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Sinter-based AM insights
Binder Jetting and beyond: Insights from Fraunhofer IFAM's second workshop on sinter-based Additive Manufacturing After a one-year break, seventy industry and R&D participants from twelve countries found their way to the 2nd Workshop on Sinter Based Additive Manufacturing, Bremen, Germany, held from September 15–16, 2021. Industry suppliers, part producers, end users and researchers, as well as experts from the event organiser, Fraunhofer IFAM, considered the status of existing and new technologies in the field. Whilst metal Binder Jetting (BJT) received most attention, Material Extrusion (MEX) technologies were also covered in depth. Prof Dr-Ing. Frank Petzoldt and Dr Sebastian Hein report.
Binder Jetting: Pushing equipment, binders and powders to the next level As the sinter-based AM technology which allows for the highest production rates for metal parts, the first day of the workshop focused fully on metal Binder Jetting (BJT). While most participants agreed that this is a maturing technology for limited series production, some, such as Desktop Metal’s CEO Ric Fulop, went so far as to say that the technology is ready for mass production. BJT is a flexible production method that is especially well known for manufacturing prototypes and metal parts in small-scale series. However, speakers at the workshop showed its potential for mass production. Fulop joined the workshop via livestream from the USA and gave insights into his company’s Single Pass Jetting (SPJ) machines, built for high-speed production of metal parts. He also discussed new equipment from his company that will integrate the sintering process, thus making sinter-based Additive
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Manufacturing more accessible and easier to use for customers. These integrated technologies would indeed bring the industry a lot closer to a closed mass-production process. Throwing a light on current developments in new binders, Andrew Klein from The ExOne Company
showed promising results for nanoparticle-based binders for working with reactive metals such as copper. By incorporating nanoparticles as sintering aids, ExOne reached an average of 2% higher green density. Currently, the company is optimising the binder and BJT system to apply them to aluminium and titanium.
Fig. 1 Ric Fulop, Desktop Metal’s CEO, presented at the workshop and stated that BJT technology is now ready for mass production
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