard of the hirsute Pirate Captain is ready for painting and finishing. Figure 1 Right: A forest of tiny eyelids — the team created a delicate support system that meant such small parts could be removed from the machine with little post processing.

the Aardman Animation identity. The company wanted to ensure that people could still identify the film as being from the same maker's as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

The traditional way of creating the lip-synch for stop motion animation would be to have several identical blank mouth shapes pressed from a mould. Each mouth would be fitted onto a puppet head, joint lines blended over and then the mouth would be sculpted into the required shape between frames.

Amanda added: “Our biggest challenge was to use 3D printers to create the mouths, so that once animated they still gave the impression of being hand sculpted clay parts. The technology needed to adapt to the creative style rather than vice versa — in fact we added finger prints and tool marks to the models before we printed them! The EnvisionTEC system is accurate enough to recreate them faithfully, which added a nice ‘handcrafted’ feel to the final parts.”

This is a very time consuming process for a single character, but even more so if there are multiple characters in a scene. Some of the scenes in Pirates! had 10-15 characters, each requiring a diverse collection of expressions and dialogue mouths. Pirates! is based on a series of books by Gideon Defoe, with stories featuring a huge array of colourful characters. The humour and pace of the books lend themselves well to the Aardman Animation style. One of the challenges that the team flagged when discussions about 3D printing began was not losing

THE PIRATES!

Image courtesy of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation

Recreation of modelling clay was one of Amanda’s main development tasks. To determine which machines to invest in, the company ran tests for several months, trying out a range of machines and materials. The main brief was to recreate a hand-sculpted finish, as identical to our sculpting clay as possible. Every mouth had to be interchangeable with a multitude of heads so accuracy was crucial. Connecting surfaces and joint lines became the main focus: “We needed as much accuracy as possible, as hand finishing thousands of connecting points would be impossible,” explained Amanda. Having undertaken lots of animation tests and fit tests, the machine that came out on top in both accuracy and surface finish was the EnvisionTEC Perfactory. The company’s E-Shell material gave the model makers good sanding quality and a natural translucency, very similar to the sculpting clay used in Aardman’s previous productions.

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Image courtesy of Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation

“The tolerance between parts was excellent, we found the perfect print angle and connection designs in order to create a secure snap fit point of connection. We also printed sets of eyelids, unique to each character. Each set had 14 eyelids, some as thin and small as a fingernail! For these we designed very a delicate support system that peeled gently away from the back of the eyelids, needing very little clean up,” explained Amanda. The biggest benefit from using 3D-printed parts as part of the animation workflow was the impact it had when it came to filming on the studio floor. Animators could animate multiple characters in a scene at a far faster rate than using traditional methods. Not having to concentrate as much on sculpting, meant that they could focus on the physical movement and actions of the character. As this was such a large scale production the team had multiples of each character, for example, they had a stock of over 20 Pirate Captains. Each character could be filmed simultaneously on several units by different animators. The hard lip-synch also meant that the animation style of each character was kept consistent between animators and shots. Away from the studio floor, 3D technology impacted on the way the team worked, as Amanda explained: “We also used a GOM scanner to scan all the parts as they were produced in the model making department, enabling PreVis, VFX and the Art Department to have access to the same original high-resolution data. This helped keep the look and feel of any background, digital characters the same as the hand sculpted ones.” Each 3D printing technology and material offers a unique set of possible uses, including within the entertainment industry. There's a considerable danger of pushing the new technology into areas that are neither cost effective against existing processes or not as suitable — a problem that has been noted industry-wide for many years.

Since Pirates!, Amanda has been working with IPF Ltd (see last issue for details!) drawing from their experience across a wide variety of machines to expand her knowledge of different 3D printers available and researching new areas for the printers to be used within the TV and film industries: “Our collaboration is perfect, as we are like minded as to where the technology should fit and making the relevant people aware of the possibilities available.” Aardman Animations www.aardman.com Sony Pictures Animation www.sonypicturesanimation.com Above: Fully painted and ready to rock!

THE PIRATES!

“As a model maker I can see potential, but always like to weigh up the different techniques. I think the way of exploiting the capabilities of 3D printing is for traditional artists to cross-train, so they can use the new technology as a tool alongside existing processes. This will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge into the relatively new area of 3D printing.”

Amanda Darby www.amandadarby.wordpress.com

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Through the doors at BluePrinter

Left to Right: Torben B Lange (CTO), Frederik Tjellesen (Co-Founder), Niels Appel (CEO), Anders Hartmann (Co-Founder) and Hannes Lindal (Software and Electronics Engineer)

The anticipated arrival of BluePrinter and it’s new 3D printing technology has been building since before EuroMold 2011, where many in the industry got their first glimpse of the parts and the team — the printer was still very much a prototype at this point. The wait is almost over however as the Copenhagen-based outfit is ready to make its commercial launch at this year’s TCT Live exhibition with more parts, and an actual BluePrinter. We couldn’t wait that long, so TCT took a trip to Denmark to see what we could expect at the show… The introduction of a new material always causes a stir in additive manufacturing and 3D printing circles, so seldom do meaningful developments occur. The release of a whole new process, from a new company, is enough to send the industry into frenzy. So, with the news 18 months ago of a new process being commercialised somewhere in Copenhagen, a murmur of excitement began — the BluePrinter story has been one of the most read on www.prslnz.me, and that’s not even the market they’re targeting. The concept that grew into the BluePrinter was created by two students at Denmark Technical University, Frederik Tjellesen and Anders Hartmann. The pair created the first prototype 3D printer during their final year thesis, later taking the kernel of this idea and creating a formal company that could win funding to continue the development and take their product to market. Just three years later and, with the help of some established business professionals, the company is using TCT Live as a platform for their commercial launch. SEED Capital, Denmark’s largest venture capital fund within the seed segment, has invested significantly in BluePrinter ApS. Jeppe Frandsen,

THROUGH THE DOORS

Above: Test parts made on the BluePrinter demonstrate the definition of printed pieces as well as showing off their rigid yet flexible properties.

CEO Canon Germany has recently become the chairman of the board. This hard-won monetary & personnel investment has been used to recruit specialists in software, materials and commercial aspects of the business.

The process The BluePrinter uses a technology that the company refers to as Selective Heat Sintering (SHS). It is most closely related (as the name suggests) to Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), but replaces lasers as the energy source and instead used thermal print heads that one would normally see in modern till receipt printers. Many shops and supermarkets now use heat sensitive paper and thermal printers rather than traditional ink-on-paper solutions. Here, the paper is covered in a matrix of heat-reactive elements that pass close to specially designed resistors that heat rapidly when current is passed though them. The BluePrinter uses exactly the same print heads to sinter the thermoplastic powder so creating a solidified layer before a traditional recoating procedure re-starts the process. A protective sheet separates the print head from the powder, allowing the heat elements to effectively touch the surface without sticking.

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Right: A small LCD screen at the front of the machine is the only visible interaction point. On the back a power cord, on-off switch and ethernet port are the only blemishes on the otherwise smooth blue box. In this picture the handle to the lid has been removed!

As the heating and cooling periods are predictable and repeatable, it has been possible for the company to employ a software expert to create algorithms that compensate for these factors and ensure that the prints retain the fine details and crisp edges needed. Build layer thickness of 0.1 mm is achievable, limited to a degree by the powder particle size like most powder-based systems. The maximum build volume is 160 mm x 200 mm x 140 mm. One of the first things one notices about the BluePrinter is the size. This is not a small machine by any stretch of the imagination, and one would need a seriously industrial desk to have it ‘desktop’. Equally however, it is important to note that other plastics sintering equipment, i.e, SLS, is significantly larger and has a significantly greater price. The BluePrinter team are aiming for the €12,500 price range, setting their initial offering firmly in the lower-end of the professional user range — the area that the company expects to see the most growth and to which the technology is best suited. In this space the company offers the BluePrinter ‘for form, fit and function’ testing — something we used to call Rapid Prototyping but apparently that’s a bit passé these days — with price-per-part being a major selling point. Unlike many technologies in this price and ability point the models from the BluePrinter require little post-processing or finishing work and have good surface finish straight from the machine. The grained appearance is perhaps not quite to the level of SLS yet, however these are early days for the company and the technology.

Leading the commercial team is Niels Appel, a former Director at Microsoft and, more recently, Executive Vice President of Contex Group. If that rings a bell for you it is probably because Contex formerly owned ZCorporation and Vidar, which were both sold to 3D Systems last year. So Niels is no stranger to technology as a whole or to 3D printing — something of a rarity at this level. Working alongside Niels is Torben Lange, the company’s CTO and first ‘professional’ brought on board by the company. Both Niels and Torben have been instrumental in securing the finance required for a the continued research, development and commercialisation programme required to get the product to market.

Control In a bid to keep the total cost of ownership to a minimum the BluePrinter interface is an entirely web-based interface meaning it will work with all major operating systems. Connecting the printer via an Ethernet cable also allows the company to remotely monitor the system and make firmware upgrades without operator intervention. The company has developed its own graphics user interface where focus has been on ease of use, which according to the company is: “in line with idea behind the printer itself.” Users can upload and nest one or more parts into the build chamber through the graphical user interface. The printer will initially ship with the ability to process industry standard STL file format input.

Materials For commercial launch the BluePrinter will be offered with a single choice of material that has been developed by the company to work with the SHS process. Materials development is a key priority for the company with a dedicated research team working from within the company’s Copenhagen offices already developing new polymers to expand characteristics available in the final parts. BluePrinter Aps www.blueprinter.dk

THROUGH THE DOORS

One of the challenges associated with the technology is the heating and cooling rates of the resistors used in the print head. Once an electric current is supplied to the resistor the heat up happens very rapidly, but cooling can take longer leading to a lack of controllability and definition in the prints.

Left: Confirmation — it really does exist! The build platform, flanked by the powder silos, sits centrally. The black strip held within the ‘lid’ is the protective sheet, behind which sits the print head. The line that dissects the sheet is part of the recoating system. Unfortunately the machines is closed during operation, the first thing you see of your part is the finished build.

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Get Yourself

Connected WORDS | JIM WOODCOCK

One of the great things about being involved in the world of AM and 3D Printing is getting to see all the amazing projects that the technologies help to realise. From Formula 1 to life-changing medical treatments, additive technologies have played their part in some big, expensive and very visible innovations. But sometimes innovation takes place in areas that are less sexy, but maybe even more important. Rotite is a system that was developed with the help of 3D printing that might itself one day have an impact on areas as diverse as Formula 1 and medicine.

explains: “Rotite is a platform technology — acting also as a mechanical coupling or drive system Rotite may act also as a connector, for example in, electronics, optics or fluids it can make enclosures too.” So, Rotite is a system rather than a product. At its heart lies a mathematical equation that allows the generation of a ‘low-profile helicoidal dovetail’ — essentially a classic dovetail joint much loved by carpenters that is rotated around an axis on a helicoidal pitch. It sounds complex, and the development work has taken around three years so far, but the execution belies the complexity behind the system. The first time a user comes across the system it is likely to be immediately obvious what it is for and how it works, thanks to its intuitive and ergonomic form that is based on the twist of the wrist. Two parts (that may be ‘male’ and ‘female’, or ‘hermaphroditic’) are rotated together to form a low-profile connection with a large surface area capable of taking large axial loads.

Every day, in every field of human activity, in every corner of the globe, people perform operations that have become second nature to us. Or, at least they are second nature when they work as they should. From charging a phone, to refilling the car, to watering the garden or undertaking 101 DIY tasks: we connect Part A to Part B. The phone to the charger, the cap to the fuel tank, the hose to the tap and so on. In the manufacturing world making connections is integral to nearly all modern product assemblies from textiles to aerospace, though like most things it is only when it has been done badly that we notice it at all! It is maybe this that has kept innovation relatively low in this field — if we have solutions that generally work (or can be made to work) — why reinvent the wheel? Stuart Burns, Technical Director and start-up Rotite

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Figure 1: Stuart Burns worked with colleagues from the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Materials and Structures, led by Chris Sutcliffe, who manufactured the ‘hermaphroditic’ Rotite above using Renishaw’s Selective Laser Melting process.

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A Rotite connection can thus be realised in a number of forms that share the same underlying principle but look and behave quite differently. For example the two connectors may have the same profile (which is what Rotite call hermaphroditic) allowing a parts B, C, D and E to connect with part A or to each other. Alternatively part A and part B could have different but complementary geometries, meaning that only A+B forms a connection — often an important safety consideration. Like a screw thread, a Rotite connector can have a number of ‘start points’ that subsequently determine the rotation needed to form a connection. One start point will require a turn of 360°, two will require 180°, all the way down to a 10° rotation. One of the central themes in the Rotite story is that of 3D printing , the technology that inventor Stuart Burns believes was instrumental in allowing the idea to happen at all. The ability to quickly create prototypes of products (Oops, another Rapid Prototyping reference – Ed) allowed Stuart to have the idea, resolve the principles and have working examples in his hands in a couple of days. So why three years of development you may wonder? Stuart explained: “It has been under constant development with both intellectually and technically extensive ergonomic geometric and functional developments. A significant amount of research was undertaken to ensure that connectors employing the system were truly fit for purpose — not easy when your target markets are so diverse.” Secondly, Rotite Technologies Ltd wanted to make sure that their intellectual property (IP) was absolutely watertight. Rotite will be sold not as products but as a licensed system that manufacturers can work into existing products, opening up the platform for further collaborative IP development. By taking its time to ensure that they have the correct coverage, Rotite Technologies Ltd believes it can now introduce Rotite to the public with confidence.

Getting back to 3D printing, Stuart explained: “Since being a Product Design student more than a decade ago I have always had one eye on technology such as additive and subtractives. When the Objet Polyjet technologies came to the fore it was the obvious choice for the development as it offered excellent surface finishes, essential for the hightolerances needed for Rotite.” When Objet’s Digital Materials became available, Stuart was keen to utilise these technologies — soon after the team was regularly using the Connex system that Gary Miller from IPF was offering as a bureau service. The team was now able to investigate a range of materials in its developments, Stuart added: “A few years on we are still regular customers of Gary's — due to his materials knowledge, expertise, patience, he has never let us down!” As a part time lecturer at the Department of Engineering at Liverpool University, Stuart has been able to tap into the knowledge of his colleagues in the Centre for Materials and Structures, led by Chris Sutcliffe. Chris has helped in the realisation of Rotite where machines such as the Renishaw AM250/125 are used to produce Titanium components (see Figure 1).

GET CONNECTED

You can find out more about the concept and how AM was instrumental in its commercialisation directly from Stuart at TCT Live at 11:30 on Wednesday 26th in the free-to-attend 3DP and AM Conference stream. Stuart will also be on-hand on the IPF Limited stand (stand P19) to answer your questions.

Rotite Technologies are in discussions with engineers and technical development teams in industries right across the board, from aerospace, fastening manufacturers, automotive, avionic and military electronics manufacturers, right through to sports and leisure goods. Stuart explained: “Discussions are classified and we are keen to protect the interests of our prospective licenses. We are actively seeking licensees / development partners across all sectors especially here in the UK; we are keen to to get Britain's best engineers developing it. We offer technical consultancies and demos to companies keen to investigate / or integrate into their products, this technology is under constant development.” For more information: Rotite Technologies Ltd | www.rotite.com

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Right: Manifold for crossing hydraulic tubes in narrow spaces built with internal structures to reduce weight, produced with Marcam’s AM software. Image courtesy of Hydrauvision & Compolight FP-7 project

Materialise is a company with operations in areas as diverse as iPhone covers and biomedical research. The two strands that bind the company’s activities together are software and additive manufacturing — areas in which they are world leaders within their niches. It makes perfect sense therefore that the company would capitalise on its strengths firstly by buying German AM software company, Marcam, and secondly launching a full suite of software solutions for the management of AM processes and businesses, Streamics. According to Terry Wohlers, one of today’s emerging trends within the AM industry, is the further development of high-performance metalbased systems, which offer unlimited possibilities for the production of end-use parts.

AM NEXT STEPS

Taking the next steps in AM the company’s machine control software — the best of both worlds is now combined. “This is an exciting time to be in the AM industry as use of the technology rapidly increases for both prototyping and high-quality end products”, said Marcam CEO Marcus Joppe. “Becoming part of the Materialise Group will allow us to greatly expand our business and we look forward to extending our technology and software into a vast array of new markets as a result.”

In order to serve these metal customers in the best possible way, Materialise acquired Marcam, a German software Development Company that specialised in solutions for AM. The Marcam office in Bremen is now Materialise’s Metal Applications Research Centre for AM. Now Materialise has a dedicated team that understands the needs and challenges of this market, and is able to further offer and develop solutions for it. This acquisition supports Materialise’s strategy to drive innovations in different technologies and applications within the AM industry. Materialise always offered expertise throughout the entire AM process. By adding Marcam’s strengths — such as slicing and hatching strategies and

Materialise CEO Wilfried Vancraen added: “We have long respected Marcam and the software solutions they offer. By including them in the Materialise Group, together we can push metal AM technology to the next level faster than ever before. This acquisition also supports Materialise’s mission for a better and healthier world by expanding the technology base. For instance, we are able to offer better solutions for Titanium implants production with Additive Manufacturing.”

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Above: 88 parts packed collision-free in less than 1 minute with Magic’s 3D Nester

Release of AM automation and control system to better support the AM process

Streamics was designed to handle orders, quoting, preparing files, planning/operating the machines, finishing parts, supervising teams, quality control or a combination of these responsibilities — everything involved in running AM production systems whether for prototyping or for end-use parts. The robust database centralises data, including linked CAD files, and provides users with a simple overview of ‘won’ and ‘lost’ quotes, real-time status of ongoing orders, who is working on the project, etc. The full integration with Magics brings advantages of producing the correct parts and the number of parts correctly. In addition to this, repetitive tasks can be handled ‘in the background’ by a file robot without user interaction, allowing you to focus on files that require intensive manual interventions. Managers benefit from Streamics’ reporting capabilities, which can be completely customised to their information needs. Streamics can also easily be integrated with existing systems using a powerful API. In summary, Streamics reduces complexity, improves performance and traceability and helps ensure repeatability while taking into account the unique AM process challenges.

Magics17, now multi-core for optimised speed Next to these innovative solutions Materialise continues to improve its Magics software, delivering new releases that the company claims meet the expectations of its most critical users. The newest release is no different, and this year it is strongly oriented towards speed, making Magics multi-core. This development allows a speed improvement up to 90% faster for some operations (e.g., fixing analysis). In addition, Materialise has continued innovating and thinking up new functionalities and improve existing ones to make life easier for users of its software. An example is the 3D nester in Magics’ SinterModule (see image above). SinterModule enables optimal loading of a sintering machine’s build volume, allowing users to get the most out of valuable materials. The software automatically nests parts in 3D. By analysing the part geometry, it maximises the number of parts in the build envelope while simultaneously minimising the build height and thus powder consumption, but also minimising the build preparation time drastically.

AM NEXT STEPS

As AM is finding its rightful place in the manufacturing world, additional tools are required to drive efficiency throughout the process. With the largest AM machine capacity in one location in the world, Materialise is in a very unique position to fully understand the challenges that are currently facing the industry. Materialise’s large software team extensively uses this knowledge to eliminate the bottlenecks through the development of advanced software systems. Recently Materialise launched Streamics — the new AM automation and control system — which provides AM professionals control over each step in the work flow, from the original order to the moment the piece is delivered to the customer. Streamics has been already successfully running for years internally at Materialise before the company decided to make it available to other AM-centric companies.

Left: Visualisation of a typical AM business: communication and data flows and different roles, all linked and traced through Streamics AM automation and control system

For more information: Materialise | www.materialise.com

Right 1 & 2: Serial production by Materialise Additive Manufacturing Services; the team used Streamics in-house before release to the public

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Christie “FLEX”ing all additive manufacturing capabilities Christie was founded in 1929, by S. L. Christie, a California-based equipment manufacturer to the cinema industry and grew to be one of the largest manufacturers of traditional film projector technology for cinema. In 1995 Christie was the first licensee of Texas instruments’ DLP technology, ushering in some of the most radical changes to cinematic projection since the company’s inception. With over 1,400 employees with truly global operations — with headquarters in Cypress, California and manufacturing in Canada, the company is active across multiple industries and multiple disciplines, with projects ranging from large outdoor projection to the VeinViewer Vision from Christie Medical Holdings, Inc — part of the development of which is outlined here. Rapid Prototyping Centre The company began building its Rapid Prototyping Centre in 2003 with the purchase of a Stratasys FDM Titan Machine. In the last nine years this has evolved into a fully functioning prototyping and testing centre that inludes: n Stratasys FDM Titan n 3D Systems Sinterstation HiQ-HS – SLS Machine n Objet Connex 500 n 3D Systems iPro 8000 SLA Machine n Variety of Haas CNC Milling Machining Centers – 3, 4, 5 axis machines n Haas CNC lathe with live tooling n Various conventional mills, lathes, sheet metal, welding, woodworking equipment

VeinViewer Vision The VeinViewer set of devices assist nurses and doctors in better visualising veins for venipuncture, for IV and phlebotomy. Often multiple attempts or higher acuity procedures are needed to achieve vascular access, causing discomfort to the patient and taking more time. Over one billion venipunctures are performed each year in the United States and many disease states, dehydration, fragility of vessels, skin tone or fatty tissue all affect IV access — meaning that an estimated 25% of all patients in a hospital receive a delay in care due to IV access issues. The Christie VeinViewer is clinically proven to reduce the number of attempts to start an IV by up to 50%, saving both time, money and potential complications.

Christie’s RP centre undertakes work across the whole breadth of the company’s output, but here we look mostly at one product, VeinViewer.

VeinViewer projects an image much like a picture on a movie screen, but VeinViewer does this in real time making the patient’s skin the “screen” (see Figures 1 & 2). VeinViewer uses tct 20/5

near-infrared (NIR) light and other technologies to detect subcutaneous blood and create a digital image of the patient’s superficial vein pattern projected directly onto the surface of the skin in real time.

CHRISTIE

Above: Christie has become expert in the creation of Visual Environments — the process of converting complex data into images that enable visual communication of ideas and information, which they help to deploy for aerospace, architecture, automotive, life science and manufacturing industries amongst others

VeinViewer Flex The team’s goal was to take existing larger units and fit the technology into a small handheld device, and develop a range of accessories (i.e., arms, stands, cases). Beyond the challenges associated with the scaling down in size of the device, it needed extra toughness to withstand drops and bangs that the former machine didn’t require. Christie used AM extensively in the development of VeinViewer Flex, including for conceptual marketing models, to check concepts and iterations of the design, to perform functional tests and demonstrations as well as environmental and field testing application.

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Figure 1: Non-invasive and harmless, the VeinViewer allows medical practitioners opportunities to see what’s going on under the skin with ease — especially important when patients are very young, old, or a difficult stick.

Conceptual modelling During the use of the four in-house technologies, the team at Christie discovered that in reality any technology can be used when concept modelling, but during the presentation Mark explained that they have found the following: n Objet Connex 500 — Parts can be easily finished; can include rubber elements in one part. n SLA — Parts can be easily finished; fast build time with larger build volume. n SLS — Parts can be finished; parts are much more durable than other technologies Iteration of designs Design iteration is a major part of the development process as it encourages engineering to iterate the design to get the optimum result — not just take the first design that works. Mark Barfoot, Senior Manager of Functional Management and Engineering Services at Christie, explained: “We actually don’t make our programme managers pay for the RP material, it comes out of my budget to ensure that program managers don’t stop the creativity.” Again, the team found that all technologies can be used here, but the the following worked best for them:

Figure 2: VeinViewer uses near-infrared (NIR) light and other technologies to detect subcutaneous blood and create a digital image of the patient's superficial vein pattern projected directly onto the surface of the skin in real time.

n FDM — slower to build, so more difficult to have next day turnaround; parts are strong and most represent final material n SLA, SLS, Objet — work well for most parts; Objet works best for designing snap-fit checks; SLA is best for larger parts. Functional prototypes These prototypes are actually built as fully functional units to be used for a variety of testing – from software to electrical and environmental. n FDM demonstrated high strength and, when using Polyphenylsulfone (PPSF) material, a very high temperature limit, around 190°C. n SLS — Produced very durable and highstrength parts. n Objet — If using ABS-like material highstrength parts are obtained. n SLA — When using Accura Xtreme material fairly strong parts can be created (not as strong as above choices) though they have weaker impact strength. Environmental testing — vibration Part of the development requires the team to conduct random vibration, sine vibration, shock impulses and motion platform testing to simulate real life application — “out of the box” and “in the box”. For these applications the FDM material has exactly the same properties tct 20/5

as the injection moulded parts and is thus the most representative. The other technologies are adequate for vibration testing most of the time. Environmental testing — thermal The team conducts various operating and nonoperating (packed and unpacked) tests on the products with thermal chambers cycling through a variety of temperature and humidity ranges. The key features that parts needed are smooth airflow path & temperature limitations. n SLA or Objet is the preferred choice if it is low enough temperature n SLS or FDM is used for higher temperature applications n FDM (PPSF) for extreme high-temperature applications (up to 190°C)

CHRISTIE MEDICAL

Left: Rio the Movie made its international debut in amazing color and style in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil thanks to a brilliant Christie projection solution featuring four Christie CP2000-XB projectors

Environmental testing — drop/impact Drop or impact testing — only two processes have high enough impact strength for this style of testing: FDM or SLS Environmental testing - sound For sound pressure and sound power measurements key features are again smooth airflow path, similar to for thermal requirements. The team is also starting to undertake sound quality investigations to optimise noise to ensure that not only is the level low but the perception is good.

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Field/demo testing The key feature here is look and feel. SLA parts can be finished easily and tend to be more durable if given to inexperienced people to use. Objet’s Polyjet parts can be finished easily and may have added “rubber” property to them. SLS are harder to finish to a smooth surface but are more durable than SLA or Objet parts above. Despite the inherent toughness of the parts, the team found that FDM is generally not suited as it is too hard to get an acceptable surface finish. Testing fixtures As part of the research process the team conducted a life test on the arm for VeinViewer Flex. This required a custom jig with a smooth transition for bending the arm, and as usual all the technologies were considered for the fabricating the jig. Objet and SLA provided the smoothest parts with minimum finishing for this application. Production parts Build times and consistent properties are a must for production parts, especially the strength of the finished piece. SLS here was found to provide high strength parts, especially with a filled (glass or carbon) materials. FDM allowed the recreation of the injection moulded material (PC-ABS, ABS — which makes regulatory approval easier) but has relatively long build times making it suited for small or low-volume parts. SLA could be considered if twinned with the Accura Xtreme material, likewise Objet’s process may be suitable if using the ABS-like

System

Benefits

Objet PolyJet

Ability to simulate “rubber-like” parts Smooth surface finish

SLA

Fastest build time Smooth surface finish

FDM

Strong/durable parts High-temperature limit (PPSF — 190°C) High impact strength Production parts

SLS

Fast build time Strong durable parts High impact strength Production parts

material. Beyond these process/material combos the parts from other processes are not strong enough for use in such applications. In summary n Every additive manufacturing technology has a benefit. n No matter what machine/process you choose, they will all give you better time to market or at least decrease your design cycle, decrease tooling changes, etc. tct 20/5

CHRISTIE

TCT 20-5 progress_Layout 1 17/09/2012 10:49 Page 41

For more information: Christie | www.christieemea.com VeinViewer | www.veinviewer.com

TCT 20-5 progress_Layout 1 14/09/2012 16:16 Page 42

Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering & Milling Technology for High-Cycle Moulding words | Kazuho Morimoto, CEO @ OPM Laboratory Co., Ltd

OPM Laboratory Co., Ltd is a Japanese manufacturing company that specialises in hybrid metal laser sintering and CNC milling processes. Here OPM’s CEO, Kazuho Morimoto outlines how the company has used its in-house Matsuura LUMEX Avance-25 hybrid machines in the production of mould tools for plastics injection moulding, as well as wider trends in Asian manufacturing markets. The proliferation of Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling Technology and increased overseas demand It has been over 10 years since the development and introduction of Metal Laser Sintering technology. As of 2010 the market for this technology has been focused in Europe and the US. In these markets ‘Additive Metal Manufacturing’ as the technology is known, is a growth market with active government, academic and industrial involvement to establish suitable process and quality standards.

In recent years the increase in demand from the Chinese and Taiwanese markets has been remarkable. This is unfortunately due to mould manufacture moving from Japan to these new, competitive markets, but OPM can feel the increase in demand for its technology again. With requests coming from both major Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers and major US manufacturers such as HP and Apple, to increase production capacity for each mould there are ever increasing opportunities

This was especially evident at EuroMould 2011 held last year in Frankfurt, Germany. On a scale 10 times larger than anything in Japan, manufacturers were there to exhibit the latest developments and use the opportunity to demonstrate the use of the technology in a mass production environment rather than just limited use prototypes. OPM has also seen an increase in demand from not only Japan, but also China, Taiwan, Korea and South Asia for Laser Sintering Technology. To meet this demand OPM have formed a joint venture with Matsui Manufacturing Company — a supplier of moulding machinery accessories, to support local sales in the Taiwan (Taipei) and China (Shanghai) markets.

Figure 1: Evolution of Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling Technology for the use of high-cycle moulding, improved mould quality and conformal cooling channels.

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Picture 1: The Matsuura LUMEX Avance-25 is a hybrid laser sintering and CNC milling machine, encapsulating the long-held belief that additive processes are currently best in combination with subtractive

Five main reasons for the advancement of the technology In the last three years there have been the following developments: 1. More types of metal powder suitable for laser sintering have become available, increasing user choice. 2. Build speed has increased dramatically. More than three times as fast as what was possible in 2009. 3. Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools for the thermal analysis of the mould and moulded component have become available – making it possible to analyse and predict the effect of mould design changes on moulding quality and moulding cycle times. 4. New features incorporated into the be-spoke CAM softwware through increased research and development. 5. The rigidity of the LUMEX Avance-25 is increased over its predecessors, improving processing speed and accuracy. This article uses technical know-how from practical main-production applications to give concrete examples of how the above reasons work.

HYBRID METAL LASER SINTERING & MILLING

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LAYERS

MACHINING

-15.76mm TOTAL

316 layers 316 layers

32 times

HEIGHT

LAYERS

MACHINING

-3mm -6.5mm -15.76mm TOTAL

70 layers 60 layers 186 layers 316 layers

1 time 6 times (6 x 10 layers) 1 time 8 times

Machining time reduced by 67% Standard Process New Process

SINTERING TIME

MACHINING TIME

TOTAL PROCESS TIME

14:26 7:52

89:22 26:41

103 m 45 s 34 m 33 s

Figure 2: Cutting time reduction — new CAM system optimised layer machining

Reduction of processing times and CAM system developments For Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling technology it is necessary to both increase laser build speeds and reduce machining times. For machining, the rigidity of the spindle has been improved. This has doubled both the feedrate and depth of cut that are now possible, and has also reduced the surface roughness by half. This has greatly improved the overall cutting speed. For laser sintering the machine is now equipped with a 400 W laser that allows sintering at speeds three times greater than the previous model. On the software side of things, new functions have been added to the CAM system that reduce modelling times. The following examples follow the creation of a core model for a mobile phone and demonstrate the processing time reductions that are possible.

Figure 3: New CAM system laser data creation. Photo of mould core

It is possible to reduce sintering time by changing sintering parameters from full sintering to partial sintering. For this reason the build technique for moulds is to fully sinter the outer ‘shell’ of the model but to only partially sinter the ‘core’ to reduce build times. To do this is necessary to create separate models for the ‘skin’ and ‘core’. The problem with this method is the time required to manipulate the part model, offset complex surfaces and create separate models for processing. OPM has recently developed new functionality within its CAM system to be able to take the part model (in STL file format) and offset the model surface to reliably and quickly create ‘offset’ models for processing the ‘skin’ or ‘core’ areas of a mould. With this functionality it has become easy to create components with two or more structural layers in order to apply different sintering conditions. This in turn has lead to a reduction in the time required to process parts.

Mobile phone cord mould

Structured laser data

For machining the usual method is to machine the component after every 10 layers of laser sintering. This has the advantage that deep slots can be processed with short tools. However, with this method of machining, to avoid newly sintered material affecting machined surfaces, and to reduce cutter loads, an area above and below each of the 10 layer sections is also machined. Because of this overlap the same area of the component will be machined two or more times. This machining overlap is the cause of increased machining time. Therefore rather than machining every 10 sintered layers OPM has developed a machining method that selects the number of layers to be machined based on the cutting length of the tool. By removing the need to machine the component after every 10 sintered layers the overall machining time has been greatly reduced. OPM has developed simulation software to analyse which layers can be machined together and to calculate how many layers can be machined with a specified

HYBRID METAL LASER SINTERING & MILLING

HEIGHT

Tool path creation for undercut parts Machining A CAM functionality has been developed to create toolpaths from undercut part models Section A-A Machining B

Machining A Machining B

Figure 4: Undercut processing concept

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Photo 2: Mould core and cooling channel layout for hand-tool mould

tool length. By changing from machining every 10 layers to the optimised layer machining method it has been possible to significantly reduce the machining time. In the case of the core mould for the mobile phone shown here, the combination of higher acceleration, structured laser data processing and a higher powered laser has reduced the laser processing time by 40%. Additionally, when machining every 10 layers this mould was machined 32 times, using the optimised layer machining method required machining only eight times, reducing the machining time by 70%. Overall, using the new techniques the total processing time for this core mould has been reduced significantly by 67%.

Development of techniques for processing undercut features to expand the application base of this technology. In the Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling process the machining is 3-axis. This means that with standard techniques, although the shape can be produced by sintering, it is not possible to machine undercut features and constrictions are placed on the user as to what parts are suitable for manufacture unless a separate machining operation is used.

Users have a strong desire to eliminate any post processing operations. OPM have developed a new CAM function to generate cutting paths for undercut features and a technique to machine undercut features using special tooling. For traditional 3-axis machining these features are not possible because, depending on the shape, the tool length or tool shape is not able to reach the desired areas. However, for Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling processing, the component is built up in layers and there is an opportunity to machine surfaces during the build if timed correctly. Using the special tools as shown makes it possible to machine the undercut surfaces as the part is built up in layers. High-cycle moulding using CAE thermal analysis technology

Development of conformal cooling channel technology. Through advancement of both the modeling techniques and the metal laser sintering technology it has become possible to manufacture true circular section cooling circuits. Laser processing alone, is used to produce the free form cooling channels. Since the current technique for producing stable coolant flow within the mould requires the

cooling channels to be machined, the fact that the new true circular free form channels can be produced without machining means that mould manufacturing time can be further reduced. The internal cooling channels for the mobile phone core mould presented in the previous section are shown in Figure 5. In this mould core the cooling channels have been designed to match the shape of the mould (conformal cooling channels). These provide very efficient cooling of the moulded part.

Application of CAE Technology To maximise the advantage of the Conformal Cooling Channels it is necessary to optimise the cooling circuit design using CAE Thermal Analysis. If you can identify, by analysis beforehand, the areas within the mould where cooling should be strengthened an efficient cooling circuit can be designed. Photo 2 shows a core mould that has been produced by the Hybrid Metal Laser Sintering and Milling process. This is a mould for a hand-tool where the low cooling efficiency of the core has previously been a problem.

HYBRID METAL LASER SINTERING & MILLING

Photo 1: Model of free form cooling channels (channel layout)

Figure 5: Internal cooling channels for mobile phone cord mould

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Hotspots present Figure 6: Original cooling circuit design Figure 8: CAE thermal analysis

Figure 7: Conformal cooling channels

The original linear cooling channel design for this mould core is shown in Figure 6. The target was to improve cooling efficiency by designing conformal cooling channels (Figure 7) at a uniform distance from the moulding surface and reduce the moulding cycle compared to conventional mould construction designs. Using the designed cooling circuit, a thermal analysis at the time of mould opening with a moulding temperature of 98°C was carried out. This identified remaining hotspots as shown in Figure 8. Because of this, several small cooling circuits were added as shown in Figure 9 and thermal analysis was done again. As a result the hotspots shown in Figure 10 are reduced significantly to a level that should not cause any moulding defects.

Mounding Cycle

Figure 11 shows the actual moulding results. If produced by the conventional mould method shrinkage occurs in the area shown – the moulding cycle cannot be shortened. When the mould with the conformal cooling channels is used then shrinkage does not occur, the cooling cycle can be reduced by 15 seconds and shrinkage still does not occur. The cooling time for this moulding cycle can be reduced by 50%.

Small cooling channels added

Figure 9: Additional cooling circuits Matsuura www.matsuura.co.jp OPM www.opmlabenglish.net Temperature of hotspots has reduced

52.3 s (cooling time 29 s)

38.3 s (cooling time 15 s)

Conventional mould

Shrinkage NG

—

Mould with conformal cooling channels

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Figure 10: CAE thermal analysis

Figure 11: Actual moulding results conformed cooling channels reduce cycle time by 15 seconds.

HYBRID METAL LASER SINTERING & MILLING

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Mandibular replacement with AM (or the miracle of the 3D printed jaw bone)

Above: Computer generated 3D image of the patient with the lower jaw implant in blue

Layerwise really hit the mainstream in a story about its involvement in the reproduction and transplant of a lower jaw bone into an 83 year old patient. As this article uncovers, this seemingly highly-invasive and complex operation was actually preferable for the surgical team than other more traditional methods. LayerWise applied additive manufacturing to produce an award-winning Titanium total lower jaw implant reconstruction, developed in collaboration with project partners from medical industries and academia. To treat a senior patient’s severe infection of almost the entire lower jaw, medical specialists and surgeons opted for a complete patient-specific implant for the first time. AM technology specialists at LayerWise in Belgium printed the complex implant design incorporating articulated joints and dedicated features. The reconstruction — post-processed with dental suprastructure provisions, polished joint surfaces and a bioceramic coating — has been implanted successfully. It restored the patient’s maxillofacial aesthetics and allowed her to regain her speech within hours. DentWise produced a screwretained dental bridge suprastructure, which directly attaches to the lower jaw implant and has been implanted more recently.

infection of almost the entire lower jaw (mandible). The infection degraded the structural integrity of almost the entire lower jawbone. The woman was in pain and faced problems chewing, speaking, talking, swallowing, etc. The classical surgical treatment of removing only the damaged bone sections would result in a small mandible lacking support and function. An alternative is a complex microsurgical reconstruction with prolonged operation time and hospital stay.

A giant leap in mandibular treatment The patient had a deep open wound and was suffering a long-lasting and rapidly progressive

Shift to patient-specific AM implants “Besides a successful track record in industrial sectors, metal AM is gaining importance in

As the patient was 83 years of age, the choice was made to reconstruct the entire mandible with a custom-made 3D printed metal implant. This new method avoids extensive surgery and allowed the damaged ball joints (mandibular condyle) to be restored at the same time. The patient-specific total mandible implant was developed and produced in collaboration with specialised commercial and academic parties in Belgium and The Netherlands.

medical implantology,” said Dr. ir. Peter Mercelis, Managing Director of LayerWise (BE). “AM’s freedom of shape allows the most complex freeform geometries to be produced as a single part way ahead of surgery. As illustrated by the lower jaw reconstruction, patient-specific implants can potentially be applied on a much wider scale than transplantation of human bone structures and soft tissues. The use of such implants yield excellent form and function, speeds up surgery and patient recovery, and reduces the risk for medical complications.” According to Prof. Dr. Jules Poukens of the University Hasselt: “The new treatment method is a world premiere because it concerns the first patient-specific AM implant in replacement of the entire lower jaw. The implant integrates multiple functions, including dimples increasing the surface area, cavities promoting muscle attachment, and sleeves to lead mandible nerves. Furthermore, the mandible implant is equipped to directly insert a dental bridge suprastructure at a later stage. I led the team of surgeons who implanted the AM-produced structure during a surgery of less than four hours.”

3D PRINTING

Above: The 3D printed implant with the artificial bone coating. The sleeves for the mandibular nerves and the condylar heads are highly polished. Four fixation holes for a future prosthetic dental suprastructure are visible

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Right: Surgeons removed the infected lower jawbone and inserted the patient-specific implant

The successful collaboration resulted in globally the first patient-specific implant to replace a total mandible including ball joints (mandibular condyle). LayerWise produced the implant using AM technology, delivering the complex implant geometry in high-strength Titanium without scrap and offering full postprocessing flexibility. Complex AM implant produced as a single part Prior to producing the titanium part via SLM, LayerWise applied its AM expertise to select a favourable implant orientation and build optimum support structures. This was needed to deliver the intended implant geometry and the accurate distance between both ball joints of the AM implant.

original lower jawbone. The implant sleeves dedicated to the lower jaw nerves (nervi mandibulares) were polished too. A bio-ceramic coating was applied to the implant surface to stimulate the initial fixation of soft tissue.

Below: Post-operative X-ray of the patient with the full mandibular implant in correct position

A world premiere in design, production and surgery The mandibular implant was implanted during a surgery of four hours at the Orbis Medical Centre in Sittard (NL). The team of surgeons led by Jules Poukens completed all the operative steps that they had prepared meticulously. Almost instantly after waking up from the anaesthetics, the patient was able to speak a few words. On the first day after surgery, the patient showed already normal function with adequate speech, swallowing and unrestricted mandibular movement. Initially the recovery of the wound proceeded slowly but the wound healed properly through use of appropriate antibiotics. It is now some time after the operation and the patient is fully recovered. Just recently, she had a dental bridge suprastructure implanted by attaching it directly onto her mandibular implant. DentWise (the dental division of LayerWise) produced the dental suprastructure to support ten artificial teeth, providing a perfect fit and integrating rough surface textures for excellent retention. For this purpose, LayerWise pre-operatively positioned fixation holes in her lower jaw reconstruction. For more information: LayerWise | www.layerwise.com

The printed implant is made of ultra-strong lightweight SLM Titanium medical grade 5. LayerWise produced the mandibular implant as a single part that incorporates ball joints, dimples, cavities and sleeves. The articulating patient-specific ball joints surfaces are polished and fitted in the fossa mandibulares (or to artificial custom-made joint extension). The dimples are provided to increase the surface of the implant and reduce its weight. Even more weight is saved by the cavities, which facilitate muscle diagastic attachment and ingrowth. The implant weighs approximately 107 grams, which is slightly heavier than the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

3D PRINTING

Digital implant design using medical imaging The innovative lower jaw implant design was developed by Xilloc Medical (NL) in collaboration with the Universities of Hasselt (BE), Leuven (BE) and Maastricht (NL). Other project partners included CamBioceramics (NL), the Xios School Limburg (BE), and the Cranio and Maxillofacial Surgeons from the Orbis Medical Centre in Sittard-Geleen (NL). A 3D medical computer tomography (CT) was used as a basis to study the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anatomy and design a 3D CAD model of the implant. Medical doctors and engineering specialists rubbed shoulders when designing the innovative lower jaw AM implant. They designed the bottom edge of the lower jawbone so that it follows the contour line of the original bone, and simplified the implant shape at the top side.

Below: Surgeons replacing the entire lower jaw bone structure with a patient-specific total mandibular implant. At the right, engineers from LayerWise and Xilloc Medical showing a 3D model of the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skull and lower jaw implant

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Proven Partnerships WORDS | JIM WOODCOCK

Upon arriving at the company’s HQ just outside Worcester one is greeted by a rather attractive building on what is otherwise a standard industrial estate. Inside, the theme continues with a well thought out manufacturing and admin space that follows the flows the information and parts through the building. Essentially a doughnut shape, the admin tasks are taken care of in the central double-height atrium, and manufacturing takes place at designated stations in a clockwise fashion in the surrounding ring. Hadi Zarringhalam, Senior Development Engineer at Materials Solutions guided us through the building and explained that the design was very deliberate when the company moved to the current premises in January 2010. Hadi explained: “As an approved supplier for aerospace and highperformance automotive engine applications, we try to offer something other than simply parts from a single process. We use AM and traditional techniques to produce parts quickly, but to aerospace standards — something that is generally considered a contradiction by most

manufacturing companies. As many large organisations try to rationalise their supply chains, it is important to not simply offer one process. For this reason we have recently won accreditation for some non-AM processes too.” Production of AM parts in metal is not as easy as simply loading your file and hitting build. Each new material requires a full validation process and tweaks to the build parameters to get the most from it. While many companies are happy to build using powders supplied by the machine vendor, to parameters set by the machine vendor, high-level research areas require a little more ‘original thinking’. This is where close relationships between a machine vendor and users brings the most benefits to both parties, to end clients, and to the wider AM community. Materials Solutions are part of a very exclusive group of companies that are actively developing and running their own materials for customerts with niche requirements. Aerospace, Formula 1 and medical applications are perhaps three of the most demanding industries in this respect. Part verification and validation Verification of manufactured parts is important to any process, but when dealing with a relatively young and fluid technology like AM, processing parts for a highly-regulated industry like aerospace it pays to have as much information as possible. Hadi explained: “Measuring deformation of freeform parts was previously only possible with our touchprobe coordinate measurement machine (CMM) system, which is very accurate but is limited by the time it takes to program and the time it takes to run. To be viable we could only look at certain areas with any depth. The GOM system allows us to see the whole part at once, which makes identification of areas outside of specification much easier.”

Figure 1 Figure 2: On this initial trial part (i.e., not an optimised build!), the fullcolour scan on the left looks much ‘worse’ than the three-colour scan on the right at first glance. Only very small areas of part are beyond the deviation limits from the original file however.

PROVEN PARTNERSHIPS

Materials Solutions is a specialist producer of AM parts, concentrating on nickel superalloys and parts for high-temperature applications. Aerospace therefore makes up a significant part of what the company does, testament to that is a long-standing relationship with major aerospace OEMs to which Materials Solutions is an approved supplier for AM parts, machining and finishing techniques. AM parts are currently only used in test rigs, though it is widely believed that AM parts will be flying soon. Materials Solutions is also and EOS eManufacturing Partner and has the largest commercially available install base of EOS’ M270s outside of the USA.

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Most clients will still want information from a number of metrology solutions for verification of their parts, but as Kevin Hawley, Sales Manager at GOM UK Ltd explained, in certain situations optical metrology solutions like the GOM ATOS Compact Scan used by Materials Solutions are unmatched by ‘tradtional’ technologies such as CMM: “For a company like Materials Solutions the compact scan is perfect for parts development work. With so many variables that could affect the end part, optical metrology is a quick and reliable method of ascertaining the validity of the part. For example, scan data from one part could be easily overlaid with scan data from another part that has been built with a slightly different ‘build receipe’ — meaning the team can see whether the tweaks have been sucessful or not quickly and easily.” Colour maps are one of the hallmarks of GOM’s system, and they are used extensively by the team at Materials Solutions. While most of us can remember seeing the ‘full-colour’ representations of scans, it is also possible (even preferable) to view more simple 8-colour scans or even green/red ‘go/no go’ scans, as Hadi explained: “Looking at a full-colour scan can be tricky as there may not be a lot of green — where the part matches the CAD or previous scan data exactly — but none of the part is actually out of tolerance. By using the 8-colour visualisation we can more easily see where non-complying areas are and how they relate to other areas of the part. The simplest go/no go gives us the opportunity to see whether the surface profile is within the limits.”

The system that Materials Solutions currently has installed (the ATOS Compact Scan) takes a single image of the part using its two cameras and projector. The development parts that Materials Solutions are creating (especially following heat-treatment) are, in a majority of cases, suitable for scanning without special pre-treatment. For particularly highlypolished parts, GOM offers the ‘Triple Scan’ that uses some clever software to scan highly polished surfaces with good accuracy by taking three scans, rather than one, from the two installed cameras. Beyond this, GOM offers fully automated robotised cells that can check parts without need for human intervention. The next step for companies both like Materials Solutions as end users and for metrology suppliers like GOM is to use white light (or blue light in this instance) metrology for final sign off on parts. While there are small hurdles in the way at the moment, both parties were confident that the technology is sufficiently powerful, reliable and repeatable enough to be used in this capacity. Materials Solutions www.materialssolutions.co.uk GOM www.gom.com

PROVEN PARTNERSHIPS

Right: Materials are the lifeblood of innovation in the metals AM industry — with predictions coming from all quarters that the technologies are on the cusp of the mainstream, companies such as Materials Solutions are set to make an increasing impact in the years to come. Partnerships with like-minded companies such as GOM make the process that much smoother.

Figure 3: Five EOS M270 machines ready to produce parts in a number of materials — one of the major acivities within the company is development of materials and corresponding process parameters for a range of clients.

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Manufacturer

Objet Ltd www.objet.com info@objet.com

3D Systems www.3dsystems.com info@3dsystems-europe.com

Machine Name/Number

Machine Size

Build Envelope

(b x d x h mm)

Objet24

825 x 620 x 590

Objet30 Pro

825 x 620 x 590

Layer Thickness

240 x 200 x 150

FullCure 705 Support material, VeroWhitePlus

28 µm

300 x 200 x 150

FullCure 705 Support material, VeroWhitePlus, VeroBlue, VeroBlack, VeroGray, DurusWhite PP-like, VeroClear Transparent, RGD525 High-Temperature

28 µm 16 µm for VeroClear material

Price not disclosed

Price

(in Euros unless specified)

16,900* *International price may vary. Price excludes VAT, options, shipping, installation, taxes and duties.

RapMan 3.2

490 x 500 x 510 mm

Up to 270 x 205 x 210 mm

ABS and PLA (Solid and translucent colours)

0.125 mm

From 1,030

3DTouch

515 x 515 x 598 mm

Up to 275 x 275 x 210 mm

ABS and PLA (Solid and translucent colours)

0.125 mm

From 2,590

ProJet 1000

555 x 914 x 724 mm

171 x 203 x 178 mm

Ivory VisiJet FTI material

102 µm

9,900

ProJet 1500

555 x 914 x 724 mm

171 x 228 x 203 mm

VisiJet FTI material available in 6 colours

102 µm or 152 µm

12,300

ZPrinter 150

740 x 790 x 1400 mm

236 x 185 x 127 mm

High performance composite

0.1 mm

12,990

ZPrinter 250

740 x 790 x 1400 mm

236 x 185 x 127 mm

High performance composite

0.1 mm

21,990

ZPrinter 350

1220 x 790 x 1400 mm

203 x 254 x 203 mm

High performance composite

0.09 – 0.1 mm

21,800

ZPrinter 450

1220 x 790 x 1400 mm

203 x 254 x 203 mm

High performance composite

0.09 – 0.1 mm

33,300

ZPrinter 650

1880 x 740 x 1450 mm

254 x 381 x 203 mm

High performance composite

0.09 – 0.1 mm

50,460

ProJet SD 3500

749 x 1207 x 1543 mm

298 x 185 x 203 mm

VisiJet Crystal, VisiJet Proplast, VisiJet Navy, VisiJet Techplast - Acrylic Plastics

32 µ

51,900

0,01-0,10

17,000

DigitalWax 008J

380 x 515 x 560

65 x 65 x 90