ZOOM ON EVENTS
New Perspectives for Production: Additive Manufacturing Provides New Momentum to Industry
F
rom 29 till 31 January 2019 about 300
IWS-led innovation consortium AGENT-3D
but also in manufacturing sectors.
international experts meet in Dresden
alone more than 120 partners from industry
With this process, wear parts can be produced
(Germany) for the 3rd International
and science jointly work at the advancement
cost-efficiently and quickly even in small
Symposium Additive Manufacturing
of additive manufacturing processes,
batches making them immediately available
ISAM 2019 to discuss the development
also known as 3D printing. Together they
for maintenance and repair work. All needed
and future perspectives of additive
are shaping the evolution of production
for production is a computer model that is
manufacturing in application industries.
processes and launching a new printing age”,
replacing the traditional, more expensive mold.
“The venue is definitely not a coincidence”,
Prof. Leyens adds.
The layering principle allows any complex
says Prof. Christoph Leyens, Director of the
geometry or inner structure and offers almost
of the institute for Materials Science at TU
Additive Manufacturing: tool-less, cost-efficient, fast and on point
Dresden, one of the German Universities
Additive Manufacturing, in which materials
these production processes to build prototypes
of Excellence. “Dresden is one of Europe’s
are layered in order to “print” a product, tool,
of a new design that make air- and spacecrafts
leading research and innovation sites for
or prototype, is already being used in various
lighter, more flexible and more cost-efficient
industrial applications: At the Fraunhofer
traditional industries such as rail technology
(Fig. 1),
hosting Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS and Director
unlimited freedom in design and construction when handling materials. This did not go unnoticed by the aerospace industry: It uses
Dr. Laurent Pambaguian of the European Space © Institute of Aerospace Engineering, TU Dresden - Fraunhofer IWS
Agency said at the symposium. Today additive manufacturing is mostly using materials such as plastics, ceramics, synthetic resin or metal. Composites like carbon fibre composites or nanomaterials have recently gained in importance. In addition to guaranteeing specific product characteristics the integration of new functionalities into the component is a key objective of modern material sciences.
From niche technology to disruptive power Additive Manufacturing has been in the industry analyst’s eye for a long time already: The market is growing rapidly, in 2017 it reached about seven billion dollars. More and more companies seek and find their place in the value chain. Especially additive manufacturing
1
using metals is already making the leap from
Figure 1: Aerospace is one of the industries that use additive manufacturing, to build prototypes of a new design that make air- and spacecrafts lighter, more flexible and more cost-efficient.
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N. 56 - MARCH/APRIL 2019 - international PAINT&COATING magazine
a niche technology to industrial maturity. “Additive Manufacturing brings new momentum to production and shakes through traditional