Page 29 - 3D Metal Printing Winter 2019

Offering a build size of 16.9
by 12.6 by 7.9 in., the binder-jet
Metal Jet printer boasts voxel-
level 1200 by 1200-dpi 3D print-
ing accuracy, producing in single
layers from 50 to 100 microns
thick. Inkjets deliver an HP binding agent to a powdered-metal bed and industry-standard metal-injection-molding (MIM) metal powders. The inkjets spray in a layer via a print head traveling side to side, with another print head alternately traveling in a perpendicular direction and spraying the next layer. This enables speeds that company officials claim are 50 times greater than other presently available binder-jetting and selective-laser-melt- ing metal-AM machines. Density after sintering is greater than 93 percent, similar to densities achieved via MIM.
The printer reportedly can produce multiple parts simulta- neously, and parts can be arranged freely in multiple levels within the bed to optimize packing density, productivity and cost. And, no build plate is required.
Company officials attribute speed, density and accuracy in part to inkjet-nozzle redundancy. The Metal Jet reportedly features four times the number of nozzles and two times the number of print bars as presently available systems.
HP plans to ship printers industry-wide by 2020. And, in 2019, the company will unveil its Metal Jet Production Service, where users can upload design files, receive design-compatibility checks from HP and receive parts from HP’s manufacturing partners. HP Inc.: www8.hp.com/us/en/home.html
Green-Laser Printing of Pure Copper and Other Precious Metals
At formnext, Trumpf showcased the ability of its AM technology to process a range of materials, including pure copper and pre- cious metals, via a new green laser with a pulse function.
disk laser with the TruPrint 1000 3D printer.
“Conventional systems use an infrared laser as the beam
source, but its wavelength is too long and it can't weld highly reflective materials such as copper and gold—this can be done with laser light in the green wavelength spectrum," says Thomas Fehn, Trumpf ’s general manager-additive manufacturing with responsibility for sales. According to Fehn, this will open up new possibilities for 3D printing—for example, in the electronics and automotive industries.
The green laser also holds potential for gold printing in the jewelry industry, according to company officials, enabling indi- vidual unique pieces to be produced on demand while simulta- neously saving expensive material.
“The 3D printer doesn't waste expensive gold and silver,” Fehn says. As a result, printing often is more economical than milling or casting a piece of jewelry, which inevitably entails a loss of material.
Trumpf Inc.: www.us.trumpf.com
AM Design and Rapid-Simulation Software
Altair Engineering described the features and benefits of Altair Inspire 2018,
the latest version of
the company’s generative
design/topology-opti-
mization and rapid-sim-
ulation software, and
displayed various 3D printed parts
using the Inspire platform. The software
includes overhang shape controls, helping to reduce overhangs to create more self-supporting structures— important when designing for AM.
Enhancing the concept-development process by enabling simulation-driven design, the new version allows users to generate optimized lattice and mixed solid/lattice structures, visualize simulation results in 3D, and export lattice designs in a .STL file format for 3D printing. Users also can generate dynamic motion of complex mechanisms, thus automatically identifying contacts, joints, springs and dampers. Forces obtained from a motion analysis automatically are applied as inputs to a structural analysis and optimization, or can be used to determine initial requirements for motors and actuators. The software also enables viewing and interactively assigning loads to load cases and the importing/exporting of design loads in .CSV file format with the new Load Cases Table.
One item on display, a redesigned aerospace kinematic bracket (pictured), produced by M&H CNC Technik and employing the Inspire software, reduced material waste by 91 percent and improved the buy-to-fly ratio from 17 to 1.5.
Altair Engineering: www.altairhyperworks.com 3DMP WINTER 2019 • 3D METAL PRINTING | 27
formnext 2018 3D
"This makes it attractive for use in mechanical and plant engineering, as pure copper can be used to print particularly conductive inductors and heat exchangers," says Tobias Baur, Trumpf’s general manager for additive manufacturing.
To achieve printing success with pure copper and precious metals, the developers connected Trumpf’s new TruDisk 1020
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