aditive manufacturing-may 2014
DESCRIPTION
Aditive Manufacturing-may 2014TRANSCRIPT
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M A Y 2 0 1 4
Redesign
the Part,
Remove
the Weight
A Supplement to
Modern Machine Shop &
MoldMaking Technology
0514AM_Cover.indd 1 4/15/2014 2:09:29 PM
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Renishaws laser melting system is a
pioneering process capable of producing
fully dense metal parts direct from 3D CAD.
From tooling inserts featuring conformal
cooling, to lightweight structures
for aerospace and high technology
applications, laser melting gives designers
more freedom, resulting in structures
and shapes that would otherwise be
constrained by conventional processes
or the tooling requirements of volume
production. It is also complementary to
conventional machining technologies, and
directly contributes to reduced lead times,
tooling costs and material waste.
Shorten development timebe f rst to
market
Reduce waste and costbuild only what
you need
Increase design freedomcreate
complex structures and hidden features
Unlock the potential of Additive Manufacturing
build tomorrow
Renishaw Inc Hoffman Estates, IL www.renishaw.com/additive
Scan here to nd out more
design today
Pla
y VI
DEO
0213 Renishaw_Digital.indd 1 1/18/13 3:23 PM
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Con t e n t s
M A Y 2 0 1 4
AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 1
04 08
02 Something to Add Is AM the New Enabling Technology?
F E A T U R E S
04 Learning Curve A manufacturer that has succeeded for three
generations expects additive manufacturing to be
part of the reason why it will succeed in the fourth.
By Peter Zelinski
08 Cracking the Code to Growth in AM In this companys view, it takes more than machines
on the shop foor to push additive manufacturing to
the next level.
By Christina Fuges
14 Product News
15 News from AMTThe Association For Manufacturing Technology
ABOUT THE COVER: AM can bring complex geometries even to simple parts. Giving this
formerly solid nut a lattice structure delivered significant weight savings. Read about a
manufacturer pursuing opportunities such as this on page 4.
PUBLISHER
Travis Egan
EDITORS
Peter Zelinski
Christina Fuges
ASSISTANT EDITOR
El McKenzie
MANAGING EDITOR
Kate Hand
ART DIRECTOR
Aimee Reilly
ADVERTISING MANAGER
William Caldwell
0514AM_TOC.indd 1 4/15/2014 2:11:29 PM
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2 AM Supplement
Something to Add
2 AM Supplement
Is AM the New Enabling Technology?Additive manufacturing can move industrial arts to digital manufacturing
and into the hands of the next-generation workforce.
Christina M. Fuges
Editor
We need to attract a future generation of skilled
workers, and we want that future generation to
be motivated to fll the gap that exists and then
maintain a level of job satisfaction. Additive
manufacturing (AM) may be able to attract and
satisfy just such workers.
Recently, I discussed this issue with Scott
Simenson, program director of Information &
Telecommunication Technology for Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities and director of
the Digital Fabrications Lab at Century College
(century.edu), and Jim Mishek, chairman of
Vistatek (vistatek.com). I came away with some
interesting perspectives.
First, there are two main motivators for job
satisfaction (at least according to Frederick
Herzbergs two-factor theory): the work itself and
the recognition. Surprisingly, money is not a top
motivator. Following this theory, lets take a look
at the role additive manufacturing can play.
AM is the new enabling technology. It al-
lows you to create, touch, feel, show or fx
almost any shape. For the motivation of a future
manufacturing professional, this is particularly
signifcantwhat could be more fulflling than
holding a fnished product that you created? So,
how do we teach this new way of manufacturing
to the next generation?
For one thing, todays shop classes need to
be transformed into next-generation labs that
merge computational technology with manu-
facturing technologysimilar to the digital
fabrication lab concept created by Neil
Gershenfeld, director of The Center of Bits and
Atoms at MIT (fab.cba.mit.edu). These labs can
provide access to a variety of technologies that
enable production of an end product, including
CAD and desktop manufacturing technologies.
In this context, AM plays a pivotal role in
advancing what students are learning, in both a
theoretical and applied fashion. It represents a
whole new sphere in technology-based educa-
tion. It helps students understand the difference
between a 2D and a 3D world. They can con-
ceive products and ideas better, and they can
test and prototype quicker.
However, just as manufacturers have dis-
covered the real-world value of additive and
subtractive manufacturing working together, that
same value should be refected in manufactur-
ing education, especially at the high school and
college levels. You cant present AM alone; it
must be taught alongside subtractive methods.
3D printers are certainly attracting the next
generation, but will they be able to keep them
engaged in manufacturing? Its evident they
provide a clear look at how something can be
made, but they do not provide a clear under-
standing of the entire manufacturing process.
Only using subtractive and additive together
can achieve that.
The curriculum needs to change, too, incor-
porating everything from engineering and CAD
to problem-solving and project management. On
top of that, an integral part of education is get-
ting students into a manufacturing facility to see
frsthand the people, technology and processes
that come together to make all the products we
use today. The excitement of 3D printing only
goes so far without its real-world application.
0514AM_Something to Add.indd 2 4/15/2014 2:12:41 PM
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The LUMEX Avance-25, the worlds first and only metal laser
sintering hybrid milling machine, provides one-machine, one-process
manufacturing of complex molds and parts. It offers a 65 percent
reduction in manufacturing time and a 50 percent cost reduction
compared to traditional milling. CAD/CAM software is used to build
conformal cooling channels and vent points, which eliminates hotspots,
shrinkage and warpageresulting in the most consistently accurate parts.
For more information, visit MCMachinery.com/additive
THINKDIFFERENTLYBREAK THE MOLD WITH ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Complex Geometry:
conformal cooling channels
for internal features
Variable Density:
gas venting/gas assist
Layer Machining:
deep slot machining
eliminates EDM
Profile Machining:
achieve high precision
finished parts
Cost Saving:
reduce mold
construction time
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4 AM Supplement
F E A T U R E By Peter Zelinski
Christian M. Joest, owner and President
of Imperial Machine & Tool Co., had no
delusions about additive manufacturing.
Last year, the New Jersey contract manufacturing
company bought its frst additive manufacturing
machine for production metal parts: a selective
laser melting system from SLM Solutions. Even
as he was committing to the purchase, Joest was
telling employees, We will probably lose our
shirts on this machine for a while.
Thats OK. Thanks in part to a variety of long-
term customer relationships, Imperial has the
strength and the stability to wait out, and even
confront, what Joest sees as the big problems still
facing additive manufacturing today. One of those
problems is that the technology is immature. In the
future, he expects the equipment for making parts
through additive layers to be faster, cheaper, more
The nut shown above is about as big as the palm of a mans
hand. In its previous version, the nut was solid. The redesigned
version looks the same on the outside, but consists of a lattice
structure on the inside. This new design, with threads added,
will be used multiple times in the assembly of the M777
howitzer. The resulting weight savings will allow engineers to
improve the capabilities of the gun.
4 AM Supplement
Learning CURvE
repeatable and more capable than it is today. He
also expects its application to be much better un-
derstood. The resulting difference could be as great
as the difference between early portable phones
and the smartphones of today. All of us currently
doing additive manufacturing might be using the
bag phone version of this technology, he says.
The other problem is that the market is imma-
ture. The demand for production metal parts made
through additive manufacturing is still so small as
A manufacturer that has succeeded
for three generations expects additive
manufacturing to be part of the reason
why it will succeed in the fourth.
One year into its investment in the
technology, here is the companys
experience so far.
0514AM_Feature 1.indd 4 4/15/2014 2:13:48 PM
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AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 5
to be effectively zero, he says. The manufacturer
therefore has to create the demand instead. That
is, the manufacturer has to obtain the additive
production capability frst, then set about educat-
ing potential customers about the ways they can
beneft from the capability.
This is precisely the course Imperial has
taken. Despite the problems, Joest says the
reason for taking this course now is because
additive manufacturing is the future. He has little
doubt. The two problems described above are
temporary and small compared to the promise
additive manufacturing offers to save cost and
improve the designs of manufactured products.
Joest wants Imperial to help its customers start
realizing the benefts of additive manufactur-
ing today, in part because this third-generation
business owner fully expects Imperial to continue
to advance and succeed under the fourth-gen-
eration leadership of his son, Christian G. Joest.
Getting thereremaining in a position to answer
customers most pressing manufacturing needs
will mean mastering additive manufacturing.
In this, Imperial does have a leg up. The
company leader says some of the attributes
distinct to his particular manufacturing business
position it well for moving ahead with additive
The selective laser melting machine is
Imperials frst step into production through
additive manufacturing. The company is
seeking demand by talking to its customers
about the technologys potential value.
technology. Not the least of those advantages is
the emphasis on long-term relationships.
Long View
The move toward seeking and serving regular, es-
tablished, long-term customers is perhaps the most
signifcant change that Imperials current president
has made to the company during the tenure of his
leadership. The goal Joest has followed for years is
to make Imperial the go-to manufacturing resource
for key customers that will return again and again.
Today, the manufacturer gets just about all of its
business from 15 companies and defense-related
government entities. It routinely turns down short-
term work that does not promise to turn into lasting
business, because the short-term work would
distract it from serving the long-term customers.
This model is valuable for additive manu-
facturing because of the inside knowledge that
comes from these relationships. Over time, the
extent of Imperials interaction with these returning
customers has given the company a depth of un-
derstanding about these organizations needs and
challenges that few manufacturing contractors
possess. Those needs and challenges provide the
opportunity. Additive manufacturing is probably
not a replacement for processes that are working
well today, but it likely does offer
the answer to many of the chal-
lenges that current processes
cant address.
A recent example involved
a well-known piece of military
artillery, the M777 howitzer.
Military engineers regularly seek
to make improvements to the
design of this gun that increase
its weight. However, the weight
of this gun is constrainedit has
to be light enough to be under-
0514AM_Feature 1.indd 5 4/15/2014 2:13:54 PM
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6 AM Supplement
F E A T U R E
slung and carried by aircraft. Therefore, before
any hoped-for improvement can be made, weight
savings have to be found elsewhere on the gun.
Through additive manufacturing, Imperial was
able to deliver a new option for weight savings.
On its SLM machine, the company grew large
fastening nuts for the guns assembly that were
not solid like the existing nuts, but instead had a
honeycomb structure inside. The new nuts were
just as strong as the old ones, but half the weight.
The combined weight savings from all of the
M777 nuts produced this way gave the military
engineers freedom to add new components.
That military connection is another advantage
relevant to additive manufacturing, says Joest.
Granted, it is not a sweeping advantage, because
the military makes manufacturing changes slowly.
However, he says spare parts for military hardware
represent an area in which additive manufactur-
ing could deliver considerable value. The ability
to print these spare parts as needed, instead of
requiring depots to store either shelves
full of fnished parts or shelves full of bar and billet
stock for machining them, promises dramatic sav-
ings. The chance to also redesign some of these
parts for improved performance, as in the case
of the howitzer nuts, makes the case even more
compelling.
One other attribute of the company that favors
additive manufacturing is this: Imperials machining
area is already committed to lights-out production.
The shop is staffed only by day, routinely leaving
CNC machine tools to continue running through the
night. For example, a common practice in this shop
is to fxture a vertical machining center for the day-
time project only on the right side of the machines
table, because fxturing is kept in place on the
left side of the table that will allow the machine to
run a batch of production parts through the night.
This culture of running unattended makes additive
manufacturing a natural ft, because with cycles
times of 20 hours or more for even a moderate-size
part, additive manufacturing is inherently a lights-
out process.
Learn By Doing
Since the SLM machine arrived last year,
the Imperial employee who has been the
most directly involved in getting to know
its capabilities is Design Manager John
Shelp. He says the learning curve with
this or any metal additive manufacturing
system can be characterized in one word:
parameters. The company initially had no
idea how to work with adjustable param-
eters including laser speed, laser heat and
dwell time to account for the challenges of differ-
ent part features and the behaviors of different
materials in the additive process. It knows
much more today, but Shelp says there
was no way to achieve this understanding
except through considerable trial and error.
Fortunately, Shelp is patient, and the
company was patient about the learning
process it asked him to carry out. He says
plenty of times he would return to the machine
at the end of a cycle only to discover that the
build had been unsuccessful and the part had
Impellers are a promising ft for
additive, because custom designs
can be produced in small quanti-
ties. These parts satisfed one
prospects concern about
fnish. The as-built
part (front) is rough,
but smoother fn-
ishes are possible
through abrasive
fow (middle) and
bead blast
(back).
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AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 7
Seen here are Imperial team members
helping to explore additive manufacturings
promise. From left to right, they include
Business Development Manager Christian
G. Joest, President Christian M. Joest,
Design Manager John Shelp and Director
of Operations Mike Clifford.
The metal impeller here is
about 10 inches in diameter
and took 4 days to build. Its
merely a test partImperial made it
to prove its capabilities at generating large
parts. The frst try at making this part did not succeed, because
the company didnt have the parameters right. The version seen
here was cut away to confrm that the part this time had been
made successfully, without internal faws. The company also has
a polymer 3D printer that produced the scale prototype.
collapsedmeaning the only payoff from hours of
machine time was yet another opportunity to diag-
nose how to run the cycle better next time.
One large impeller took 4 days to build, and
the frst try failed to produce the part successfully.
Vanes broke under their own weight during the
cycle. In that case, the parameter that needed to
be adjusted was the speed of the augur bringing
powder to the laser. Increasing the material deliv-
ery rate allowed the cycle to generate the vanes
to the solidity required.
Experiences such as this reveal why the phrase
3D printing is something of a misnomer. In no
way is additive manufacturing
as easy to apply as a com-
puters desktop printer, Shelp
says.
Now, Imperial has ascended much of that
learning curve related to process parameters, but
success is throwing the company another curve.
The next set of challengeslooming soonrelate
to production volume.
Full Production
Though Joest predicted the company would
lose money on additive manufacturing for
a period of time, that period might already
be near an end. Testing related to a cus-
tomers still-secret production possibility has
gone well, he says. The customer sees value in
producing a certain small, high-volume compo-
nent through an additive process. Joest says that
if this job goes forward, then additive manufactur-
ing would become proftable for Imperial, but the
company would then be committed to producing
hundreds of these small pieces at a time in one
additive cycle after another.
One seemingly simple issue arising from
this prospect is actually a signifcant challenge.
The SLM machine builds parts by layering them
onto a build plate that serves as the anchor for
the process. Once the build is complete, what
is an effcient way to cut all of those hundreds of
pieces off of the plate? A fnely precise method
is needed, but EDM probably wont be fast
enough to be practical, he says. This is yet an-
other question for which there are no established
answers, because additive production is so new.
Therefore, Imperial will fnd the answer. Stay
tuned, Joest says.
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8 AM Supplement
F E A T U R E By Christina Fuges
It takes more than machines on the shop foor to push additive manufacturing
to the next level. According to one manufacturer, it takes customer service,
education and training, too.
Master the machine technology. Check.
Identify a market focus. Check. Establish
yourself as a knowledge center. Check.
Educate every customer on how to create a Center
of Excellence. In progress.
Thats the next step in the Linear Mold & Engi-
neering business model: be an innovative leader in
tool building and part manufacturing using additive
manufacturing (AM) technology. Linear says its
mission, through its Centers of Excellence, is to
educate more and more organizations on how to
truly take advantage of AM. That is where the com-
pany gains a return on its own AM investment.
Two years ago we introduced you to Linear
and its use of direct metal laser sintering (DMLS)
to grow tooling inserts with cooling lines already
designed inside, achieving maximum part quality
and lower costs (short.moldmakingtechnology.
com/linear0212). Linear also makes end-use
parts through AM. For these two applications,
it has identied two paths forward. In terms of
conformal cooling, the company seeks to supply
Cracking the Code to
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AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 9
these inserts to other moldmakers. In production,
it hopes to supply entire processes to customers.
Keeping Control and ConcentrationSince 2012, increasing market demand for AM,
along with Linears focus on getting the word out
and putting boots on the ground to educate the
industry, have combined to spur the companys
growth.
Two years ago, Linear had three EOSINT M
270 laser sintering machines from EOS GmbH and
was looking at adding a fourth. Today, the com-
pany owns those four M 270 machines (that build
with cobalt chrome, Inconel 625/718, maraging
steel and stainless steels), two EOSINT M 280 ma-
chines (that build with aluminum, cobalt chrome,
Inconel 25/718, maraging steel, stainless steels
and titanium) and one SLM 280 selective laser
melting machine from SLM Solutions GmbH (that
builds with aluminum and titanium), and plans for
An integral part of Linears
additive manufacturing
training is the opportunity
for participants to work
side-by-side with experienced
professionals. By shadowing
expert technicians, they learn
techniques that otherwise
cannot be mastered through
traditional classroom train-
ing. Participants watch and
learn how to operate and
maintain the 3D metal print-
ing machines in real-world
situations.
LEFT: A Linear Additive Manufacturing (AM) training session
includes courses covering a variety of topics from design pos-
sibilities and limitations to post-fnishing processes. Clients
can choose from a 2 -day or an extended 4 -day course,
offering lectures, discussions, real-world examples and hands-
on demonstrations where participants build their own parts
led by experienced professionals.
This part demonstrates Linears ability to optimize complex
build processes. By combining engineering expertise and
sophisticated software with AM, parts that would be diffcult
or impossible to build are commonplace. AM tackles issues
such as complex geometry, varying wall thicknesses and tight
dimensional tolerances.
two more machine acquisitions in 2014. It also has
11 CNC machining centers, various other machine
tools and nine injection molding machines.
We are a traditional tooling manufacturer that
also provides AM, says Lou Young, Linears direc-
tor of new business development for tooling and
manufacturing. These two worlds come together
under conformal cooling. We sell AM through the
manufacture of conformal-cooled inserts.
Traditionally manufactured tooling accounts
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F E A T U R E
10 AM Supplement
for the highest percentage of the companys
business, followed equally by plastic parts manu-
facturing and AM. However, a shift is taking place.
AM sales have skyrocketed each of the last two
years, and Linear is projecting its AM sales to
match the companys tooling sales within the next
three to four years.
A solid conformal cooling foundation, based on
expertise in tool building and plastic parts manu-
facturing, has been the key to Linears growth in
AM. So much so that it is the companys fastest
growing additive manufacturing segment.
Conformal cooling at Linear has changed quite
a bit in the past two years. On top of its additional
machine technology, fnite element analysis (FEA)
has allowed Linear to get more aggressive with
water line design without ruining the integrity of its
inserts.
As you try to squeak water lines into the tight-
est areas possible, you run the risk of getting them
too close to the parts surface where they might fail
under molding pressure, so we run FEA analysis
in those cases to check stresses on the actual tool
itself, Young explains.
How the inserts are processed has been
streamlined in the past two years as well. We have
more wire EDM equipment on the foor to fnish the
inserts as they come off the machines, he says.
Shown here is a tooling insert with conformal cooling lines
inside. A cross-sectional of this insert would show the
unique cooling line designs that have been formulated to
speed up the cooling process. When in-
serted into a tool, this faster cooling
insert will greatly reduce cycle
time and improve overall
part quality.
Linears mold simulation process, which is used
to show customers the benefts of conformal cool-
ing, has advanced, too, landing the company new
business. We take a customers existing produc-
tion job, with its tool design and current molding
parameters, and run a mold simulation with those
exact parameters, tool design and conventional
water lines, Young explains. This establishes a
baseline in the simulation software. From there we
construct a conformal cooling water line design
with that same tool and run it with the exact same
parameters. Both simulation results usually yield a
job the next day.
By running simulations with existing tools and
parts in production, Linear establishes a baseline
and then shows the customer what could be. Its
approach proves that simulations applied in the real
world work.
By leveraging our equipment and experience,
we are able to help customers maximize the ben-
efts of conformal cooling, which include reduced
cycle times, increased plant capacity, minimized
scrap, a widened process window, noted quality
improvements and improved fexibility in water line
designs, Young notes.
Linears strategy for growing the tooling side of
its business is not necessarily to build more molds.
Rather, it wants to supply conformal-cooled inserts
to every tool shop in the country.
We dont want to build 1,000 molds a year,
Young says. We want to build the conformal-cooled
inserts for those 1,000 molds a year. We want to
help tool shops understand and use the technology,
design the water lines, and run the simulations and
FEA analyses on the tooling inserts.
When it comes to plastic parts manufacturing,
Linear is using its conformal cooling knowledge to
make the company a better parts manufacturer.
According to Young, one of the biggest drivers
for conformal cooling so far this year has been
molders desire to increase plant capacity without
adding additional equipment.
For years, conformal coolings best-known
advantage has been cycle time reduction and the
resulting piece-price savings. However, Linear
lately has been working with many large companies
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AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 11
Parts grown using the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process are used within the aerospace, defense,
consumer, medical, dental, automotive and agriculture markets. These parts are great examples of how AM is the
process to use for rapid prototyping and low production runs.
whose emphasis is not on piece-price reduction
but rather on capacity, and this is where conformal
cooling comes into play.
You pick up any plastics trade magazine
today, and youll read how they cant make injection
molding machines fast enough, Young points out.
So, if you are able to reduce your cycle time by
30 percent on tools hanging in presses 24 hours a
day, youll gain 8 hours of capacity on each press
without having to buy another press. Conformal
cooling helps make that happen by allowing you to
reach the end-of-cycle temperature quicker.
For the 3D metal printing portion of its business,
Linear is taking more of a market focus in 2014. The
company is looking not just at overall growth, but at
growth in individual markets as well. Its strategy is
to show customers tangible benefts such as how it
can make or save them money. The high-value busi-
ness that Linear is chasing involves opportunities
to help customers with supply chain optimization,
spare parts reduction and part redesign.
Creating Centers of Excellence Linear believes it has also cracked the code when
it comes to moving AM forward: knowledge shar-
ing. The company has chosen not to hide or hoard
the technology, but has established itself as a
knowledge center, creating Centers of Excellence
(COE) to guide customers so they too can take
advantage of AM technology.
A COE is where we provide our customers
with a low-risk, turnkey service that includes AM
equipment, personnel, maintenance, best prac-
tices training and technical support to help them
duplicate on their site what we do at Linear every
day, explains Bruce Colter, the companys director
of new business development in additive manufac-
turing. It is this philosophy that has helped Linear
position itself as a leader and innovator, and stay
several steps ahead of its competition.
Heres How the COE Model Works
The Centers of Excellence are supported by Linear
0514AM_Feature 2.indd 11 4/16/2014 10:35:53 AM
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Technical Services (LTS), a division of Linear that
offers each customer COE fve support compo-
nents: equipment, talent, training, consulting and
priority parts shipping.
Equipment is consigned to the customers
site, but technology investment without the train-
ing is seen as a waste, so Linear offers access
to personnel educated on all of its processes
and comprehensive training. This includes train-
ing on all AM considerations, from concept to
production. (If standard training does not meet a
customers requirements, LTS also can develop
a course or a set of modular courses tailored to
specifc needs. A custom course might include
a combination of topics pulled from several stan-
dard courses or specialized material.) Training
is followed up by consulting services that help
to establish best practices specifcally for the
customers facility and with 24/7 on-call services
by a Linear expert. The COE program, which
typically lasts three years, is intended to enable
industrial-strength sand cores, mold
packages and functional metal partsdirectly from CAD fles.
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technology can create complex production parts
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the customer to begin making parts in days
versus months.
Once Linear has trained a customer and that
customer realizes its full potential, it likely wont
have the internal capacity to keep up with de-
mand, so Linears support remains in the picture.
In the end, Linears goal is to promote the benefts
of the AM technology and enhance its customers
market position, Colter maintains.
A COE is designed to help engineers and
designers internally design for the AM process. It
moves their minds to think in different ways and
provides an onsite resource to help them rede-
sign their supply chain with a new manufacturing
dimension, he says.
Market analysis reports that the potential of
the AM marketplace will be $612 billion over
the next decade, so our challenge is fguring out
how to meet the demand, Colter adds. For that,
we want the customer to think sintered parts, not
stamped and welded parts.
0514AM_Feature 2.indd 12 4/16/2014 11:25:24 AM
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More than a 3D printing seminar,
this workshop will focus on
industrial applications of
additive technologies for making
functional components and
end-use production parts.
Hear presentations from
industry leaders.
Discover the unique advantages additive
manufacturing brings to production.
Network with industry peers.
See additive manufacturing machines
in action in the IMTS exhibit hall.
Be a part of this
emerging technology!
WORKSHOP
AT
GLOBAL PRESENTERS
Register NowSeptember 9, 2014
McCormick Place Chicago, IL
PLATINUM SPONSOR
Learn more at additivemanufacturinginsight.com
AMWorkshop14_mms_full.indd 1 4/15/14 4:26 PM
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Product News
14 AM Supplement
3D Printing Produces Lighter but Stronger Bicycle Frame
Renishaw has collaborated with British bicycle company
Empire Cycles to create what is said to be the worlds
frst 3D-printed metal bike frame, built on
Renishaws AM250 additive manufacturing
system.
Empire designed the mountain
bike to be stronger and lighter, using a
process called topological optimiza-
tion. Topological optimization
software uses iterative steps
and fnite element analysis
to determine logical
material placement.
Design, construction and
performance advantages
Team Will Develop Large-Scale AM System
The Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory
is partnering with machine tool manufacturer Cincinnati
Inc. to develop a large-scale additive manufacturing
system capable of printing polymer components as much
as 10 times larger than can currently be produced and at
speeds 200 to 500 times faster than existing AM machines.
A prototype machine is in development that incorpo-
rates AM technology with the machine base of Cincinnati
Inc.s gantry-style laser cutting system. The research team
then plans to integrate a high-speed cutting tool, pellet feed
mechanism and control software for additional capabilities.
ornl.gov / e-ci.com
New Metals Suited for AM
EOS has expanded its materials
portfolio to include two new metal
alloys: EOS Titanium Ti64ELI and
EOS StainlessSteel 316L.
EOS Titanium Ti64ELI is a light
alloy that is corrosion-resistant and
biocompatible, making it particularly suited for the manu-
facture of medical implants. EOS StainlessSteel 316L also
is corrosion-resistant, biocompatible and well-suited for
medical use, but it also can be used in the manufacture
of watches, jewelry and eyeglass frames, and in the aero-
space industry. Parts manufactured from this alloy can be
mechanically post-processed or polished. eos.info
Laser Melting System Offers
Large Build Envelope
Developed jointly with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser
Technology, Concept Lasers X line 1000R laser melting
system offers a build envelope of 630 400 500 mm
for the manufacture of large, functional components and
technical prototypes. Its key component is a high-per-
formance, 1,000-W laser that the company says enables
increased productivity over other laser melting systems.
Intended for both automotive and aerospace applica-
tions, the large-format system can deliver construction
speeds as fast as 65 cm/hr. compared with build rates
of 10-15 cm/hr. on comparable systems, the company
says. Quality management modules like QMcoating and
QMmeltpool are said to maintain component quality.
concept-laser.de
of the additive process include blending complex shapes
or hollow structures with internal strengthening features,
fexibility to make design improvements right up to the
start of production, and the conve-
nience of making one-off parts as
easily as batches, which allows for
customization. The bikes tita-
nium alloy frame, which is
about 33 percent lighter
than the original alumi-
num alloy frame, was
manufactured in sections
and bonded together.
renishaw.com
empire-cycles.com
0514AM_Products.indd 14 4/15/2014 2:17:52 PM
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AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2014 15
Realizing Benefts: Enablers for AM
By Tim Shinbara, Technology Director, AMTTe Association For Manufacturing Technology
Tere is an abundance of media outlets that speak
to additive manufacturing (AM)/3D printing (3DP)
as an inherent enabler to the manufacturing industry.
However, there are also enablers for AM to be fully
realized and more pervasively accepted. If one could
draw a path from todays capabilities to what AM is
being touted as providing tomorrow, you could identify
both obstacles and enablers. Tat discussion space
could be divided into three areas: materials, processing
and economics.
Materials: As AM emerged, the industry generally
borrowed its raw materials from pre-existing supply
chains, primarily injection molding and powder metal-
lurgy, and subsequently conditioned such material
for AM processing. Terefore, an obstacle today is to
prepare and optimize a given material system to a given
technology. Instead a more advantageous approach
would be to optimize the incoming materialand its
supply chainfor AM processing. Creating an AM-
specifc supply chain would provide more consistency
for incoming raw material, as well as creating a more
afordable material ofering. Te enablers seem to be
synergistic between increases in demand (via awareness)
and serious consideration from the material industry.
Tere continues to be further development in standard-
ized material screening and preparation methodologies1
that promotes consistency and also may reduce the
time to use new materials, including means to process
varying levels of recycled materials2.
Processing: Materials may have a signifcant role
in advancing the level of pervasive acceptance of AM
products, but a certain showstopper is insufcient
quality or an unreliable manufacturing process. Tere
are some AM processes, such as vat photopolymer-
ization, that incorporate well-understood processing
knowledge with sufciently high levels of reliability;
however, this is not the case for all methods. Te
obstacles regarding processing seem to involve thermal
management whether within the preexisting consol-
idated materials or at point of consolidation. Basic
research3 has shown high correlations, and in
many cases causation, between maintaining
certain processing conditions (e.g. energy
density for melt pool geometries) and the
quality of part attributes (e.g. surface fnish
and density). Potential enablers could be
advanced algorithms that map processing
conditions/parameters to intended part
properties where these maps may be applied
to any material system and AM process
technology4.
Economics: Tere have been preliminary,
albeit confdential, business case studies that
evaluate part quantities produced against
part complexity. Such graphs efectively
show an economic sweet spot for AM parts
in the quadrant of low-to-medium quanti-
ties with medium-to-high complexities.
Tis has become a bit pedestrian in most
Scanning electron microscopy of pits and particles due to process
variances.5
0514AM_AMT.indd 15 4/15/2014 2:18:36 PM
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16 AM Supplement
Article continued
from page 15.
By Whitney Brown, Media Communications Manager,
AMTTe Association For Manufacturing Technology
In the world of additive manufacturing, some pretty
amazing things have been 3D-printedbut what about
the entire body of a car? Some independent automakers
have printed certain parts and incorporated them
into their designs. However, designing and printing the
major elements of the exterior, the structure and the
interior had yet to be attempted. Until now.
Local Motors, an automotive start-up in Chandler,
Ariz., partnered with IMTSthe International
Manufacturing Technology Show to build the Rally
Fighter on the show foor in 2012 in less than a week.
For IMTS 2014, the company has taken on a more
difcult projectbuilding and delivering the frst
direct digital manufactured vehicle. And on top of
that, it will be fully electric.
Designed by the companys global community
and built using the material science and advanced
manufacturing techniques available at the Manufac-
turing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, Local
Motors will produce an electric vehicle purpose-built
for Chicagos urban transportation needs.
IMTS is the perfect venue on which to showcase
the next evolution of Local Motors World of Vehicle
Innovations, says Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers.
To deliver the frst co-created, locally-relevant,
3D-printed vehicle on an international stage dedicated
to celebrating cutting-edge manufacturing technology
is powerful reinforcement of our commitment to
driving the third Industrial Revolution.
Built in the Emerging Technology Center during the
week of IMTS 2014, the fnished vehicle will be used as
an example of how sustainable green technologies can
reduce life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions,
lower production cost, and create new products and
opportunities for high paying jobs.
For more information on the project and the
Emerging Technology Center, visit IMTS.com/etc.
A 3D-printed Car
Comes to IMTS 2014
commentators list of top benefts. However, there are
still economic obstacles for end-use readiness due to
cost and time for post-processing AM parts. Whether
it may be fnishing, heat treatment or other post-pro-
cessing eforts, the additional costs for post-processing
may erode the original business case for AM. Enablers for
AM economics are multi-faceted. Areas of new develop-
ments are in automating fxtures and reference points
into the original part model design to provide a seamless
transition between AM and traditional post-processing
capabilities. Others are meeting fnal requirements by
modeling features based on as-built conditions (e.g.
surface fnish, density, etc.) to eliminate the need for any
further post-processing eforts.
Institutes such as America Makes are making
headway in some of these areas, as are university and
national labs. Te private sector continues to make
new breakthroughs with clear transition paths. Te
AM industry continues to evolve and mature as such
resources, motivations and applications abound.
For more information about additive technologies,
contact Tim Shinbara at [email protected]
or 703-827-5243.
References:1 Cooke, April, et al. Properties of Metal Powders for Additive Manufacturing: A Review of the State of the Art of Metal Powder Property Testing. NISTIR 78773 (2013).
2 Carroll, P.A., et al. University of Manchester, et al Te Efects of Powder Recycling in Direct Metal Laser Deposition on Powder and Manufactured Part Characteristics. RTO ATV-139. 18-1. Web. March 27, 2014.
3 Te University of Texas Austins Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium for further investigation:
4 Beuth, Jack, et al. Process Mapping for Qualifcation Across Multiple Direct Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes. Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (2013). Web. March 27, 2014.
5 Gong, Haijun, et al. Te Efects of Processing Parameters on Defect Regularity in Ti-6Al-4V Parts Fabricated By Selective Laser Melting and Electron Beam Melting. Solid Freeform Fabri-cation Symposium (2013). Web. March 27, 2014. Te University of Louisville found that particles are formed by the molten materials which are ejected from melt pool due to recoil force of the evolving vapor; phenomenon which may be better managed with process controls.
0514AM_AMT.indd 16 4/15/2014 2:19:01 PM
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0514 AMT-GFMC.indd 1 3/27/14 11:20 AM
-
Come together.
Leave your mark.
COME
TOGETHER.
LEAVE
INFORMED.
earLy BIrD PrICINg eNDS auguSt 8 ImtS.Com
Where else can you meet the minds that are moving manufacturing
forward? Nowhere but IMTS 2014. With a focus on success through
cooperation, the week will be flled with technology, education, and
ideas that we can all beneft from. Join us at McCormick Place Chicago,
September 813, 2014. Learn more at IMTS.com.
DaN FLaNNery
Sr. Engineer II
BorgWarner
yearS atteNDINg ImtS
2
goaL For ImtS 2014
Each year I have attended, IMTS has always
succeeded in gathering the best manufacturing
technologies from around the world. I am certain
that trend will continue this year. In engineering,
there are always barriers to overcome. I look to
IMTS to fnd new ways to solve those problems
or better yet, prevent them.
0514 IMTS.indd 1 4/3/14 2:29 PM
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