Additive Manufacturing is gearing towards rapid manufacturing and replacing the traditional manufacturing methods such as molding, injection molding of thermoplastic materials, or die-casting that would procure high upfront cost in low production volumes. Injection molding, together with thermoforming and jig and fixtures are used with ease with the help of the AM in the automotive industry. This part of the production process is essential as it would take a long time and in higher costs for the automotive industry. Also, the current trend in the automotive industry is that the material should be lightweight and has a low production cost.
Overall aim in Automotive is to lessen the cost of production and at the same time, deliver fast and high-quality automotive components. This could be classic spare parts up to tools and auxiliary components. Additive Manufacturing (AM) produces high-quality products in the sense that there is a high degree of design freedom, and complex structures or shapes can be manufactured. Aside from that, materials such as metals and plastic materials can be explored as a possible option for vehicle parts.
Currently major drawback of this technology, however, is the production in high volumes. It should be noted that the automotive industry has high production productions, which is greater than 100,000 parts per year. Aside from that, there are risks associated with high volume production. For end parts, however, selected exterior to interior components such as bellows, complex ducting, mounting brackets, and engine components are manufactured. In the latest article of Additive Manufacturing, Varroc Lighting Systems, a manufacturer of Automotive Headlights is already using 3D printing in the production of headlights instead of injection molding.
Aside from challenges in the production, only low to medium size production (for high-end products only) is only allowed. Problem could be solved by improving the size of the industrial printers, the size they are able to print, and the materials used.
In addition, Additive Manufacturing, accordingly, is not feasible to parts that require strict requirements from the existing standards. Other constraints in the global production scenario are the socio-technological factors concerned with switching technology. This could be strategic, supply chain, operational, technological, and even organization specific. In the Automotive Industry, this is substantially aligned with the human capital, the production process and speed, and the size of the material itself. The production process, as already mentioned, maybe fast, but components with big or different sizes lengthen the manufacturing process. Also, bigger sizes are not allowed in Additive Manufacturing.
AM in the automotive industry needs to overcome challenges in quality assurance and productivity. The basis for this is the low degree of automation on AM “where stability in the process is not always guaranteed.” In addition to the low degree of automation, the limitations on the standards’ coverage on the AM fuel this problem. Today, AM has become more diverse applications and needs specific standards in different applications, especially in the automotive industry.
Note: Additive vendors offered new materials to meet part needs. Refer www.makepartsfast.com for more information.
Suppliers of Additive Manufacturing that can Support Automotive:
3D Systems: Their services range ranges from Direct Digital Manufacture aimed to produce parts without tooling. They claimed that the materials used have thermoplastic like properties. Refer https://www.3dsystems.com/.
3D Hubs: 3D Hubs is one of the known suppliers in the AM, specifically in the Automotive Industry. Their services include CNC Machining, Rapid Prototyping, 3D printing, Injection Molding to End Manufacturing. This company is also ISO 9001 Certified and has produced over a million parts. Refer https://www.3dhubs.com/.
Additive Solutions: This manufacturer specializes in Additive Manufacturing and 3D printing in construction. They offer CNC Machining, Rapid Prototyping, and End Parts Manufacturing. Refer https://additive.solutions/finishing.
Carbon. Carbon has partnered with top-notch industries and manufactured products and materials from dentistry, marine to automotive, specifically on jigs and fixtures (made of urethane methacrylate).
BigRep, provider of large-scale 3D printing (fused filament fabrication, FFF, segment) for industrial applications. large-format means a build volume of at least 1000 x 500 x 500 mm – the size of the STUDIO machine. It only gets larger from there, with the ONE (1005 x 1005 x 1005 mm), and PRO (1005 x 1005 x 1005 mm), EDGE (1500 x 800 x 600 mm).
Among the many applications large-format 3D printing sees use in some prominent applications include prototypes made at 1:1 scale, molds, patterns, tooling, and end-use parts. All of which are particularly well-poised for increasing use of 3D printing.
When it comes to post-processing work to finish parts, labor is notably reduced. For metal parts, finishing work required 12 people but now only two people are needed to work on plastic parts, freeing up the team’s labor force to work on more projects.
Working primarily on jigs and fixtures, tool tryout-parts, and manufacturing equipment, Ford’s BigRep ONE is used in many of the day-to-day necessities of a busy automotive manufacturing and research center.
Refer www.bigrep.com and https://sourcegraphics.com/.
Dinsmore Inc: This is a custom 3D manufacturing printing service which includes processes like SLA, DLS, FRSLA, SLS, Polyjet, FDM, and MJF. They can work with rapid prototyping, product design, tooling, plastic casting, sintering, CNC machining, and injection molding. Refer www.dinsmoreinc.com.
Divergent3D: This manufacturer aimed to cut down production costs by replacing tooling and other conventional vehicle production. Refer http://divergent3d.com/.
Daimler: They are gearing towards Additive Manufacturing. Last 2017, Daimler, together with Premium AEROTIC and EOS, partnered and initiated the NextGen AM Project to create the next generation Additive Manufacturing. The overall goal of the project was to produce a complete cell production that would be able to manufacture Aluminium components for the automotive and aerospace industries.
EOS: EOS is a global technology leader for Industrial 3D Printing. In automotive, this company specializes in parts for motor racing and components for serial production vehicles. The components are made from plastic and metal. Refer https://www.eos.info/en.
Fairchild Auto Mated Parts, Inc: Their services range from automotive, farm duty, HVAC, aerospace, military, mining, and other industries. They worked with materials such as alloy steel, Aluminium, beryllium, brass, nylon etc. Refer www.fairchildparts.com.
GE Additive: This manufacturer produces 3D prints from lifestyle, aerospace, automotive manufacturing, and consumer electronics. One of their notable projects is redesigning the oil header to eliminate lubrication blind spots at Bosch, Germany. Refer https://www.ge.com/additive/industry-overview.
Intec located in India – Refer http://intech-dmls.in/additive-manufacturing/.
Local Motors: Local Motors believes in Innovation, Direct Digital Manufacturing, and Collaboration. They have partnered with known automotive companies such as Autonomies Mobility, GE, Robotic Research, Airbus, Siemens, etc. Refer https://localmotors.com/.
Materialize: From Aerospace, Construction, Architecture, CAD, Art and Fashion, Automotive, etc. They mostly produce prototypes, metal castings, to end parts. Refer http://www.materialise.com/.
MarkForged: MarkForged is known for its metal and carbon fiber 3D for industries like automotive, electronics, and other industrial parts. They recently partnered with Siemens to print a fuel injector fixture, and circular saw Housing. Aside from that, they partnered with the Engineers at Stanley Infrastructure Innovation to produce an actuator housing. Refer https://markforged.com/’
Oerlikon AM, we are helping to shape the development of a new manufacturing technology – additive manufacturing! Refer https://www.oerlikon.com/am/en/offerings/.
ProtoCAM is an ISO 9001:2015 certified and leading provider of value-added 3D printing, additive manufacturing, and rapid prototyping services for customers in a wide variety of industries. Refer https://www.protocam.com/about/..
Sculpteo: Scuplteo has partnered with Autodesk, Netlooks, etc. and has produced a thousand parts per day. Their services range from Rapid Prototyping and Additive Manufacturing. Refer https://www.sculpteo.com/en/.
SPI Lasers: SPI Lasers produces parts through fiber lasers. Their services include the automotive industry and have manufactured parts for electric. Refer https://spilasers.com.
Stratasys: Stratasys is a global manufacturer providing 3D prints to industries such as medical, dental, consumer goods, aerospace, and automotive. They produce rapid prototyping, tooling, jigs and fixtures, and production parts. Their main material is rubber. This manufacturer recently partnered with Audi to bring a full-color automotive design into life. Refer https://www.stratasys.com/.
Shapeways: Shapeways has served a lot of industrial applications, which includes the Automotive Industry. Their prints are mostly made from SLS. Refer https://www.shapeways.com/.
Spartacus3D: Industrial additive manufacturing in Titanium, Nickel and cobalt-chrome superalloys, Stainless steels & Aluminium. Refer https://www.farinia.com/companies/spartacus3d.
Thermwod Corp: Thermwod has served various industries from aerospace, automotive etc. They specialize in Rapid Prototyping and CNC Machining. Refer http://www.thermwood.com/.
WhiteClouds: 3D printing technologies to fabricate custom models such as dioramas, architectural and industrial models, cartoon and character models, 3D art and prototypes. Refer https://www.whiteclouds.com/industrial-models/.
Zortrax: They manufacture products for various industries such as lighting systems, electronics, and automotive, specifically on electric or racing motorbikes. Refer https://zortrax.com/.
Highlights from During October’s K 2019 show in Düsseldorf Refer Plastics Technology.
Covestro new application of its AM materials in 3D printed orthopedic insoles for shoes. These are produced using an automated and completely digitized process that the company says generates almost no waste. The part exists only as a 3D file until a printer uses this data to produce the physical product—regardless of whether only a single customized insole or millions of insoles are to be produced. Covestro also announced it has partnered with Polymaker, a supplier of 3D printing materials, in the launch of three new polycarbonate-based 3D printing resins, each with unique properties suited to various industries. Refer https://www.covestro.us/en.
DSM announced a new partnership with Twikit, a Belgian 3D software and application-development company. The two firms will co-develop new 3D printed solutions for medical, automotive and apparel applications. Refer https://www.dsm.com/corporate/about/businesses/dsm-engineering-plastics.html.
EOS LaserProFusion technology for polymer-based is designed to deliver maximum productivity with an emphasis on high quality and is suited for mass production. It reportedly enables tool-free production and can even replace injection molding in many applications. Because of the time saved in product development and the tool-free production, LaserProFusion is said to reduce costs by up to 20%.
EOS continues to focus on using lasers as the preferred source of energy for the powder bed process. Almost one million diode lasers are deployed in LaserProFusion technology, with a maximum output of over 5 kW if required. For each layer, only the diode lasers are activated that match the CAD data of the part—right down to the exact pixel. EOS says this method makes it possible to perform highly detailed work and the component characteristics can also be influenced locally. The new technology is said to significantly shorten exposure times, regardless of the number of components and their geometry. Refer https://www.eos.info/en.
Huntsman’s Iroprint AM platform contains three kinds of urethane-based materials. Huntsman also announced a new partnership with DWS, a provider of precision stereolithography (SLA) systems and 3D printing materials. DWS worked closely with Huntsman during development of Iroprint R 1801 resin to ensure that the resulting material was optimized for SLA printing. Refer https://www.huntsman.com/corporate/a/Home.
Wacker advances in the field of 3D printing with liquid silicone with multiple printing nozzles, the new printer can print up to four different LSR materials simultaneously. For example, 3D objects can now be printed in different colors or with different degrees of hardness. The new technology also benefits the printing of hollow objects, which require support material. For such cases, up to three different materials and colors are available. Another reported highlight of the new generation of printers is its auto control technology. The printer measures the silicone layer applied after each printed layer and subsequently compares it with the target value specified in the CAD model. If the program detects any discrepancies, they are automatically corrected in the next layers.
ACEO has also improved the printing mechanism and control software. The new features allow mesh structures and other complex designs to be manufactured. They also facilitate short-run production. Refer https://www.aceo3d.com/.
Other 3D Printing Investigates:
Aetrex Technology: 3D Printing Scanner Technology currently developed for Shoe Stores could have potential for fast scanning of simple automotive components to take to 3D Printing. 3D Printing allows Aetrex to offer a fully custom made orthotic by translating complete data from a foot scan to create an orthotic that matches precisely to an individual’s pressure points and foot profile. Refer https://www.aetrex.com/technology.html.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory in collaboration with Lincoln Electric and Dienamic Tooling Systems, demonstrated that an additively manufactured hot stamping die can withstand up to 25,000 usage cycles, proving that this technique is a viable solution for production. Refer https://www.ornl.gov/news/manufacturing-built-last.
Artec 3D: Launches Artec Micro, a Fully Automated, Professional Industrial Desktop 3D Scanner. The Artec Micro scan data is processed in the industry acclaimed Artec Studio, following the same workflow as Artec’s handheld scanners. Afterwards, the final model can be seamlessly exported to popular CAD/CAM software, including SOLIDWORKS, Control X, PolyWorks Inspector and Design X. Refer www.artec3d.com.
Autodesk Fusion 350: Integrated CAD, CAM, and CAE software to eliminate your disconnected product development process. Unify design, engineering, and manufacturing into a single platform. Using Fusion 360, the team rapidly developed options for reducing mass in the wheels while exploring multiple manufacturing methods. The result adds a fresh twist to the classic van and reduces wheel weight by 18%. Refer https://www.autodesk.com/customer-stories/volkswagen-generative-design.
Impact Project has made a bionic hand in just ten hours. Driven by embedded electronics, this novel device was completely 3D printed and grips objects with a moveable thumb. The Impact project is a multi-collaborative effort led by Iterate Design + Innovation, Ltd., in partnership with WMG, University of Warwick, C Enterprise (UK) Ltd., and Printed Electronics Ltd.
Project has resulted in the creation of an exciting new technology that could print electro-mechanical parts and assemblies, which weren’t previously possible. Refer https://3dprint.com/259901/the-impact-project-multi-collaborative-work-results-3d-printed-bionic-hand/.
peel 2 superior 3D scanning in every way: higher resolution, improved tracking, better geometry capabilities and enhanced means to capture colors. This portable 3D scanner has it all – like Mechanical parts and assemblies, Metal castings, Reverse engineering, Textured and colored objects and others. Not only can it manage large scans as well as accurately capture the subtle shapes and geometries of a car, peel 3d software also offers the necessary tools to clean the data and isolate important information.” Using 3D scan data has tons of advantages in these projects. Refer https://peel-3d.com/.
24 VISION SYSTEM is a system providing a solution for precise and comprehensive quality control. It detects all defects in a product and simultaneously checks for configuration mismatches. Good technology to investigate for solutions along additive manufacturing. Utilization of 24 Vision System artificial intelligence for comprehensive quality control of car seats in the automotive sector. Refer http://24vs.io/.
aThing IO Modular Mesh™ to interconnect all the modules are large selection of Modular Mesh™ available for different solutions. After validating your design, move right away to customize the shape and form of your product without any hassle. Something for EESE to emulate. Refer https://athing.io/welcome/.
Nature Energy Lab Independent Power Air Purifier for Cars – purifies the air with the automotive air circulation-filtering system, vehicle independent power / cigar jack-battery system possible with sun-cell, wire free, no operation required after vehicle mounting, air circulation in the vehicle – purifying air with filtering system, solar-cell independent power / cigar jack – battery combined system available. Refer http://nenergylab.co.kr/.
XYZ Dynamics is a start-up with a clear vision to smoothen the energy transition in the automotive industry. Urban area logistics is being executed by Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) that emit ten times more CO2, NOx and PM10 compared to passenger vehicles. Full electric LCVs are too expensive. Plus, their driving range is too low and due to the increase of weight by their batteries, the user will lose loading capacity. Refer https://xyzdynamics.nl/company/.
Watergen Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) bringing clean, fresh water to the sites of major emergencies and natural disasters – customized heavy-duty trucks securely transport 900-liter-capacity Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) units through any terrain, to provide clean drinking water directly to people when they need it most. With the ERV, water is available almost immediately, making this the quickest and easiest solution to implement in cases where time is an issue. Refer 
https://www.watergen.com/products/emergency-response-vehicle/.
Geo-Line Innovative Electric Vehicle Charging – Payment Solutions. Complete electric vehicle charging-payment service at the lowest cost. Easy charging anytime, anywhere Charging / payment using general AC outlet enables easy charging at home, company or anywhere. For a sustainable future – PLUG & PAY help to populate electric vehicle and minimize greenhouse gas emission. Refer http://geo-line.com/en/home_en-2/..
Hi-Cooler utilizes a water evaporation cooling system, which is 600x more powerful than water cooling. This water evaporation system will not generate hot air or any other greenhouse gas during the cooling process, making it eco-friendly air conditioning design. In the new system use open mouth water tank with a sealed water tank that build-in a mister. By carefully controlling size of water molecules, amount of water molecules and the air flow so that the evaporation reach the highest efficiency. Use minimal water to provide maximum cooling power. Refer http://www.hi-cooler.com/#mainContent.
NanoScent can detect multiple VOCs simultaneously and help reduce the return rate of new cars, thus increasing manufacturers’ profits. Car manufacturers need to monitor regulated VOCs in new cars; unpleasant new car smell leads to a high return rate and multi-million-dollar profit loss.
Sileather performance leather made of 100% silicone that is able to redefine high performance fabrics through the best combination of leather textures and the superior advantages of silicone. Sileather silicone fabrics are part of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative Safer Chemicals program. Refer https://www.sileather.com/automotive.
FormLabs 3D Printing Materials for Engineering, Manufacturing, and Product Design. Refer https://formlabs.com/materials/engineering/.
SNAPMAKER Modular Design for the 3-in-1 feature, but also allows the printer to be transformed or expanded into another machine for greater expandability. Snapmaker 2.0 comes with a smart 5” touchscreen. The touchscreen actually runs the same system with a smartphone – Android system. It conveniently monitors and controls the printing / engraving / carving /cutting progress by a touch of the screen. Refer https://snapmaker.com/ and https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/12/24/xmas-deal-this-one-single-desktop-device-can-3d-print-laser-engrave-and-is-a-cnc-machine/
EOS is putting 3D printing limitations to the test. Here are nine unique challenges posed to the automotive industry:
To reduce the number of steps and components for complex seat bracket GM used Autodesk’s Generative Design to create hundreds of options for replacing a metal seat bracket (left). The result (right) is a significantly lighter and more cost-efficient, 3D-printed part. To add more customization and personalization with car parts additive manufacturing makes one-off custom products like this personalized name plate possible. (Source: MINI). Custom door handles, like the ones shown here, are mirrored on each side, doubling the number of parts 3D-printed in a single build.
More and more luxury car buyers are looking for unique designs, flashy touches and finishes, parts that make the whole vehicle more personalized. But, with mass-produced automotive parts, this can be cost-prohibitive and wasteful. By 3D printing one-off parts such as personalized name inserts, aftermarket customization is as simple as digitally entering an order on demand and having a 3D part delivered quickly—in less than a week—without any excess inventory. Another example is the limited-edition door handle cover for DS Automobiles in a project paired with Spartacus3D. This exclusive design required only one hour of production time per part with 200 parts included in each build without any negative impact on quality.
To significantly reduce the weight of several engine parts Renault Truck engineers and designers looked to additive manufacturing to reduce weight for their DTI 5 4-cylinder Euro 6 engine. Beyond just prototyping a sample model, additive manufacturing was used to virtually design and then successfully 3D print multiple metal parts—such as rocker arms and camshaft bearing caps—that were then successfully bench-tested for 600 hours within a Euro 6 engine. Ultimately, additive manufacturing contributed to a 25% weight reduction overall, and reduced the number of total parts by 200. To produce quick turnaround parts with limited budget race cars limited budget but are free from standardized automotive design restraints, and they’re more adaptive to innovative design changes. The Renault F1 brake duct part, advanced additive materials were used to replace a carbon fiber component, providing significant cost and time reductions. Not only did the part need to be produced quickly, but the brake disc needed to withstand extreme temperatures, operating at around 400ºC. The final product, designed in CAD, was a strong, lightweight part made with nylon 11 and reinforced with carbon fiber that was melted into the plastic and powder fused together.
To achieve thermal balance in high-pressure die cast tool with additive manufacturing on an EOS M 400-4, companies like EXCO Engineering can integrate cooling channels directly into the tool all in-house. In addition to outperforming conventional H13 by 3X, the tool went through 160,000 die-cast cycles before cracking to waterline. As a result, EXCO saw tool life more than triple and has even developed unique ways of repurposing used components with AM.
To build production injection mold tool with cheaper materials Chevy Silverado with additive manufacturing and the help of newly developed materials, GM teamed up with Hi-Tech Mold and Engineering to reduce material costs while greatly reducing build time. Built in CAD and then built on an EOS M 290, the final part included conformal venting and cooling, and eliminated any need for special cleaning or maintenance.
3D prints strong, metal printed part in less time GKN Powder Metallurgy, EOS helped develop a new method for laser metal 3D printing with direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) to reduce production time and overall cost. The bonus was to provide the design freedom necessary for more advanced applications. This collaboration combined GKN’s high-productivity metal powder with the EOS Stainless Steel 316L VPro. Together they found an application with Senior Flexonics to produce high-volume, additively manufactured parts with high-function porosity for reducing part weight.
Built with the High Productivity Laser Process, this coolant inlet for automotive achieved the functional porosity it required with a significantly faster build rate. While a shorter production time was itself a challenge, the product required all internal surfaces must hold pressure and prevent damage during welding and brazing. The product developed with this method was a coolant inlet for exhaust gas purification system used with both on-highway and off-highway trucking. For this part, conventional AM methods would require roughly 26 hours of production time, but with the HighPro AM process, that production time was reduced to only 6 hours. On top of trimming cycle time, prices
Northwestern University developed 3D Stereolithographic printer called HARP can print object size of human hair. It used patent pending version that circulates liquid plastic to remove heat which can cause printed parts to crack. Northwestern’s solution to the problem lies in a nonstick liquid that behaves like liquid Teflon, known as a fluorinated oil. HARP’s 3D printing process uses a projected light through a window that solidifies the resin on top of a vertically moving plate. The nonstick liquid then flows over the window in order to remove the heat, and then circulates it through a cooling unit, therefore maintaining temperatures at high print speeds. As it is nonstick, the resin resists adhesion to the print bed, which increases print speed as parts do not have to be cleaved from the bottom of the print-vat. Refer https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/northwestern-researchers-develop-large-scale-sla-harp-3d-printer-with-record-throughput-163638/
Sweden’s Digital Metal, a proprietary binder-jetting AM technology company created by Höganäs AB, says it can deliver high levels of resolution for small objects combined with high surface quality, as well as unprecedented automation (“no-hand production”) that makes metal AM feasible for high-volume production. Digital Metal is known for producing small, high-volume components using its high-precision DM P2500 system. Refer https://digitalmetal.tech/.
ETH Zurich Researchers in Switzerland have developed materials that they believe are the stiffest porous-lightweight materials to date, paving way for new uses in automobiles, construction, and medical implants. Refer https://ethz.ch/en.html.
Ziflex is a thin, flexible and heat resistant build surface, and features a coating that can handle any material. Thanks to its magnetic technology, Ziflex will be strongly attached to your printer and will be perfectly placed every time. Magnetic positioning technology is strong and directional. It guides your Ziflex in a single direction and ensures a perfect alignment to your printer’s bed while maintaining a strong grip. Its incredible flexibility will allow you to easily remove any print, even the smallest one, without damaging your new build surface. Refer https://www.zimple3d.com/ziflex/
AMT Post Processing Technology solutions for Additive Manufacturing: Below are three examples:
- PostProDP is an unpack and de-powdering system. The ‘cake’ emerging from the 3D Printer contains the printed parts and unfused powder. Our technology cools the cake and removes the powder from the part. The powder is recovered and recycled which allows significant improvement in surface finishing due to the high degree to lose powder removal.
- Automated surface modification technology that achieves an injection molded surface quality and materials properties in polymer 3D printed parts. Compatible with over 90 materials in parts printed using Laser Sintering, HP Multi Jet Fusion, High Speed Sintering, or Fused Deposition Modelling technology.
- PostPro3DColor® is post-processing equipment that can smooth and color 3D printed parts in a single step without using water and without disposable waste streams. Fusion of the dye crystals and the material ensures colors remain intense and not suffer loss of color due to UV radiation, weathering or leaching.
Polymaker launched 10 new products: PolySmooth™ new colors, PolyLite™ ASA, PolyMide™ PA6-CF, PolyMide™ PA6-GF, Sample Box 1, Sample Box 2, Sample Box 3, PolyMax™ PC-FR, Polymaker™ PC-ABS, and Polymaker™ PC-PBT. Polymaker will exhibit all these new products at CES 2020. They have already released 22 different kinds of products providing one of the most comprehensive 3D printing filaments portfolio in the world. Few recent ones listed below – for more Refer https://polymaker.com.
- PolyDissolve™ S1 is a water dissolvable support for PLA, TPU, PVB and Nylon based filaments from our portfolio. It is specifically engineered to have a perfect interface with these materials while also displaying good solubility.
- PolyMide™ PA6-GF is a glass fiber reinforced PA6 (Nylon 6) filament. The material exhibits excellent thermal and mechanical properties without sacrificing the layer adhesion. ⠀
- PolyMide™ PA6-CF is a carbon fiber reinforced PA6 (Nylon 6) filament. The carbon fiber reinforcement provides significantly improved stiffness, strength and heat resistance with outstanding layer adhesion. ⠀
- PolyMide™ CoPA is based on a copolymer of Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6. The filament combines excellent strength, toughness, and heat resistance of up to 180˚C.⠀
- PolyFlex™ TPU95 is a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) based filament specifically engineered to work on most desktop 3D printers. It has a shore hardness of 95A and can stretch more than 3 times its original length.
- PolyMax™ PC-FR uses Covestro’s Makrolon® showing a good balance between mechanical performance and safety, which has already been applied in electronic motorbikes, aerospace spare parts, and automotive production. This base material achieves V0 performance in the UL94 flame retardancy test and benefits applications where respective material approval is required. ⠀
- PolyMax™ PC is an engineered PC filament combining excellent strength, toughness, heat resistance and printing quality. It is the ideal choice for a wide range of engineering applications.
- PolyMax™ PETG offers better mechanical properties than any other regular PETG making it a good candidate for a wide range of applications. ⠀
3D printing company, Formalloy, is producing parts using a laser-based process because of its ability to create new advantageous shapes – technology is known as LMD. That’s a method where you blow power and heat it with a laser. Refer https://www.formalloy.com/.
Lumiled Other 3D Printers that you may want to explore which may not be unique but meet certain wants at lower cost:
s / Signify Additive manufacturing lighting manufacturer is evaluating the technology for cost-efficient tailored lighting (a.k.a., mods), for custom products, and for fabrication on site and on demand. Individual companies, and a consortium of interested parties, are sharing information on early forays in polymer 3D printing and what is needed for it to become a viable luminaire production solution. Signify is offering this flexibility in styling as one of the major selling points of its customizable 3D-printed luminaires – coming to North America. Gantri has taken a more crowdsourced approach to innovation in consumer lighting. They invite designers to submit designs for tabletop lighting, using standardized electrical components with a metal base: “a digital manufacturing platform for modern design.” Industrial Designer Alex Chow is marketing and manufacturing his Container table light via the platform: “3D printing creates a lot of opportunities to try new things you can’t do in traditional manufacturing.… It’s going to be interesting to see what happens as 3D printing evolves to be even faster, cheaper, and more available. Finelite, and he conducted their first investigation into 3D printing for a production component. Fintelite primarily manufactures linear lighting and explored 3D printing technology for a glare-control louver that has some interesting options for patterned apertures. Most 3D-printed luminaires use polymer shades or bodies, but there is continuing exploration of other parts, including heatsinks and optics. Luximprint is currently supplying optics prototypes and one-offs for manufacturers across the globe. Refer https://www.lightshowwest.com/3d-printing-gets-wired-the-lighting-industry-gets-weird.
Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions’ robotic metal 3D printing process is a choreographed dance between welding, robots, automation, heat management and machining. Wire arc additive manufacturing, a process that combines automated metal inert gas (MIG) welding or laser hot wire welding with direct deposition 3D printing. CAD to Path Planning. With large format wire-based metal additive manufacturing, the part is manipulated while depositing. Advanced software is critical to address complex path planning and coordinated motion between the robot and the positioner. Refer https://additive.lincolnelectric.com/.
MUTOGLASS Glass 3D Printing Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) Output size 120 x 120 x 120; Nozzle Diameter 0.8mm; Filament diameter 1.5mm; Input method SD card, material Glass filament. XY axis can be used as LM guide to maintain accuracy even during repeated feed. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the body and LM guide is the same to keep the same condition at any time. The LM Guide is the world’s first product applying the cloud sneaker of the linear motion part. High accuracy, high efficiency, high speed, long life. Refer http://www.mutolabs.co.kr/glass3d-printing-fdm/
Phiz is a 3D scanner scans real-world objects and generates high precision computer 3D models. Its core AI and machine learning technologies make the 3D scan easy, fast and accurate. Powerful AI integrated algorithm also greatly reduces the hardware cost while maintaining industrial grade scanning results. Refer http://www.kiri-innov.com/
