Additive Manufacturing

a game changer in industry

October 2016

Philippe Reinders Folmer

General Manager Benelux

Slide 211/3/2016

introduction

Additive Manufacturing, a game changer in industry

3D printing is being called the 3rd industrial revolution, is that so? And if

so, what do you see of it in daily life?

A lot is being written about 3D printing, but mostly about desktop

printers to make plastic objects. Prices are dropping to interesting

levels, software is getting easier to use and every month a FabLab is

being opened somewhere in the country.

But if we look closer at 3D printing, and separate ‘home applied’ from

industrial applications, then we will see an interesting development

going on in the background of this 3D-hype: the industrial application of

3D metalprinting – Additive Manufacturing.

Also called 3D printing, is a process of making a 3-dimensional solid object of

vitual any shapefrom a digital model.

CAD file file preparation (orientation, supports, slicing) machine file

A laser melts fine metal powder particles together in a specific patern

Powderbed is lowered by 20 to 100 micron and new powder deposited

A new patern melts upon the previous layer, forming a 3-dimensional part

What is Additive Manufacturing?

Rapid Manufacturing

Laser Sintering

✔✗

Additive Manufacturing

Laser Melting

The process uses gas atomised metallic powders like:

Stainless Steel 316L & 17-4 PH

Cobalt Chrome and dental CoCr

Titanium Al64V *

Titanium Al6Nb7 and Commercially Pure *

Inconel 718 & 625

Aluminium AlSi12 *

Tool steel (H13)

Hastalloy X

No pre-treatments or binders are used

* Reactive materials require ultra low oxygen levels

What metals can be processed?

• Atomisation – a molten metal

stream is disintegrated into fine

particles after colliding with a

high velocity stream of

atomising medium like water, air

or inert gas.

• Mechanical – during milling

forces act on the material to

reduce the particles.

• Chemical – by reduction of

metallic oxides, thermal

decomposition or by means of

electrolytic deposition.

Slide 511/3/2016Source "Powder Metallurgy Science" Second Edition, R.M. German, MPIF.

Metal powder production methods

Each method results in powders with

different characteristics and appearance:

• Oxide reduction

irregular shape, large surface area and

substantial internal porosity

• Electrolytic

high purity with dentritic morphology

• Mechanical

Irregular shape and potential

contamination

• Water atomising

irregular shape, but no internal porosity

• Gas atomising

spherical shape and no internal porosity

Slide 611/3/2016

A Chemical; Sponge Iron-Reduced Ore

B Electrolytic: Copper

C Mechanical: Milled Aluminium Powder

Containing Disperoids (17)

D Water Atomization : Iron

E Gas Atomization: Nickel-Base Hardfacing Alloy.

Source "Atomization - The Production Of Metal

Powders" A. Lawley, MPIF.

Particle characteristics

Slide 711/3/2016

Ti6Al4V

Small bespoke series components

dental crowns & bridges, implants etc

Complex geometries & structures

Thermal management, medical implants, transition to composite structures

Hidden internal features

conformal cooling, valve bodies etc.

Nobel materials & alloys

materials difficult to machine & hazardous to process via other methods

Short series or one off components for test & development

Suitable applications – where does it works best?

• Started in 1973

• 16 product divisions in 2013

• Industrial Metrology

(Probing, Calibration, Styli, fixturing,

Gauging)

• Position Encoders

(optical, magnetic and laser)

• Additive Manufacturing

(Lasermelting machines, vacuum casting systems)

• Healthcare

(Raman spectroscopy, Neurosurgical robots and software, Dental

scanners and software)

Renishaw 40 years - more than metrology

Slide 1011/3/2016

Renishaw’s approach = production process

Use of vacuum chamber & pure Argongas

• Material integrity

• Ultra low oxygen level (<0,01%)

• Short start-up time (12 minutes from start)

• Low gas consumption (average 30 to 50 ltr/hr)

Glove access & external hopper

• Operator safety

• Material integrity

• Re-use and refill during process

Off-line file preparation

• File integrity & traceability

• Machine exchangeability

• Operator safety

• Design driven Manufacturing or Manufacturing driven Design..?

– Limitations by current production methods

• Benefits for ‘Designing out of the box’:

– Reducing the number of components

– Optimising design

– Increasing functionality

– Reducing weight

– Optimising flow

– Increasing reliability

• AM is an additional metalworking method in combination with current

production methods like milling, turning, polishing

Additive Manufacturing opens the box

Slide 1111/3/2016

Material:

• 1.2344 tool steel

Dimensions:

• 170 x 46 x 18 [mm]

Layer thickness:

• 50 µm

Build time:

• 48 hours

Post treatment:

• Manual polishing

Conformal Cooling

Channels

Finished Moulded handles

– courtesy Gardenia

AM examples – Tooling

Considerable reduction

of cycle time

• Ideal design of size,

form and function of

cooling channels

• Quality improvement of

injection moulding

AM examples – Tooling

Slide 1411/3/2016

Identify & position

key features

Create a structurally

optimised design

Consider

part/process

orientation demands

Design for process – pump housing redesign

Original DFP3 pump front plate part

• Weight Removal• Part consolidation• Reduction in manufacture and

assembly time

Aim

Design for process – assembly front plate

Improved flow path smoothness through CFD simulation of fuel flow velocity

a) original flow pathsb) redesigned flow paths

DelphiDesign for process – assembly front plate

• Pressure test = 2mm wall section • Built on Renishaw AM250 in Ti6Al4V• 54% reduction in volume• 21% reduction in overall packaging area• 5 non-value added assembly operations eliminated

DelphiDesign for process – assembly front plate

Solid Aluminium machined part – 870g mass

This part is a cantilever arm used to hold a display which is attached to a first class seat. The arm can be swivelled out from its closed position in a recess in the side of the seat to its open position in front of the viewer. The weight of the display itself is not a significant loading on the arm, but the arm must survive an abuse load of a person on board leaning or falling on the monitor

Design for process – CO2 reduction

Optimised topologies for offset loading:a) 667N (150lb) and b) 1334N (300lb)

The mass of the 667N loading was 324g which was a reduction of 63% on the original.

The mass of the 1334N loading was 501g which was a reduction of 42% on the original

3 of the various iterations

Design for process – CO2 reduction

Cross members

Cross section through the part using a finer mesh and Ti material. Note the presence of reinforcing cross members to compensate for the reduced stiffness due to thinner walls

Mass 324g = 63% saving

Design for process – CO2 reduction

Topologically

optimised

0.37 kg

Machine from

solid billet

0.80 kg

Complex

lattice

0.31 kgImages courtesy of Loughborough University

Design for process – CO2 reduction

Data courtesy of Econolyst

0

100

Use

Materials Manufacture Distribution

Optimised

Use

CO2

(kg)

Materials Manufacture Distribution

Environmental impact of manufacturing process

LatticeSolid

Data courtesy of Econolyst

50,000

Use

Materials Manufacture Distribution

CO2

(kg)

Use

Use100

Solid = 44 tonnes

Lattice = 16 tonnes

Optimised = 20 tonnes

Materials Manufacture Distribution

Example based on 90M km (Long haul) application

Environmental impact over product lifecycle

Phases we have to go through

Mind shift: Manufacturing driven design Design driven manufacturing

Initial focus on design optimising

But that only makes a workpiece ‘printable’

Next challenges:

– re-design with post-processing and up-scaling in mind

– Focus on process control rather than 3D production only

Current examples in dental application:

– Implant based dental structures = 3D printing + CNC-milling

– Repeatability: Build-to-Master, Build-to-Build, Machine-to-Machine

Slide 2411/3/2016

AM – let the game changing begin...

Slide 2511/3/2016

Design considerations for production

Manage the re-design process

• Layerthickness & detail versus speed

• Orientation & functionality versus nesting & quantity

• Add fixturing items for post-processing

Manage the process

• Maintain file integrity

• Safety (separate powder handling from production)

• Production control (‘build to master’ and ‘build to build’)

Slide 2611/3/2016

Technology considerations for production

Powderbed

• Small intricate designs, internal and conformal features

• Typical fine mechanical, high tech parts

Hybrid machine tools

• Larger industrial parts, no internal features

• Less waste, less machine time (more AM time)

Sand printing

• Direct printing of moulds in sand

• larger products, castings

• Time saving on design and re-design

Slide 2711/3/2016

Powderbed technology and parallel production

Empire mountain bike

Original carbon fibre frame

was 2400 gr.

Titanium frame only 2000

gram, and much stronger

Based on an article in 3D Printing Industry by Alban Leandri (June 2, ‘15)

Improved development cycles• Prototype and validate conceptual design faster

• Tooling production can be skipped to go straight to finished parts

• Test multiple configurations, reduce product-launch risk and time to market

Complex-design Parts• Traditional design considers the possibilities and limitations of milling, turning,

casting, forging and welding

• AM creates space to innovate and explore new designs

Consolidation of design• Consolidate multiple parts into fewer components, reduce assembly time and

costs, and increase reliability and simplify design modifications

Weight reduction• Key driver for Aerospace industry: lighter weight = lower fuel consumption

• Topological optimisation and lattice structures carve out unnecessary material

How Can the Aerospace Industry Benefit from AM?

Slide 2811/3/2016

• GE uses AM to create fan blade edges with complex shapes to

optimize airflow. Difficult and time-consuming to machine. By 2016,

GE plans to make these large production runs with AM.

• The buy-to-fly ratio of Lockheed Martin’s Bleed Air Leak Detector

(BALD) brackets was reduced from 33:1 to about 1:1 by using

electron beam melting (EBM). Even though the titanium alloy used

in the AM process costs more than the wrought one traditionally

processed, the cost of each bracket was cut down by 50% without

compromising mechanical properties

• Single part fuel nozzles used in GE’s LEAP engine are made with

AM. These were formerly composed of 20 different parts, and are

now five times more durable than those produced with

conventional methods.

It’s happening already in the Aerospace industry

Slide 2911/3/2016

Slide 3011/3/2016

Thank you