Page 30 - 3D Metal Printing Fall 2017

3D TCT Show Takeaways single-piece metal bracket, reducing time-
consuming part assembly and eliminating weld-line bottlenecks. After months of use, the line has experienced no breakage issues.
Machineworks accepted the Technol- ogy Innovation Software Award for its Polygonica solid-modeling software toolk- it for processing polygon meshes. Avail- able for providers of AM software and hardware, the toolkit enables complex geometrical operations such as mesh heal- ing, 3D Booleans, solid offsetting, mesh modeling, quality-based remeshing and mesh analysis. At its show booth, Machineworks (www.machineworks.com) demonstrated the recently released Poly- gonica version 2.1, with additions includ- ing support for rapid lattice generation; sweeping of profiles and solids along paths; solid convexification; imprinting, embossing and engraving along curves
and profiles; and mesh manipulation. Desktop Metal (www.desktopmetal.com) earned the TCT Rising Star Award for its efforts to make metal AM more acces- sible through its Studio system, a desk- top printer that extrudes bound metallic rods to produce parts, eliminating many safety concerns while allowing users to build components inhouse in office
environments.
Latest and Greatest
Walking the aisles at the TCT Show revealed a slew of innovative new products and services. We’ll include many in future issue of 3D Metal Printing, and following are a few that we spied.
AM software developer Link3D (www.link3d.co) introduced Digital Fac- tory, designed to support global collabo- ration projects, doing away with the tra- ditional time-consuming and error-prone
back-and-forth between partners. Now, all project partners can access the same work inside Digital Factory, updating and saving alterations as needed.
It allows companies to intelligently automate, streamline and manage all additive processes and the supply chain, from R&D and metrology stages to the materials side, through to series produc- tion, according to Shane Fox, Link3D CEO. With part design established, partners can provide rapid-prototype report orders, and Digital Factory will route them to the correct facilities and machines via a scheduling tool.
A pricing tool simulates the time need- ed to build a part, and then sends an invoice to the user's department, where part production can be scheduled with the push of a button. Production also eas- ily can be outsourced to a variety of serv- ice bureaus that partner with Link3D. Other Digital Factory features include autonomous file-repair tools and a digital part inventory to ease reordering.
Digital Metal (www.digitalmetal.tech), a subsidiary of metallic-powder provider Hoganas, announced commercial pro- duction of its DM P2500 printer, report- edly the industry’s first high-precision binder-jetting system, capable of producing small and intricate metallic components.
The machine offers a print volume of 2500 cm3 and continuously prints in 42- μm layers at 100 cc/hr. without the need for support structures. It delivers 35-um resolution and an average surface rough- ness of Ra 6 μm. The process is adaptable for a variety of materials due to the sin- tering process that occurs after printing. And, powder removed before sintering can be reused, resulting in high yield and low scrap rates, according to company officials.
“With the DM P2500 we are bringing to market a tried-and-tested 3D metal printer with the capability to produce objects with unparalleled accuracy and surface finish at high volume,” says Ralf Carlstrom, general manager of Digital Metal.
The first machine has been sold to a fashion-design firm, with the second
Ti Bike Frame One-Third Lighter Than Predecessor
Collaborating with Empire Cycles, a British bicycle design and manufacturing company, Renishaw (www.renishaw.com) helped create what reportedly is the world’s first 3D-printed bike frame. After optimizing the bicycle design for AM by eliminating many downward-facing sur- faces that otherwise would require wasteful support structures, the team printed titanium-alloy parts on Ren- ishaw’s AM 400. It then bonded the parts to form a frame weighing 33-per- cent less than its aluminum predecessor built using traditional processes.
The AM 400 represents the latest
offering on Renishaw’s AM 250 machine
platform. Updates include a larger
SafeChange filter, improved optical con-
trol software, revised gas-flow and win-
dow-protection features, and a new 400-W
optical system that provides a reduced beam diameter of 70 μm. The AM 400 build volume measures 250 by 250 by 300 mm. Other features include open materials parameters, small factory footprint, reported class-leading inert atmosphere and low gas usage.
The AM 400 also features an external powder hopper with valve interlocks that allow material addition while the process runs.
28 | 3D METAL PRINTING • FALL 2017
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