Interview With Sascha F. Wenzler of Formnext About 3D Printing Tradeshows and Formnext 201810/30/2018
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Interview With Sascha F. Wenzler of Formnext About 3D Printing Tradeshows and Formnext 2018 https://ift.tt/2DflNjx Formnext is fast approaching and it will be massive. Just based on the number of interview requests, press releases and press conferences we’ve been invited to there will be an avalanche of news during Formnext. Started only a few years ago Formnext has quickly become one of the if not the 3D printing tradeshow worldwide. Its a must-attend event for everyone who wants to enter or participate in the 3D printing market in Europe and connects many people from all over the world to global markets. Reason enough for us to interview Sascha Wenzler who is the Vice President of Formnext about the tradeshow. What is Formnext going to be like this year?
Have you seen any major changes in the participants over the years?
Why should I attend as a visitor?
What advice would you give me as a visitor?
Why should I as a company showcase myself at Formnext?
What advice would you give a company exhibiting at Formnext?
What new things will you be introducing this year?
Why do you think that Formnext has gotten so large?
Do you think that tradeshows are under threat?
Where should we go eat and drink in Frankfurt?
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 01:12PM
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3D Printed Nanocomposite Can Self-Heal Damage Once Exposed to Room Temperature Water Vapor10/30/2018
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3D Printed Nanocomposite Can Self-Heal Damage Once Exposed to Room Temperature Water Vapor https://ift.tt/2RnJQzo A group of researchers from Canada’s Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC) at the Polytechnique Montréal recently submitted a paper, titled “3D Printing of Self-Healing and Stretchable Nanocomposites Sensors,” in Materials Horizons that explains how they developed a self-healing nanocomposite, made of chitosan (CS) and carbon nanotubes (CNT), that can heal damage once it’s exposed to water vapor at room temperature.
There are many applications for stretchable, self-healing devices made from sustainable materials, such as biomedical devices, soft robotics, and wearable sensors, because of their restorative properties and low cost. But, due to an increasing demand for more powerful electronics, electronic waste that contains non-biodegradable and toxic materials is a big problem. While there has been research conducted on designing self-healing materials based on autonomic healing, among other features, they can’t really be used in electronics due to a lack of electrical conductivity.
The team turned to 3D printing, which is a low-cost way to accurately fabricate electronic devices. While it’s necessary to have a high loading (20 wt %) of CNTs to make a conductive nanocomposite, this level of concentration in the polymer binder lowers the stretchability. Instability-assisted 3D printing (IA3DP) of PLA fibers, however, can improve this property for polymers.
The team developed a novel CS/CNT ink, made up of a blend of CNTs, CS as polymer binder, and a dispersing solution of distilled water and acetic, citric, and lactic acids. Then, the ink was used to make complex 3D structures and microstructured fibers with a combination of IA3DP and solvent-cast 3D printing (SC3DP). The researchers performed electrical conductivity tests on fibers of the CS/CNT nanocomposites, in addition to mechanical tests on both straight and coil-patterned fibers. In order to test the seal-healing behavior, the team cut the CS/CNT fibers with a standard razor blade, and then sprayed water vapor on the samples for 10 seconds. A humidifier was then used to heal the cut fibers, and then they were dried by a hair dryer until “the current back to the initial values.” The researchers then performed electrical measurements on both the original and healed fibers. The team’s work is already shedding more light on using high stretchability and self-healing ability in sensor design. In addition, the paper is showcasing the use of biodegradable polymers that “leads to a class of electronic materials for excellent performance and functionality of electronic devices.”
Co-authors are Qinghua Wu, Shibo Zou, Frédérick Gosselin, Daniel Therriault, and Marie-Claude Heuzey. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 12:15PM Sigma Labs to Introduce PrintRite 4.0 at formnext https://ift.tt/2PusnYP Sigma Labs is known for its PrintRite3D quality assurance system for additive manufacturing, which combines PrintRite3D SENSORPAK multi-sensors and hardware with PrintRite3D INSPECT, CONTOUR and ANALYTICS software modules.
Both CONTOUR and ANALYTICS are still under development. In a couple of weeks, at formnext 2018, Sigma Labs will be launching the latest edition of the product suite: PrintRite 4.0.
IPQA technology is Sigma Labs’ system for optimizing melt pool conditions during the additive manufacturing process, using sensor data and establishing in-process quality metrics. It also provides part quality reporting using statistical analysis of process data to validate repeatability. The upgrades to PrintRite3D come mainly in the form of upgrades to SENSORPAK and INSPECT. SENSORPAK 4.0 hardware eliminates sensors within the build chamber; all sensors are now coaxial to the laser optics, eliminating concerns over gas flow disruptions or space limitations within the build chamber. A new client-server architecture allows multiple machines to be connected to the system as clients, so that one server can run multiple machines. The data acquisition and data processing hardware has been upgraded to provide faster processing of data, and results are now displayed in real time during the build. Finally, the new hardware has a smaller footprint with no floor space requirement. The new INSPECT 4.0 software has melt pool spectral data evaluation capability. Sigma Labs developed a physics-based methodology for characterizing and analyzing spectral data and optimizing optics hardware and sensors to monitor spectral regions of interest and validate thermal Sigma Labs will be officially unveiling the new upgrades to PrintRite3D at formnext, which is taking place in Frankfurt, Germany from November 13th to November 16th. If you will be attending, you can stop by and visit Sigma Labs at Booth 3.0-H77. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 11:45AM
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CITD Uses 3D Printing to Improve Success Rates of Scoliosis Surgery https://ift.tt/2DdqBpu Scoliosis is a disease with varying degrees of severity. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be treated at all, while sometimes a brace is required and sometimes it’s serious enough to require surgery. 3D printing has changed the way scoliosis braces are made – in the past, they were bulky, uncomfortable contraptions, but 3D printing has allowed them to be made much more lightweight and form-fitting. Meanwhile, surgical treatments are also being changed for the better by 3D printing, as the technology allows for personalized surgical guides. The PAMIS project is working to improve scoliosis surgery through the development of 3D printed implants.Typically, scoliosis surgery involves the implantation of standard straight and flat metallic straps that are screwed to the spine. The standard sizes and shapes of these implants can be problematic, as no one’s anatomy is exactly the same, and can result in complications or even the need for revision surgery in the future. With 3D printing, however, personalized implants can be made. Using 3D scans of the patient’s spine, medical professionals could take advantage of finite element modeling and design optimization techniques to create the best possible implants for each patient’s unique anatomy. Those implants can be 3D printed, using lightweight, biocompatible materials.
PAMIS is being undertaken by Spanish company CITD, an engineering company that was originally formed in 2000 to develop an aircraft electrical system. Since then, the company has gone on to work closely with Airbus on several projects, and has made a name for itself in the aerospace industry. CITD uses additive manufacturing and other digital technologies to deliver high quality aircraft components, and is now applying its expertise in these technologies to healthcare with the PAMIS project. Scoliosis is a surprisingly common condition; about three out of every 100 people suffer from it. While many of those cases are mild enough to not require treatment, some of them are so severe that the sufferer’s ability to walk and even to sit up can be impaired. These are the cases that often require surgery, and for some, this can be a lifelong burden rather than a quick fix, if revision surgeries are required. 3D printing and digital design can eliminate the need for revision surgery so that even those with the most serious cases of scoliosis can go on to lead normal, healthy lives. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 10:42AM
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Researchers Prepare Silicon Carbide-Polymer Composite Materials for SLS 3D Printing https://ift.tt/2Dcf75B Silicon carbide, or SiC, has a lot of potential for use in industrial applications, like aeronautic and aerospace engineering, the automotive industry, and the machinery industry, due to its excellent physical and chemical properties. But, because of the high production costs that come with mold manufacturing, machining, and high temperature and pressure sintering processes, this industrial use is rather limited. Selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing could be used to help lower these costs, and a collaborative team of Chinese researchers from the Southern University of Science and Technology, Southeast University, and the Harbin Institute of Technology recently published a paper, titled “Development of SiC/PVB Composite Powders for Selective Laser Sintering Additive Manufacturing of SiC,” that explains how they prepared SiC-polymer composites with good dispersity and flowability, using a ball milling method, for SLS 3D printing. By combining multiple materials into a composite material, completed components can benefit from the respective strengths of each material.
There are two approaches to manufacturing ceramic parts using SLS technology: direct and indirect. For this study, the researchers created their composite powder materials, using polyvinyl butyral (PVB) as a binder in order to investigate its effect on the powders’ surface modification, for indirect SLS processing.
As many commercial ceramic powders have irregular morphology and poor flowability, they’re not great for use in 3D printing. So the most important step of indirect SLS processing is the actual production of the polymer-ceramic composite powder agglomerates. The team combined PVB, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and commercial SiC powder with anhydrous alcohol, and then ball milled the mixture at 120 rpm for 12 hours. The resulting powders were sieved through a 120 mesh screen, before a Concept Laser M2 was used to complete the composite’s preliminary spreading and forming tests. The composite powder’s laser absorptivity was studied, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the granulated particles’ morphology and microstructure, while X-ray diffraction identified the phase composition of the composite powders, laser diffraction measured the size of the agglomerates, and the materials’ UV-Vis analysis was also tested. The researchers successfully prepared subsphaeroidal SiC/polymer composite granules, complete with good flowability, for SLS 3D printing, and added PVB binder to include surface modification. They investigated the effects of PVB on the distributions, flowability, shapes, and sizes of polymer-ceramic composite powder agglomerates, and determined some important information. First, the added PVB has an optimal value (~3 wt. %), and the SiC granules modified with this material showed good spreading performance and flowability. In addition, when the wavelength is below 500 nm, the composite powder had good laser absorptivity, which suggests that using SLS 3D printing to fabricate the material could work with systems of a corresponding wavelength.
Co-authors of the paper are Peng Zhou, Huilin Qi, Zhenye Zhu, Huang Qin, Hui Li, Chenglin Chu, and Ming Yan. Discuss this research and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 04:15AM
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Evonik: 3D Printing Machinery Needs to Catch Up with Materials https://ift.tt/2Jo7SYj Evonik Industries is the largest specialty chemical company in the world, and it has not been afraid to involve itself with 3D printing, working with HP on the development of high performance 3D printing materials. The company is also a long term supplier of polyamide powder for laser sintering. The PA 12 polyamide powders (PA2200) used by both EOS and 3D Systems both came from Evonik. Recently, the company developed a PEBA powder for laser sintering, high speed sintering and binder jetting. The flexible material will allow manufacturers to create soft structures like damping elements, tubes, hoses and sealants, according to Sylvia Monsheimer, Evonik’s Head of New 3D Technologies. Evonik is poised to deliver more high-performance materials, too – but first, Monsheimer said, 3D printing machinery needs to catch up in terms of production capability.
You may think “but hasn’t 3D printing already taken off?” It has, but in terms of becoming a production technology rather than a prototyping one, it’s still working to get over the hump, although it has made progress. The materials are there, but it’s a matter of more quickly developing more machinery that can print with these materials. Monsheimer claims that this is the biggest obstacle to 3D printing at the moment.
She does think, however, that 3D printing is in the process of making the shift toward becoming a true production technology, and Evonik is ready to become a major supplier for manufacturers once they can position themselves for production.
Earlier this year, Evonik opened a new production line for specialty PA powders at its site at the Marl Chemical Park in Germany, increasing the company’s annual capacities for PA 12 powders by 50 percent. It also opened a research hub for resource efficiency topics in Singapore, expanding its research into topics such as additive manufacturing and functional surfaces. Evonik is certainly not taking a negative attitude toward 3D printing – if anything, the company is feeling highly positive about the technology, simply wanting to see it accelerate a bit faster. And it’s doing its part to help 3D printing to accelerate, continuing to work with customers to develop new materials that will open up advanced applications.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. [Source: ICIS]
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 30, 2018 at 02:42AM
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Strengths of Three Materials Combine to Form Composite 3D Printed Components https://ift.tt/2yErfrU In a paper entitled “On the 3D printing of recycled ABS, PLA and HIPS thermoplastics for structural applications,” a group of researchers discusses multi-material 3D printing for structural applications. The materials they use are recycled ABS, PLA and HIPS to create composite parts. The point was to combine the materials so that the final component benefited from the respective strengths of each material.
The researchers 3D printed the sample components, which had four layers of each material. Testing was then performed on the components, including MFI characterization, differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis, tensile testing, Lee’s disc thermal conductivity measurement, flexural testing and pull out testing. ABS, PLA and HIPS were found, through DSC testing, to be compatible with each other, all of them having similar ranges of integral heat value.
Several conclusions were made from the study, as stated by the researchers:
Overall, the three materials were compatible with each other, and their strengths worked together to create composite components that were superior to single-material components. With the growing sophistication of 3D printers, and the greater accessibility of printers with multimaterial capabilities, it is becoming easier to 3D print composite components like these for functional applications that benefit from the best characteristics of ABS, PLA and HIPS. Authors of the paper include Ranvijay Kumar, Rupinder Singh and Ilenia Farina. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 29, 2018 at 04:06PM Michigan Tech Researchers Recycle Wood Furniture Waste into Composite 3D Printing Material10/29/2018
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Michigan Tech Researchers Recycle Wood Furniture Waste into Composite 3D Printing Material https://ift.tt/2Azectj From artwork, instruments, and boats to gear shift knobs, cell phone accessories, and even 3D printers, wood has been used often as a 3D printing material. It’s a valuable renewable resource that stores carbon and is easily recycled, so why wouldn’t we think to use it in 3D printing projects? A trio of researchers from Michigan Technological University recently published a paper, titled “Wood Furniture Waste-Based Recycled 3-D Printing Filament,” that looks to see how viable a solution it is to use wood furniture waste, upcycled into a wood polymer composite (WPC) material, as a 3D printing feedstock for building furniture.
While a lot of wood is wasted by burning it, it may be better to upcycle it into WPCs, which contain a wood component in particle form inside a polymer matrix. These materials can help lower costs and environmental impact, as well as offer a greater performance.
While lots of PLA composite manufacturers are already in the market to make virgin, wood-based 3D printing filaments, the Michigan Tech study investigated using wood furniture waste as a 3D printing feedstock for WPC filament, which could then be used to make new furniture components.
The team received wood-based waste material, in both sawdust and bulk form, from several furniture manufacturing companies, and completed some important steps to turn the wood waste into WPCs for 3D printing filament:
Then, the material was loaded into a delta RepRap 3D printer, as well as an open source Re:3D Gigabot 3D printer, to make a high-resolution drawer knob that was “attached to a printed wood block using a wood screw threaded through a pre-printed hole.”
Once an optimized 3D printing profile was obtained, the recycled wood furniture waste-based WPC filament was able to produce parts without too many errors. However, there was a greater frequency of filament blockages and nozzle clogging with this material, when compared to pure PLA.
The researchers wrote that further work on creating waste-based WPC filament should include quantifying the material’s mechanical properties after the first cycle, and then comparing it to other materials, such as pure PLA and modified wood fiber powder. Additionally, industrial equipment and grouped 3D printing nozzles should be evaluated in terms of scaling up the process. Co-authors of the paper are Adam M. Pringle, Mark Rudnicki, and Joshua Pearce. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 29, 2018 at 03:27PM
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How to Make Your Own Inexpensive 3D Printing Filament Dryer https://ift.tt/2AzeXTe Most everyone who 3D prints regularly knows that damp filament is a bad thing, but it can be hard to prevent, especially in certain climates, as some filaments such as nylon and PLA love to absorb moisture from the air. This can lead to a number of problems that ultimately cause failed or imperfect and failed prints. Filament becomes brittle and breaks during printing as well. There are plenty of commercial filament drying solutions out there, but why not try making your own inexpensive dryer? That’s what two 3D printing enthusiasts did, and they shared their knowledge with the rest of the world via YouTube. The first instructor, from the channel Design Prototype Test, found a $30 600W food dehydrator at Walmart, because, as he says, most commercial filament dryers are basically “glorified food dehydrators.” However, the heater in the food dehydrator did not get hot enough to get the filament dry. So he took a form tube, used for pouring concrete, that he bought for $10 and wrapped it in a foam sheet that had come from the packaging of one of his 3D printers. He then took the “guts” of the food dehydrator and fixed them to a 3D printed lid that went over the tube. A smaller tube in the middle of the device has hot air blasted down it and circulates the air throughout the larger tube. The device still, however, did not get hot enough. After taking the device apart, he concludes that there is nothing to be done to get the dryer hotter – but that as a first attempt, the design shows potential. He plans to try it again with a hotter, more high-end food dehydrator in the future. VIDEO The second video comes from 3D printing expert Richard Horne, aka RichRap. His idea for a filament dryer was inspired by dryers used by E3D and Polymaker, but he modified their ideas to be less expensive and more versatile. He started with an 11-liter plastic box that he found on eBay, and added a small heating element, originally intended to heat reptile cages, ordered from China for only a few dollars. Horne then 3D printed two parts that snap together to hold a temperature and humidity monitoring device. He also 3D printed a filament spool holder, as well as a piece that the heating element can slide into and heat up below the filament holder. Desiccant gel packs were added to the bottom of the box. Cable connections were added so that the filament can come out of the box and into the 3D printer – Horne wanted a device that would allow the filament to print as it was being dried. He also 3D printed a flexible seal for the top of the box. Finally, Horne demonstrates a quick humidity monitoring system – a 3D printed holder that can slide into the center of a filament spool and hold one of the temperature and humidity monitors mentioned above. This is an easy way to keep an eye on the moisture of filament stored in plastic bags. Horne’s filament drying system proved to be effective, and cost less than $20. He put the files for the 3D printable parts up on Thingiverse and Youmagine so that anyone can reproduce them. VIDEO Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 29, 2018 at 03:27PM
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3D Printing and a Smartphone Create an Inexpensive, Compact Interferometer https://ift.tt/2DenNs6 Smartphones serve many functions, including that of scientific instruments. With a little tinkering and 3D printing help, makers have turned smartphones into things like microscopes, and in a paper entitled “Design of a 3D printed compact interferometric system and required phone application for small angular measurements,” a pair of researchers document how they used 3D printing and a smartphone to create an interferometer, a scientific instrument that takes precise measurements through the interference of two beams of light.
The opto-mechanical components for the system were all developed using ZW3D CAD software and then 3D printed on a Raise N2 Plus 3D printer. Optical components such as a lens and pinhole were mounted to the 3D printed components. The phone itself is equipped with a 13 megapixel count CMOS sensor with high resolution. An Android application was developed for onboard fringe processing and automatic evaluation of angular rotation of the glass slide.
3D printing has been used to create all sorts of low-cost laboratory equipment, including reactors, drug testing systems and much more. The purpose of the researchers’ paper was to demonstrate that a complex interferometer could be created using accessible, inexpensive means – a smartphone and 3D printed components. Not only is the device inexpensive, it’s user-friendly and compact, making it portable enough to take anywhere in the field. These are the advantages of 3D printing – the ability to take complex tools and reduce them to only a few components, drastically cutting back on cost and size. Authors of the paper include I. Hussain and P. Nath. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com October 29, 2018 at 10:03AM |
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