IMTS exhibitors add up tech innovations that are transforming how products are made
Additive manufacturing stepped into the manufacturing spotlight when America Makes was established in 2012 as the first of the Manufacturing USA Innovation Institutes. With a focus on additive manufacturing and its rapidly expanding reach of related technologies, the organization sees its mission as nothing less than supporting the wholesale transformation of manufacturing in the United States.
Time spent in the Additive Manufacturing pavilion at IMTS 2022 will confirm this mission is well under way. From machine builders, materials specialists, software and network providers, and inspection solutions, among many more, there seems to be virtually no limit to the potential applications that additive manufacturing can address. Here’s a selection of exhibitors to tempt further investigation.
Beginning with America Makes (Booth 338786), the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM International) and its Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) are participating in three new America Makes projects aimed at advancing the adoption of additive manufacturing. These projects, totaling more than $1 million in combined efforts, address such critical aspects of additive manufacturing as training, inspection, qualification approaches, and in-process monitoring. “We are proud to be selected to launch these projects that will train the AM industry’s workforce and equip them with new tools to solve quality and inspection problems,” said Mohsen Seifi, ASTM International’s director of global additive manufacturing programs. “America Makes has been a key contributor in the development and maturation of AM technologies, with key insight on the important role standardization and training play in further adoption and industrialization of additive manufacturing,” Seifi added.
Projects funded by America Makes include:
--Introductory Inspection and Quality Assurance of Additive Manufacturing using the AMES Test Artifact—This project will develop an introductory course to quality assurance and inspection for additive manufacturing, intended for audiences ranging from beginners to QA or AM professionals who wish to expand their existing knowledge.
--Best Practices for Additive Manufacturing Part Families Relating to Product Qualification & Certification—This project will develop definitions, best practices, and guidance to enable the application of a part family framework for qualification and certification (Q&C), enabling qualifying similar parts using shared/common material data and reducing both time and cost. The project includes participation of dozens of aerospace and defense corporations including Boeing, Airbus, Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.
--Powder Bed Fusion (OFF-RAMP) – This project will develop and assess methods for mitigating defects in metal powder bed fusion, once they are detected by in-process monitoring tools.The AM CoE aims to accelerate the development and adoption of game-changing technologies by supporting standardization, developing training and certification programs, and providing market intelligence and advisory services.
Markforged Inc. (Booth 432305), a builder of 3D printing machines, is also an example of the economic impact of the additive manufacturing sector. In July, the Watertown, Mass.-based company that describes itself as the creator of the integrated metal and carbon fiber additive manufacturing platform, known as The Digital Forge, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Höganäs AB to acquire Digital Metal, maker of a leading binder jetting solution. This extends Markforged’s capabilities into high-throughput production of metal additive parts.
Markforged sees powder binder jetting as a highly scalable additive manufacturing technology for production-grade parts using a variety of metal materials. Powder binder jetting complements existing Digital Forge offerings, and promises to expand Markforged’s market by addressing customer needs.
“With the Digital Metal acquisition, Markforged is advancing our vision for distributed manufacturing by enabling reliable, high-volume production of precise metal parts at the point of need,” said Shai Terem, president and CEO of Markforged. “Infusing Digital Metal’s solution into The Digital Forge platform allows us to address new applications in the medical, automotive, luxury goods, and other industries.”
As part of the transaction, Markforged will pay Höganäs about $32 million in cash, along with 4.1 million shares of Markforged common stock and another $1.5 million in cash to settle certain inter-company balances, subject to certain adjustments. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.
Another growing trend is more closely integrating traditional metal-removal manufacturing methods and additive manufacturing. The ARGO 500 platform from Houston-based Roboze Inc. (Booth 433016) allows the replacement of metals in numerous applications with engineered plastics. This delivers enormous advantages in terms of lightweighting, mechanical strength, workability, and chemical resistance, according to the company. Other purported benefits include repeatable, controlled, and traceable systems that enable customized production for individual customers worldwide.
Roboze said everything within the ARGO 500 is designed to bring 3D printing into the era of industrial production of customized medium batches (up to 3,000 parts per year on a single system), reducing time and costs for manufacturing companies.
In addition to performance and maximum reliability guaranteed by the integrated control platform, the ARGO 500 can count on extreme scalability and flexibility, in terms of hardware and software. This technological evolution allows the application of the manufacturing as a service model, where additive manufacturing centers produce goods close to the point of use, reducing inventory and shipping costs while improving product design, delivery, and security.
Thermwood Corp. (Booth 433200) makes large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) equipment for various industries and a growing number of interested manufacturers. Used to produce large- to very-large-sized components from reinforced thermoplastic composite materials, LSAM equipment can make industrial tooling, masters, patterns, molds, and production fixtures for aerospace, automotive, foundry, and marine applications.
Featuring a unique mix of machine design and material science, LSAM equipment and process lay down a large bead of thermopolymer at room temperature, which the company described as essentially an exercise in controlled cooling. Polymer cooling determines print speed, while print head output determines how large a part can be printed in the layer time available. Some LSAM print heads can print well over 500-lbs-per-hour [22-kg/hr], making very large parts possible. Thermwood makes LSAM machines in sizes from 10x10’, up to 10x100’ [3x3-m - 3x30-m] work areas that both print and trim thermopolymer components. Dubbed Vertical Layer Printing, large print beads plus Thermwood’s patented compression wheel create solid, fully fused, virtually void-free printed structures that can sustain vacuum in a pressurized autoclave at elevated temperature without the need for expensive coatings, according to the Dale, Ind.-based company.
Further extending the reach for full-spectrum additive manufacturing, AddUp Inc. (Booth 433133), headquartered in Cébazat, France, has signed a partnership agreement with ECM Group, a thermal solutions manufacturer headquartered in Grenoble, France, to develop thermal treatment solutions for additively manufactured parts.
“Heat treatment operations are just as important as the 3D-printing phase itself, both to reduce the internal stresses generated during the ‘lasering’ phase and to adapt the microstructure of the material and its properties,” stated Jean Rivoire, Parts Production Manager at AddUp. “This is why, within AddUp, we are seeking to strengthen this expertise with one of the market leaders; both to reinforce our internal production capacities and to offer a complete solution to our customers wishing to integrate the production of parts made in 3D metal.”
The companies aim to create and develop solutions that will help current and prospective customers reduce their manufacturing costs and lead times, while improving the performance of AM-produced parts. They will collaborate on a development program to define the appropriate specifications for heat-treatment solutions adapted to additive manufacturing applications. The ECM Group will design and industrialize a suitable vacuum furnace system according to the specifications defined during this joint development program.
Prepare to have your definitions of production extended and transformed by further investigation of the Additive Manufacturing pavilion at IMTS.
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