DESIGN WORLD ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING HANDBOOK SEPTEMBER 2020

September 2020

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2020

Additive Manufacturing Handbook

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WorkSeries 300

1000 mm x 1500 mm x 700 mm Build Area

WORKCENTER 500

1400 mm x 2800 mm x 700 mm Build Area

Large Format 3D Printers Providing On-Demand Manufacturing Opportunities

Traditional desktop 3D printers are fine for prototyping parts, but can be costly in terms of volume production and time-to-market.

For greater efficiency, industrial manufacturers can customize our large format 3D printers, providing the ability to produce near-net shape parts.

The result is decreased costs and reduced time-to-market.

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E d i t o r i a l

Disruption!

The year 2020 will be remembered for many things: a global pandemic that disrupted global supply chains, digital-based jobs shifting from offices to Work From Home (WFH), shortages in needed medical equipment, not to mention disrupted economies, educational institutions, travel, and so on.

So many systems have been upended. A bright spot, however, is the additive manufacturing industry. Nimble and flexible, makers of all kinds found ways to collaborate, share, and fill in the gaps that showed up from the disruptions. Hundreds of thousands of makers helped 3D print face shields. Hundreds collaborated on new designs of ventilators. Additive vendors produced nasal swabs by the millions.

The story of the additive industry for 2020 is Innovation in a Crisis, and the additive manufacturing industry met the challenge. So many makers volunteered their time, working from home, collaborating over Zoom, to make needed medical personal protection equipment or design easy-toassemble ventilators. So many designers and engineers reworked parts so that they could be made closer to the end user, filling in the gaps opened up by the global pandemic shutting down businesses in China as workers quarantined.

This year, in addition to updating the additive systems vendors’ products, we cover the stories of problem solving during the crisis.

The additive community responded quickly and decisively. It is not an exaggeration to say that without these designers, engineers, and makers, the effects of the pandemic would have been worse.

While solving problems fast, this industry also put itself in the best light possible. Executives and other potential users see the industry differently now, and are taking a closer look at how additive technology can aid their design and production efforts.

We hope you enjoy the inspiring stories as well as get up to speed on the latest products from the additive industry.

Leslie Langnau | Managing Editor llangnau@wtwhmedia.com

On Twitter @ DW_3Dprinting www.designworldonline.com

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DESIGN WORLD EDITORIAL

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Contents 9

•

2020 • designworldonline.com

04 _3D SYSTEMS

36 _RENISHAW

Figure 4 accelerates manufacturing with direct digital production

The supporting role of metal additive manufacturing

12 _BIGREP

Big fixtures demand a big 3D printer 16 _CARBON

Additive manufacturing meets the need for agility

40 _NANO DIMENSIONS

Trends in creating electronics through additive manufacturing 42 _STRATASYS

Company Profiles 47-55

Trends in additive manufacturing

20 _DESKTOP METAL

How metal additive manufacturing will alter the automotive industry 24 _GE ADDITIVE

Designing a better knee joint with additive manufacturing 28 _HP ADDITIVE

HP expands its material offerings and industrial alliances 32 _MARKFORGED

What’s happening in desktop additive manufacturing

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Additive technology

Figure 4 Accelerates Manufacturing with Direct Digital Production

Shell Haffner • Director, Platform Management • 3D Systems

Since its invention nearly 150 years ago, injection molding has been a linchpin of the manufacturing world.

The process has improved measurably over the years, with the inventions of soluble forms of cellulose acetate, screw injection machines, the gas-assisted injection molding process, and the extensive range of material options. Injection molding manufacturing has progressed from simple objects such as buttons and combs to complex products for practically every industry, including automotive, aerospace, healthcare, consumer products, construction, packaging, and more. Yet, one thing about injection molding has not changed: the need for tooling.

Although it has been simplified and sped up by advances in CNC and 3D printing, the tooling of increasingly complex injection molds is still measured in weeks and sometimes months.

Over the past several years, 3D printing has provided an attractive complement to traditional injection molding.

An increasing number of companies are introducing the power of additive manufacturing (AM) into workflows built upon traditional technologies. According to the most recent E&Y study (2019), the adoption of AM is ramping with nearly 75% of companies embracing the technology.

As a result, manufacturers can achieve design freedom,

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increase agility, scale production, and improve overall total cost of operation (TCO).

For some manufacturers, 3D printing has enabled indirect manufacturing, such as investment casting patterns, tooling, and molds, for parts that would have traditionally required injection mold tooling. For others, it has delivered fast production of plastic or metal molds that feature conformal cooling and other features for greater efficiency and temperature control. Tool-less direct digital production is the next innovation.

In 2018, 3D Systems introduced Figure 4 - a tool-less, massively scalable, additive manufacturing process that speeds and simplifies the production of plastic parts. This digital approach enables designs to go straight from CAD to manufacturing without tooling, facilitates on-the-fly iterations of part designs, accelerates production transitions to new designs without retooling, and rapidly manufactures parts that are too complex for traditional injection molding.

Materials are the catalyst Figure 4 technology itself is revolutionary and was part of Chuck Hull’s original stereolithography patent application more than 30 years ago.

However, the technology could not achieve the results it does without the materials.

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Materials are at the core of 3D Systems’ digital manufacturing solutions, and over the last several months, we’ve introduced a host of production-grade materials for the Figure 4 platform – opening the door to direct digital production of plastic, end-use parts. If an engineer is going to use any material for true production applications, they need a comprehensive set of data that meets industry standards to evaluate its efficacy. Arming manufacturers with a complete data set to properly screen a material’s appropriateness for their application enables them to immediately proceed to longerterm application testing such as DESIGN WORLD

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life testing of parts/components or higher biocompatibility ratings.

We’ve tested our Figure 4 production materials against both ASTM and ISO standards to address a broad set of manufacturers worldwide – helping them improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.

Of the newest Figure 4 materials, we’ve seen the greatest adoption amongst manufacturers of these key materials for direct digital production:

Figure 4 technology was part of Chuck Hull’s original stereolithography patent application more than 30 years ago. However, the technology could not achieve the results it does without the materials.

Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10: a productiongrade additive manufacturing material with game-changing thermoplastic like mechanical properties and www.designworldonline.com

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Additive technology

environmental stability for direct production of plastic parts. With a fast print speed at up to 60 mm/hr and simplified post-processing that includes a single curing cycle and single solvent cleaning, this material delivers exceptional throughput. It is a high precision resin producing parts with a smooth surface finish and exceptional sidewall quality and has excellent mechanical properties.

Figure 4 HI TEMP 300-AMB: an ultra-high temperature plastic for use in applications requiring high heat resistance. It has HDT of over 300 C at both low and high pressure (HDT @ 0.455 and 1.82MPa). This material is well suited for the testing of high-temperature components in applications including HVAC, consumer appliances, motor enclosures, hairdryers, and the like.

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Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10 is a production-grade additive manufacturing material with game-changing thermoplastic-like mechanical properties and environmental stability for direct production of plastic parts. It is a high precision resin that delivers parts with a smooth surface finish.

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Figure 4 RUBBER-65A BLK: a mid-tear strength elastomer that has high elongation at break for flexibility and durability, is engineered for long-term environmental stability, and is tested per UL94 standards. These properties enable the production of end-use elastomeric parts with a high degree of accuracy and minimal scarring from supports, which makes it ideal for applications such as air/dust gaskets, seals for electronics, vibration dampeners, and pipe spacers. Figure 4 RUBBER65A BLK is biocompatible capable per ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-10 so it can be used to produce grips and handles as well as padding for splints and braces.

Figure 4 technology delivers accuracy and repeatability Figure 4 includes three configurations – Figure 4 Standalone, Figure 4 Modular, and Figure 4 Production – allowing manufacturers to scale capacity as their businesses grow. The platform has proven itself as the fastest, most accurate, scalable 3D printing technology available. We released data on Figure 4 Production that highlights part print speeds up to 65mm/hr, with prototyping speeds of up to 100 mm/hr. The combination of speed and accuracy complemented by a light-based UV curing process that takes minutes versus hours with heat-based curing processes yields the world’s fastest additive manufacturing throughput and time-to-part. Figure 4 excels at fine part texturing, which in comparison to conventional manufacturing, is essentially free and applicable to any surface no matter the shape. In addition to supporting long- and short-run batches, Figure 4 allows different parts to be produced in the same batch. This gives manufacturers the ability to quickly iterate a design or

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manufacture end-use parts without regard to a minimum order quantity.

The business drivers for direct digital production We’ve addressed how Figure 4 can facilitate direct digital production through technology and materials.

While AM can offer a variety of benefits, it’s important to understand if incorporating a digital solution will deliver the desired outcome for your particular use case. Additive manufacturing – for appropriate applications – can: • Speed time-to-market for lowvolume parts, • Lower design, production and labor costs, • Streamline Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and • Facilitate greater part complexity and faster optimization/customization.

No tooling yields faster time to market Tooling for injection molding takes time—not only to manufacture, but to design, optimize the design will be moldable, and finally cut a molding tool from metal. Once the tool is cut, it can only be changed by repeating the same process and hoping for better results. It is a fixed chunk of metal, time, and cost.

The advantage of direct production is that it removes the need for tooling. Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) needs to address functionality only, not draft angles, undercuts, side inserts, and other features required for injection molding. As compared to the several weeks it takes for the initial design of a textured injection molded part, tool-less digital production can be done in a matter of hours. Another benefit is the potential combination of part assemblies into a single digitally manufactured part saving significant

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assembly labor and material costs.

Direct digital production eliminates CNC machining, which can take two or three weeks, as well as the day of initial shots typically required to set temperature, dwell time, and other parameters. By comparison - within 11 days, a Figure 4 array with eight modules can turn out 10,000 units of a textured automotive vent, according to our benchmark tests, while the injection molding process was still in the design stage. By the time 10,000 units of the automotive vent could be produced using traditional injection molding, a manufacturer using Figure 4 could have produced nearly 14,000 units.

The CAD-to-production speed of direct production makes it a perfect candidate for LRIP (Low Rate Initial Production) or bridge manufacturing, enabling companies to go to market much faster, with the option to convert to injection molding to ramp up the volume when tooling is ready.

The cost factor Tooling is still necessary if you need several hundreds of thousands or millions of parts. A $30,000 tool divided by a million parts is $0.03 a unit for the tooling cost. The value equation breaks down, however, when there is a low volume of parts, from one to approximately 1,000 parts. In that case, the cost of each injection molded part can be 10 to 100 times as much as it would be using direct digital production.

Besides the cost of actual production of a traditional injection molded part, there are other financial factors to consider, such as a highly paid labor force during a tooling design period that typically lasts weeks versus the hours needed to design a functional part for digital production. With a tool-less process, manufacturing comes immediately after design.

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Additive technology Manufacturers don’t need to factor in the additional labor, materials, and CNC machining and testing costs before manufacturing begins in earnest.

Direct production also reduces the cost of design iterations—if the product does not look or work as anticipated, it is changed within CAD software and ready for direct manufacturing—no new tooling to design, no mold production, or physical testing required.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) implications The initial benefit of direct digital production within PLM is the ability to begin shipping products almost immediately after the final design. Anything that speeds timeto-market delivers a definitive competitive advantage and direct digital production is among the greatest enablers in decades for achieving that goal. The flexibility to make fast design changes, to iterate product designs for better performance, and to provide timely updates is a major benefit to the bottom line.

As products begin to reach the later stages of their lifecycle, direct production continues to deliver value. To demonstrate this, let’s look at a manufacturer that discontinues a product. Manufacturers of certain products are legally required to have replacement parts available for many years after the products have been discontinued. These replacement parts are often needed only in small quantities. If part replacements are not in inventory, the manufacturer needs to find the mold, make sure it is functional, install it in the injection molding machine, conduct test shots, and then produce a small run of parts at considerable time and expense.

If the mold is damaged, worn out or rusted, then the costs can multiply to the tens of thousands

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of dollars to recreate the tooling to manufacture what might be only a handful of parts. Direct digital production enables replacement parts to be produced on demand.

The only storage expense is for digital file space and the parts can be manufactured immediately from the existing CAD file.

Faster, cheaper, better parts The ability to manufacture complex parts at no additional cost is amplified when compared to the time and costs for adding features such as textures to traditional injection molded parts.

Manufacturing an automotive vent with textures, for example, increases the design and production time for injection molding – but has no effect on time or cost with a 3D printed part. In fact, in many instances, it can decrease costs by using less or lower-weight material while maintaining the same or better strength and durability.

Since it is not based on analog technology, digital geometries can be adjusted practically on the fly. There is no physical tooling to change: modify the digital file and start manufacturing immediately.

With digital production, parts can be adjusted in minutes to meet a customer’s or specific market’s preference.

reputation as industry leaders have already embraced how additive manufacturing can complement their traditional workflows for competitive advantage.

Incorporating direct digital production into your manufacturing workflow can accelerate time-tomarket and secure your place as an industry-leading innovator.

3D Systems www.3dsystems.com

Streamlined workflows open limitless opportunities Over the comparatively short history of additive manufacturing – it’s been just over 30 years since Chuck Hull, 3D Systems’ co-founder and chief technology officer, invented the technology – 3D printing has transitioned from a technology for prototyping to being an integral part of workflows for true production applications. It’s remarkable to look at the applications AM powers, and how far we’ve come as an industry.

Manufacturers that have earned a

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COMPANY

MACHINE NAME

BUILD ENVELOPE (MM; W X D X H)

BUILD MATERIALS

LAYER THICKNESS

BUILD SPEED

3D Systems

FabPro 1000 Entry-Level Industrial 3D Printer

125 x 70 x 120 mm (4.92 x 2.76 x 4.72 in)

FabPro Tough BLK, Proto GRY, Flexible BLK, JewelCast GRN, Elastic BLK and selected NextDent dental materials - UV Curable Plastics

0.03 to 0.1 mm

Up to 21 mm/hr vertical build speed

Figure 4 Standalone 3D Printer

124.8 x 70.2 x 196 mm (5 x 2.75 x 7.72 in.)

Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10, TOUGH-GRY 10, TOUGH-GRY 15, TOUGH-BLK 20, FLEX-BLK 10, FLEX-BLK 20, HI TEMP 300-AMB, ELAST-BLK 10, RUBBERBLK 10, MED-AMB 10, MED-WHT 10, EGGSHELL-AMB 10, JCAST-GRN 10 UV Curable Plastics

0.02 to 0.1 mm

Up to 104 mm/hr vertical build speed

Figure 4 Modular 3D Printer

124.8 x 70.2 x 346 mm (4.9 x 2.8 x 13.6 in)

Figure 4 PRO-BLK 10, TOUGH-GRY 10, TOUGH-GRY 15, TOUGH-BLK 20, FLEX-BLK 10, FLEX-BLK 20, HI TEMP 300-AMB, ELAST-BLK 10, RUBBERBLK 10, MED-AMB 10, EGGSHELL-AMB 10 - UV Curable Plastics

0.02 mm min.

Up to 104 mm/hr vertical build speed

Figure 4 Production 3D Printer

124.8 x 70.2 x 346 mm (4.9 x 2.8 x 13.6 in)

30+ UV curable materials

0.02 mm min.

Up to 104 mm/hr vertical build speed

Figure 4 Jewelry 3D Printer

124.8 x 70.2 x 196 mm (4.9 x 2.8 x 7.7 in)

Figure 4 JCAST-GRN 10 - UV Curable Plastic

0.02 mm min.

Up to 16 mm/hr vertical build speed

NextDent 5100 Dental 3D Printer

124.8 x 70.2 x 196 mm (5 x 2.75 x 7.72 in.)

Broad selection of NextDent dental materials - UV curable Plastics

0.03 mm min.

ProJet CJP 260Plus Color 3D Printer

236 x 185 x 127 mm (9.3 x 7.3 x 5 in.)

VisiJet PXL - CMY colours

0.1 mm

20mm/hr max. vertical build speed

ProJet CJP 360 3D Printer

203 x 254 x 203 mm (8 x 10 x 8 in.)

VisiJet PXL - White (monochrome)

0.1 mm

20mm/hr max. vertical build speed

ProJet CJP 460Plus Color 3D Printer

203 x 254 x 203 mm (8 x 10 x 8 in.)

VisiJet PXL - CMY colours

0.1 mm

23mm/hr max. vertical build speed

ProJet CJP 660Pro Color 3D Printer

254 x 381 x 203 mm (10 x 15 x 8 in.)

VisiJet PXL - Full CMYK colours

0.1mm

28mm/hr max. vertical build speed

ProJet CJP 860Pro Color 3D Printer

508 x 381 x 229 mm (20 x 15 x 9 in.)

VisiJet PXL - Full CMYK colours

0.1 mm

5-15mm/hr max. vertical build speed

ProJet MJP 2500 Plastic 3D Printer

294 x 211 x 144 mm (11.6 x 8.3 x 5.6 in)

VisiJet M2R-WT, M2R-BK rigid plastics, VisiJet ProFlex M2G-DUR engineering plastic; melt away support

32μ

ProJet MJP 2500 Plus Plastic 3D Printer

294 x 211 x 144 mm (11.6 x 8.3 x 5.6 in)

VisiJet ProFlex M2G-DUR, Armor M2G-CL engineering plastics VisiJet M2R-WT, M2R-BK, M2R-CL, M2R-GRY, M2R-TN rigid plastics VisiJet M2S-HT90 specialty material VisiJet M2 EBK, M2 ENT elastomeric materials Melt away support

32μ

ProJet MJP 2500W RealWax 3D Printer

294 x 211 x 144 mm (11.6 x 8.3 x 5.6 in.)

VisiJet M2 CAST - wax material

16μ

ProJet MJP 2500 IC RealWax 3D Printer

294 x 211 x 144 mm (11.6 x 8.3 x 5.6 in.)

VisiJet M2 ICast - wax material

42μ

ProJet MJP 3600 Plastic 3D Printer

Up to 298 x 185 x 203 mm (11.75 x 7.3 x 8 in.)

VisiJet M3-X, Black, Crystal, Proplast, Navy, Techplast, Procast - UV Curable Plastics

16μ to 32μ

ProJet MJP 3600 Max Plastic 3D Printer

Up to 298 x 185 x 203 mm (11.75 x 7.3 x 8 in.)

VisiJet M3-X, Black, Crystal, Proplast, Navy, Techplast, Procast - UV Curable Plastics

16μ to 32μ

ProJet MJP 3600W RealWax 3D Printer

Up to 298 x 183 x 203 mm (11.75 x 7.3 x 8 in.)

VisiJet M3 CAST, M3 Hi-Cast - Wax material

16μ to 32μ

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Additive technology

COMPANY

MACHINE NAME

BUILD ENVELOPE (MM; W X D X H)

BUILD MATERIALS

LAYER THICKNESS

BUILD SPEED

3D Systems

ProJet MJP 3600W Max RealWax 3D Printer

Up to 298 x 183 x 203 mm (11.75 x 7.3 x 8 in.)

VisiJet M3 CAST, M3 Hi-Cast - Wax material

16μ to 32μ

ProJet MJP 3600 Dental 3D Printer

284 x 185 x 203 mm (11.2 x 7.3 x 8 in.)

VisiJet M3 Dentcast, PearlStone, Stoneplast - Dental UV curable plastics

29μ to 32μ

ProJet MJP 5600 MultiMaterial 3D Printer

518 x 381 x 300 mm (20.4 x 15 x 11.8 in.)

VisiJet CR-CL 200, CR-WT 200, CRBK, CE-BK, CE-NT Composite MultiMaterial Printing

13μ to 16μ

ProJet 6000 HD SLA 3D Printer

Up to 250 x 250 x 250 mm (10 x 10 x 10 in.)

Accura 25, Xtreme, Xtreme White 200, ABS Black, ClearVue, Fidelity, 48HTR, Phoenix, Sapphire, e-Stone

0.025 to 0.125 mm

ProJet 7000 HD SLA 3D Printer

Up to 380 x 380 x 250 mm (15 x 15 x 10 in)

Accura 25, Xtreme, Xtreme White 200, ABS Black, ClearVue, Fidelity, 48HTR, Phoenix, Sapphire, e-Stone

0.050 to 0.125 mm

ProX 800 SLA 3D Printer

Up to 650 x 750 x 550 mm (25.6 x 29.5 x 21.65 in)

Accura plastics and composites (widest range, simulating ABS, PP and PC, high temp., for casting patterns and other specialty materials)

0.05 to 0.15 mm

ProX 950 SLA 3D Printer

1500 x 750 x 550 mm (59 x 30 x 22 in)

Accura plastics and composites (widest range, simulating ABS, PP and PC, high temp., for casting patterns and other specialty materials)

0.05 to 0.15 mm

ProX SLS 6100 3D Printer

381 x 330 x 460 mm (15 x 13 x 18 in.)

DuraForm ProX plastics and composites (powders)

0.08 to 0.15 mm

2.7 l/hr volume build rate

sPro 60 HD-HS SLS Production 3D Printer

381 x 330 x 460 mm (15 x 13 x 18 in.)

DuraForm plastics, elastomers and composites, CastForm PS (powders)

0.08 to 0.15 mm

1.8 l/hr volume build rate

sPro 140 SLS Production 3D Printer

550 x 550 x 460 mm (22 x 22 x 18 in)

DuraForm plastics and composites (powders)

0.08 to 0.15 mm

3.0 l/hr volume build rate

sPro 230 SLS Production 3D Printer

550 x 550 x 750 mm (22 x 22 x 30 in)

DuraForm plastics and composites (powders)

0.08 to 0.15 mm

3.0 l/hr volume build rate

DMP Flex 100 Precision Metal Printer

100 x 100 x 90 mm (3.94 x 3.94 x 3.54 in.)

Ready-to-run LaserForm CoCr (B), CoCr (C), 17-4 (B), 316L (B) metal alloys with extensively developed print parameters. Custom material parameter development available with optional software package.

10 μm - 100 μm.

Preset: 30 μm

ProX DMP 200 Precision Metal Printer

140 x 140 x 115 mm (5.51 x 5.51 x 3.45 in.)

Ready-to-run LaserForm CoCr (B), 17-4 (B), Maraging Steel (B), 316L (B), Ni625 (B) and AlSi12 (B) with extensively developed print parameters.

Custom material parameter development available with optional software package.

10 μm - 100 μm.

Preset: 30 μm

DMP Flex 350 and DMP Factory 350

275 x 275 x 420 mm (10.82 x 10.82 x 16.54 in.)

Wide choice of ready-to-run metal alloys with extensively developed print parameters, including LaserForm Ti Gr. 1 (A), Gr.5 (A) and Gr.23 (A), CoCrF75 (A), 316L (A), Ni625 (A9, Ni718 (A), AlSi10Mg (A), AlSi7Mg0.6 (A) and Maraging Steel (A). Custom material parameter development available with optional software package.

10μm - 100μm preset: 30 and 60 μm

DMP Factory 500 Solution

500 x 500 x 500 mm* (19.6 x 19.6 x 19.6 in.)

LaserForm materials

Adjustable, min.

2 μm, max.200 μm, typ. 60 μm

* Material dependent

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The Leader in Additive Manufacturing

Used to produce: • Industrial tooling • Masters • Patterns • Molds • Production fixtures

LSAM MT

LSAM 1010

LSAM 1040

thermwood www.thermwood.com

800-533-6901

MADE IN USA

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Additive technology

Big fixtures

demand a big 3D printer

Ford Motor company has been using 3D printing for years. But now, the company’s needs are getting bigger.

The Ford Motor company’s only research facility outside the United States, Ford Research & Advanced Engineering Europe, opened in 1995. It is used to advance Ford vehicles and manufacturing processes with additive manufacturing technology.

Exploration of and investment into 3D printing has picked up at Ford in recent years, and most recently they’ve been going bigger.

“In the last years, 3D printing became more relevant as a ‘real’ manufacturing technique,” says Lars Bognar, a Research Engineer at the facility. “That’s why our research activities in the field increased. Now 3D printing plays a big role.”

The research and engineering teams regularly use SL, SLS, FFF, and L-PBF 3D printing processes and continuously acquire new systems to suit their growing needs.

In 2017 they added a big new player: the BigRep ONE. Working primarily on jigs and fixtures, tool tryout-parts, and manufacturing equipment, the BigRep ONE is used in many of the day-to-day necessities of a busy automotive manufacturing and research center.

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Especially helpful for the Ford team is the variety of materials available to print with the BigRep ONE. According to Bognar, the most-frequently used materials there include: • PLA for mockups of original components.

• PA6/66 for strong jigs and fixtures • TPU for protection parts The BigRep system’s cubic-meter build volume opened larger production opportunities and application-driven thinking for Ford’s 3D printing processes, but the following four applications stood out: Fast, effective and affordable welding fixtures Before investing in large-format additive, welding fixtures were manufactured from metal in a DESIGN WORLD

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Company

Machine Name

Build Size

Build Materials

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

BigRep

BigRep ONE

1005 x 1005 x 1005 mm (39.5 x 39.5 x 29.5 in.)

PLA, PETG, Pro HT, TPU

0.1 mm - 1.4 mm

Accel = 400 mm/s2

BigRep PRO

1005 x 1005 x 1005 mm (39.5 x 39.5 x 39.5 in.)

ASA, PA6/66, ABS, PLA, Pro HT, TPU

0.1 - 0.8 mm

Accel = 10 m/ s2

BigRep STUDIO G2

1000 x 500 x 500 mm (39 y 19.6 z 19.6 in.)

PLA, PETG, Pro HT, TPU, PA6/66, ASA, ABS

0.1 mm - 0.5 mm

Accel = 600 mm/s2

The BigRep ONE is used in many of the day-to-day necessities of a busy automotive manufacturing and research center.

manual machining process. Ford requires about 190 fixtures for a single prototype (without any potential for reuse) and lead times for machined fixtures were often as long as three weeks. The manual process created a significant time

sink and left design and production processes vulnerable to bottlenecks.

Once finished, Ford’s team still had to wrestle with setup and tear-down processes that were labor intensive with heavy machined metal parts.

After turning to the BigRep

ONE, the plan for welding fixtures changed. Because additive manufacturing is hands-free, the team can print fixtures overnight in a lights-out manufacturing setting for a fraction of the previous cost and have them in use on

Ford has taken full advantage of its new fixture manufacturing process and materials. The newly minimized setup and tear-down times have reduced Ford’s labor even further given the increased opportunities for applicationspecific design and new lightweight, high heat deflection materials.

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Additive technology

This sensor fixture took 51 hours to print.

welding tables the next morning.

The team has even implemented closed-loop supply practices, shredding their used tooling to recycle plastic fixture material in an environmentally friendly supply practice.

This application delivered a full ROI for the printer to the Ford team, enabling the team to consider other applications.

Simpler, long-lasting jigs Jigs are reusable, applicationspecific tooling for manual tasks like accurate component fitting. They are precisely measured to ensure and confirm that products meet specs. This precision saves time and money that would be spent developing other quality assurance tools.

Traditionally made jigs require many iterations and an 8-10-week lead time. By 3D printing them in-

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house Ford decreased the time between iterations, creating jigs in just 2-3 days for a 94% decrease in lead times.

Hand jigs, which ensure alignment but don’t hold the larger product in place, provided an additional application for the BigRep 3D printer. By creating the tooling with low-cost, lightweight thermoplastic material instead of traditional metals, the Ford team can do multiple tooling iterations to personalize and reduce the weight of their equipment.

Cost-effective rapid prototyping and mockups Prototyping and mockups remain key applications for 3D printing, and the ability to carry them out in large format has helped Ford in several cases. At one point, the engineers needed a prototype engine alternator. Purchasing one DESIGN WORLD

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is expensive, but the engineers needed the part early to test fit and create complicated tooling.

The engineers used a 3D printed mockup as a stand-in for the alternator while it was unavailable, allowing them to carry on with prototyping and avoid a bottleneck or added expense. While the 3D printed alternator was not functional, it was practical in testing plant equipment like grippers, carriers, and trays to ensure they

would work with the final alternator’s geometry.

A front-end module with a complicated design process saw a similar use of additive as the complex component required a great deal of prototyping before a final design could be determined. Interfacing with different departments leads to many iterations, which traditionally has led to expensive tool changes and multiple long lead times. By 3D printing in the development phase,

parts are put to design examination much earlier and iterated quickly without any tool changes, accelerating iteration cycles.

Time-sensitive part testing Part testing has also proven a strong use for 3D printed parts. When a battery case was unavailable for testing and shipping was too expensive, a 3D printed mockup took its place. Because only a simplified geometry was necessary for testing, a 3D printed case was easily created for fast, inexpensive testing that kept all processes in motion.

BigRep www.bigrep.com

A front-end module with a complicated design process saw a similar use of additive as the complex component required a great deal of prototyping before a final design could be determined.

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Additive technology

Additive manufacturing meets the need for agility

Recent events show the need for agility to meet market demands. Dr. Joe DeSimone, executive chairman of Carbon, discusses the unique levels of agility offered by additive manufacturing.

MPF: Will the recent focus on the additive industry’s abilities to address supply chain gaps last or be a temporary development?

DeSimone: Well, I think when you talk about supply chain, you’re mostly talking about manufacturing, at least that’s what I think about. To the extent that additive technology is able to bridge the gap between prototyping and manufacturing, then yes, immensely, because it really shows that when you have the agility in a supply chain that our 3D printing technology has, then you are able to make pivots and adjust things dynamically. This comes into play whether you’re dealing

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with something like COVID-19, an earthquake, or a storm, or even geopolitical issues. I think it actually is going to be increasingly obvious that having agility and dynamism in your supply chain will allow companies to be much more successful in the future.

For example, the COVID pandemic hit Lombardy, Italy really hard and that was one of the main factories for the Coronavirus testing swabs. So here’s a supply chain disruption that hit a global and a choke point. From ground zero, we had to design a new device. The nasopharyngeal swabs were first developed in the 1920s shortly after the Spanish flu, but have only seen www.designworldonline.com

incremental changes since then.

It took about 20 days to design and engineer a new swab. Fifty days after that, we completed more than 400 patient clinical assessments at Stanford University with two different designs. One design showed potentially lower false negative rates, especially for low viral loading. And so it was really a pretty stimulating and inspiring time.

MPF: In the particular area of additive manufacturing that your company focuses on, what developments can we expect to see in the near term? What kind of things are you exploring, both in hardware, software, and even in materials?

DESIGN WORLD

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Company

Machine Name

Build Size

Build Materials

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

Carbon

L1 Printer

15.7” x 9.8” x 20” (400 mm x 250 mm x 580 mm)

Carbon EPX 82 Carbon RPU 70 Carbon RPU 130 Carbon EPU 40 Carbon EPU 41 Carbon MPU 100 Carbon CE 221 Carbon FPU 50 Carbon SIL 30 Carbon UMA 90 Carbon DPR 10

100 µm (Standard), 50 µm (Fine), 25 µm (Super Fine)

40mm/hour (unscripted)

M2 Printer

7.4” x 4.6” x 12.8” (187 mm x 116 mm x 326 mm)

Carbon EPX 82 Carbon RPU 70 Carbon RPU 130 Carbon EPU 40 Carbon EPU 41 Carbon MPU 100 Carbon CE 221 Carbon FPU 50 Carbon SIL 30 Carbon UMA 90 Carbon DPR 10

100 µm (Standard), 50 µm (Fine), 25 µm (Super Fine)

40mm/hour (unscripted)

DeSimone: In the markets that we serve, one is consumer, foam replacement has just taken off. And the lead for us obviously was Adidas, and then the Riddell liner for football helmets. And I think this whole field of additive manufacturing, digital manufacturing is going to be defined by killer apps.

Coming on the heels of those, we’ve got parts in vehicles, such as Ford, where we’re the first company to have production parts on new vehicles sold out of Detroit. And that set the stage for amazing materials that opened up applications, such as in electrical connectors. And now, with the new RPU 130, a really tough ductile material, again, it opens up DESIGN WORLD

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further application in the automotive spaces.

You’re going to see continued applications there, including consumer electronics. Once a part goes commercial and a company needs 3 million a year, or whatever it is, there are 100 printers right there just to service that application. And so that’s what we really do is bring these killer apps, and obviously dental has been a mainstay for us, but what’s really important is new materials that open up and grow that market.

And so having the world’s first FDA approved 3D printed dentures, that’s www.designworldonline.com

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Additive technology

a $14 billion market. When you go from full dentures to the partial removable dentures, then it really opens up some big opportunities.

I think every material opens up the total addressable market, but it’s full manufacturing solutions that really allow the volume to take place.

MPF: Is there one killer app, or is this industry going to be affected more by dozens of killer apps?

DeSimone: Thousands of killer apps. 3D printing, as it’s currently practiced, is a pretty modest industry, about an $8 billion marketplace, and that’s hardware, materials, software, and even the parts. Injection molding is a $300-plus billion market place.

And a fraction of that is going to be accessible to AM and opens up a huge growth opportunity. But it’s only going to be those technologies that can scale into manufacturing that are going to differentiate.

Having printers run 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, an entire fleet of them, you learn a lot about what

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you offer, and that’s what we’ve been able to do, and that’s what makes this business increasingly resilient as we go through these learning curves.

MPF: How do you see additive manufacturing within the context of digital manufacturing?

DeSimone: I think I look at it in two phases.

Our printing process uses digital light synthesis, which is intrinsically digital. It’s a software controlled chemical reaction to grow parts.

And then you fold on top of that 100% smart hardware. Our printer gets over-the-air software upgrades, which increase its capability, especially as our understanding of our process grows. And the process is intrinsically digital, so that’s allowed us to scale the business digitally, and it’s really the key.

But I think the next phase will be a manufacturing network; we’re in 17 different countries now, the adaptability, as shown by AM’s DESIGN WORLD

9/4/20 7:55 AM

response to the pandemic is what enables the resiliency and agility in a supply chain to pivot when there’s a supply chain disruption.

And on top of that we will be doing things like helping people manage their inventory. The world’s got billions of dollars tied up in inventory. A lot of that inventory is in polymeric parts. And those parts are sitting in climate-controlled warehouses just aging. Polymeric parts will densify, hydrolyze, and focus color. We often want a fresh part, and so our ability to offer a warehouse in the cloud stems from, at the core, making things digitally.

We got a part’s birth certificate, its born on date, its conditions, which data file, which resin, which printer, which location, but then you can also do post-market surveillance on all the data. And it keeps populating that record all the way to the point where you do recycle.

And so we’ve got some big plans to offer resins, and it’s breakthroughs in technology that allow us to have reversible material thermostats so that after the lifecycle of the part, it can be turned back into liquid and reused to different extents. And so that’s where we’re heading.

people and the innovations that come from that, we never would have had the breakthrough we had for our technology if we weren’t together.

What is interesting is how we work has definitely changed as a society. And I think there’s a lot of the job functions that a lot of people thought well, there’s no way you could do those unless you were in the building.

MPF: What are you hearing from customers as to the challenges they are having in using additive technology during these pandemic conditions?

Carbon www.carbon3d.com

MPF: Anything we haven’t touched on that you would like to comment on?

DeSimone: Well, I think just to summarize, this supply chain disruption, the pandemic, has shined a bright light on those technologies that are able to scale in the manufacturing. And I think the proof was there before, but it’s really there now with so many great examples, and I think it’s going to be the way of the future.

And then really designing advanced products that you couldn’t get by traditional injection molding, and the speed of product introductions is really going to be continuing to be the drive going forward.

DeSimone: Well, as we work more home, I think we’re seeing an acceleration of digital, for sure, but those of us that are in the physical world, I worry a little bit about innovation long term for the nation being stifled by not being physically together. I think a lot of innovation is from interactions.

Zoom and similar technologies have been great, but I think a lot of people are exhausted from them already. The ability of engaging with DESIGN WORLD

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Additive technology

How metal

additive manufacturing

will alter the automotive industry Desktop Metal printers are used in a number of industries, with automotive one of the major ones.

Ford and BMW were early adopters of Desktop Metal’s technology and have become investors. Mostly, these companies are using metal 3D printing in vehicle short runs but they have ambitions to move into mass production.

Jonah Myerberg, co founder and CTO of Desktop Metal, made several observations about the use of metal 3D printing in the automotive industry.

is going to be both a tool •and AM a game changer. It’s a tool because it will be required to do a vehicle design job efficiently and competitively. Designers will need 3D printing in one way or

another to be able to react quickly to customers and their demands, prototyping components and parts to change and innovate, as well as to produce low volume components, and to remain flexible for their customers.

It will be a game changer •because it will enable specific needs for products like the electric vehicle where lightweighting is sought.

It’s also going to be a game •changer in that it will help equalize

the field for small companies trying to compete with the big companies.

The automotive industry will see a birth of new tier one suppliers focused on AM. And it’s going to change the way that designers think about automotive design.

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DESIGN WORLD

9/4/20 8:01 AM

Company

Machine Name

Build Size

Build Materials

Fiber LT

310 x 240 x 270 mm

continuous carbon fiber and range of fiber-reinforced composites including PEEK and Nylon

50 μm

NA

Fiber HT

310 x 240 x 270 mm

continuous carbon fiber and range of fiber-reinforced composites including PEEK and Nylon

50 μm

NA

Production System

13 x 13 x 13 in. (330 x 330 x330 mm)

Alloys, including stainless steel, copper, and tool steels, 17-4PH, 316L, Inconel 625, H13, AISI 4140

50 um

8200 cm3/hr

Studio System + Printer

11.4 x 7.4 x 7.4 in. (28.9 x 18.9 x 19.5 cm)

17-4 PH, 316L, AISI 4140, H13, Copper, Inconel 625

std resolution = 100-220 um,

Max build rate = 16 cm3/hr

Desktop Metal

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

High resolution = 50 um Shop System

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from 35 x 22.2 x 5 cm to 35 x 22.2 x 20 cm

engineered metal powders

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40-100 μm

NA

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9/4/20 8:05 AM

AM can be applied •to anyMetalcomponent within a car.

Materials are available that tolerate the temperatures and offer the strengths of more traditional alloys used in the engines and suspension systems and transmissions. “We’re going to see additive manufacturing playing in every aspect of a vehicle now,” noted Myerberg.

Car Initiative. One •focusTheofCircular the world economic forum

is how to make transportation systems more efficient and less impactful on the environment.

Electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles will play on that. But what’s not often thought about is the impact that the actual car itself will have once it’s reached its end of life. All of the things done to make the car more efficient, such as low weight plastics, could become a problem. What do you do with those light weight plastic components at the end of a car’s life? You can’t melt them down and turn them back into plastic again.

Metals can be almost endlessly recycled. The circular vehicle initiative is looking for answers and looking for ways to make vehicles fully recycled. Some parts can be repurposed. Battery packs in electric vehicles reach a point where

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they are not useful in the vehicle, but they still have energy in them.

Some are being used on the electric grid and will work for another 10 or 15 years. “This type of creative thinking is extending the lives of the automotive components, reducing the impact that the vehicle has on the environment after its death.,” noted Myerberg. “We’re going to see plastic components being replaced by metal components for that reason.”

Many of the complex assemblies inside a vehicle are assemblies of composites of polymers, or metal components buried within the polymer composites. These complicated assemblies are ripe for that type of additive manufacturing that can step in, combine three, four, five, 10 parts into one and replace an entire system with single or multiple components that weigh the same or less, take up either less of space, and are fully recyclable.

Also, such parts often require the use of injection molding machines to produce, which can be a huge investment on the part of the OEM or the tier one molder, especially if changes are involved, said Myerberg.

For the engine compartment, now there are high strength, high temperature polymers available.

But metal materials offer higher www.designworldonline.com

ranges. Replacing plastic components with metal ones lets designers raise localized temperatures. Some vendors are looking into using metal to protect components or be combined with plastic components.

•

One of the limitations of most 3D printers is the build size. “I’d love to say we can print a car chassis or body because these are hugely complicated assemblies that are very much static assemblies designed for crash and stability and stiffness, but with no moving parts, welded together. It would be fantastic to optimize a body into a single piece and print it. We’re not there, but we are certainly working on technologies that will get us there if that’s the end game. We want to see these parts grow out of the 3D printer in real size and real and in a single form.”

3D Printers let designers •placeSeveral mechanical characteristics

exactly where they want them. For example, one area can be flexible and a different area can be stiff. That opens up possibilities for engineers, enabling them to design chassis as much for performance on the road as for manufacturability.

“To be able to design an entire vehicle at one time and then print it out and have it be optimized DESIGN WORLD

9/9/20 8:17 AM

for crashing, impact, suspension, performance all in one, that’s really exciting, but we’re certainly not there yet. In fact, we’re up against current manufacturing processes focused around sheet metal.

Products that require parameters like width, flatness, and low profile (for stamping) are not the easiest things to 3D print in metal. Sheet metal is not a friendly design and so designers, if they’re going to replace a sheet metal fabricated assembly with a 3D printed part, they will have to go back to the drawing board and redesign it under the loads that are being placed on it.”

One of the tools that will help such a redesign is generative design, because it uses AI to do the heavy lifting.

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•

More than ever, additive manufacturing is affecting the supply chain, which will affect worldwide manufacturing. “We’ll be able to pull manufacturing back in, reshore it into the United States, bring it closer to the point of manufacturing instead of have these long-distance supply chains.”

Desktop Metal Inc. www.desktopmetal.com

www.designworldonline.com

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Additive technology

Designing a better knee joint

with additive manufacturing

Italian medical implant manufacturer REJOINT is introducing mass customization and therapy personalization through a combination of Electron Beam Melting (EBM) and computerized analysis of intraoperative and post-operative data collection through IoT-connected sensorized wearables.

The market for knee implants is now estimated at around five million implants per year worldwide. In advanced markets, already in 2011 the number of surgical procedures was 150 per 100,000 inhabitants, with peaks of 250 in some markets such as Austria and Switzerland.

The strongest annual increase (7%) occurred in patients 64 years and under[1].

The knee arthroplasty market until recently solely consisted of standard prosthetic systems, with a limited of sizes available. Correct and precise sizing and positioning is one of the critical factors for range the success of this type of intervention,

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which is now clinically routine, but still variable in terms of success.

Knee joints have to withstand point loads that can reach levels of over 300 kilograms. Even minimal dimensional changes between the patient’s bone elements and an implant can cause pain and inflammation. For the patient, overor under-sizing means constant awareness of the presence of an artificial joint, as well as leading to muscle and ligament decay.

Patient feedback after an implant can sometimes reflect these issues and indicates that dissatisfaction can be felt by one in five patients and sometimes even to levels of one in www.designworldonline.com

four. Dissatisfaction is often largely related to the suboptimal sizing of the implanted prosthesis.

From the patient’s perspective, there has been a profound change in the criteria for choosing a solution in relation to their indications. While some elderly patients might rely entirely on their doctor to make that choice, younger patients may go online to become better informed on solutions and treatment paths available and choose a surgeon based on the information they gather.

Additive technology and data-driven customization Based in Bologna, Italy, REJOINT was DESIGN WORLD

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Company

Machine Name

Build Size (mm)

Materials

Arcam EBM Q10plus

200 x 200 x 180 (W/D/H); 7.87 x 7.87 x 7 in.

Titanium Ti6AI4V Titanium Ti6AI4V ELI Titanium Grade 2 Cobalt Chrome

NA

NA

350 x 380 (Ø/H)

Titanium Ti6AI4V Titanium Ti6AI4V ELI Titanium Grade 2

NA

NA

200 x 200 x 380 (W/D/H); 7.87 x 7,87 x 15 in.

Titanium Ti6AI4V Titanium Ti6AI4V ELI Titanium Grade 2 Inconel 718

NA

NA

200 x 200 x 380 (W/D/H); 7.87 x 7,87 x 15 in.

crack-prone alloys like Titanium Aluminide, nickel alloy 718

NA

NA

350 x 430 mm

Arcam EBM Ti6AI4V Grade 5, P-material; Arcam EBM Ti6AI4V Grade 23, P-Material

NA

NA

Arcam EBM Q20plus

GE Additive Arcam EBM

Arcam EBM A2X

Arcam EBM Spectra H

Arcam Spectra L

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Layer Thickness

Build Speed

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Additive technology

founded in 2015 by a team with many years of experience in the orthopedic sector, recently entered the knee arthroplasty market.

This innovative company aims to offer a customized medical solution.

Both additive manufacturing and artificial intelligence are integral to its growth strategy.

“When it came to additive manufacturing, we were initially undecided about the most suitable solution for personalized cobaltchrome prosthetics and were evaluating DMLM and EBM. Both modalities, in fact offer a good level of resolution and quality, but we ultimately opted for the GE Additive Arcam EBM Q10plus system. The knowledge and industrialization support that GE was able to provide us and the professional experience of their local team here in Italy also informed our decision,” says Gian Guido Riva, CEO at REJOINT. “At the moment, ours is still the only solution for additively manufactured knee prostheses in cobalt-chrome to be certified and introduced to the market,” he adds.

To produce the additively manufactured prosthesis, REJOINT starts by 3D modelling the patient’s CT scan. Sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are then used to analyze the images and identify the most suitable size for each specific case.

AI is used to compare the unique anatomy of a patient on several thousand prosthetic dimensions, each with as many dimensional variables in specific areas of the implant.

The surgeon is then offered the optimal configuration, for positioning both the prosthetic components and for simulating the operation. This analysis forms the basis for the production of the prosthesis and for patient-

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specific tools for the planning of the intervention - which is carried out with the support of computer-aided surgery tools.

“Having all this data made us realize that we could link it to the information recorded during the operation. And in turn, this data could still be further improved upon if we could collect through the use of wearable devices (such as sensorized headbands and socks), both pre- and postoperative measurements, on how the patient loads their limb or bends their knee, until post-operative evaluation questionnaires have been completed,” continues Riva.

This innovative approach, which is now part of REJOINT’s high valueadded offering, makes it possible to identify a series of correlations that trace the whole process, from the interactive preoperative planning right through to the rehabilitation phase.

“By 2022, we will have the complete data of thousands of cases available. This will provide us with an unparalleled wealth of application information, in terms of completeness, in the sector. Despite the sale of millions of pieces, there is little or no information on what happens post-sale,” continues Riva.

According to Professor Maurilio Marcacci, head of the Joint Knee Reconstruction Centre at Humanitas Research Hospital in Milan, who www.designworldonline.com

performed the first implant, the initial application of this technology has achieved a high degree of patient satisfaction, that are unprecedented in his many years of experience.

Future developments The company is currently in the process of obtaining US Food & Drug Administration, FDA 510(k) clearance, which is expected in the first half of 2021. Certification will mean access to the US market, which accounts for 62% of the world market for orthopedic devices and more than 70% of the value of the global market for knee implants[2].

REJOINT is working with GE Additive to reduce powder-based production costs, focusing on the reduction of cycle times and the optimization of parameters including through the development of remote production control stations.

For younger or less acute patients, REJOINT is also developing a single-compartment prosthetic system with a minimally invasive design and robotic surgical technology.

“The key element, is an increasingly close and direct relationship between company and patient. This will further increase the degree of postoperative satisfaction. We are at the beginning of a revolution in the field DESIGN WORLD

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Company

GE Additive

Machine Name

Build Size (mm)

Build Materials

Concept Laser Mlab

50 x 50 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2 x 2 x 3.12 in.; 70 x 70 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2.75 x 2.75 x 3.12 in.; 90 x 90 x 80 mm (x,y,z); 3.5 by 3.5 x 3.12 in.

Stainless Steel 316L Stainless Steel 17-4PH Bronze CuSn remanium star® CL (CoCrW) Silver 930 Gold, Yellow Gold, Rose Platinum

NA

1-5 cm3/h (depending on material / geometry)

Concept Laser Mlab R

50 x 50 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2 x 2 x 3.12 in.; 70 x 70 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2.75 x 2.75 x 3.12 in.; 90 x 90 x 80 mm (x,y,z); 3.5 by 3.5 x 3.12 in.

Stainless Steel 316L Stainless Steel 17-4PH Aluminum AlSi10MgTitanium Ti6Al4V ELI Grade 23 Titanium CPTi Grade 2 Bronze CuSn remanium star® CL (CoCrW) rematitan® CL (Ti6Al4V ELI) Silver 930 Gold, Yellow Gold, Rose Platinum

NA

1-5 cm3/h (depending on material)

Concept Laser Mlab 200R

50 x 50 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2 x 2 x 3.12 in.; 70 x 70 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 2.75 x 2.75 x 3.12 in.; 90 x 90 x 80 mm (x,y,z) 3.5 by 3.5 x 3.12 in.; 100 x 100 x 100 mm (x,y,z) 3.94 x 3.94 x 3.94 in.

Stainless Steel 316L Stainless Steel 17-4PH Maraging Steel M300 Aluminum AlSi10Mg Nickel 718 Titanium Ti6Al4V ELI Grade 23 Titanium CPTi Grade 2 Bronze CuSn remanium star CL (CoCrW) rematitan CL (Ti6Al4V ELI)

NA

1-5 cm3/h (depending on material / geometry)

Concept Laser M2 Series 5

250 x 250 x 350 mm (x,y,z); 9.84 x 9.84 x 11 in.

Stainless Steel 316L Stainless Steel 17-4PH Marging Steel M300 Aluminum AlSi10Mg Aluminum AlSi7Mg Nickel 718 Nickel 625 Titanium Ti6Al4V ELI Grade 23 Cobalt CoCrMo

NA

2-35 cm3/h (depending on material / geometry)

Concept Laser M Line Factory

500 x 500 x 400 mm (x,y,z); 19.68 x 19.68 x 15.74 in.

Cobalt CoCrMo (in development) Nickel 718 (in development) Aluminum A205 (in development)

NA

not stated

Concept Laser X Line 2000R

800 x 400 x 500 mm (x,y,z); 31.5 x 15.75 x 19.68 in.

Aluminum AlSi10Mg Titanium Ti6AL4V Grade 23 Nickel 718 Cobalt CoCrMo Stainless Steel 316L (in development)

NA

up to 120 cm3/h (depending on material / geometry)

of knee implants. REJOINT’s work in adopting additive technology will allow for more personalized procedures and higher levels of long-term patient satisfaction”, adds Riva.

GE Additive | www.ge.com/additive

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

[1] Utilization rates of knee-arthroplasty in OECD countries, Pabinger, Lothaller, Geissler, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 23(10) - May 2015, www.researchgate. net/publication/277337697_Utilization_ rates_of_knee-arthroplasty_in_OECD_ countries.

[2] Orthoworld, The 2019 Orthopaedic Industry Annual Report®, www.orthoworld.com/form-theorthopaedic-industry-annual-report

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Additive technology

HP expands its

material offerings and industrial alliances

Helping expand the overall market and unlock new applications for customers, HP introduced a first of its kind Polypropylene (PP) material for additive manufacturing. The new HP 3D High Reusability PP, enabled by BASF, is a versatile, durable, and chemically resistant material that has been qualified for HP’s production-grade 3D printing systems. It suits applications in the automotive, consumer, industrial, and medical sectors. (HP also unveiled a new partnership with Oechsler, the global design and manufacturing player, to develop applications for both the new PP and HP’s broader materials portfolio, as well as new customers for its Metal Jet 3D printing technology.)

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Polypropylene is a versatile material for a range of automotive, consumer, industrial, and medical applications. The HP 3D High Reusability PP provides customers with a new additive manufacturing material offering the same properties as commonly used PPs in injection molding. It offers strong chemical resistance, low moisture absorption, and long-term durability. This material suits piping, fluid systems, and containers. For example, automakers will be able to use the same PP for prototyping and production of final parts found in vehicles’ interior, exterior, and under-the-hood.

Developed in partnership with BASF for HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 3D Series, the PP material helps reduce waste by enabling up to 100% reusability of surplus powder.

HP is jointly developing new PP applications with partners, parts providers, and customers including

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HP Metal Jet 3D Printing Solution. | Credit: HP

Company Machine Name

HP

Build Volume in mm

Build Materials

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printing Solutions

380 x 284 x 380 mm (15 x 11.2 x 15 in)

HP 3D High Reusability PA 11 HP 3D High Reusability PA 12 HP 3D High Reusability PA 12 GB Vestosint 3D Z2773 PA 12

0.08 mm (0.003 in)

4115 cm続/hr (251 in続/hr)

HP Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D Printing Solution

380 x 284 x 380 mm (15 x 11.2 x 15 in)

HP 3D High Reusability PA 11 HP 3D High Reusability PA 12 Girbau DY130 Dyeing Solution9

0.08 mm (0.003 in)

5058 cm続/hr (309 in続/hr)

HP Jet Fusion 540/340 3D Printer

332 x 190 x 248 mm (13.1 x 7.5 x 9.8 inches)

CB PA 12 material

0.08 mm (0.003 inches)

1,817 cm3/hr (111 in3/hr)

HP Jet Fusion 580/380 Color

332 x 190 x 248 mm (13.1 x 7.5 x 9.8 inches)

CB PA 12 material

0.08 mm (0.003 inches)

1,817 cm3/hr (111 in3/hr)

HP Metal Jet

430 x 320 x 200 mm (16.9 x 12.6 x 7.9 in)

316L stainless steel MIM powder

1200 x 1200 dpi addressability in a layer 50 to 100 microns thick

NA

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Additive technology

Fleet of HP Jet Fusion 5200 3D Printers. | Credit: HP

Gas and liquid separator used in professional white appliances, industrial machinery and institutional/industrial cleaning equipment.

Printed with HP 3D High Reusability PP enabled

by BASF. | Credit: Oechsler

Extol, specializing in plastics engineering and innovation with industry leading plastic assembly technology, custom automation, and engineering services; GKN/Forecast 3D, a provider of advanced industrial 3D printing, short-run manufacturing, and high-volume production; Henkel, a leader of high-impact adhesives and engineering solutions; Oechsler, a leading additive manufacturing parts provider; and Prototal, one of Europe’s most experienced parts manufacturers.

In addition to the new material, HP expanded 3D Professional Services offerings and industrial alliances to help customers accelerate their journey to digital manufacturing, including: • _HP 3D Professional Services. HP is unveiling a variety of new professional services capabilities including design optimization for breakthrough applications, manufacturing process streamlining for mass customization and scale production, and applications identification and discovery services.

•

_BASF and HP announced they are advancing their strategic alliance to jointly develop new

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applications with market leading customers in the automotive, consumer, industrial and medical industries. With the new PP and the recent introduction of ULTRASINT TPU01 thermoplastic polyurethane, the two are working together to accelerate the design and mass production of 3D printed parts.

•

_A new strategic alliance with Oechsler AG, a leading global engineering solution provider and one of the largest parts manufacturers in the additive industry. The alliance will span the product lifecycle from application design to production of final parts.

Oechsler is using its fleet of HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 3D Series printers and an extensive materials portfolio to help leading automakers, global consumer electronics companies, home and commercial appliances, and innovative medical device providers produce a variety of new applications.

Parmatech are working together on a strategic, multi-year product roadmap, that leverages the design and manufacturing benefits of HP’s additive technologies to deliver golf equipment that raises performance and golfer satisfaction to new levels.

•_The US Marine Corps is producing stainless steel spare parts for its Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV).

About 200 AAV parts have been 3D printed to quickly provide replacement parts and steady a complex supply chain. The ability to 3D print parts required, but not available in the traditional supply chain, is helping keep the nearly 40-year-old vehicle operational with the replacement window for the fleet of AAVs still 10 to 15 years away.

HP Inc. www.hp.com/go/3Dprinting

• _Fast Radius, a leading

manufacturing technology company, has qualified as a new member of the HP Digital Manufacturing Network, a global community of HP production partners to help design, produce, and deliver both plastic and metal parts at scale leveraging HP 3D printing solutions.

HP is also working on advancing mass production with metals. HP Metal Jet technology is for the 3D mass-production of metal parts.

New customers embracing it in their manufacturing operations include:

• _Cobra Golf, a leader in golf

club manufacturing, innovation and design. This company is using HP Metal Jet for its entry into 3D printing for product innovation and parts production. Cobra, HP, and

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Examples of replacement parts that have been 3D printed for AAV with HP Metal Jet technology. | Credit: US Marine Corps

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ve technology

Additive Technology

What’s happening

in desktop additive manufacturing Desktop 3D printers continue to evolve. We take a look at developments in metal desktop systems.

Desktop 3D printers have evolved into professional systems for engineers, especially those that work with metal-based materials. Notes Jason Meers, Director of Application Engineering for the Americas at Markforged, “The conversations that we’re having today with design and manufacturing engineers has shifted to making additive manufacturing a fundamental part of their manufacturing operation, whether advancing the capabilities of part and tool production, developing a localized supply chain to reduce cost and increase throughput, or used as a more efficient means of maintenance and repair parts.”

This shift is primarily due to the increased capability of additive manufacturing platforms. Many early AM platforms were mostly designed for use in R&D environments and lacked the capabilities to produce end parts or functional tooling. The primary application was showing proof of concept.

Modern AM platforms, though, are designed for use on the manufacturing floor. “Specifically with our printers,” adds Meers, “the ability to work with strong composite-based materials allows the creation of real-world tooling or end-use parts. You get features like precision, repeatability, accuracy and strength, all the things that you’d expect from your traditional manufacturing tooling.”

Engineers are noticing how desktop additive manufacturing helps localize the supply chain by producing

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Additive Insights Company

Machine Name

Build Size

Composite Base Filaments Available (Metals for Metal X)

Continuous Fiber Reinforcements Available

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

Desktop Series

Onyx One

320 x 132 x 154 mm (12.6 x 5.2 x 6 in.)

Onyx

N/A

100-200 micron

Desktop Series

Onyx Pro

320 x 132 x 154 mm (12.6 x 5.2 x 6 in.)

Onyx

Fiberglass

100-200 micron

Desktop Series

Mark Two

320 x 132 x 154 mm (12.6 x 5.2 x 6 in.)

Onyx, Nylon White

Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, Kevlar, HSHT Fiberglass

100-200 micron

NA

Industrial Series

X3

330 x 270 x 200 mm (13 x 10.6 x 7.9 in.)

Onyx, Onyx FR

N/A

50-200 micron

NA

Industrial Series

X5

330 x 270 x 200 mm (13 x 10.6 x 7.9 in.)

Onyx, Onyx FR

Fiberglass

50-200 micron

NA

Industrial Series

X7

330 x 270 x 200 mm (13 x 10.6 x 7.9 in.)

Onyx, Onyx FR, Nylon White

Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, Kevlar, HSHT Fiberglass

50-200 micron

NA

Metal X

300 x 220 x 180 mm (11.8 x 8.7 x 7.1 in.)

17-4 PH Stainless Steel, Tool Steel (H13, A2, D2), Inconel 625, Copper

50-125 micron postsinter

NA

Markforged

parts inhouse. Beyond the ROI discussion, though, users are looking at the enhanced capabilities that come along with additive manufacturing. Producing parts additively offers an entirely new rule set.

For example, you can create entirely blind or encapsulated features; produce lighter and stronger parts using industry accepted materials; and consolidate traditional multi-part assemblies.

“Gradually, users realize the enhanced capabilities are the next step past just the ROI discussion,” adds Meers.

Having been on the applications engineering team, Meers has seen customer progression. Once customers have used an additive system, they often return with another 10 different applications they’ve identified. One application involved creating a part to replace an existing engine lifter. The lifter

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NA

End to end metal 3D printing system

moves engines around on cargo ships. The problem was that the tools to produce these big metal lifters were outsourced.

Plus, turnaround time was long and costly. The team at Markforged was able to help this customer redesign the lifter using composite material and fibers to produce a tool in-house in a shorter timeline.

The new engine lifter handled the thousand-kilogram engines, but weighed 75% less than the previous lifter. The weight reduction saved thousands of euros a month.

“This was a good example of taking an existing piece, producing it, but also modifying the design for additive manufacturing, adds Meers.

Another example was for a company out of Dresden that produces prototypes and enduse parts. The engineers there were comfortable using composite materials, but the metal parts they were producing were often custom DESIGN WORLD

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and required much machining. “With our recent launch of copper,” says Meers, “they were the first ones interested in using the material to produce a tool cooler.”

Used in machining, tool coolers keep the head of the tool cool.

These are produced out of copper, which is difficult to machine, time intensive and maintaining dimensions can be hard. “They actually printed out, out of our pure copper, a tool cooler that they were able to bolt up and to use directly.

The thing that was most amazing was the data coming back, which was indicating little variation from machining a traditional tool cooler versus 3D printing one.

Markforged’s blend of copper material is proprietary, but it is pure copper according to the ASTM definition. The copper is a filament material loaded via spool into the desktop 3D printer.

Changes in perspective Even with desktop printers, though, the growth in use hinges on looking at design differently.

“While AM has been around for 30 plus years at this point, the level of maturity it’s come to is seeing use in everyday applications. With that, there’s a next level learning curve that comes in place. This is beyond knowing just roughly how the part is going to come out. It’s ensuring it’s going to come out the same way every time; that you’ve designed it for scale and manufacturing.

“We’ve come up with Markforged University, which is our developed enablement and training platform for end users of our products. It’s focused on not just learning our printers, materials and software, but also on how to use AM within the real world. A 3D printer is not changing the way that you manufacture, unless you’re figuring DESIGN WORLD

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out how to use it where it fits in.

This is a big part of the enablement and training that we do. We just launched an e-learning platform.

Given that e-learning seems to be the way to go for the widest delivery. We’re ensuring everyone has a chance to learn more about, not just what we do, but what our customers are doing and how to do that too.

Advances in technology.

Meers sees the future of desktop AM as just beginning. A key focus will be on more materials. “I would say that the biggest ask that I get is, ‘Hey, can you print X?’ X might be a super alloy. It might be looking at another variation of steel for a certain application.”

More metals will be arriving, along with exploring how metals can be combined into hybrid metals.

Working with metal materials in an additive capacity can be challenging because of the combustible nature of the materials.

By combining metals with other materials in a filament, Markforged was able to develop a desktop system that engineers could use safely. www.designworldonline.com

“The way that we’ve designed our materials is that they’re packaged much like our composites, into a filament. We’re spinning around filaments, so you’re not having to worry about powder or changeover. You’re able to use multiple materials just by loading and unloading materials. What it resulted in is a metal system that works for everyone, not just those with R&D funding, or those with a lot of spend to go out and build a facility. The important part of that is if it’s easy to use, it also has to be safe to use as well, which led to why we designed the system as it is today.

The interest in additive has changed from a high curve about 15 years ago, to the reality of additive and now beginning to see it mature.

As Meers notes, “It’s an exciting time to be in additive.”

Markforged www.markforged.com

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Additive technology

The supporting role of

metal additive

manufacturing

The Covid-19 pandemic brought considerable attention to the 3D printing/additive manufacturing industry. Much of it focused on systems that work with polymer and resin materials. But what about metal additive manufacturing? How has the pandemic affected the metal side of additive manufacturing? Kevin Brigden, additive manufacturing applications engineer at Renishaw, addressed this and other developments in metal AM. Even though the pandemic has spotlighted additive manufacturing with polymers in the form of face masks and shields, metal additive manufacturing has played a role, just one that was not as obvious.

“Where you will find metal is in supporting strategies, such as fixturing and tooling,” said Brigden, “with new mold tool inserts needing to be rapidly generated to produce polymer parts on a higher scale. This is one of those hidden applications that people don’t necessarily consider immediately.”

Fixtures are the less seen application that really makes additive manufacturing so important to production and manufacturing.

More eye-catching applications, like topology optimized components get noticed first.

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But the other realization coming out is just how quickly AM processes can be adapted to new products and needs.

“Our manufacturing efforts in our machine shops are dedicated to the production of products, including healthcare. We were able to retool and reconfigure to mass produce ventilator components as part of the Ventilator Challenge consortium, alongside companies like Airbus, McLaren, Formula 1 Team and various other high profile companies. We’re very proud of that ability to demonstrate modern manufacturing capability and flexibility.”

Brigden thinks additive manufacturing is only going to facilitate that more. “We have a number of customers that are

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Company

Machine Name

Build Volume

Build Materials

Build Speed

Renishaw plc

RenAM 500Q

250 x 250 x 350 mm

8620, AlSi10Mg, CoCr, In625, In718, L40, M300, 17-4PH, 316L, Ti6Al4V

Up to 120 cm3/hour

Renishaw plc

RenAM 500S

250 x 250 x 350 mm

8620, AlSi10Mg, CoCr, In625, In718, L40, M300, 17-4PH, 316L, Ti6Al4V

Up to 30cm3/hr

Renishaw plc

RenAM 500M*

250 x 250 x 350 mm

8620, AlSi10Mg, CoCr, In625, In718, L40, M300, 17-4PH, 316L, Ti6Al4V

Up to 30cm3/hr

Renishaw plc

AM400*

250 x 250 x 350 mm

8620, AlSi10Mg, CoCr, In625, In718, L40, M300, 17-4PH, 316L, Ti6Al4V

Up to 25cm3/hr

*Pre-owned systems available

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Additive technology

Renishaw continues to explore ways to increase productivity, capability, and reliability of its metal AM platforms.

using additive manufacturing to cut conventional production timelines, producing fixtures or producing tooling, which obviously dramatically can reduce lead times to produce conventionally manufactured components and it really backs up Renishaw’s discussion about process control and automation. This idea that modern technologies and Industry 4.0 is to bring these technologies together to compliment one another, rather than viewing them as islands of technology.”

The digital angle Additive manufacturing is often included when others speak about digital manufacturing. This term is not really clearly defined, with many interpreting it to suit their goals.

“My interpretation is that additive manufacturing is the next logical step in digital manufacturing.

We’re already at a point where the majority of new products are designed in a digital environment.

And the preparation for manufacture is conducted in a digital environment through computer aided

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manufacturing.

“Additive manufacturing, as a production technology, is the next logical step where we are trying to shorten the gap between design and manufacture.”

Renishaw continues to explore ways to increase productivity, capability, and reliability of its metal AM platforms. The recent launch of its four-laser 500Q platform is an example of enhancing productivity inside the 10 in.2 build volume.

It may be possible to develop AM systems with more lasers, or find ways to use lasers more effectively. In addition, research continues on closed loop powder handling. “We’re looking at recirculation and sieving powder

within the footprint of the machine or flexible machines to create a total loss system where the powder goes in at the top, comes out at the bottom, and is re-handled off the machine.”

And Renishaw continues to develop its own software products. It offers QuantAM, a build preparation software. Newer features offer the ability to assign multiple lasers and use them in

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the most efficient or experimental ways. Additional features deal with preheating or post heating material to control thermal characteristics.

On the process monitoring side, Renishaw will have updates coming on monitor data from the melt pool and downstream data.

“The other side of the software angle is our increasing partnerships with external parties. We are sharing the APIs that make up our software so that third party businesses can incorporate those into their own software and generate build files for the machine within their software.”

For metal additive systems, the need is still there to deliver part consistency, geometry consistency, surface roughness and finish, and metallurgy data. Design engineers need to know that the additive system will deliver the mechanical properties they are trying to work to.

“I think generally the industry has come a long way in the last 10 years. The early days of metal printing, the biggest perceived issue with the technology was porosity in the material. The industry as a whole has done a lot to address that. With the latest generation of machines, Renishaw has gone further with developments of the gas flow circuit, for example. The inert gas that’s running through the machine, we’ve done a lot of development and experimentation to understand the real essence of what gas flow does to the process, but also in the design and development of the optical

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system in our machines as well.

We were already designing and manufacturing our own optical train, but we’re going even further in the latest platforms and bringing in new patented technologies that just haven’t been seen anywhere before.”

Lessons learned With the new level of attention on additive manufacturing, many companies are looking at manufacturing and the supply chain in new ways.

Noted Brigden, “One of the “lessons learned” is how resilient industry can be. We’ve never seen a worldwide disruption of manufacturing on this scale before.

Clearly worldwide events have occurred, but generally when they have occurred, they’ve actually accelerated manufacturing. This has been a suppressing event on manufacturing, which is bizarre, but what amazes me is the ability of businesses to retool, to reevaluate their models to very dynamically adopt new working practices.

Whether that be working from home or being smart in terms of how they deliver content, I think the proliferation of webinars and

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instructional videos has been fantastic. I know I’ve done a few of those recently and Renishaw generally is doing quite a few for our various different products. And it’s been fascinating to watch videos from even our competitors or from other industries completely. It’s been a great time. And especially as an engineer and a bit of a nerd, I love this ability that we’ve got to really dive into some of this stuff and make use of this, the apparent downtime by upskilling or learning.”

Renishaw www.renishaw.com

September 2020

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Additive technology

Trends in creating

electronics through additive manufacturing

The use of 3D printing technology to build devices with embedded electronics has evolved. In the early days, special 3D printers injected dielectric inks onto a layer of a build, creating electronic traces, to build electronic parts. Nano Dimension was the first company to develop such a system, and it continues to evolve the technology. Today, it offers Additive Manufacturing Electronics (AME).

According to Yoav Stern, CEO at Nano Dimension, the technology of 3D printed electronics is divided between printers that inject inks, such as silver, to create a circuit on the build, and its latest system which prints conductive or dielectric inks onto multiple layers to build a three-dimensional electronic printed circuit board. The AME system adds more polymer and more conductive material layer-by-layer to create a 3D object. “It’s not one layer of circuit. It’s dozens of layers, if not hundreds of layers with vias, with holes, you don’t need to drill holes,” says Stern. The two materials are the dielectric and the conductive.

The conductive being a special silver and the dielectric being a polymer.

The evolution In the last two years, 3D printing of electronics has changed so that engineers can create a finished end-user electronic product from a digital file.

“That’s a major thing that happened,” says Stern. “Now,

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the last two months have revealed a huge trend. The large companies have realized that they became addicted to the Far East manufacturing of printed circuit boards specifically and electronics in general. They got addicted to the low cost, high quantities that China and Taiwan supplied. And they are realizing that now after a crisis, actually two crises; one started with the American administration forcing the trade war with China and the tariffs and the second with the Coronavirus.

“And now they realized all the money they made in manufacturing electronics in the Far East over the last few years, they may be losing now. Moreover, they’re so dependent, they have no manufacturing on the ground, they have no buffer zones. So, there’s a trend in the industry of realizing they need the capability to manufacture PCBs or special electronics ‘on the ground.’ Our AME system can play a role here.

Because this industry is digital, its www.designworldonline.com

ecologically friendly and it will deliver the buffer manufacturing between their sources in the Far East. You design in-house, you prototype, you manufacture and it’s all a digital industry. So that one trend is accelerated over the last two months as a result of the pandemic. Plus, you can keep your IP local.”

The AME system can print the components, the capacitors, converters, as well as coils.

“Customers are at the prototyping and proof of concept stage, moving into early production. I believe in the next 12 to 18 months maximum, more will be in the production stage,” continues Stern.

Key design considerations A key factor in additively manufactured electronics, according to Nano Dimension, is that the AME system is comprehensive. The technology is integrated with the software used for design. “When you have software for design, be it Mentor Graphics, or SolidWorks, for example, the CAD/CAM electronics, DESIGN WORLD

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Company

Machine Name

Build Size

Build Materials

Layer Thickness

Build Speed

Nano Dimensions

DragonFly 2020 Pro

20 x 20 x 0.3 cm (8 x 8 x 1/8 in.)

Metals (conductive silver nano particle inks) and polymers (dielectric inks)

100 um

NA

DragonFly LDM

160 mm x 160 mm x 3 mm (6.3 in. x 6.3 in. x 0.12 in.)

Nano Dimension Optimized Silver nano particles and dielectric inks

17 micron

NA

The DragonFly 2020 Pro 3D printer produces PCB prototypes for electronics applications.

CAE, computer aided electronics, are using traditional design rules,” says Stern. “And they’re not familiar with the new capabilities of this technology. So, we developed the software [to take advantage of the hardware capabilities].”

The AME system includes features that let designers insert a 50-layer capacitor, which the machine can produce. “Or a certain coil. You can print your own coil, using design rules and leverage the advantage of the manufacturing capability of the machines.”

Material considerations “The material and the process is the secret sauce in AME,” says Stern. “Everything is around the materials.” Polymers used in this system typically melt at a hundred plus degrees Celsius. Silver melts at 900 plus degrees Celsius, and the system injects them into the build process together.

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“And they have to live together as injected,” continues Stern, “coming out of the machine, melt, molded together and working.

It’s a real challenge. And it’s not a simple silver, and it’s not a simple polymer. Once you change the silver a little bit, it’s not working with the polymer, so you have to change the polymer. Once you change both of them, you have to change a process.”

Factors to consider include temperatures of the process, temperatures the end product is going to work at, and then temperatures the product has to maintain to keep its characteristics and not change them. Questions to ask include, what happens over time to polymers and silver, when they are exposed to sun, ultraviolet heat, cold, does it lose its characteristics?

Does this change characteristics?

How long does it give them? How strong is the product? Can it break www.designworldonline.com

under G-forces? When will it break? How is it comparing to the traditional PCBs or electronics?

“So, everything is around the material,” said Stern. “And the minute you change material to fit the spec of the end-product or the vertical industries you’re selling, then you have to change the process and you have to change the other material because they’re all related to each other. So, once you ask this question, you almost hit the core breakthroughs in the manufacture of three-dimensional electronics, which include the chemicals and the physics of the material and the algorithms that can control such a delicate process in real-time.”

Collaboration As customers work with Nano Dimension’s AME system, they are discovering capabilities that the company designers were unaware of. “We are very excited,” says Stern. “We had customers working with our machines that developed products that we didn’t realize the machines can do.

We didn’t know it can be used that way! It’s really exciting.

“The customers are excited because they see they are participating in development of the next generation of the machine. So, they are helping to break barriers and then they tell us, ‘this can do this!’ It’s very exciting.

“We are looking into forming a customers’ advisory board for our R and D and product team. The customers are excited because they are working and sharing information because they know it’s going to expand the industry.”

Nano Dimension | www.nano-di.com September 2020

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Additive technology

Trends in

additive manufacturing

The additive manufacturing industry is continuously changing. We asked Justin McCurnin, Vice President of Marketing at Stratasys what trends and developments he sees today. (Stratasys was one of the founders of this industry, and not only have the engineers witnessed a number of developments, they have created many of them as well.)

One of the biggest trends is the additive community’s response to the COVID pandemic. It is highlighting a little recognized capability of additive manufacturing – the importance of a near and quickly responsive supply chain.

“COVID showed many industries the gaps in their supply chains,” says McCurnin. “We’re seeing it, you see it in the news, and everywhere else. Oftentimes I think of 3D printing as the first gear of a car. When you have supply chain issues, you need to go back to first gear. And the fastest way to get going oftentimes is with 3D printing.”

Stratasys initiated a COVID Coalition, which enabled the rapid development of personal protection equipment for healthcare workers.

“We were able to develop over a hundred thousand shields with the coalition, which leads me to the second trend that we’re seeing, which is digital factories.”

The coalition made PPE shields with partnerships with other companies; according to McCurnin, more than one hundred partnerships. These companies printed hundreds of shields and sent them Stratasys employees, who paired them with clear plexiglass and shipped them to the healthcare facilities. These companies used a software program, GrabCAD Shop, which is a work management tool that allowed them to manage all the incoming orders from different locations and then deploy them.

In another area of the supply chain, many companies are looking to bring manufacturing capability closer to home in response to the pandemic. The pandemic showed how important it is to have the capability to ramp up fast and change out product lines equally as fast. Many companies

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and even healthcare facilities are deciding to localize or bring some manufacturing home. It’s a bit like going back to the days of safety stock, only this time, it can be digital safety stock.

“We set up the hundred manufacturers that we had in under five days, where traditional manufacturing would’ve taken five weeks,” adds McCurnin.

With the help of AM, companies and factories will be able to get out of the “silo” format and share best practices. “Because 3D printing allows you to digitize everything,” says McCurnin, “you can put those files out there. And now we can start to share best practices as far as tools, jigs, fixtures, even replacement parts, all in a digital way. And so, you start to get some synergies within your factories.”

Medical trends Stratasys recently launched a new 3D printer specifically for anatomy. It uses unique digital materials that actually duplicate anatomical parts, such as the heart and veins and arteries. It allows medical schools to reduce the need for cadavers when teaching doctors.

AM on the factory floor Additive equipment fits right next to the machining equipment that exists today. “In many places they work side by side,” says McCurnin. “I see it in all types of applications. We see it in lay-up tools, jigs,

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3D Printing

UlteM® pei w/ 3M™ adhesive pre-applied

“The ultimate 3D printing surface”

*CUSTOM CUT FOR ANY PRINTER

PEI PERFORMANCE: • • • • • • •

Perfect for ABS & PLA Filament Ideal for heated print plates Easy Applicable: Backed with adhesive liner for remove and stick application.

High Temp- 3M™ 200MP Acrylic Adhesive Adhesive can be laminated to either side of film: Gloss or Matte Surface Dimensions up to: 47” wide Custom sizes available

Other materials: Optically Clear FEP Film Kapton® Film Polyester Tape Aluminum Foil Tape Adhesive Remover Also now supplying!

FEP Tape & Film for SLA Printers

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Additive technology fixtures.” The items AM equipment produces can reduce repetitive motion injury costs, customize tools for the workers, including reducing their weight. Plus, color coding with different types of materials ensures workers select the right tool for the right application.

“The other thing that we’re starting to see more of is what I call protective tools,” adds McCurnin.

“Tools or jigs that won’t scratch paint or mar the surface of the part they hold. You see that with some elastomers. And then we just lately introduced Diran, which is a low friction surface. So, it’s easier on the items that are placed against it.”

Technology changes One of the next steps McCurnin sees beginning to take place in additive manufacturing within the manufacturing workspace is testing.

“For example,” he says, “you might know how a piece of steel will perform under certain requirements with traditional manufacturing methods. But when you 3D print it, it’s all based on the design and the material. So there is additional testing that sometimes has to take place just because you’re creating something that’s never been created before.

Once it’s tested and proven, then you see the acceleration within the factory. So, I’d say that’s something that’s starting to take place now is this additional testing, that might not have happened in the past because there are so many [inaudible 00:09:18].”

Design skills For engineers using additive manufacturing, key skills include the ability to design for additive manufacturing. This skill includes knowledge on how to do infills, possibly welding of parts, and other things.

Then, users need the skill to justify 3D printing. For example, how to make the ROI case, developing

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projects that will fit AM, and so on.

Stratasys offers a range of online tools that can help users prove to management why AM is a good investment. “Oftentimes,” says McCurnin, “what you’ll do is look at the cost of the printer, the cost of the material, and then understand what your utilization is of the machine.”

3D printers and additive machines can run 24 hours, 365 days a year.

Often, however, they are used between 20 and 50% of that capability.

Designers need to understand the potential usage and the cost savings compared to other methods to make their case. Cost savings comes from time savings, reduced labor costs, reduced part count, and so on.

Another skill is know how to sell.

Know how to encourage others to use the equipment, how to get the rest of the organization to adopt AM. This skill often involves holding webinars, face-to-face meetings, and meetings with other groups outside your organization or outside your team to share what AM actually can do.

Designers will need to work with many different groups in a company, finance, manufacturing, the C-suite, and others.

Materials Stratasys is working on expanding the range of materials usable in additive manufacturing. One of its latest offerings is Diran, a tooling material.

It’s a nylon-based thermoplastic FDM material, mineral-filled 7% by weight. Its smooth, lubricious surface quality offers low sliding resistance, allowing materials to slide across it easily, which is something that’s sometimes important depending on the applications that you’re doing.

It demonstrates good toughness and impact strength combined with resistance to hydrocarbon-based chemicals.

“There are other things in the works, but for right now I’ll tell you that we have the materials coming out.”

Stratasys | www.stratasys.com

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Company

Technology

Stratasys

FDM

Printer

Build Envelope (mm)

Model Material Options

Layer thickness (mm)

F120

254 x 254 x 254 (10 x 10 x 10 in.)

ABS, ASA

0.013 in.

STRATASYS F170

254 x 254 x 254 (10 x 10 x 10 in.)

ABS-M30, ASA, PLA, FDM TPU 92A

Down to 0.127

STRATASYS F270

305 x 254 x 305 (12 x 10 x 12 in.)

ABS-M30, ASA, PLA, FDM TPU 92A

Down to 0.127

STRATASYS F370

356 x 254 x 356 (14 x 10 x 14)

ABS-M30, ASA, PC-ABS, PLA, Diran 410MF07, ABS-ESD7, FDM TPU-92A

Down to 0.127

FORTUS 380mc

356 x 305 x 305 (14 x 12 x 12 in.)

ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, ABS-ESD7, ASA, PCISO, PC, PC-ABS, FDM Nylon 12

Down to 0.127

FORTUS 380mc Carbon Fiber

355 x 305 x 305 mm (14 x 12 x 12 in.)

FDM Nylon 12CF Carbon Fiber and ASA

from 0.330 mm to 0.254 mm, depending on material

FORTUS 450mc

406 x 356 x 406 (16 x 14 x 16 in.)

ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, ABS-ESD7, Antero 800NA, Antero 840CN03, ASA, PC-ISO, PC, PC-ABS, FDM Nylon 12, FDM Nylon 12CF, ST-130, ULTEM™ 9085 resin, ULTEM™ 1010 resin

Down to 0.127

STRATASYS 900

914 x 610 x 914 mm (36 x 24 x 36 in.)

ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, ABS-ESD7, Antero 800NA, Antero 840CN03, ASA, PC-ISO, PC, PC-ABS, PPSF, FDM Nylon 12, FDM Nylon 12CF, FDM Nylon 6, ST-130, ULTEM™ 9085 resin, ULTEM™ 1010 resin

Down to 0.178

OBJET30 PRO

29.5 x 19.3 x 14.9 cm (11.6 x 7.6 x 5.9 in)

MODEL: Rigid Opaque: VeroWhitePlus, VeroGray™, VeroBlue™, VeroBlack™, VeroBlackPlus™, Simulated Polyproylene: Rigur™, Durus, High Temperature

28 microns , 16 microns for VeroClear Material

OBJET30 PRIME

29.5 x 19.3 x 14.9 cm (11.6 x 7.6 x 5.9 in)

MODEL: Rigid Opaque: VeroWhitePlus, VeroGray, VeroBlue, VeroBlack, VeroBlackPlus - Transparent: VeroClear and RGD720 Simulated Polypropylene: Rigur, Durus - High Temperature - Rubberlike: TangoGray™ and TangoBlack™ - Biocompatible

28 microns for TangoTM materials 16 microns for all other materials

J850

490 x 390 x 200 mm (19.3 x 15.35 x 7.9 in.)

Vero™ family of opaque materials including neutral shades and vibrant VeroVivid™ colors • Agilus30™ family of flexible materials • Transparent VeroClear™ and VeroUltraClear1

Horizontal build layers down to 14 microns (0.00055 in.) 55 microns (0.002 in.) in Super High Speed2 mode

J835

350 x 350 x 200 mm (13.8 x 13.8 x 7.9 in.)

Vero™ family of opaque materials including neutral shades and vibrant VeroVivid™ colors • Agilus30™ family of flexible materials • Transparent VeroClear™ and VeroUltraClear1

Horizontal build layers down to 14 microns (0.00055 in.) 55 microns (0.002 in.) in Super High Speed2 mode

J826

255 x 252 x 200 mm (10 x 9.9 x 7.9 in.)

Vero™ family of opaque materials including neutral shades and vibrant VeroVivid™ colors • Agilus30™ family of flexible materials • Transparent VeroClear™ and VeroUltraClear1

Horizontal build layers down to 14 microns (0.00055 in.) 55 microns (0.002 in.) in Super High Speed2 mode

J750 Digital Anatomy

490 x 390 x 200 mm (19.3 x 15.35 x 7.9 in.)

Vero™ family of opaque materials including neutral shades and vibrant VeroVivid™ colors Agilus30™ flexible material VeroClear™, VeroUltraClear™ transparent materials TissueMatrix BoneMatrix

Horizontal build layers down to 14 microns (0.00055 in.)

J55

651 x 661 x 1551mm (25.63 x 26.02 x 61.06 in.)

VeroCyanV™ VeroMagentaV™ VeroYellowV™ VeroPureWhite™ VeroBlackPlus™ VeroClear™ DraftGrey™

Horizontal build layers down to 18 microns (0.0007 in.)

OBJET260/500 CONNEX 1

OBJET260: 25.4 x 25.1 x 20 x cm (10 x 9.9 x 7.9 in) OBJET500: 49.0 x 39.1 x 20.0 cm (19.3 x 15.4 x 7.9 in)

Rigid Opaque: VeroWhitePlus, Vero PureWhite™, VeroBlackPlus, VeroGray and VeroBlue • Rubber-Like: Agilus30™ Transparent, Agilus30 Black, TangoPlus™, TangoBlackPlus™, TangoBlack, TangoGray • Transparent: VeroClear and RGD720 • Simulated Polypropylene: Rigur and Durus • High Temperature • Biocompatible Clear (MED610)

Horizontal build layers range between 16 microns 30 microns (.0006 in. - .001 in.) depending on the print mode

Stratasys

Polyjet

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Additive Insights Company

Technology

Printer

Build Envelope (mm)

Model Material Options

Layer thickness (mm)

OBJET260/350/500 CONNEX 3

OBJET260: 25.4 x 25.1 x 20 x cm (10 x 9.9 x 7.9 in) OBJET350: 34 x 34 x 20 cm (13.4 x 13.4 x 7.9 in) OBJET500: 49.0 x 39.1 x 20.0 cm (19.3 x 15.4 x 7.9 in)

Rigid Opaque: VeroWhitePlus, Vero PureWhite, VeroBlackPlus, VeroGray and VeroBlue; VeroMagenta and VeroYellow; VeroCyan, VeroMagentaV and VeroYellowV • Rubber-Like: Agilus30 Transparent, Agilus30 Black, TangoPlus, TangoBlackPlus, TangoBlack, TangoGray • Digital ABS: Digital ABS Plus Ivory (RGD515 Plus & RGD531), Digital ABS Plus Green (RGD515 Plus & RGD535) • Transparent: VeroClear and RGD720 • Simulated Polypropylene: Rigur and Durus • High Temperature • Biocompatible: Clear (MED610), Ivory (MED615), Digital ABS Plus Ivory Biocompatible (MED 515 Plus & MED 531)

Horizontal build layers as fine as 16 microns. Accuracy up to 200 microns for full model size (rigid models only)

OBJET1000 PLUS

1000 x 800 x 500 mm (39.4 x 31.5 x 19.7 in.)

MODEL: Transparent rigid: VeroClear - Rubber-like: TangoPlus and TangoBlackPlus Rigid Opaque: Vero family - Simulated Polypropylene: Rigur DIGITAL: Transparent shades and patterns - Rigid Opaque shades - Rubber-like blends in a range of Shore A values - Simulated Polypropylene blends in rigid and flexible options Digital ABS Plus siulates ABS plastics by combining HT resistance and toughness Digital ABS matches these to provide enhanced dimensional stability in walls thinner than 1.2 mm - Rigur-based Digital Materials in a range of Shore A values and shades in rigid and flexible options

Horizontal build layers as fine as 16 microns.

Accuracy up to 600 microns for full model size (for figid models only)

OBJET30 DENTAL PRIME

300 x 200 x 150 mm (11.8 x 7.9 x 5.9 in.)

MODEL: VeroDentPlus - Clear Bio-compatible - VeroGlaze

Layer thickness 16 microns

OBJET 260 DENTAL SELECTION

OBJET260: 255 x 252 x 200 mm (19.7 x 15.7 x 7.9 in.)

MODEL: VeroDent, VeroDentPlus, VeroGlaze, Clear Bio-compatible Additional materials include: VeroWhite, VeroMagenta, TangoPlus, TangoBlackPlus, Digital materials to reproduce gum-like textures and natural tooth shades

16 microns

OBJET 260 DENTAL

25.4 x 25.1 x 20 x cm (10.0 x 9.9 x 7.9 in)

Clear Biocompatible (MED610™), Flexible Biocompatible (MED625FLX™), TangoPlus™, VeroDent™ (MED670), VeroDentPlus™ (MED690), Biocompatible VeroGlaze™ (MED620), VeroWhitePlus™

Horizontal build layers as fine as 16 microns (.0006 in.)

J700 Dental

490 x 390 x 200 mm (19.3 x 15.6 x 7.9 in.)

VeroDent (MED670), VeroDentPlus (MED690)

55 microns

J720 Dental

490 x 390 x 200 mm (19.3 x 15.35 x 7.9 in.)

Vero family of opaque materials including vibrant colors VeroCyanV, VeroMagentaV and VeroYellowV VeroClear transparent material Tango and Agilus30 families of flexible materials Transparent VeroClear

Horizontal build layers down to 14 microns (0.00055 in.)

Polyjet

Digital Model Materials: Over 500,000 colors Materials to simulate soft-tissue Translucent color tints User-developed digital materials Support Materials: SUP705 (WaterJet removable) SUP706 (Soluble)

Stratasys

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V650 Flex

20 x 20 x 23 in.

four pre-qualified DSM Somos® resins

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Vendors in the additive industry

Production Metal 3D Printing

Based in Los Angeles, 3DEO uses its patented metal 3D

printing technology to supply small, complex stainless steel components to customers in the medical, defense, aerospace, and industrial equipment markets. 3DEO’s breakthrough Intelligent Layering® technology unlocks the potential of metal 3D printing in serial production by being directly competitive with traditional manufacturing in terms of part pricing, material properties, and quantities. 3DEO’s part properties exceed the high industry benchmark MPIF Standard 35 while achieving tight tolerances and a superior surface finish.

By making parts, we help our customers ensure world-class material properties, reduce the burden of getting started, and dramatically lower the final part cost. For 3DEO, production means quality. We take quality very seriously, from implementing the most up-to-date ISO certifications to creating proprietary technologies and closed feedback systems specifically to measure and enhance quality. 3DEO is an employee-owned company.

3DEO 24225 Garnier St. Torrance, CA 90505 Phone: 844.496.3825 Email: info@3deo.co Website: https://www.3deo.co/ DESIGN WORLD

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Vendors in the additive industry

The Most Trusted Open-Market 3D Printer

3D Platform is committed to making

your biggest ideas a reality. As a global leader in manufacturing large format industrial strength 3D printers, our team is focused on driving advancements in technology to innovate, design, and build next-generation equipment for additive manufacturing at an affordable price.

When top industry leaders are looking to stay competitive in a demanding market, 3D Platform is who they call. We are trusted by Fortune 100 companies to deliver solutions that meet the unique design needs of the most innovative ideas. Recognized worldwide, our global distribution network supported by Certified Service Providers has helped us deploy more large-format, open- market 3D printers than anyone else.

That’s Beyond Big.

3D Platform 6402 East Rockton Road Roscoe, Illinois 61073 USA Phone: +1.779.771.0000 Email: sales@3DPlatform.com marketing@3DPlatform.com

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Vendors in the additive industry

CS Hyde Company

CS Hyde Company is your worldwide source for high performance tapes, films,

fabrics, and silicone. For over 20 years we have been serving almost every industry with performance materials for all types of applications. Our newest industry is additive manufacturing/3D Printing. We have created a product line solely dedicated to industrial/home 3D Printers. This category consists of 3D printing surfaces for FDM and SLA printers. Our custom cutting capabilities allow us to cut plastic tape and films to exact dimensions of a build plate or resin tray. Common materials include ULTEM® PEI, and Optically Clear FEP tape and film. Our PEI sheets have become one of the top printing surfaces on the market. FDM printers using PEI benefit from a surface with durability and a surface that will hold filament in place and remove cleanly when cooled.

Our PEI sheets are also pre-laminated with high temperature 3MTM adhesive that securely bonds to the existing surface of the build plate. We can produce sheets up to 26” wide and offer a variety of thicknesses from .003” to .040”. Common sizes are posted on our online catalog for click and ship availability. If you have a custom size please e-mail resources@cshyde.com and receive a quote today.

CS Hyde Company Phone: 800.461.4161 resources@cshyde.com DESIGN WORLD

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Vendors in the additive industry

Find your path to additive production – faster, with GE Additive

Full-service provider for metal 3D printing - For the ready to make anything and everything at the speed of today.

Now is the time to leave traditional manufacturing in the dust. Pave your path to full additive production—faster—or risk falling behind. Leaders in a variety of businesses are already realizing their competitive advantage with metal additive, disrupting industries and accelerating the way parts are designed and manufactured.

Through our own extensive experience incorporating additive technologies into our production process, we help companies recognize the value and possibilities of additive manufacturing. We offer Electron Beam Melting (EBM), Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM) and Binder Jet machines, powders, expert consulting services and print services. With GE Additive as your partner, we’ll help you to get to full production faster.

GE Additive

8556 Trade Center Drive

West Chester, OH 45011 ge.com/additive

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Vendors in the additive industry

HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing Technology

HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere.

Through our portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at www.hp.com/go/3DPrint.

Products: • HP Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D Printer • HP Jet Fusion 4200 Series 3D Printer • HP Jet Fusion 500/300 Series 3D Printers • HP Metal Jet https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/3d-printers.html

HP 3D Printing 1501 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, California 94304-1100 Phone: 877.468.8369

hp.com/go/3DPrint

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Vendors in the additive industry

Engineered motion plastics for superior performance against wear

Self-lubricating plastics from igusÂŽ are made from tribologically-optimized polymer blends. Tribology is an area of study that deals with the design, friction, wear and lubrication of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Our engineered polymer blends are comprised of base materials for wear resistance, reinforcing fibers for high forces, and solid lubricants that eliminate the need for external oil and grease. igusÂŽ engineers rigorously test our selflubricating plastics inside our 41,000-square-foot lab at our headquarters in Cologne, Germany to ensure each material lasts longer and performs better than metal. In addition to being self-lubricating, our tribologically-optimized polymer blends are maintenance-free, lighter than metal, and resistant to dirt, dust and chemicals.

igus Inc. www.igus.com 800-521-2747 sales@igus.com

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Vendors in the additive industry

Mimaki USA

Mimaki is a global industry leader of wide-format inkjet printers, cutting plotters, 3D modeling machines, software, hardware and associated consumable items. The company engineers and manufactures a complete range of products that provide a total workflow solution for the sign graphics, textile & apparel, industrial products and 3D markets.

Mimaki USA Josh Hope 150 Satellite Blvd. NE, Ste. A Suwanee, GA 30024 Toll Free: 888-530-3988 Email: jhope@mimaki.com www.mimakiusa.com

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Vendors in the additive industry

Thermwood Corporation The Industry Leader Since 1969

Thermwood is a US based, multinational, diversified CNC machinery manufacturer that markets its products and services through offices in 11 countries. Thermwood is the oldest manufacturer of highly flexible,3 & 5 axis high-speed machining centers known as CNC routers. We primarily market to the woodworking, aerospace, plastics and composites industries but have found applications in almost every major industry from medical to entertainment.

Thermwood has also become the technology leader in large scale additive manufacturing of thermoplastic composite molds, tooling, patterns and parts with its line of LSAM (Large Scale Additive Manufacturing) machines that both 3D print and trim on the same machine. These are some of the largest and most capable additive manufacturing systems ever produced and are marketed to major companies in the aerospace, marine, automotive and foundry industries as well as military, government and defense contractors.

Another significant aspect of Thermwood’s products is almost unbelievable reliability and service. Thermwood machines are designed to operate in real production environments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with minimal maintenance. Many, if not most, customers go years without experiencing a technical issue.

Thermwood’s technical service stands ready and eager to help if ever needed.

Thermwood service is available to anyone who owns a Thermwood machine whether it was purchased from us or on the used market.

Our key guiding principal is to insure that Thermwood users continue to profit as a result of their relationship with us.

Thermwood Corporation 904 Buffaloville Rd Dale, IN 47523 Toll-Free 800.533.6901 Telephone 812.937.4476 info@thermwood.com www.thermwood.com

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Vendors in the additive industry

Xometry: Custom Manufacturing on Demand

Xometry is your source for on-demand manufacturing. We offer

massive capacity, instant online quotes, and affordable pricing on CNC machining, eight 3D printing processes, sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, and more. Our global network of over 4,000 manufacturing facilities enables us to maintain consistently fast lead times while offering a broad array of capabilities. We have a diverse customer base, ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies and can make anything from a single prototype to 100,000 parts.

Xometry is ITAR registered and ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified.

Xometry 7940 Cessna Avenue Gaithersburg, MD 20879 USA Phone: +1 (240) 252-1138 email: support@xometry.com website: https://www.xometry.com DESIGN WORLD

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AD INDEX 3D Platform .............................................................IFC CS Hyde ....................................................................44 HP 3D Printing ....................................................... BC igus ............................................................................ IBC Thermwood ............................................................... 11

SALES

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Jami Brownlee

Publisher Mike Emich

jbrownlee@wtwhmedia.com 224.760.1055

Mike Caruso

mcaruso@wtwhmedia.com 469.855.7344

Bill Crowley

bcrowley@wtwhmedia.com 610.420.2433

Jim Dempsey

jdempsey@wtwhmedia.com 216.387.1916

Company Profiles

3DEO Inc. .................................................................. 47 3D Platform ..............................................................48 CS Hyde ....................................................................49 GE Additive ..............................................................50

Michael Ference

mference@wtwhmedia.com 216.386.8903 @mrference

Managing Director Scott McCafferty

smccafferty@wtwhmedia.com 310.279.3844 @SMMcCafferty

EVP Marshall Matheson

mmatheson@wtwhmedia.com 805.895.3609 @mmatheson

Mike Francesconi

mfrancesconi@wtwhmedia.com 630.488.9029

Neel Gleason

HP 3D Printing ......................................................... 51

ngleason@wtwhmedia.com 312.882.9867 @wtwh_ngleason

igus ............................................................................. 52

Jim Powers

Mimaki ........................................................................53

jpowers@wtwhmedia.com 312.925.7793 @jpowers_media

Thermwood .............................................................54

Courtney Nagle

Xometry ....................................................................55

memich@wtwhmedia.com 508.446.1823 @wtwh_memich

cseel@wtwhmedia.com 440.523.1685 @wtwh_CSeel

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Unlock Manufacturing Possibilities

Whether you want to create prototypes or ďŹ nal parts, we can help you to produce lightweight parts with optimal mechanical properties, even at low volumes.

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