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Robox Now Offering Formfutura's TitanX 3D Printer Filament

3/31/2017

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Robox Now Offering Formfutura's TitanX 3D Printer Filament

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CEL Robox 3D printer

Whenever we hear from CEL Robox, we know it’s going to be an interesting story; the UK-based 3D printer manufacturer has been a fascinating one to follow ever since their Kickstarter-smashing beginnings in 2013. When we last heard from them a couple of months ago, they were introducing the Tree, Root and Mote systems through another Kickstarter campaign, which also went on to very comfortably surpass its funding goal.

Now, CEL will be offering their customers new 3D printing materials by way of a partnership with Dutch materials manufacturer Formfutura, the company behind such specialty filaments as MetalFil, CarbonFil, EasyWood and EasyCork. CEL will be selling TitanX, an engineering-grade ABS-type material optimized for FFF 3D printing. TitanX boasts high thermal stability and impact resistance, strong first-layer and inter-layer adhesion, and, most significantly, almost no warping.

 

TitanX is the first Formfutura material to be added to CEL’s SmartReel ecosystem, but it won’t be the last, the company says.

“Having used a couple of their materials in the past, we contacted Formfutura to ask if they were interested in a partnership, and their first response was to send a huge box of samples to our HQ,” Chris White, Senior Design Engineer at CEL, told 3DPrint.com. “We’ve been printing with a wide range of their filaments, and TitanX is only one of the great choices they have on offer. Look out for more options coming soon!”

Mote case 3D printed with TitanX

CEL is the first company – other than Formfutura – to offer Formfutura materials. TitanX is designed to be easy to print, and CEL’s SmartReel, which features a material data chip, makes setup a breeze as well.

“The CEL Robox project is focussed on building an eco-system around an extremely user friendly piece of hardware and to do this we want to bring together industry leaders to benefit 3D printer users,” said Chris Elsworthy, CEO of CEL. “We hope TitanX will be the first in a long line of new materials to be added to the Robox portfolio from Formfutura’s extensive range. With TitanX we have a material which will allow amateur and professional users alike to benefit from high quality and functional parts combined with the ease-of-use of the Robox SmartReel system.”

Gear box 3D printed with TitanX

The Robox 3D printer was designed for high-precision 3D printing, as was TitanX, which features tight diameter tolerance and excellent roundness, according to CEL. Formfutura extrudes all of their filaments on high-precision equipment specifically designed for dimensional accuracy, so users should be able to 3D print prototypes and engineering-grade parts that are both large-scale and high-precision.

“Formfutura has been in the FFF 3D printer filament business for almost five years and has always had a continuous focus on quality, consistency and innovation. This market continues to mature and material-wise, TitanX is a perfect example of a filament being optimized for FFF,” said Arnold Medenblik, CEO and Co-Founder of Formfutura. “The CEL Robox printer doesn’t actually need any further introduction; its user friendliness and impressive print results are well known in the 3D printing community. For me it is an extremely exciting development that filament and hardware optimisation are now combined in the Robox-Formfutura partnership allowing every Robox user to 3D print engineering grade objects under perfectly predefined conditions.”

TitanX is now available from CEL in black, white and silver for £27.90 per spool. Below, you can see an OpenRC tractor 3D printed with TitanX: 

VIDEO

 





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March 31, 2017 at 09:01AM
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Arcam AB Separates Electron Beam Melting 3D Printing Business into Separate Unit Names New Arcam EBM General Manager

3/31/2017

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Arcam AB Separates Electron Beam Melting 3D Printing Business into Separate Unit, Names New Arcam EBM General Manager

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Metal additive manufacturing solutions provider Arcam AB specializes in building machines that can 3D print with specialized metal alloys, and holds over 50 existing patents, including two for metal 3D printing powder materials that its Canadian metal powder manufacturing subsidiary AP&C (Advanced Powders and Coatings) filed. The company is headquartered in Mölndal, Sweden, but expanded to the US to open a sales and support office in 2015, and Arcam CEO Magnus René moved there himself not long after.

The company is also known for its innovative Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology, which offers high productivity and materials properties, and design freedom. To continue its growth trends, Arcam has decided to separate its EBM business from Arcam AB, and put it in the new Arcam EBM unit, naming Karl Lindblom as General Manager.

This isn’t the first major change Arcam has dealt with recently. A few months ago, leading digital industry company GE, which has worked with Arcam before as an aerospace customer, announced that it would be investing a whopping $1.4 billion to acquire both Arcam and German SLM Solutions. In 2015, GE expanded and developed the use of Arcam’s EBM technology, which creates fully dense metal parts by using laser beams on a metal powder bed. As GE has been utilizing EBM technology for quite some time, it’s not surprising that the company wanted to acquire Arcam and work to develop the technology further as the global giant more deeply entrenches itself in the 3D printing industry.

Arcam’s EBM process takes place at high temperatures in a vacuum, so its stress relieved components have material properties that are similar to wrought material. A high-powered electron beam generates the necessary energy for high melting capacity. The beam is managed by electromagnetic coils, which offer accurate, fast beam control so Arcam’s MultiBeam process can work, by maintaining several melt pools at the same time. Arcam released its 2016 financial results last month, and while its overall net sales increased by 12.5%, with an 18% increase in the fourth quarter of 2016, it took ten fewer orders for its EBM systems than it had in 2015.

EBM machine window

“We continue to pursue and develop our long-term strategy to industrialize the EBM technology and simultaneously developing the metal powder manufacturing and contract manufacturing businesses,” Arcam stated. “We invest significantly in technology, marketing and manufacturing capacity to meet our customers’ demands and growing expectations on productivity and reliability.”

Arcam EBM will also be based out Sweden, and has sales and service operations in several different countries, including China, England, Germany, Italy, and the US. Lindblom will begin as the head of Arcam EBM on Monday, April 3, presiding over the roughly 150 employees in the EBM organization.

“We are very pleased to welcome Karl to Arcam EBM,” said Magnus René, CEO of Arcam. “Karl strengthens our management to further accelerate and grow our EBM business.”

Lindblom, who has an M.Sc. from the University of Linköping in Sweden, has worked in product management, support, and sales. But more importantly for his new position, he has nearly three decades of corporate management experience working with international, industrial business that are based in Sweden. Lindblom was most recently the Head of leading manufacturing and automation supplier company Bosch Rexroth Nordic, and the CEO of Hägglund Drive Systems, an integrated part of Bosch Rexroth.





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March 31, 2017 at 08:26AM
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DyeMansion Takes 3D Printing Color Technology to AMUG Looking Forward to Future Events & Business in the US

3/31/2017

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DyeMansion Takes 3D Printing Color Technology to AMUG, Looking Forward to Future Events & Business in the US

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AMUG 2017 took place at the Hilton Chicago

Last week, the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) held its annual conference in Chicago, where companies working with 3D printing technologies gathered for a week to talk technology. Recently, we spoke with Munich-based company DyeMansion, which made its first official visit to North America to attend AMUG 2017. Pia Harlaß, Marketing Manager for the company, had nothing but positive things to say about their experience at the conference, which ran from March 19 to 23.

“As first time attendees we were welcomed very kind. It was a great networking event that felt way more like a laid-back class meeting than a typical sales fair which was really pleasant and the perfect fit for establishing some first contacts in the United States,” she told us. “We were happy to also meet some of our biggest customers like HP or BMW at AMUG and listened carefully to their presentations about future plans featuring our technology.”

DyeMansion is known for its unique post-processing technology for SLS 3D printed parts, and particularly for its coloring process – the first of its kind for parts additively manufactured from powder. Philipp Kramer, co-founder and CTO, spoke to the conference attendees about the company’s technology and the current market.

“The market is getting more demanding while growing from rapid prototyping to serial production,” Harlaß continued. “In the past, post-processing has always been the bottle neck so far. This is why we decided to offer economical post-processing solutions to the AM market three years ago.”

DyeMansion currently offers three products:

  • Powershot C, an automated blasting machine that removes excess powder from parts with a rotary basket that eliminates the need for parts to be handled and significantly reduces post-processing time
  • Powershot S, an automated surface finishing machine that uses a blasting technique called shot peening to close pores and improve surface quality of parts
  • DM60, an automated coloring system for finished parts. Recently DyeMansion introduced an add-on called the DM60 Reservoir, which allows black dye cartridges to be re-used for five dyeing cycles by recirculating wastewater.

The new DM60 Reservoir is set to address dyeing for black, the most popular shade requested, by not discharging the wastewater from the dye bath, but storing and recirculating it for a new color cycle. DyeMansion notes that benefits of the new system include a productivity increase, shortening cycle time and negating the need for manual exchange of color cartridges; cost reduction, including of the five-times reusable cartridge and of power and water resource use; sustainability; and reproducible results, ensuring consistent color quality through all five cycles.

DyeMansion’s solutions are compatible with every powder-based 3D printing system on the market. At the AMUG booth they shared with EOS, the company demonstrated the versatility of their technology by showing off a wide range of parts that had been finished and colored, including eyewear from Powder & Heat, shin guards from Zweikampf, ortheses from Pohlig, and an industrial gripper from Formrise.

“People liked the surfaces and colors a lot, but it seems like consumer products aren’t such a big deal in the US as they are in Europe,” Harlaß commented. “We are willing to change that with the help of our technology soon. Our industrial post-processing solutions will enable producing powder-based AM plastics in color and with high quality surfaces. Automated and cost-effective. We figured out that many service providers and OEMs in the US also know the pain of manual dyeing and are really interested in using our automated and contact-free solutions. Our solutions are targeting exactly these people. Service providers as well as OEMs from different industries such as automotive, medical or sports.”

The conference featured presentations from major industry players including Stratasys, EOS, and Carbon, as well as Carl Deckard, the inventor of SLS technology. Other exhibitors included 3D Systems, HP, Renishaw and Somos.

While AMUG may have been DyeMansion’s first trip to the US, it certainly isn’t going to be the last. The company will be back in May for the RAPID + TCT conference in Pittsburgh – 3DPrint.com will be there, too, and we’re looking forward to talking with DyeMansion again, after last seeing them in person on their home turf in Germany at formnext in November. The young company is full of plans for the near future, including expansion to the United States.

“Our current plan is to set up facilities in the US later this year to provide a coloring service and have a show room with our systems for demonstrating our solutions to potential customers,” Harlaß told us. “We also just applied for the German Accelerator, a program for tech startups from Germany that want to come to the US. So if everything goes according to plan, we’ll be in San Francisco from August on. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

[All images provided to 3DPrint.com by Pia Harlaß]

 





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March 31, 2017 at 07:11AM
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Airbus Develops 3D Printed Nozzles & Drilling Templates for Aircraft

3/31/2017

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Airbus Develops 3D Printed Nozzles & Drilling Templates for Aircraft

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Airbus continues to be one of the pioneers in using 3D printing technology for aircraft manufacturing. Keeping in line with other forces to be reckoned with such as NASA and Boeing, the France-based manufacturer has shown no fear, using up to a thousand 3D printed parts in planes such as the Airbus A350 XWB. 3D printed parts allow them to create parts that are lightweight, super durable, and compliant in terms of flame, smoke, and toxicity.

Their work in 3D printing has continued as they’ve partnered with companies like Altair and Renishaw, fabricating aircraft wings for the future. Last summer they even unveiled the unmanned Thor, a completely 3D printed and fully functional plane that doubles as a 13-foot drone and will be used for some ‘riskier’ flights and investigations.

Now, Airbus is continuing to take advantage of the benefits afforded by 3D printing, via components that will soon be found in the A330neo (New Engine Option) jetliner and BelugaXL airlifter, offering savings on the bottom line as well as greater expediency in production.

Airbus developed a 3D printed prototype air nozzle for the climate control system in the passenger cabin of the A330neo, which according to the manufacturer can seat up to 257 people. The nozzles will be part of a new design meant to offer compatibility with overhead storage compartments that are now larger. Airbus includes the new storage designs in part of the ‘Airspace by Airbus’ cabin concept that will not only be seen in the A330neo, but also the A350 XWB.

The A330neo is one of the first aircraft that will be launched to demonstrate the luxurious new cabin philosophy created by Airbus. Passengers will be able to relax and enjoy new features such as detailed lighting, bigger seats, current entertainment options, and wifi capabilities. More personal space is offered too.

3D printing will also be seen enhancing the BelugaXL in the form of new drilling templates created for operators working on the aircraft. The templates will be compatible with the new configuration for the Beluga, an over-sized plane responsible for carrying large aircraft components. It is a ‘modified version of the A330’ and is meant to carry entire sections of planes to Airbus production facilities.

Not only are they using 3D printing for its immediate benefits, but Airbus provides their engineers and ‘inventors’ with the technology so that they can continue to come up with innovative creations.

 “Operators come to me with a specific need and we discuss what’s possible, then I build a customised, computer-generated solution for manufacturing with the 3D printer,” said Marc Carré, the Mock-Up Integrator for Manufacturing at Airbus Commercial Aircraft.

Obviously, Airbus is only beginning to touch on the power of 3D printing for their aircraft, from adding luxury for the interiors to boosting inner components of their aircraft for greater performance.

[Source:

Airbus

]

 





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March 31, 2017 at 06:34AM
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3D Printing Art: Complicated Opportunities

3/31/2017

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3D Printing Art: Complicated Opportunities

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3D printing is being used by artists, curators, museums and galleries worldwide to create works. Designers, sculptors, digital artists, painters and people new to the art world are using 3D printing as a medium to create works. This headfirst rush into the technology is to be applauded as is their courage and foresight to be ahead of the coming crowds. There are, however, some complexities when dealing with 3D printed art that have been ill considered so far.

What is the Work Exactly?

If an artist produces a 3D printed artwork then what constitutes as the piece exactly? From an expression point of view but also for legal reasons this will have profound implications. When the work is sold to a gallery or collector, what are they buying exactly? Is it the 3D printed piece itself? The file to make it? A license to make unlimited copies of it? Do you buy the Gcode? The STL? A license for the Gcode or STL? Or the original CAD file? This needs to be better defined in order for the 3D printed art market to grow. If the file is part of the transaction, how can this file be used?

Isn’t All Art Open Source?

Artists need to start thinking about licenses for their works or ways through which they can be distributed. Can anyone take pictures of it, copy your work, remix it? Whereas many artists encourage copying and being copied artist’s estates, museums and other rights holders have been clamping down on the reproduction of art pieces and using them in other forms. Artists now have the opportunity to ensure that their works can be copied and spread far and wide. Or they could lock them down so future owners will be buying more exclusive rights along with the piece so that in the future the artist and the piece’s owners will have more control. Should art be for sharing and remixing? Shouldn’t art be open source? Isn’t that how it has always been? Copy, imitate, steal but above all else consume it. Individual artists can take a stand here in order to make sure that the part of our collective culture that they can create can be remixed and spread. If they do nothing then their works too will be subsumed into the copyright everything manner by which most Intellectual Property is guarded.  

DRM

Digital Rights Management may become more commonplace in 3D printing. One the one hand one could say without DRM, Disney would never get involved with our market. We could accept DRM as a fait accompli or something necessary for markets. Artists could also embrace DRM as a way to safeguard their rights. Or artists could take a principled stance that once a person owns a thing they can do everything they want with it. Their objects could be flung into an accepting world into open arms and DRM-free futures. Buy it, own it, break it, it is yours. Rather than the restrict-your-rights-to-the-things-you-own approach of DRM.

Dizingof sells licenses for his designs.

Attribution

If an artist signs a canvas we can be sure that it is attributed. Curators can then make catalogues and trace work back and check its authenticity. How will we attribute works and declare them authentic in the 3D printed world?

  1. If Jeff Koons 3D prints a work on an EOS P110 using PA 2200 and particular settings and I 3D print the same work with the same material and same settings on the same machine it may be indistinguishable. How can we physically watermark products without turning to the restrictive lunacy that is DRM?
  2. If Flowalistik makes the first low polygon Nintendo characters how can we trace this back to him?
  3. How do we know when someone published something before anyone else?
  4. If a thing is reverse engineered or copied how can we know who the originator of the idea was?

Decay of 3D Printed Works

3D printing materials often have problems with heat deflection temperatures or becoming more brittle over time. UV degradation is harmful to 3D printed parts (especially stereolithography/SLA parts) and will cause them to decay. How does one restore a photopolymer resin print? Rub more liquid photopolymer on some parts? This may work but no one knows at the moment. A polyamide powder Selective Laser Sintering part may yellow over time due to UV degradation; how does one refresh this part? If SLS parts become dirty you can put them in your washing machine to clean them. Will the MOMA do this with its 3D printed pieces? If an SLA part becomes brittle and yellow is that just part of the piece aging? Should we not try to repair that? We don’t remove all of the patina from paintings. If we look back restorers have often over restored things in the past.

Virtox offers his designs for free download.

Or is the Part Irrelevant and Should We Focus on the Design?

If the part itself is not relevant and just a manifestation of the design then you can reprint it (Or can you?). This has some interesting implications. If van Gogh makes a drawing with a brush then maybe my computer plus Rhino and my 3D printer are just my brush? More complicated technology but a technology just as the paintbrush is one. Or is the position of the artist fundamentally changed because she is removed from the work, does not touch it? At what point then does it become an artwork? When it is printed? When it is designed? If an artist works with a 3D modeller to model the artwork and a service bureau to print it these questions become complex. Who made this thing exactly? When? It is important for artists to know that if a person 3D models it for them rights of the thing must be transferred to the artist properly.

Meanwhile Virtox also sells some 3D printed objects on Shapeways and hires himself out as a designer.

Reprints

So if an artwork decays, should we just reprint it? Well this may be easier said than done. If it was done on a Prusa i3 in 2015 should we then 30 years later try to find the same model Prusa to print it? What if we can’t find it? What if it was printed in a particular color PLA from a particular PLA vendor and we can’t find that either? If 3D printers improve over the next 30 years can we 3D print out the 30-year-old piece on the newest technology? Will it then be the same piece? If there is a certain iconic sculpture made with mid-2000s SLS technology and this looks a bit off white cream colored what should we do 30 years later once SLS improves and makes less porous whiter smoother objects? Should we print something to make it look like it once was? Or just 3D print it?  

Settings

3D printing is a triad, an interplay of 3D printing material, software and 3D printer playing together to produce a part. An artwork could be the artist’s expression translated to a 3D model. But, the work will not look the same and not be the same piece without the settings being included. When recreating a work, sharing a work or selling it these settings would have to be required in order to give a person (owner, curator, museum) the ability to recreate that work. Did you remember to save your Cura settings for the piece? Remember to write down the actual bed and nozzle temperature somewhere? Again, what constitutes as the digital file of the piece? The CAD file? The STL? Gcode? Slices? If Cura is updated it may slice files differently and interpret meshes differently. This will mean that as the software updates the slicer will interpret the same file in different ways and the 3D printing result will change, as will the final object.

Material

3D printing materials are not well codified and standardised at this moment. The market does use RAL colors (on the whole) to get standard colors. Different colored material will give you different results on the 3D printer. Different additives and plasticizers will also change the printed result. In the coming years significant strides need to be made by material vendors in improving the surface quality of 3D prints on the material front. Tests have shown that individual materials from vendors change all the time with additives and compounds being replaced. If one wants to recreate a sculpture or indeed keep producing series of it years later, can you do it? I don’t think this will be possible for most materials as they are currently in flux.  

 

Algorithms

Many artists use algorithms to create sculptures. This is a really hip thing at the moment. They have the effect of making a very diverse set of expressions all look the same. The same waveform, the same type of shape, it is all replicated and expelled from algorithms and Grasshopper. This kind of approach is the fast way to make your object look “3D printingy” and is a low effort approach. It does have the effect of creating a 3D printed aesthetic. But, given the wide open plains we have to explore must everything be a bio-inspired algorithmic design? We find ourselves at the midpoint of the huge growth in bio-inspired algorithmic design and it will get worse before it gets better. We have so many opportunities to create new shapes and new ways of interacting, why must we all flock like sheep to the same algorithms?  

Stop with the Voronoi Already

Same with the voronoi. Yes, I know how to use MeshMixer as well. I too can take a thing and make it all voronoi in two minutes. With all the options in mesh mixing and manipulation available why the huge voronoi trend? Are we in a kind of Toyota Prius stage where we have to come up with a kind of identifiable look, however ugly?

As we can see, there are a lot of challenges and opportunities to face as an art world when engaging 3D printing. I don’t see a lot of problems here, I see a conference.

 





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March 31, 2017 at 04:52AM
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Posterzine & Print Isnt Dead Special Bundle

3/31/2017

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Posterzine™ & Print Isn’t Dead™ Special Bundle

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Don’t miss out on this extremely good deal! Seventeen issues of Posterzine™ and a free copy of Print Isn’t Dead™ Element 004 magazine. Make a huge saving when you buy this special bundle at a bargain price.





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March 31, 2017 at 04:23AM
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Handmade Nottingham

3/31/2017

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Handmade Nottingham

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Down a quaint little street off the Old Market Square in Nottingham lives Handmade Nottingham, an independent shop featuring local creatives.

In November 2014 members of the Handmade Nottingham collective held their first Christmas pop-up shop at the creative hub we know as Malt Cross – a local bar and arts space. After gaining an overwhelming response, they decided to open a permanent shop with four walls, conveniently situated next to Malt Cross in Nottingham city centre. Showcasing a range of prints, home accessories, textiles, pins and handmade jewelry, Handmade Nottingham promotes the importance of shopping locally and supporting the wonderful variety of crafts happening in the Midlands.

Representing up to forty designers at any given moment, HN are always happy to hear from new contemporary craftspeople specifically living in the Nottingham area that have an interest in getting involved! Currently featuring the likes of Fable and Black, Little Egg Design, Delphine and Max, Megan Makes Illustrations and Thursday.

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March 31, 2017 at 03:26AM
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University of Akron and AMES Demonstrate Results of Joint Additive Manufacturing Project: Using the SPD Method to Repair Commercial Aircraft

3/31/2017

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University of Akron and AMES Demonstrate Results of Joint Additive Manufacturing Project: Using the SPD Method to Repair Commercial Aircraft

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Few topics bring me more happiness during the work day than hearing about all of the 3D printing innovation, education, and fun taking place in my beloved home state of Ohio. BeeHex recently moved...

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March 31, 2017 at 03:25AM
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LLNL Develops Semi-Liquid Metal 3D Printing Method: Direct Metal Writing

3/31/2017

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LLNL Develops Semi-Liquid Metal 3D Printing Method: Direct Metal Writing

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Metal additive manufacturing is one of the oldest forms of 3D printing, but the technology is still constantly being developed. The most common forms of metal 3D printing still have flaws and limitations; for example, most metal powder-based forms of additive manufacturing are prone to gaps and defects. The issue of porosity in metal 3D prints is something that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been working on for a long time, and now the researchers at the California laboratory have developed a new printing method that they say eliminates the problems of powder altogether – by eliminating powder altogether.

The technology, which they call direct metal writing, involves heating a metal ingot until it reaches a semisolid state, something like a metal paste, composed of a core of solid metal particles surrounded by liquid. The material is what is called a shear thinning material, meaning that it behaves like a solid when still, but like a liquid when force is applied – force such as, for example, being pushed through an extruder. It then solidifies again once it’s been extruded, and hardens as it cools, so that there’s less incorporated oxide and thus less residual stress.

VIDEO

“We’re in new territory,” said materials scientist Wen Chen. “We’ve advanced a new metal additive manufacturing technique that people aren’t aware of yet. I think a lot of people will be interested in continuing this work and expanding it into other alloys.”

Chen is the lead author of a study entitled “Direct metal writing: Controlling the rheology through microstructure,” which you can access here. Additional authors include Luke Thornley, Hannah G. Coe, Samuel S. Tonneslan, John J. Vericella, Cheng Zhu, Eric B. Duoss, Ryan M. Hunt, Michael J. Wight, Diran Apelian, Andrew J. Pascall, Joshua D. Kuntz, and Christopher M. Spadaccini.

The technology hasn’t been perfected yet; according to the researchers, a lot of work will still need to be done before they can create higher-resolution parts with more commonly used metals such as aluminum and titanium. For the study, they printed parts with a bismuth-tin mixture, which has a low melting point of below 300ºC. The process took several attempts, as bits of solid metal called dendrites would get stuck in the nozzle.

“The main issue was getting very tight control over the flow,” said Pascall. “You need precise control of the temperature. How you stir it, how fast you stir it, all makes a difference. If you can get the flow properties right, then you really have something. What we’ve done is really understand the way the material is flowing through the nozzle. Now we’ve gotten such good control that we can print self-supporting structures. That’s never been done before.”

Interestingly, Adrian Bowyer, the creator of RepRap, begs to differ. Today on Twitter, Bowyer pointed to a 2009 blog post that details a student’s successful efforts to 3D print circuits by directly extruding melted metal. The blog post doesn’t go into much detail, so it’s difficult to fully assess any differences there may be in the two processes (though the RepRap post doesn’t mention self-supporting structures), but it’s another example of how, in the 3D printing world, it’s almost impossible to say with confidence that a new process or machine or material is brand new – there’s always a chance that someone, somewhere, may have done the same thing, or something very similar, already.

The LLNL researchers are now adapting the technology to work with aluminum alloys, which are much more commonly used in industries such as aerospace and transportation. Aluminum is much more of a challenge, however, because of its higher melting point.

“Being able to print parts out of metal in this way is potentially important,” said Thornley, who helped engineer the bismuth-tin mixture. “So much of the work that goes into validation and analyzing for defects would be eliminated. We can use less material to make parts, meaning lighter parts, which would be big for aerospace.”

Luke Thornley

The study was funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program.

[Source:

LLNL

 / Images: Kate Hunts/LLNL]

 





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March 31, 2017 at 02:23AM
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PyroGenesis Announces That First 3D Printable Metal Powder Production System is Complete and "Exceeds Expectations"

3/31/2017

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PyroGenesis Announces That First 3D Printable Metal Powder Production System is Complete and "Exceeds Expectations"

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It seems like every time I turn around, I’m learning of more and more innovative 3D printing news coming from Canada. There’s Ottawa Hospital’s 3D printing program, the 3D printer-equipped Create Cafe in Saskatoon, the recent Be3D 3D printing conference in Toronto, aspiring fashion designers using 3D printing, a 3D printed satellite bracket, and of course, Dr. Julielynn Wong and 3D4MD’s work on sending 3D printed medical supplies to space for the first time.

Back in 2015, high-tech Canadian company PyroGenesis, which specializes in the development, design, manufacturing, and commercialization of advanced plasma processes, plasma torch products, and plasma waste-to-energy systems, made good on its contract to ship ten of its metal 3D printing powder production systems to a major international manufacturer in Asia, and soon after filed a provisional patent for its 3D printable powder production process. After spinning its 3D printing business off into a new entity for the purposes of distributing its metal powder systems and equipment, the company said that its first powder production system would become operational by the end of the first quarter of 2017, and the day has finally arrived!

Powder produced by PyroGenesis’ Plasma Atomization Process

PyroGenesis has announced that assembly is complete for the system. Its first powder run has been reported to have exceeded expectations, and the system ramp-up, expected to take place over four months, has already begun.

Pierre Carabin, Chief Technology Officer of PyroGenesis, said, “The first production run not only exceeded our expectations in terms of powder quality and production rate, but it also marked both the official start of the ramp-up period and a critical step in achieving our stated goal to become a leading supplier of high purity powders catering to the Additive Manufacturing Industry. The first powders produced were Ti-6Al-4V, one of the most sought after powder on the market. In addition, the System will allow PyroGenesis to produce other materials such as Titanium alloys and nickel based superalloy materials.”

The company’s innovative, patent-pending Plasma Atomization Process (PAP) is used to make small, uniform, and fully dense spherical metal powders. The powders, which are a big-ticket item in the additive manufacturing industry, can actually flow like water. PyroGenesis first started producing the powders with this unique technology in the early 2000s, for the biomedical industry. Two years ago, the company invested roughly $2M to improve the particle size distribution and the production rate for the technology, which resulted in the provisional patent being filed, and the company decided to produce powders for the additive manufacturing sector. PyroGenesis expects to make many of its powder production systems, to “address this increasing need for metal powders in the Additive Manufacturing industry.”

PyroGenesis CEO Peter Pascali

“Although we were confident we would complete the System and first run on schedule and on budget, it is always nice to tick that box. We were challenged at times by significant delays from suppliers, but it is a testament to the dedication and commitment of PyroGenesis’ team that we make this announcement today. A dedication and commitment one can expect to see throughout this project,” said P. Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis.

The process works by feeding preheated and prequalified wire to the apex of three converging plasma torches. The 10,000°C plasma plumes melt the wire and shear off off the metal, which creates tiny, molten droplets. The droplets fall into an argon-filled, water-cooled chamber below, and are collected in their spherical, fine powder form. Finally, the powders are sieved in an inert atmosphere in order to create its proper size distribution. PyroGenesis will initially focus on making pure Ti-6AI-4V and Titanium (CP Ti) powders, but will at a later date focus on producing other metal powders as well. The powders produced during the company’s four-month ramp-up phase will be available for purchase.

Pascali said, “”What is noteworthy, beyond the technical successes announced today, is the continued interest we are receiving for the supply of our powders from potential customers, the volume of which, and from whom the interest is coming from, continues to take us all by surprise. We did not expect this type of interest before ramp-up was complete, and we would consider any sample orders (i.e. up to 500kg) made before ramp up is complete, to be very significant, and a further validation of our strategic decision to move into powder production.”

The company’s core competencies, and ISO certified operations, allow it to forge ahead in providing customers all around the world with high-temperature metallurgical processes, engineering services, plasma waste processes, and plasma torches. It also provides contract research, manufacturing and engineering expertise, and turnkey process equipment packages to several different industries, including additive manufacturing as well as environmental, mining, defense, metallurgical, and oil and gas.

“As mentioned before, there are many factors which set us apart from all other powder producers. For one, the fact that PyroGenesis is the inventor of Plasma Atomization, and has one of the largest concentrations of plasma expertise under one roof, has enabled the Company to not only improve the process significantly, but allow it to continuously improve and thereby enable Additive Manufacturing. Let us not forget that PyroGenesis has produced Titanium powders in the past, and is not new to this prospect,” said Pascali.

“Add to this the fact that there is serious consolidation taking place in the industry which is exasperating an already serious lack of powder suppliers, particularly of the characteristics we supply, all bodes well for PyroGenesis’ strategy to supply unique powders to the Additive Manufacturing industry. In short, we remain confident, and recent events including such a successful first powder production run, have only made us more optimistic than ever before, that PyroGenesis will quickly become a leading metallic powder supplier to the Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) industry.”

You can take a look at the unique Plasma Atomization Process in the video below:

VIDEO

 

 





Printing

via 3DPrint.com https://3dprint.com

March 31, 2017 at 01:34AM
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