3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

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• Auto Glass Giant Saint-Gobain Cuts Costs & Lead Time with BCN3D 3D Printers
• Startup Accelerator: Quantica Disrupts Inkjet 3D Printing with JetPack Development Platform
• House 3D Printing, Bacterial Materials, and More Awarded by 3D Pioneers Challenge
• Gilmour Space Unveils 3D Printed Rocket Engine as it Readies for 2022 Launch
• Sauber Technologies Teams with EOS for Polymer 3D Printing

Auto Glass Giant Saint-Gobain Cuts Costs & Lead Time with BCN3D 3D Printers Posted: 25 May 2022 07:00 AM PDT Automotive glass is one of those extremely mundane-sounding sectors that's nonetheless indispensable to the stability of global supply chains. Those sectors, of course, seem to be the ones which have been most amenable in recent years for incorporation of additive manufacturing (AM) into their routine production operations. Fittingly, then, in 2019, Saint-Gobain started using BCN3D's Epsilon W50 printers and Smart Cabinets storage units in the Sekurit unit of its Barcelona plant. Saint-Gobain, a French multinational that has existed since 1665, and which is one of the key players in automotive glass, currently uses 3D printing to produce the tools, fixtures, and jigs it needs to make automotive sidelights and backlights. Saint-Gobain just released a brief overview of the results of the adoption of 3D printing in its business operations thus far, and the numbers are solid: Barcelona's Sekurit division has saved €170,000 (about USD$182,000) in barely three years. Even more impressively, and of the utmost significance to enhancing supply-chain resilience, use of 3D printing has reduced the lead times required for tooling by 93%. $182,000 over the course of three years for a company the size of Saint-Gobain, with 180,000 employees across 75 countries, doesn't sound like much initially. On the other hand, the Sekurit division alone has 39 plants around the world. So, if the company were to incorporate AM techniques at all its Sekurit plants, it could save over $2 million a year at baseline, just for this one application. When you start to consider the possibilities for Saint-Gobain increasing the number of AM applications it employs, as well as its incorporation of AM in additional divisions beyond Sekurit, the potential for significant long-term cost reduction becomes clear. The logic behind digitizing the supply chain becomes clearer, moreover, when viewed against the larger backdrop of a general push towards lower carbon emissions, as well as the reduction in workforce seen in just about every industry since the pandemic started. Concerning the first of these things, Saint-Gobain last month entered into an agreement with German car manufacturer Audi, as well as German company Reiling Glas Recycling, for a one-year pilot program to recycle automotive glass. This is especially significant as no closed-loop recycling circuit yet exists for the product. If it's successful, the combination of recycled glass and AM could contribute significantly to the aggregate reduction of carbon-emissions in automotive production. Because Saint-Gobain has slowly been increasing its activities in additive construction, there's no reason to assume it won't expand additive across its other operations. Concerning the reduction in workforce since early 2020, in the United States, at least, the automotive glass sector has lost 14% of its technicians. It would be interesting to get a more detailed breakdown of Saint-Gobain's numbers in this case, to see how much of the cost savings were labor-related. It's important to keep in mind, beyond the cost savings, that the filling of supply chain gaps means that the company is able to keep output at a level that likely would've no longer been achievable without the incorporation of, in this case, 3D printing. Additionally, from a longer-term perspective, and in all heavy industries, just-in-time and right-on-time production will continue to become more intertwined with standard operating procedures. AM isn't the only solution to this problem, but it's hard to imagine the problem being solved without its being an integral component. Images courtesy of Sekurit The post Auto Glass Giant Saint-Gobain Cuts Costs & Lead Time with BCN3D 3D Printers appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Startup Accelerator: Quantica Disrupts Inkjet 3D Printing with JetPack Development Platform Posted: 25 May 2022 06:30 AM PDT In addition to Grid Logic, the most exciting firm presenting at RAPID + TCT 2022 was Quantica. This Berlin-based startup, previously covered here, showcased its new JetPack, a sort of development kit for exploring Quantica's high-viscosity jetting technology. Because Quantica's jetting heads have so many potential applications, the JetPack can enable customers to discover the proper pathway for their own use of the technology. At RAPID, we caught up with the Quantica team, who discussed the new product, as well as the many use cases that high viscosity jetting enables. It was quickly apparent that the company has essentially redesigned the inkjet heads we see in so many additive processes—such as those from Stratasys and Mimaki—and improved them to process a much broader array of materials and fluids. Because it can print with resins 15 times more viscous than others on the market, it can not only produce full-color objects with a variety of stiffness/flexibility properties. It can do so with materials that are actually functional for uses beyond prototyping. "You can start to put more materials into the fluids to get better properties and functionality," Jason Remnant, Business Development Director for Quantica, told 3DPrint.com at RAPID + TCT. "So, if you want it to be more conductive, you can include more conductive materials like silver nanoparticles. If you want it to be more abrasion-resistant, you can add that. When we’ve looked at all the different types of properties that you want in 3d printing, if you move to high viscosity, everything becomes possible." One such application is the production of dental parts made from multiple off-the-shelf photopolymer resins. Typical vat photopolymerization processes can't combine disparate materials within the same print job to create a single part, say a denture or model with gum- and teeth-like resins. As a result, the gums are fabricated in one print and the teeth in another. With inkjetting—and specifically with Quantica's process—a full denture or model can be produced at once, with varying color tones and levels of flexibility. "The whole point is that actually you want the teeth bit to be more robust and wearing, but you want the gums to be soft," Remnant said. "So, there’s two different materials, but it would deposit them at the same time. With the existing process, they can make the gums and somewhere else than they make the teeth and then they paint the teeth, then they assemble in this long process. It takes weeks. Doing it this way [with Quantica], you shorten that whole supply chain down, take out a lot of cost, and you can get your dentures maybe the next day or the same day." Interestingly, the idea for Quantica didn't come out of a PhD program or research institute, where we're used to seeing high-tech startups born. Ben Hartkopp, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, told 3DPrint.com that the firm was born out of a basic desire to broaden the materials that can be jetted     . After developing the technology for their own purposes, they realized that there was no other 3D printing process on the market capable of what they had achieved. At this point, Quantica's printheads can eject materials at about 4,500 milli pascals per second at room temperature. 3D printed dentures made in a single process with multiple materials using Quantica’s printhead. Image courtesy of Quantica. "We’re the first ones to be able to truly print multiple engineering-grade, end-use materials. We’re basically refining this process to be able to deliver true full-color aesthetics in dental and then expanding that to every market essentially," Hartkopp said. "The exciting challenge that we are currently addressing is exploring which verticals to address first and finding the right material partners," Hartkopp said. That's where the JetPack comes in. JetPack is said to "seamlessly" work with dropwatchers and print test stations so that users can select and validate materials and drive electronics compatibility with Quantica's printheads. This, in turn, would lead to a new range of materials and printing systems to produce end products. The Quantica JetPack. Image courtesy of Quantica. "It will help us accelerate getting into these markets because there are companies that want to start exploring this technology with their materials and their fluids. In many cases today, many of these markets that are trying to use inkjet have not succeeded properly. They’re doing bits and pieces, but they’ve struggled because they can’t get the right performance out of the fluid. They’re diluting the materials down to get it to work through inkjet technologies," Remnant explained. "We’re removing that barrier and telling them they can go back to the type of materials they want to use. We have to tell people to go back to using the types of materials they want to use." So far, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing, Engineering, and Automation IPA has become one of the first research partners to use Quantica’s JetPack to develop photorealistic printed objects and applications. However, if you visit the company's website, you can see that the applications are nearly limitless. Users can feasibly deposit dielectric, conductive, ceramic, organic, metal materials and more—and not in separate print jobs. These materials can be combined. This means that 3D printed electronics are a possibility, as are organic tissues, or even a combination of both. The JetPack is just the first step in giving users access to Quantica’s high functionality, multi-material 3D printing technology, but they are currently developing a printer that will be announced later this year. The post Startup Accelerator: Quantica Disrupts Inkjet 3D Printing with JetPack Development Platform appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

House 3D Printing, Bacterial Materials, and More Awarded by 3D Pioneers Challenge Posted: 25 May 2022 06:00 AM PDT The 3D Pioneers Challenge awards the best and most innovative breakthrough projects in 3D printing. This year, the jury selected projects from around the world across several categories, including medtech, design, architecture, mobility, sustainability, and more. Hyperloop Brake Of course, the hyperloop is a bit of a marketing dream/scam at the moment, but who knows if it will become a reality. If it does, it will need brakes. A team made up of members from ETH Zürich and inspire AG have come up with a compact, 3D printed brake that still works in case of a power failure. The project describes the brake operating such that “by pressurizing a bellow, a compliant system is forced apart. This generates a gap between the guide rail and the brake. When pressure is released, immediate braking is initiated by contracting the bellow. The integrated gyroid structure absorbs the braking forces and air channels assist in releasing the brake.” And all of that intricacy is done inside of one single component, showing off 3D printing’s ability to make a complex integrated part.  WASP’s Additive Construction WASP won in the sustainability and architecture categories with its TECLA habitat and its concept store for Dior. The company made the TECLA with natural materials and its huge Crane WASP 3D printer. Combining earth, clay and modern techniques points to a digital clay future. The jury noted, “WASP, pioneer of the 3D-printed house, is convincing in its use of local clay and with the archaic principle of building a house from the ground. It’s good to see global brands like Dior putting a focus on this sustainable principle and making it a reality for everyone to grasp.” Living Products The best student project was by Shuyun Liu and Stefanie Putsch, of the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. In the “GlasKlar” project, the pair encouraged and managed the development of bacteria on specific materials. By producing a living product with bacteria, the project is a far cry form the sterile world of mass production.  3D Printed Motors The electronics winner was from the U.K.´s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). The MTC showed off its FEMS3, a 3D printed motor with high power density. In the engine, the team reduced mass by 65% while also cutting the number of parts and assembly steps. Seals and other components were eliminated, as well. What I like about the project is that here we saw three different materials being used for 4 parts, which were then turned into a single 3D printed part.  “Leveraging the advantages of additive manufacturing to design and manufacture a bespoke element of a complex product and thus system integration at such a high level is very impressive. Weight reduction of a functional electric motor – sustainability in the overall concept. Motors consume a huge portion of energy in industry. Ideas to improve electric motors by additive manufacturing is a great lever towards higher performance and thus improved sustainability,” the jury noted. Multi-Axis Bioprinting Robot The medtech winner was a multi-axis robot used as a bioprinter created by the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Innovation Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing CHINA // University of Manchester UK // Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University. Of course, we’ve seen such a concept before. For instance, the BioAssemblyBot 500 is a six-axis bio printer. However, the team also prints in an oil bath, which should preserve tissue. The platform can also use multiple robots at once. The team claims that it can print “vascularized, contractible, and long-term survived cardiac tissues.” PARTBOX Schubert Additive Solutions won in the Digital category with the PARTBOX. This is a concept whereby the PARTBOX does not require any 3D printing knowledge and through streaming data directly to the box over mobile networks, rather than the public internet, it can receive parts to print out.  A 3D Printed Boat Dutch firm RAW Idea tried to replace unsustainable, fibre glass boats with 3D printed boats made out of recycled material, resulting in the “Tanaruz Boats.” At the end of life, the whole craft can be recycled. The vehicle can also be 3D printed on demand, with a shorter turnaround time than via traditional means. Geo Slate “Geo Slate” by Daria Biryukova, Eric Geboers, Matteo Baldassari and Peter Hoendermis takes a critical look at the traditional material slate. The team transformed slate sludge waste into a 3D printing material for binder jet. They are currently making upcyled roofing tiles out of that material.  The 3D Printed SETAE Jacket Designed by Julia Koerner and printed by Stratasys, the “SETAE Jacket” was made on a J750 printer and is inspired by the microscopic structure of butterfly wings. The ability to 3D print polymers onto fabric is now available to Stratasys customers more generally through the release of the J850 TechStyle 3D printer.  These projects differ from pure concepts to real-world projects. As exciting as all of them may be, it will be much more exciting to see how they play out when introduced to the market. The post House 3D Printing, Bacterial Materials, and More Awarded by 3D Pioneers Challenge appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Gilmour Space Unveils 3D Printed Rocket Engine as it Readies for 2022 Launch Posted: 25 May 2022 05:30 AM PDT Australian rocket company Gilmour Space Technologies is getting one step closer to its first commercial launch in late 2022. The pioneering launch services company known for its orbital-class hybrid rocket technology has unveiled Phoenix, a new 3D printed liquid oxygen kerosene (LOx/Kero) engine that will power the third stage of its Eris rocket to orbit. Even more so, last week, Gilmour shared a video of a successful 190-second full mission duration test-fire of its new regeneratively-cooled liquid rocket engine. Capable of delivering up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO), Gilmour's Eris is one of Australia's most highly awaited rocket launches. Establishing a new paradigm for the small-payload customers, the three-stage rocket is targeted to begin launches to low earth orbits from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport at Abbot Point, in north Queensland, in only a few months. To meet this global demand, Gilmour's first Eris rockets will be launching payloads up to 305 kg into low earth orbits, 215 kg into 500 kilometers sun-synchronous orbits, or 305 kilograms into 500 km equatorial orbits. As it gets ready for its maiden voyage, Gilmour has already closed two commercial launch contracts (including one with fellow local startup Space Machines), targeting 12 rockets a year by 2025. According to CEO and Founder Adam Gilmour, both the first and second stages of Eris will be powered by Sirius, Gilmour's large hybrid rocket engine, undergoing qualification tests. Instead, the third stage will get its thrust from five Phoenix engines developed to give the rocket an "extra performance" needed to deliver substantially more payload to orbit. Liquid rocket engines are used by most rocket companies worldwide, including SpaceX, and are notoriously complex and expensive to develop. But Adam Gilmour points out that Phoenix––its second orbital-class rocket engine system––has demonstrated world-class sovereign capability in two different rocket systems developed by a homegrown small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Moreover, its recent successful Mission Duty Cycle test is a pinnacle milestone in engine development, proving that all key engine components (turbopumps, injectors, chamber, igniters, and more) can operate in a flight-like configuration. “The team has done exceptionally well to design, build, and test this new engine in just over a year while also scaling our main hybrid rocket engine, building out the rest of the vehicle, and pushing to develop a new orbital launch site in Australia,” added Gilmour. "Our goal has always been to provide an affordable and reliable option for accessing space, and we believe this unique engine combination will allow us to achieve that for our customers.” Rendering of Gilmour Space Eris rocket. Image courtesy of Gilmour Space. Founded in 2013, Gilmour Space has grown to become one of Australia's largest space companies, raising more than $130 million to date and a workforce of over 140 employees. As one of the most active companies in Australia's emerging commercial space sector, it was chosen to lead the Australian Space Manufacturing Network (ASMN), a national network with a mission to advance local space manufacturing and future launches, which recently received an AU$52 million ($39 million) government grant to create, commercialize and finally launch space technology on local soil. As Gilmour pioneers new and innovative hybrid propulsion technologies, it works to ensure a future of lower-cost access to space. Towards that goal, the company also signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Services, Australia’s air navigation service provider, to help facilitate safe air traffic management during Gilmour's launches. Also, as part of the government's AU$7 billion (roughly $5 billion) investment in new space capabilities, Gilmour was recently chosen to build and launch a prototype surveillance satellite for the country's Department of Defence on its Eris rocket in 2023. The AU$15 million ($10.7 million) partnership is a big milestone for an Australian-owned SME developing sovereign space and launch capabilities. Once complete, the G-class satellite will help counter threats and assure the country continued access to space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Adam Gilmour with Justin Parker, Head of Air Services Safety & Environment Assessment (on right). Image courtesy of Gilmour Space via Facebook. Knowing that the space industry will demand thousands of qualified individuals in the future, Gilmour is also encouraging high school and university students to get involved in building, programming, and launching rockets and satellites to space. In that spirit, a few of its latest initiatives include space flight simulators for Queensland's Bowen State high schoolers and a series of Gilmour Space expert talks with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) students. At this pace, it is clear that Gilmour Space will be a leading force in Australia's rocket industry, developing and launching hybrid launch vehicles for small satellites to LEO pretty soon. The post Gilmour Space Unveils 3D Printed Rocket Engine as it Readies for 2022 Launch appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Sauber Technologies Teams with EOS for Polymer 3D Printing Posted: 25 May 2022 05:00 AM PDT EOS has signed a three-year deal with Sauber Technologies, the Swiss engineering company that works with the Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen, formerly a Sauber sister company. While Sauber does a lot of automotive engineering and is an emerging power in additive manufacturing (AM) in Switzerland, the Formula 1 team relies on Sauber to perform much of its AM work. Orlen was backed by Longbow Finance, an entity connected to Swedish billionaires Karl-Johan Persson, the founder of H&M, and Finn Rausing, an heir to the Tetra Laval packaging fortune. Though the team was almost sold to Andretti Racing in 2021, Mr. Rausing is said to now own the F1 team outright through Islero Investments. A lot of Sauber Technologies AM is currently performed on Additive Industries metal machines. Additive Industries, meanwhile, does have a partnership with the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team. Now, EOS, has a partnership with Sauber, but it is focused on 3D printing polymers, after signing a partnership agreement at the Barcelona GP last weekend. Christoph Hansen (COO Sauber Technologies), Frédéric Vasseur (Team Principal Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen), Tina Schlingmann (Head of Sales EMEA, EOS), Markus Glasser (SVP EMEA, EOS) ¨We see AM applications in F1 for both prototyping and serial production where reproducible part quality is key. Together with Sauber we are aiming to set new benchmarks here. With more serial AM applications in F1, automation will be essential too, enabling higher productivity and reduced costs per part. Sauber is the first customer for polymer-based AM, integrating this into its production, including the installation of an EOS P 500 system,” said Markus Glasser, Senior Vice President EMEA at EOS. ¨EOS and Sauber share the same passion for application-driven design and the highest quality standards, which we want to offer in motorsports and beyond. EOS's company culture is a perfect fit for us, which is why we decided to enter this partnership. From a technology perspective, we co-operate with EOS because its ecosystem of partners and sister companies not only enables the end-to-end solutions we need, including automation, but provides us with highly custom solutions via AMCM (Additive Manufacturing Customized Machines),” said Christoph Hansen, COO Sauber Technologies. The two are working together to further industrialize 3D printing. To do that, Sauber will install a P500 system running PA 12. The company claims that the system only has to be serviced once a year and that it has a 75% higher uptime than competing machines. This polymer powder bed fusion (PBF) printer compares to the great deal of stereolithography systems used in motorsport to build wind tunnel parts. Both PBF and SLA are relied on to 3D print jigs, fixtures and end use parts. There are also metal powder bed fusion components made for motorsports. I’m curious to see what kinds of parts and production Sauber will run with the P500. There is a lot ongoing in F1 and many other racing classes. There is also a great deal of speculation about major car manufacturers using 3D printing in end use parts in production cars. What I’m most interested in now, however, is neither of these things. I’d like to see just how well 3D printing has percolated through to small series sports cars, specialty vehicles like fire trucks, high value components in automotive customization, aftermarket and more. For decades now, Formula 1 and one-off hypercars have been the staging area for 3D printing in automotive. However, away from the spotlight, how is it going in many other automotive applications? The area where the economics of additive moves from possible to probably is small series production parts that are still high-value but not for motorsports. Perhaps this deal will get us a bit closer? The post Sauber Technologies Teams with EOS for Polymer 3D Printing appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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TCT Magazine | Additive Manufacturing & 3D Printing Intelligence | News, Interviews, Features | Additive Manufacturing | Product Development Technology

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• TCT Magazine | EU | Volume 30 Issue 3
• Formlabs announces Michael Agam as APAC General Manager
• Photocentric launches updated LC Magna 3D printing system
• TCT 3Sixty 2022 brings additive manufacturing and 3D printing to the fore for UK Manufacturing
• Wayland Additive to highlight NeuBeam additive manufacturing technology at TCT 3Sixty
• Sauber Technologies to install EOS P 500 3D printer as companies announce partnership
• #89 Additive Insight: Additive manufacturing insights live from RAPID + TCT

TCT Magazine | EU | Volume 30 Issue 3 Posted: 25 May 2022 04:29 AM PDT SLM talks opening design freedom with Free Float, alongside interviews with BAE Systems, NASA JPL, L'Oreal, PepsiCo and more. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Formlabs announces Michael Agam as APAC General Manager Posted: 25 May 2022 02:00 AM PDT Formlabs has appointed Michael Agam as General Manager of its APAC business as it continues to expand internationally. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Photocentric launches updated LC Magna 3D printing system Posted: 25 May 2022 01:36 AM PDT Photocentric has announced the launch of its Liquid Crystal (LC) Magna v2 3D printing platform, which is said to deliver faster print speeds and reduced waste. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

TCT 3Sixty 2022 brings additive manufacturing and 3D printing to the fore for UK Manufacturing Posted: 24 May 2022 09:20 AM PDT Designed to elevate UK Manufacturing's adoption of the technology, TCT 3Sixty brings over 160 exhibitors along with a multitude of features and a world-class conference programme. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Wayland Additive to highlight NeuBeam additive manufacturing technology at TCT 3Sixty Posted: 24 May 2022 09:11 AM PDT Sponsoring the TCT Connect Lounge, experts from Wayland will be on-hand to discuss how its unique approach to eBeam powder bed fusion (PBF) can be applied to a range of industrial production applications. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sauber Technologies to install EOS P 500 3D printer as companies announce partnership Posted: 24 May 2022 04:00 AM PDT EOS and Sauber Technologies have signed a three-year additive manufacturing technology partnership that will initially focus on the additive manufacture of parts within motor racing. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

#89 Additive Insight: Additive manufacturing insights live from RAPID + TCT Posted: 23 May 2022 10:07 AM PDT On this episode of Additive Insight, the TCT content team discuss the latest 3D printing and additive manufacturing developments live from RAPID + TCT in Detroit. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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3D Printing

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Researchers Print with Opaque Resin Posted: 24 May 2022 08:11 AM PDT We have looked at volumetric printing before on this website. You may recall that volumetric printing differs from traditional 3D printing as volumetric printing is non-planar; it has no flat layers. With volumetric printing, instead of a layerwise deposition, the laser light is shone into a vat of rotating transparent photopolymer resin, curing the resin […]

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3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

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• New Volumetric 3D Printing Technique Opens Bioprinting Possibilities
• The State of 3D Printing: Reading the Room at RAPID + TCT
• Mitsubishi Electric Embarks on 3D Printing Satellites in Space with Solar Power
• EOS President of North America Discusses the Future of Metal Laser 3D Printing
• Metallum3D Successfully Completes Validation Tests of New Microwave Heating Process for Additive Manufacturing

New Volumetric 3D Printing Technique Opens Bioprinting Possibilities Posted: 24 May 2022 06:30 AM PDT Volumetric fabrication methods have garnered a lot of attention over the past few years. By projecting light at an entire vat of photopolymer resin at once, they are able to achieve both high-resolution and high-speed. Thus far, they’ve been limited because the material has had to be transparent for the light to penetrate across the vat. However, a new paper proposes a “tomographic volumetric printer” that could take into account how each individual part scatters light and correct for it. The tomographic volumetric process could then be used to 3D print opaque objects. The work was carried out by a team consisting of researchers from the Laboratory of Applied Photonics Devices, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and startup Readily 3D. You may recognize Readily for its volumetric Tomolite bioprinter. In its paper, the team explained how it was able to correct for light scattering in opaque resins: “We proposed to make a correction based on a spatial frequency analysis of a stack of images captured with a side-view camera, perpendicular to the optical axis. Corresponding experimental data reveal the poor transmission of high spatial frequencies due to light scattering by the photocurable resin,” the team wrote. “Following this image analysis, a numerical correction can be performed to compensate for this frequency-dependent attenuation by accentuating the features of highest spatial frequencies. The resulting corrected light dose presents an increased contrast compared to the standard binary map conventionally used. Through the printing of several object geometries in two different scattering materials (acrylics and hydrogel-based resins), we demonstrate that the correction improves printing fidelity and resolution.” The researchers believe that their approach can be applied to other volumetric 3D printing technologies, as well. However, they do qualify their work in stating that a lot of resins will scatter light way beyond what is reasonably correctable. For now, the team specifically looked at highly loaded cell-laden hydrogels adapted through contrast agents. The team first examined the scattering effects and corresponding changes to the digital micromirror device (DMD) to correct for these effects. “Scattering-corrected tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) allows to print complex geometries with hollow channels in scattering materials, such as cell-laden hydrogels. a) A 3D model of an object with a core surrounded by four interconnected hollow channels. b) Example of a hydrogel containing 4 million cells mL−1. The text written behind a typical vial used for printing is not readable due to light scattering by the cells in suspension. c) In conventional tomographic VAM, the 3D model is binarized into a computed light dose that is used to calculate the set of patterns for printing. When these patterns are projected onto the scattering material, they are blurred and the resulting deposited light dose prevents from printing the target object. d) In scattering-corrected VAM, the 3D model is transformed into a continuous light dose that accounts for light distortions by the gel. The projection of the corresponding light patterns produce a print that matches the geometry and the function of the target 3D model.” Used in digital light processing (DLP) and other 3D printing techniques, the DMD is where millions of tiny mirrors are manipulated to generate an image. By changing the amplitude and angle of the mirrors in the DMD through a correction mask, the team hopes to correct the attenuation and distortion of light in the resin. Their correction method is such that intensity is greatest at the center of parts where it is needed most. Normally, this cannot be done because you’d have to do this by overexposing a section of the vat in order to adequately expose an interior area. Their technique, which they also refer to as “scattering corrected volumetric additive manufacturing”, can also increase print fidelity compared to other volumetric methods. Their technique is especially viable for bioprinting hollow channels, convenient because this has historically been rather difficult to do. It is, however, essential since hollow channels are needed to provide nutrients and oxygen to printed tissue. It is in 3D printed hydrogel hollow channels that the team therefore envision its work to be the most relevant. “Bio-fabrication of a functional vascular model in cell-laden hydrogels. a) 3D model of a construct with a core surrounded by four channels, emulating vasculature. b) Side-view of how light is blurred as it penetrates into the hydrogel with cells. c) Corresponding light patterns projected at different angles during tomographic VAM with and without correction. The difference shows by where and by how much is the correction applied to account for scattering d) Photographs of the resulting printed constructs after dying them in red. e) Timelapses of a blue dye flowing through the constructs. The scattering corrected tomographic VAM produces an object that matches the geometry and function of the model; while conventional tomographic VAM results in an unintended malfunctioning tube at the center of the construct. f) Fluorescence microscopy image of stained nuclei of cells in the fabricated hydrogels (4.0 million cells mL−1).” This is good news for the participating researchers from Readily3D (and another Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne researcher who is a shareholder). Readily3D advises that its bioprinter uses a low photoinitiator dose and “shaped light beams from multiple angles” to produce constructs. The main feature is, of course, that because the “entire build volume is illuminated simultaneously, centimeter-scale biological systems are produced in just tens of seconds. After printing, the object is simply separated from the uncured ink and collected.” Low photoinitator doses will of course help mitigate cell death which is a continuous issue with light based bioprinting methods. At the moment, the printer can build objects 27mm high with a diameter of 12.5mm in hydrogels, silicones, and acrylics. The speed of volumetric printing is very exciting, but this team may yet have improved upon it in a very significant way. The team also may have some valuable IP on its hands that it could license to other firms playing in the space. Bioprinting is to be a very long race, a marathon not a sprint. Firms will have to have war chests or continuous revenue to survive the current dearth of funding and emerge at a time when bioprinting is more mature and ready to treat patients. Due to this, it is tough to pick the winners now, but this technology would be an interesting thing to have in anyone’s arsenal—most of all 3D Systems. Image courtesy of Advanced Science.  The post New Volumetric 3D Printing Technique Opens Bioprinting Possibilities appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

The State of 3D Printing: Reading the Room at RAPID + TCT Posted: 24 May 2022 06:00 AM PDT As far as cliches go, "timing is everything" is a pretty good one. It's especially useful to keep in mind for when you're making predictions: voice your prediction too early and you risk looking either wildly unrealistic or irrelevant. Voice it too late and you'll seem like you're just hopping onto a bandwagon that's already in motion. Despite its overall steady growth in recent years, the 3D printing industry has nonetheless obviously suffered during the last decade from timing issues. Some of these issues were created or made worse by the behavior of certain companies in the industry. However, for the most part, they were related to larger historical trends that were out of any individual's hands. To a significant extent, the industry suffered from too much hype — in other words, too many overly-early predictions concerning what the technology could/would do— especially in the early-to-mid 2010s. The current state of the 3D-printing sector, on the other hand, is defined by hype-minimization. That was reflected well by this year's RAPID + TCT event, held in Detroit, May 17-19, at the Huntington Place convention center. Image courtesy of Huntington Place The overall impression I got from the two-plus days I spent at the event was of a sector that seems to have finally hit its stride, and is finally getting its timing right. Again, this is largely not even due to actions taken by entities within the industry, itself. Rather, it has much more to do with external events. For the most part, for instance, the implicit mission statement of the companies on the show floor at RAPID + TCT 2022 seemed to be that they're here to help American industry manage its supply chains. Everyone who follows the industry knows this is one of the things that additive manufacturing (AM) companies tout most concerning the technology's advantages. Nevertheless, it was still striking to see the ubiquity of a single particular message being conveyed, one way or another, by company after company. Image by Matt Kremenetsky In this same vein, then, it was certainly symbolic that the event started off with Siemens' CEO Barbara Humpton giving a keynote address titled, "The 'Glocal' Future of American Manufacturing". I'm not crazy about "glocal" as a neologism, although it is effective in at least one sense: once you find out it's not just a typo, it becomes clear almost instantly what it means. And in a variety of ways, this was definitely the year of glocalization at RAPID. I think that can be extrapolated out to apply to the state of the AM sector, as a whole. Moreover, I think this factor, in particular, indicates exactly why the industry is poised for further accelerations in its growth over the next several years. Image by Matt Kremenetsky For one thing, simply on the broadest level, you couldn't help but notice the distinctly international makeup both of the companies in attendance, as well as the workforce of those companies. At a time in history when it's becoming less likely that someone lives in the same place where their job is based, the fact that this is already decidedly the case for AM — primarily thanks to the nature of the technology itself — means that the industry will have to adjust far less than other industries to continued changes to how working happens. Image by Matt Kremenetsky At the same time, it was also clear, just from walking around the trade floor, the extent to which local economies in the United States have already been affected by AM — and how much more so they will be over the next five-ten years. Beyond the raw financial data, the industry over the last five-ten years has gone from one centered around consumer-oriented craftsman tools, to one providing a supply-chain insurance policy for the global economy's most Too Big to Fail manufacturing sectors. If any of the so-called "critical emerging" or "industrial 4.0" technologies are culturally selected to be macroeconomically pivotal sectors in the next twenty years, it's easy to see AM being the one, or one of the primary ones, chosen. And if any country will need glocalization just to have a chance at treading water in the next couple of decades, it's the country where everyone always wants more things at a faster pace. If it's going to fill this role, though, the AM sector will need to standardize and scale-up, which are two more things you heard from just about every company at RAPID. I think both things are going to happen and that they're interrelated. I also think that, in the process of their happening, there are going to be plenty of mergers and acquisitions along the way. At the show, you didn't see too many truly new developments. You also saw plenty of instances in which multiple companies were selling more or less similar applications. In a way, this is positive, as it means the industry has become less gimmicky and is finding its foothold in the broader economy. On the other hand, of course, it also means that, if the industry as a whole is attempting to scale up, only a relatively small percentage of the companies that were in the room last week will make it, especially considering the increasingly dim outlook for the economy-at-large. If there were something like 400 companies at RAPID 2022, by RAPID 2025, it's possible that only 75-100 of those companies exist in some form or another. The industry probably needs to consolidate in order to grow further, and once that growth starts, the landscape will consolidate even more, and so on. Finally, it was evident from the attendance that glocalization of the future workforce will clearly continue to draw more and more people into the sector. This is what will truly be the key, in the long run, in order for AM to follow through on its technological promise. According to TCT Magazine's write-up on the event, about 1,000 middle and high school students were there as part of the organization's Bright Minds program. There were many college students in attendance, as well. One attribute that AM has that other technologies don't is that it allows individuals to actually make something they can see and touch, and this appeals especially to kids. In general, the show confirmed my general perceptions that the industry is set to exceed its expectations for growth over the next five years, to about $30 billion, according to SmarTech Analysis. It gave me a much better idea of how that could happen. I think the larger companies have considerable leverage to control increasing amounts of the industry, all the more so the worse the economy gets. RAPID suggested that the industry is ready to go both globally and locally — and that the companies that comprise it are ready to compete. The post The State of 3D Printing: Reading the Room at RAPID + TCT appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Mitsubishi Electric Embarks on 3D Printing Satellites in Space with Solar Power Posted: 24 May 2022 05:30 AM PDT I’m bullish on 3D printing antennas, and I’ve also written about the billions to be had in 3D printing for satellites. It’s no surprise then that I’m very excited about the intersection of the two, which makes this recent announcement from Mitsubishi Electric particularly thrilling.The company aims to 3D print antennas for satellites and other components in space. What the company is developing is an “on-orbit additive-manufacturing technology that uses photosensitive resin and solar ultraviolet light for the 3D printing of satellite antennas in outer space.” Mitsubishi Electric has managed to make a photopolymer resin that is stable in a vacuum and can be hardened by the sun’s UV rays. The firm’s solar 3D printing process is meant to be able to build large components that can be attached to the main satellite structure (bus). This could mean that relatively compact satellites could be launched before antenna, solar panel arrays, and other elements are attached to 3D printed structures as they are built in space, allowing for a much larger satellite. Ideally this would save a lot of money on launch costs. Mitsubishi also hopes that the printed components would not have to be overbuilt to survive the stress of launch, so that they could be much lighter. This could save in launch costs overall, but you would still have to resupply the resin. Specifically, the team hopes that it can print bodies for antenna because their ¨resin-based on-orbit manufacturing—efficiently realizes high-gain, wide-bandwidth, large-aperture antennas deployed from a lightweight, vibration-resistant launch package.¨ This is a very innovative approach and makes a lot of sense. Tethers Unlimited and Redwire subsidiary Made In Space have looked at similar in-space, in-orbit fabrication ideas previously. However, the idea to use solar curing is new. The idea of using it to help usher in new satellite designs could see some very impressive benefits. This is no idle corporate thought experiment, though. Mitsubishi Electric manufactures air conditioners, elevators, and satellites. The company’s technological reach and breadth of activity is bewildering really. It is working on improved nuclear plants, semiconductors, LED displays, radar systems, robots and much more. In turn, Mitsubishi has the heft and technological expertise to build and implement something like this as well. Japan is also finding itself in the new space race. The company has missed out on the new crop of space startups and has little in the way of exciting ideas to lead the charge in space. However, now we’re seeing a good idea that would be immensely challenging to carry out, but could really make satellites better and more cost effective. Will Mitsubishi pull it off? We can’t be sure at this point. There are really very few things a $34 billion corporation with the technical expertise Mitsubishi has cannot do. It could, given enough internal resources make this happen. But, it’s still a big bet on something very new. This seems sensible, much more so than other in-space manufacturing approaches do. It seems like there could be a business case for it, as well. It could radically change satellite design and have far reaching impacts on the development of space technology. The satellite market is set to grow astoundingly quickly and something like this could very well play a role in the future of the commercial space race. Also, this sounds like it could be the plot of a Bond film. The post Mitsubishi Electric Embarks on 3D Printing Satellites in Space with Solar Power appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

EOS President of North America Discusses the Future of Metal Laser 3D Printing Posted: 24 May 2022 05:00 AM PDT EOS has been the long-established leader in laser sintering, representing the largest installed base in the market. However, as companies new and old attempt to push the segment, particularly in metal powder bed fusion (PBF), the German stalwart may be facing some important challenges. At the same time, metal additive manufacturing (AM) is transforming into an end part production technology. To learn more about how EOS is managing this changing environment, we caught up with the company at RAPID + TCT 2022. 3DPrint.com spoke to Glynn Fletcher, Chief Customer Advocate and President of North America. Fletcher heads all three EOS sales regions—North America, EMEA and APAC—as well as its polymer feedstocks division, Advanced Laser Materials (ALM). We were also joined by Maximilian Eils, Senior Vice President of Sales Excellence. To capture the insights of the EOS team, the full interview is transcribed below. Competition In and Outside of 3D Printing 3DPrint.com: How is the new competition coming from the rest of the industry impacting EOS in terms of strategy? Are you shifting gears in any way because of that? Are you adding more lasers or automation to take on some of these competitors? Glynn Fletcher, Chief Customer Advocate and President of North America. Image courtesy of EOS. Glynn Fletcher: There is a lot of additional competition. You look around this place and you can see there’s typically more competition than there was even a couple of years ago. However, when we think about competition, we don’t focus as much on the additive space. We try to think a little bit more progressively. A good way of describing that is that at IMTS in 2018, there were 2,500 exhibitors and a really cool additive pavilion with maybe 25 organizations. If you think about the way that we that we need to develop to make it into the mainstream, it’s not the 25 organizations that are in the additive pavilion that we need to concentrate on competing against. It’s the 2,475 companies in the larger IMTS space. What we have to do as an industry is figure out how to be competitive in this wider manufacturing space rather than bicker and scramble amongst ourselves—because there’s plenty to go around. And I’m absolutely convinced that the secret of success is not a question of getting a big slice of a small pie. It's having a smaller slice of a huge pie. To do that, we have to understand that we’re competing with very mature industries. Castings, for instance, has been around for 8,000 years. If they don’t know what they’re doing by now, there’s a problem. So, we are still nascent. We’re still, say, 30 years old. If we talk about real industrial manufacturing, it’s less like 30 years and more like six or seven. So we’ve got to use the experience and expertise that we have been developing over this period, not to add more lasers and not to enable this and to enable that, but to truly industrialize and make sure that the systems that our customers are using are consistent, reliable, robust, can be automated, can do all of those sort of things that you can typically get well as standard by default when you invest in CNC with milling or turning or grinding. Max Eils: Adding to that: what we see is obviously we’re moving in this market of traditional manufacturing and these companies [that you are referring to], they are new to additive. They might have some experience. Besides really making sure that our machines do have this industrial level and can really run in a production environment and achieve the right part quality, we are also really focusing on taking the customer and helping them to get there because this is also a learning curve for them. And we try to shorten this as much as possible, helping them with the business case implementation. The EOS M 400 metal AM machine in Audi's Metal 3D Printing Centre in Ingolstadt, Germany (Courtesy Audi AG) 3DPrint.com: Okay, so outside of internal competition within the industry, what are some of those things that end users are looking for to get 3D printing to meet their requirements with regards to quality and throughput for a production scenario? Fletcher: As much as anything, I think it's about confidence. There’s that old saying that we have to overcome the habits of the present. There’s a huge amount of anxiety. People don’t typically enjoy change. We must reduce this anxiety and de-risk the process of investment. To do that we are investing a lot of time, effort, and resources into building an infrastructure that supports the technology. So, we have a group called Additive Minds that guides our customers through the transition process. We’ve made a huge investment in our training and enablement resources. AM is still not plug-and-play and there remains a learning curve. We try to make sure that we provide the necessary resources to our customers allowing them to transition with the least amount of anxiety, the least amount of risk. If you had to take a pillar of our strategy, that would be one of those pillars that we concentrate on a lot: improving the customer experience. Investing in the 3D Printing Value Chain 3DPrint.com: Through AM Ventures, the Langer family has invested in some technologies that would suggest that there’s more than just lack of experience and confidence that’s necessary to push 3D printing to the next stage. There's 3YOURMIND for integrating it into the software of a factory, and DyeMansion for post-processing. It sounds like there are still things that need to be done from a technological standpoint to get 3D printing, to fit into an industrial setting. Fletcher: Well, I think that's concentrating on the full value chain. 3YOURMIND is pre-process and DyeMansion is post-process. It’s the same with subtractive today. If we were sitting here and we’re going to create a little CNC machining business, we could get on a tablet and, in five minutes, we could have a Haas machining center with the tooling, the programming, and all of the post processing. We find 5,400 potential operators to help us. It’s all there. It’s all mature and available. What we’re trying to do is build an ecosystem that allows our customers to do the same in a more nascent environment. You’re right, though. There is a requirement to innovate in the technology, but there’s also a huge requirement to innovate around the technology. DyeMansion’s Print2Production workflow. Image courtesy of DyeMansion. Eils: In the end, if we have all these pieces in place, what really allows more business cases and applications is the productivity in cost per part. If we look at what we’re investing technology-wise, it’s about the interaction between the laser and the process. Obviously, we have our Shared Modules where you can automate, but now we are really thinking that the next innovation is around how to increase the productivity of our existing machines by using new optics and new scan strategies where you can really open up a new window of fine tuning the application to really customize this to your need. If we talk about casting, for example, there's a different requirement than if you are talking about milling. You can really define what you need. You need less density, but higher productivity, and now you’ve become more competitive for the consumer industry, medical, etc., where you might need a very, very high density. So I think this is what we look at to get more productivity. Fletcher: There are really cool parts at this trade show and helps create a lot of interest in AM, but what we need to do is produce a bunch of really mundane parts cost effectively, in volume. And then you start to be in the place where you can say we’ve crossed that famous chasm and are now a mainstream manufacturing technology. EOS Expands Abroad 3DPrint.com: EOS has been expanding in the United States much more, recently, with the Pflugerville acquisition and the new facility in California. What is the motivation with the U.S. expansion? Fletcher: Well, it’s twofold. First, we want to be as close as we can to as many customers as we can. Our original facility was in Novi, Michigan because of the automotive industry. We then expanded to Austin to support our growing customer-base in that region. Now we want to be in the Los Angeles area to be close to our space, medical and consumer customers with the goal of giving our customers access to resources, technical support—getting closer to where they are rather than asking them to fly to Germany, Michigan or Texas. EOS’s location in Texas. Image courtesy of EOS. The second part of it is that we are really, really committed to the U.S. market. We are grateful that the U.S. market has one of the earliest adopters of additive manufacturing. We’ve been very successful over the course of many years now in the U.S. market. And we want to give back and make sure that we are not just seen as a foreign supplier, but that we’ve got a footprint and that we’re doing manufacturing, engineering, R&D, and a lot of added-value activities in the North America. 3DPrint.com: How do you see the increased activity in China, with Farsoon and EPlus as sort of low-cost competitors to EOS? Fletcher: I have a responsibility for all global regional sales. So, the Chinese market reports to me and we have a facility with about 40 people in Shanghai. What we’ve come to realize is that the Chinese market is quite insular. The Chinese government or Chinese companies tend to buy from Chinese companies. As a consequence, there’s EPlus, Bright Laser, and Farsoon. We’re reconciled to the fact that it’s very difficult to compete under those circumstances because Chinese competition tends to less expensive. So, that’s not our strategy for China. Our strategy is to be the most important foreign supplier of high-tech, high-level additive manufacturers. We’re building our organization around that kind of strategy. If we were having this conversation about a year ago, I’d be saying it a is kind of inevitable and only a matter of time before these Chinese competitors start to play a more important role in the European and U.S. markets. I’m not convinced that it's quite the same these days, with the ongoing global situations. There's a lot more nationalism creeping into every country in the world. The more nationalistic the Chinese become, the greater, the resistance there will be in the non-Chinese markets to their technology. 3DPrint.com: India is a growing market, as well. Then prior to the conflict, it seemed like Russia was growing a nascent additive industry. How do you see EOS's position in those two countries for supplying 3D printers to a quickly growing India and to a Russian market that’s trying to develop its own additive sectors Fletcher: Two really easy answers. We’re only committed to India and we won’t do business for Russian. Eils: Only one element, which for me is fascinating is the change of the global focus. Everyone is focused on their own supply chain. COVID, I think, really had an effect that pushed companies to adapt to this digital age. But also disrupted supply chains, we feel in the market, as well. Additive really is getting a boost here in terms of adoption because companies are realizing we need to take care of getting our parts. If we are dependent on certain, let’s say, casting parts that have a huge lead time, maybe shipped from other areas. However, in-time production was always the case for additive. But, now, with external pressure, it’s interesting to see that becomes more and more of a driver. Feature image courtesy of EOS. The post EOS President of North America Discusses the Future of Metal Laser 3D Printing appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Metallum3D Successfully Completes Validation Tests of New Microwave Heating Process for Additive Manufacturing Posted: 24 May 2022 04:30 AM PDT Over the last two years, Metallum3D has been developing a new type of microwave heating process that uses non-resonant, cross-polarized slotted waveguides and a granular susceptor material to evenly distribute microwave energy during processing. Until now, microwave energy has not been successfully used in additive manufacturing applications due to the uneven microwave energy distributions of the current multi-mode resonant technology. Recently, Metallum3D completed the construction of a second-generation microwave furnace that implements non-resonant, cross-polarized slotted waveguides as a microwave energy feeding system. A picture of the microwave furnace is shown below in Figure 1. Figure 1 The performance of the non-resonant, cross-polarized slotted waveguides used in this microwave furnace has been simulated using the electromagnetic simulation software CST Microwave Studio. The simulations showed that the non-resonant, cross-polarized waveguides generate an electric field with uniform microwave energy distribution. Figure 2 shows a 3D CAD model of the non-resonant, cross-polarized waveguide pair and a simulation of the electric field being generated in free space. The uniform color distribution within the electric field cross-section is indicative of uniform microwave energy distribution. Figure 2 A separate simulation was conducted to evaluate the performance of the non-resonant, cross-polarized slotted waveguides as mounted in the microwave cavity. Figure 3 shows the simulation of the electric field generated by the non-resonant, cross-polarized waveguides at the mid-section of the microwave cavity. The uniform color distribution within the electric field cross-section is indicative of uniform microwave energy distribution. Figure 3 A recent validation study completed by Metallum3D utilized cast gypsum plates saturated in a cobalt chloride solution and thermal imaging to map the actual microwave energy distribution of the non-resonant, cross-polarized waveguides under operating conditions. After exposing the plates to a microwave field, the heating of the plates causes a color change in the cobalt chloride that forms a color map of the microwave energy distribution. The visual color map results were cross-validated with thermal imaging. The Metallum3D microwave furnace uses two sets of waveguides, with each waveguide being directly fed by 1.5 kW magnetrons for a total of 6kW. Figure 4 shows the internal and external waveguide arrangement. Figure 4 For validation testing, 6 casted plates were vertically loaded into the microwave with the aid of a PVC fixture as shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 Microwave heating of the plates resulted in a uniform color change of all the plate surfaces from a pinkish-grey color to a bluish-gray color. There was no color banding in any of the plate surfaces indicating homogenous microwave heating throughout the entire microwave cavity volume. The visual results obtained were then cross-validated through thermal imaging, which also showed uniform microwave heating throughout the surfaces of all the plates. The actual microwave energy distribution of the non-resonant, cross-polarized slotted waveguides is in good agreement with the predicted microwave energy distribution previously obtained through electromagnetic simulation.  A technical white paper detailing the validation testing and results is available for download at the following link: Metallum3D Technical White Paper Download The successful validation of this new type of microwave heating process by Metallum3D is creating new opportunities for processing additively manufactured parts. Our Microwave Furnace is configured for both microwave sintering and microwave digital casting. For microwave sintering, parts are embedded in a granular susceptor material within a microwave transparent and thermally insulating box for rapid microwave sintering, which is up to 90% faster than conventional sintering. A schematic representation of the Metallum3D microwave sintering process is shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 Microwave Digital Casting is a process that combines additive manufacturing and microwave heating to create a new agile and cost-effective casting process that bypasses the need to pour molten metal into a mold.  The first step in the microwave digital casting process is to 3D print a sacrificial ceramic shell mold. The second step is to fill the ceramic shell mold with a metal powder and embed it in our granular susceptor material. The third step is to place the embedded mold in our microwave furnace to melt the metal powder within the mold to form a cast part. Figure 7 shows the basic steps of the Metallum3D Microwave Digital Casting process. Figure 7 As a result of the successful validation of our new microwave heating process, Metallum3D in conjunction with P3 Additive is launching a Beta Customer Program. Under this program, we are looking to identify 10 customers that have applications that could benefit from implementing our Microwave Sintering or Microwave Digital Casting process. Use the link below to apply to the Beta Customer Program. Metallum3D Beta Customer Program The post Metallum3D Successfully Completes Validation Tests of New Microwave Heating Process for Additive Manufacturing appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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3D Printing Media Network – The Pulse of the AM Industry

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Saint-Gobain uses BCN3D printers to massively increase efficiency Posted: 24 May 2022 03:15 AM PDT Saint-Gobain, a French multinational company, dedicated to the manufacturing of glazing for multiple industrial sectors, has chosen BCN3D printers to aid in increasing the efficiency, by reducing lead times and … The post Saint-Gobain uses BCN3D printers to massively increase efficiency appeared first on 3D Printing Media Network - The Pulse of the AM Industry.

Sowing the CEAD of composites LFAM Posted: 24 May 2022 01:12 AM PDT We sat down with Lucas Janssen and touched on the origins of CEAD (their experience starting back in 2011 with Leapfrog 3D Printers), some of the challenges the team faced … The post Sowing the CEAD of composites LFAM appeared first on 3D Printing Media Network - The Pulse of the AM Industry.

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