We’re starting with a little bit of business news in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, before moving on to a new material and a software update. PostProcess is partnering with CUBRC, and both Launcher and 3YOURMIND have announced new executives. ElogioAM released its new Facilian HT material, and Simplify3D has a software update.

PostProcess Technologies Partnering with CUBRC

This week, PostProcess Technologies, which provides automated and intelligent post-processing solutions for 3D printed parts, announced that it was partnering with CUBRC in order to accelerate its patent-pending 3D printing software platforms. PostProcess will leverage CUBRC’s Heartwood Analytics machine learning suite in order to advance its work in fully digitizing 3D printing. Its AUTOMAT3D and CONNECT3D platforms both use a data science approach to 3D printing, which helps improve performance while also reducing the amount of guesswork and manual steps customers have to deal with during support removal and surface finishing. By using Heartwood Analytics, these platforms will be even more efficient.

“PostProcess was founded on software as the first component of our solution. We’ve known since the beginning that data analytics was an essential part of doing data science at scale,” said Daniel Hutchinson, the Founder and CTO of PostProcess Technologies. “That’s why we’ve chosen CUBRC for its experience and expertise in data extraction, alignment, analysis and systems optimization technologies to enhance and expedite our post-printing software platforms.”

Launcher Hires Chief Designer

Launcher, a startup making 3D printed rocket engines to help deliver small satellites to orbit, has hired Igor Nikishchenko as its Chief Designer. Nikishchenko has over three decades of experience with high-performance liquid rocket engine development, and was most recently working in Italy for Avio, which is an important contractor for the Ariane and Vega launchers developed by the European Space Agency. He will work at Launcher’s main office in New York City, and will help the startup achieve its first goal of developing the least expensive, highest performing liquid rocket engine for small launch vehicles: the 3D printed Launcher E-2, which features 22,000-lbf thrust and a closed cycle liquid rocket engine.

“We’re not doing science here, not trying to make a breakthrough. We’re trying to use a proven high-performance engine design, applied to a smaller size,” said Max Haot, the Founder and CEO of Launcher.

According to Haot, Nikishchenko will have a role similar to that of a chief engineer or chief technology officer, and will be responsible for all of the startup’s engineering and design efforts.

3YOURMIND Names Head of Global Marketing

Stefan Ritt and Aleksander Ciszek sign employment contract at formnext 2018

Software company 3YOURMIND announced that it has recruited additive manufacturing veteran Stefan Ritt to join the company as its new Head of Global Marketing, in order to continue serving its expanding international customer base. Ritt has spent over 20 years working in the AM industry on a global scale, most recently as the VP of Global Marketing and Communications for SLM Solutions, and has served as the Chairman of the Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace work group at the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) since 2015. Throughout 2019, 3YOURMIND plans to increase its presence in both Europe and the US by adding more AM production and machine manufacturing experts to the software development team, and Ritt will be integral to the company’s mission of integrating 3D printing into series manufacturing.

“I am very pleased with the trust that Aleksander Ciszek, Stephan Kuehr and their team have placed in me,” said Ritt. “I am convinced that adding the integration of AM machines within 3YOURMIND’s comprehensive software will be the solution the AM industry needs to make the step from individual prototyping to advanced industrialization and reliable serial-batch production.”

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ElogioAM Introducing Facilan HT Material

This summer, high-performance 3D printing filament producer 3D4Makers and specialty chemicals company Perstorp AB signed a joint venture agreement, which resulted in the new 3D printing materials company ElogioAM B.V. Now, the company is continuing to develop new filament solutions, like Facilan C8, for 3D printing, and this week introduced its latest addition: Facilan HT. The copolyster material was designed, like all Facilan products, to be easily 3D printed with minimum warping on most conventional FDM 3D printers, which require stronger, more durable materials. It’s fully amorphous, with high temperature resistance and high stiffness, which makes it possible to optimize designs for faster rigid part print jobs.

Matthew Forrester, the 3D Printing Tech leader for L`Oréal, said, “Excellent technical support from the Elogio team, Facilan HT is as easy to print as PLA, with a good level of translucidity, perfect for our prototyping needs.”

Facilan HT is now available for pre-order in 1.75 mm diameter, 750 gram spools for €37.50.

Simplify3D Announces Software Update

Just one month ago, Simplify3D, which is one of the most popular brands of professional 3D slicing software, launched Version 4.1 of its software suite. Now, the company has come out with Version 4.1.1 of the software.

This latest release comes with many improved features, in addition to multiple bug fixes for issues like disabled force retraction between layers. For example, the corkscrew printing (vase mode) has improved seam locations, and users can transition this mode to create smooth spiraling outlines without adding any additional artifacts. The skirt and brim placement has been updated to remain closer to the outline of the model for better adhesion, and the solid layer placement has been improved in order to create high-quality top solid layers.

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Ahmad is the first patient to receive an above-elbow 3D printed prosthetic from MSF. Technicians added an extra piece to substitute the humerus in the prosthetic, and Ahmad will be able to both bend and stretch the arm.

For over ten years now, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known in English as Doctors Without Borders, has been operating a reconstructive surgery hospital in Amman, Jordan. Patients from many Middle Eastern countries who are victims of bomb blasts, shrapnel, bullets, and other war-related wounds are healed there.

But the MSF-run hospital also offers upper limb amputees something in addition to emergency medical care – 3D printed prosthetics.

Moreau scans the amputated hand of Ibrahim, a patient from Iraq. The scanned image appears in real-time on his computer and will provide accurate measurements for his tailor-made prosthetics.

Pierre Moreau, the clinical coordinator for MSF’s 3D printed prosthetic project in Jordan, said, “The MSF Foundation launched the 3D project in Amman in February last year, and we started to see the first patients two months later.

“So far, we have delivered 16 printed prosthetics. But our role doesn’t stop here. We support patients through a string of occupational therapy sessions to show what they can do with them.”

The project began as a study and is still technically in its experimental phase. Patients come to the hospital from places where it’s hard to get proper treatment, and too expensive for subsequent therapy, like Gaza, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and MSF uses 3D scanning and printing to help them regain partial functionality. In turn, patient feedback helps the organization improve the quality of the 3D printed prosthetics.

34-year-old Ibrahim suffered injuries to his head, hand, and leg from a car explosion, and has had a total of six surgeries. While his hand was only initially broken, improper treatment caused it to rot, and doctors soon amputated it; Ibrahim has been dealing with the resulting pain for over two years.

Ibrahim’s 3D scans

At MSF’s Jordanian hospital, Ibrahim’s hands were scanned, and a mirrored picture will “be matched with the scan of the injured part” to make a more accurate prosthetic. Before his injury, Ibrahim was a driver, and his 3D printed prosthetic will allow him to return to work.

MSF is also 3D printing transparent masks for patients with facial burns, which are used to apply pressure on the affected surface to keep skin soft and flat after graft surgeries to help the face heal with less scarring. 7-year-old Nour Saleh suffered head injuries in 2014 when a small device exploded near the family home, and eventually underwent a skin graft procedure in Baghdad.

The family didn’t have enough money to cover all of her medical costs, and MSF accepted the case two years ago. Thanks to four surgeries at the Jordanian hospital, Nour was able to grow her hair back, which really helped with her self esteem.

Traditionally manufactured below-elbow prosthetics can cost anywhere from $200 to $2,000. But for a 3D printed prosthesis, factoring in the material, production time, case estimation, and assessment of the patient’s needs, the overall costs are much lower.

“The idea is to be able to produce 3D-printed prosthetics in the future in places difficult to access and lacking a sound healthcare system, like in conflict areas,” explained Moreau. “But the way to do it is still under discussion, as it is not always easy to find technicians available in these areas, and printers are still expensive.”

Samar Ismail

Prices are expected to keep going down as people in the industry work to develop cheaper 3D printers and innovative materials. Speaking of materials, MSF 3D Project Supervisor Samar Ismail takes care of the post-processing work for the 3D printed prosthetics, which includes painting them a color that matches the patients’ complexions and adding a varnish safety layer so food can be safely handled.

44-year-old Abu Mohammad was working in a field when a bomb was dropped, which affected both his hands and legs.

“It was impossible to escape the accident,” he explained. “Warplanes arrive suddenly and when you notice their presence, it is because you are on the ground groaning in pain.”

He uses a walker to move, and, as he has a nerve injury and multiple amputated fingers, received an active-system prosthetic, which will allow him to open and close his hand and activate the prosthetic thumb by moving his shoulder. This will help Mohammad complete tasks like combing his hair or holding a phone.

23-year-old Abdulkareem was also injured by a bomb dropped from an airplane. At the local hospital where he sought treatment, he received an uncomfortable prosthesis made with traditional methods that he rarely used. 17-year-old war victim Ahmad Meqdad was injured outside when a plane dropped a barrel bomb near his home seven years ago, and was taken to the hospital with his arm barely hanging on; his hand was soon amputated, and his mother says that he “refuses to talk about the accident.”

MSF has used 3D printing to help all of these patients, and will hopefully continue to do its good work for as long as it’s necessary.

Note: Some of the patient’s names were changed on request.

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[Source:

/ Images: Elisa Oddone]

Allison Murray and Jeffrey Rhoads in 2017

Energetic materials are a class of material that contains high amounts of stored chemical energy that can be released, and they are used in everything from airbags to explosives. Last year, a team of researchers from Purdue University used 3D printed energetic materials to create a mini shock wave, and have since continued their work with these unique materials.

The researchers can safely 3D print energetic materials, featuring fine geometric features, for less money, at greater speeds. Now, Jeffrey Rhoads, a professor in the university’s School of Mechanical Engineering, has teamed up with several other colleagues, including former Purdue research assistant professor Emre Gunduz, to start a faculty-owned startup focused on making the energetic materials, like propellants, solid rocket fuels, and pyrotechnics, along with the 3D printers that can produce them.

Jeffrey Rhoads

Rhoads is now the COO of Next Offset Solutions, with Gunduz, now a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, as its CTO. The startup makes its energetic materials with a process – patented with help from the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization – that allows the 3D printer to produce viscous materials, which have a clay-like consistency and can be difficult to extrude. The method makes it possible for the team to precisely, and safely, deposit the energetic materials.

Rhoads said, “It’s like the Play-Doh press of the 21st century.

“We have shown that we can print these energetic materials without voids, which is key. Voids are bad in energetic materials because they typically lead to inconsistent, sometimes catastrophic, burns.”

According to Rhoads, the startup’s 3D printer doesn’t use any solvents to lower the viscosity, which makes the process faster, more environmentally friendly, and less expensive. Additionally, the 3D printer is also much safer due to a remote control feature.

“You don’t have to have a person there interfacing with the system,” Rhoads explained. “That’s a big advantage from the safety standpoint.”

Monique McClain, a doctoral candidate in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, demonstrates how it’s possible to 3D print extremely viscous materials.

The 3D printer functions a lot like more conventional 3D printers, with the exception of how it extrudes the highly viscous materials. High-amplitude ultrasonic vibrations are applied to the 3D printer’s nozzle, which lowers the friction on the nozzle walls and allows for more precise flow control of the material.

While Next Offset Solutions is mainly focused on producing energetic materials, it’s not adverse to further applications, other Purdue researchers have already used the startup’s novel method to 3D print things like personalized drugs and biomedical implants. For instance, because its 3D printing material has already been qualified by the departments of Defense and Energy, the startup hopes to provide its technology and products to the departments and their contractors.

The startup is also focusing on additional advanced evaluation, research, development, and testing in the 3D printing and energetic materials space. But its original research definitely aligns with the university’s Giant Leaps celebration as part of its 150th anniversary, which celebrates Purdue’s “global advancements in health.”

Purdue researchers have published several papers focusing on 3D printing energetic and viscous materials in the Additive Manufacturing journal, including:

Take a look at the video below to see the viscous material 3D printing process for yourself:

VIDEO

What do you think? Discuss this work and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. 

[Source/Images:

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Test specimen produced using AM robot system

Many objects that we call 3D printed, from crayons and chess pieces to turbines and dental aligners, and were actually created using 3D printed molds, rather than being fully printed themselves. A trio of researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design recently published a paper, titled “Design and Robotic Fabrication of 3D Printed Moulds for Composites,” about their work in fabricating molds using a robotic additive manufacturing process, as well as “introducing the integration of AM and AFP process.”

The abstract reads, “3D printing technologies have a direct impact on manufacturing the composite structures and in particularly fabrication of molds. Molds produced through additive manufacturing methods would greatly improve product features. The material selection and process conditions involved for producing mold tooling, mainly towards Automated fiber placement (AFP) work cells. In this study, the main objective is to improve the design and fabrication of composite parts through complex molds as well as to assess and improve the production workflow through the development of an effective design environment for the existing fiber placement operation. A robotic arm will be used to hold the print surface and to follow a pre-programmed print path with a stationary extruder to fabricate the mold tooling. This paper will present a review on the selection process for mold materials and the initial experimental work carried out to investigate required properties of 3D printed molds.”

Fabrication of parts or laminates using distinct types of molds

The team explained that molds are made out of composites in the form of blocks, and manufactured using lamination, casting, or 3D printing in the required shape of the object they’ll later be used to mold. For the purposes of the study, the researchers worked specifically with mold fabrication for prepreg composite structures and the use of automated fiber placement (AFP) for the “prepreg layup.”

“AFP process achieves high production rate, better quality, efficient and low cost of manufacturing of large scale composite structures,” the researchers explained. “When integrating AFP process with the robots, leads to highly automated process, further reduction in material wastage, good processing quality and repeatability.”

There are many advantages to fabricating molds with 3D printing, including the ability to achieve and easily share complex designs, less material waste, lower costs, automated manufacturing, and increased production speed. Here, the team focused on a robotic extrusion method of 3D printing.

Bird’s eye view of concept robotic work cell layout using AM and AFP process
techniques.

“Integrating the additive manufacturing design freedom method and the multi-axis control or industrial robotics are further step towards development in the 3D printing revolution,” the researchers wrote. “The complex design fabrication can be achieved, fiber alignment can be manipulated and controlled degree also reliable when adding multi-axis motion platforms. The X-Y gantry system has limitations on complex structure lay-up, transfer molding, filament winding and automation. The robot-based 3D printed mold has unique features like potential on fabricating light weight structures, freedom on degrees of geometric complexity, part consolidation and design optimization.”

Process flow of manufacturing process

As shown in the image to the left, this researchers was structured into four components: composite part design – which covers structural analysis and fiber distribution – tool path planning, work cell setup, and application and prototyping.

“Due to the complexity of the fabrication process, including two robotic arms with specialized end-effectors, the toolpath planning requires careful coordination, motion and collision simulation,” the researchers explained. “The research developed with the required systems to optimize and streamline the toolpath planning process. In this way, the fiber placement process becomes a part, or option, in a more ambitious production line that includes additive manufacturing and subtractive manufacturing processes.”

Robot-based 3D composites were used in order to increase both the flexibility and potential of manufacturing, and the “AM robust work cell system” helped to produce geometric-specific molds that support AFP. The resulting mold is representative of “the negative form of the target geometry.”

“The additive manufacturing robot fabricates the mold structure and the AFP robot places the prepreg tapes on the surface of the substrate. Eventually, the work flow would be continuous process like the AM robot arm will move on to AFP robot for tape placement after the substrate have been build using extruder on the work platform,” the team explained. “The build platform is designed and fitted at the end of the robot arm and the extruder placed above the platform in the aluminum frame. In general, the extruder moves in X and Y direction and the build platform moves along Z direction in the FDM system, here the concept focused to fix the extruder and the robot arm fixed with build platform will move in all direction with respect to the part design.”

Additive Manufacturing robot work cell design

Once the researchers produced the mold, the robotic arm moved to the AFP side for the prepreg placement process.

“The initial experiments have shown that AM modelled mold can indeed stabilize the prepreg sheets while fabrication,” the researchers concluded. “From the above description and discussion, the conclusions and future works are: Robotic additive manufacturing has a unique advantage in complex geometry printing and large-scale manufacturing. It can be simulated in an industrial robot simulation and offline programming software platform. The future work is to model complex geometry modelling mold to fabricate the composite structures. In addition to develop the system that uses the process simulation as a tool in AM part design and optimization with respect to the mechanical, thermal and electrical property requirements.”

Co-authors of the paper are Rajkumar Velu, Nahaad Vaheed, and Felix Raspall.

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Arthritis breaks down cartilage between joints, leading to pain, stiffness, and swelling. [Public domain image: Jojo]

Millions of people are affected by arthritis, a chronic condition consisting of physical disability and joint pain that can negatively affect the patient’s life. But not only is the condition painful, it is also costly in terms of medical care and expenses that aren’t covered by insurance, such as adaptive aids to help with tasks such as opening jars. These aids are helpful, but much more expensive than conventional products. Using digital technologies, like desktop 3D printing, in the distributed manufacturing of goods has been growing more popular when it comes to lowering costs. Low cost medical devices, experimental equipment and lab equipment have already been shown to be feasible and affordable. Will the same be true of adaptive aids?

Arthritis patients would definitely benefit from a cost reduction of adaptive aids, which is where a trio of researchers from Michigan Technological University come in. Nicole Gallup, Jennifer K. Bow, and Joshua M. Pearce completed a study, titled “Economic Potential for Distributed Manufacturing of Adaptive Aids for Arthritis Patients in the U.S.,” that evaluated if distributed manufacturing, by way of 3D printing, would be economically viable for fabricating lower cost adaptive aids for arthritis.

The abstract reads, “By 2040, more than a quarter of the U.S. population will have diagnosed arthritic conditions. Adults with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions earn less than average yet have medical care expenditures that are over 12% of average household income. Adaptive aids can help arthritis patients continue to maintain independence and quality of life; however, their high costs limit accessibility for older people and the poor. One method used for consumer price reduction is distributed manufacturing with 3-D printers. In order to assess if such a method would be financially beneficial, this study evaluates the techno-economic viability of distributed manufacturing of adaptive aids for arthritis patients.“

The study focused on aids for arthritis of the hands, as these are the most likely candidates for 3D printing. The team used common, inexpensive PLA to fabricate 20 adaptive aids on low-cost desktop 3D printers – specifically delta-style RepRap Athena II kits from Michigan’s 3D4EDU – to determine their distributed manufacturing costs. 

Case study arthritis adaptive aids: (c) drawer aid; (d) light switch aid; (e) sock aid; (f) knife guide aid

All of the adaptive aids were found for free on open source 3D printing design website MyMiniFactory, sliced with the recommended settings on Cura, and the open source 3D printers were run with no heated beds or enclosures to keep the cost down, as well as to ensure realistic mechanical properties and operating conditions. With the exception of manual support material removal and assembly, no other post-processing was required.

The 20 adaptive aids included items that would be able to help users complete such everyday tasks as splitting pills, clipping their nails and brushing their teeth, zipping up jackets and opening up pop cans, and turning on a light switch.

The researchers chose the adaptive aids based on six criteria:

1. They had freely available STLs posted on MyMiniFactory.
2. They contained the source code for straightforward device customization.
3. They were licensed with an open-source compatible license or designer requests as defined by the Open Source Hardware Association.
4. They could be fabricated on a consumer grade 3D printer.
5. They were able to be 3D printed and used if manufactured from PLA.
6. They had a functionally equivalent commercialized proprietary product, or a clear application for arthritis patients.

“These products were tested for function and compared to those that offer similar functions on the U.S. market,” the researchers wrote. “These results are evaluated to determine the potential for distributed manufacturing to assist arthritis patients and conclusions are drawn.”

Case study arthritis adaptive aids: (m) key aid; (n) typing aid; (o) pop can aid; (p) dog leash aid

The researchers found that each adaptive aid was in fact “able to perform the technical mechanical function for which it was designed,” but determined that further work is necessary in order to find out where the devices would be most applicable in terms of patient populations. Then, they set about determining the overall cost of 3D printing the 20 assistive aids.

Filament costs and labor costs were excluded, and the actual 3D printing time was also not a factor, because “the filament cost dominates the operating costs and the printers can be comfortably operated without observation or labor intervention.”

“The energy use of the 3-D printer was found to be about 40 W during printing,” the researchers stated. “With energy use during translation (movement without printing of the head) and warming up to printing temperature included, the 3-D printer uses about 0.06 kW/h or less than 1 penny per hour to operate.”

The researchers also massed all of the 3D printed components after printing and post-processing was complete to help with the economic comparison. But, while the mass is pretty dependent on the slicing settings, the cost of a single aid will only vary by about 10% from new user setting variations, which changes the percent savings but doesn’t hurt the conclusions.

“For example, the toothbrush aid had a mass of 69.55 g. If it was printed with a mass of 76.5 g (a 10% increase) it would result in a cost of US$1.53, which is a 91.8% savings rather than 92.5%,” the researchers explained.

As it turns out, using distributed manufacturing to 3D print adaptive aids can actually save arthritis patients a decent amount of money.

Economic comparison of distributed manufacturing and commercial arthritis adaptive aids.

“The financial savings for the patients ranged from 86.3–98.5% per product manufactured with a consumer desktop 3-D printer, with average savings of  over 94%. Overall, the 20 example adaptive aids could be printed for a 1 kg of plastic, which costs $20, while on average each single adaptive aid would save the patient more than $20,” the researchers concluded. “3-D printing all 20 adaptive aids would save about $400, which means only 30 adaptive aids alone could fully cover the capital cost of the printer along with the filament and electricity costs.”

This means that Medicare patients could potentially 3D print their own adaptive aids for less money than their 20% co-payments on prescribed DMEs.

“Policy makers as well as philanthropists should consider funding the open-source design of arthritis aids that have not already been developed,” the researchers concluded. “As arthritis is going to be an even more prevalent problem in the future, the application of distributed manufacturing represents a means to economically help society adapt to some of the increased costs associated with the disease.”

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

[Image: flickr user frankieleon]

Have you ever gone out into your yard and been surprised by a particular plant or tree that seems to have sprung up out of nowhere? It certainly wasn’t planted by you, so how did it get there? There is more than one possible way it may have happened – a seed could have been dropped or excreted by a bird flying overhead, but the seed also may have come directly from a parent plant, even if that plant was miles away. Blow on a dandelion puff and watch how far the seeds float, especially on a windy day, and it’s easy to see how dandelions end up absolutely everywhere. The dandelion is far from the only plant that sends out flying seeds to be spread on the wind, however. This is the focus of a paper entitled “

“

“Wind dispersion of seeds is a widespread evolutionary adaptation found in plants, which allows them to multiply in numbers and to colonize new geographical areas,” the researchers explain. “Seeds, fruits and other diaspores spores (dispersal units) are equipped with appendages that help generate a lift force to counteract gravity as they are passively transported with the wind. Seeds with a low terminal descent velocity increase their flight time and the opportunity to be transported horizontally by the wind before reaching the ground. Many plant species are today unfortunately under severe stress and on the verge of becoming extinct due to climate change, timber extraction and agricultural development. The terminal velocity of the seed is a necessary prerequisite for accurate predictions from dispersion models, which can help predict their wind dispersion and influence policy-makers in their conservation and reforestation plans.”

The researchers describe several shapes of windborne seeds and fruits, including single- and multi-winged seeds, many of which are autorotating or autogyrating – think of the whirly seeds that drop from maple trees. In order to better understand the relationship between wing geometry and terminal descent velocity, the researchers 3D printed several models of winged seeds and fruits using a Formlabs Form 2 3D printer. A series of experiments was performed in a large water tank; the 3D printed seeds were immeresed in the water and then released to drift to the bottom. A camera recorded the motion of the seeds from the side of the tank, and images were extracted from the video to track the seed’s lowest point and the wing tips.

The researchers also performed measurements from the top and bottom of the tank, which were found to be in excellent agreement with the measurements taken from the sides. They then developed formulas that showed the optimum shapes for the seeds’ wings.

“Our results point to geometrical shapes of the wings of multi-winged seeds, fruits and diaspores, which provide them with an optimal dispersion potential i.e. maximal flight time, and compares favourably with wing geometries found in the wild,” the researchers conclude. “For whirling fruits to maximize the time they are airborne, their appendages that function as wings must not curve too much or too little.”

Authors of the paper include Richard A. Fauli, Jean Rabault and Andreas Carlson.

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Today, GKN Aerospace announced that it is opening a new Global Technology Center in the United Kingdom. The center is being funded by a £17m commitment from GKN Aerospace and a £15m commitment from the UK Government, through the Aerospace Technology Institute. It is expected to open in 2020 and will be 10,000 square meters, housing 300 engineers. The center will also include collaborative space for research and development with universities, the UK’s CATAPULT network and GKN Aerospace’s UK supply chain.

“GKN Aerospace can trace its engineering heritage back to the 18th century and we are proud of our role as a leading player in the UK’s world leading aerospace sector,” said Hans Büthker, Chief Executive of GKN Aerospace. “The GTC will ensure we continue to develop new technologies that deliver for our customers, making aircraft more sustainable and economical. It will also support our 4,000 strong workforce in the UK, ensuring they remain at the cutting edge of the global aerospace industry. The GTC is a great example of the UK’s industrial strategy at its best: with industry and the Government coming together to invest in the technology of the future. The GTC will continue to foster such collaboration across the entire UK Aerospace ecosystem and we look forward to working with the British Government in the years to come.”

The new center will focus on additive manufacturing, advanced composites, assembly and Industry 4.0 processes in order to enable the high rate production of aircraft structures. It will also serve as the base for GKN Aerospace’s technology partnership in Airbus’ “Wing of Tomorrow” technology program, as well as new additive manufacturing programs.

GKN Aerospace has several Centers of Technical Excellence around the world. Each one has its own specific technology focus, such as additive manufacturing, thermoplastics and smart aero-engine systems. The centers are all supported and linked by a clear digital strategy.

“GKN Aerospace’s new Global Technology Centre further strengthens our aerospace heritage and engineering expertise, and will keep the UK at the forefront of the latest technologies and manufacturing processes for the next-generation of aircraft,” said Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. “As the sector moves towards a cleaner, greener and more efficient future, we are partnering with industry through our modern Industrial Strategy and new Aerospace Sector Deal to ensure we have the skills, innovation and supply-chain to continue our world leadership in aviation.”

Along with GKN Aerospace and the Aerospace Technology Institute, collaboration partners at the new Global Technology Center include the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Additive Industries B.V., ANSYS UK Limited, ATS Applied Tech Systems Limited, Centre for Modelling & Simulation, Digital Catapult, KUKA Industries UK Limited, Manufacturing Technology Centre, Materialise UK Limited, National Composites Centre, PXL Realm, Thales UK Limited, University of Bath, University of Bristol and University of Sheffield.

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Link3D MES & Additive Manufacturing Workflow Software

Today, New York City-based company Link3D, which uses its additive manufacturing execution workflow software to help customers in the 3D printing industry adopt and scale their strategy for Industry 4.0, announced that it will be joining EOS North America in working on a proof of concept trial. Together, the two will collaborate in an effort to increase the customer experience for clients in the benchmarking phase of production. By internally integrating the Link3D Additive MES solution, EOS North America can offer its clients a better overall AM experience.

“We consistently strive to work with cutting edge organizations. This includes material, software and hardware solutions for the additive manufacturing industry,” said Dr. Greg Hayes, Director of Applications, EOS North America. “Link3D is one of our choices for software solutions.”

EOS North America, which is an independent business of EOS GmbH, is a technology leader for high quality industrial 3D printing solutions for both metal and polymer materials. Because the company frequently performs benchmark studies from its Novi, Michigan and Pflugerville, Texas technical facilities for customers, it’s able to learn more about how to effectively and efficiently manage AM workflow processes in a “distributed manufacturing model.”

“Link3D is humbled to have its Additive MES solution selected by EOS North America to power its metal benchmarking facilities,” said Shane M. Fox, the CEO of Link3D. “We are excited to help increase EOS North America’s operational efficiencies and have our technology integrated into their ecosystem to enable their customer experience.”

Link3D has had a busy few months – in September alone, the company introduced a new Production Planning System for AM workflows and also announced a partnership with the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing in order increase the adoption of 3D printing across Europe. Now, in light of this new collaboration with EOS North America, it doesn’t seem that the company plans to slow down anytime soon.

Link3D is one of the top AMES & Additive Workflow software solutions for streamlining internal and external AM production for OEMs, and has a variety of levels of automation, configuration, and simulation to introduce the many benefits of 3D printing to its customers, which helps in centralizing the digital manufacturing ecosystem. Its Additive MES solution allows Link3D customers to visualize the entire AM workflow, starting with part design and order submission all the way to part inventory, data analytics, and delivery.

Those who use Link3D’s AM workflow software will be able to see how easy it is for people who submit orders for 3D printed parts to directly communicate with application engineers and technicians in order to finalize things like costs and quotes, production requirements, planning, and scheduling, post-processing and quality inspection, and delivery. In addition, customers who purchase the Link3D MES system can rest easy knowing that EOS North America has time tested its Build Simulation software for quoting and costing

Link3D MES digitally connects two sites, which helps improve customer experience and end-to-end transparency and lowers turnaround times. This fits right in with EOS North America’s “holistic solution” for 3D printing, and will help its customers truly understand the potential 3D printing has for production.

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Formlabs has announced that it has reformulated its High Temp Resin, which is part of its collection of Engineering Resins for the Form 2 3D printer. The material offers the highest heat deflection temperature (HDT) of any Formlabs resin and is well-suited for 3D printing detailed, precise parts with high thermal stability. The new and improved formulation has an HDT of 220ºC @ 0.45 MPa and better elongation to decrease brittleness.

Many prototyping materials deform at higher temperatures, so it can be a challenge to prototype items that come into contact with high heat. High Temp Resin is designed specifically for those applications, which can include kitchen appliances, millifluidic devices, and encapsulation of cosmetics.

Kitchen goods manufacturer OXO used High Temp Resin with the Form 2 to prototype functional parts that needed to come into contact with boiling water for their Barista Brain 9 Cup Coffee Maker.

“We use high temperature SLA printing to make prototype internal parts for coffee makers,” said Mack Mor, Senior Product Engineer at OXO.  “Since near-boiling water passes through the parts, traditional SLA resins deform, but high temperature resins stay rigid.”

In automotive and aerospace applications, High Temp Resin can be used in testing to prototype under-the-hood components, mount cameras inside industrial equipment, and mount sensors for wind tunnel testing. The Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield uses High Temp Resin to quickly test washers and brackets for different sensor configurations that can withstand the high temperatures of welding.

“If we’re getting these brackets manufactured or fabricated, we would have to go through a very arduous design process to make sure that the things we were manufacturing would actually be fit for purpose, whereas this lets us kind of go by a bit of trial and error and lets us test a lot more rigorously before we’ve settled on a final design,” said Matthew Smarts, Technical Lead, Machining Group for Nuclear NIC at AMRC.

High Temp Resin, in addition to prototyping and testing, can be used in production processes. A few examples of production applications include:

• Carbon fiber parts for aerospace and automotive applications
• Vulcanized rubber molds for jewelry production
• Injection mold inserts and test molds
• Protective masks for soldering or coating electronics

Google’s in-house technology incubator, the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, used High Temp Resin to produce hundreds of dummy PCBs in the overmolding process for a new kind of wearable. You can learn more about the process in the video below:

VIDEO

“The fact that we were able to shut the tool off on 3D printed material, hit it with that high-pressure injection, and not even have it flash, that’s a bit unique,” said David Beardsley, Model Shop Manager at Google ATAP. “Had we not had the Form 2 [and High Temp Resin], we would not have been able to pull this off. When we did move to a full product cycle, we were sure that was going to work.”

With the Form 2 and High Temp Resin, the ATAP team was able to 3D print surrogate inserts that withstood overmolding with TPSiV injected at over 250 °C and 27,000 psi. The company saved about $100,000 in wasted electronic sub-assemblies, and even more when accounting for labor costs. They also avoided a complex supply chain and shortened the pre-production validation test cycle for the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) inserts from three weeks to three days.

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