Page 15 - 3D Metal Printing Summer 2019

Romania and himself seeking anoth- er way, Yair’s father emigrated to Israel, eventually opening his own machine shop, Sharon Tuvia.
Today, with its half-century-plus of manufacturing experience, the company and its 15 employees pro- duce mechanical assemblies, parts and components used in the aero- nautical and electro-optical indus- tries. It specializes in complex, highly accurate products, providing a one-stop solution from design
to final assembly.
New Machine Heralds Entry into Titanium
Eight years ago, Sharon
Tuvia, after researching AM,
brought in its first metal 3D
printer and since has added two more, all printing aluminum. Looking to add tita- nium parts for aerospace and medical applications to its repertoire, the company recently added a fourth: the DMP Flex 350 metal 3D printer from 3D Systems. Suc- ceeding the ProX DMP 320 model, the DMP Flex 350 reportedly enables more efficient production of dense, pure metal parts and includes improved gas-flow technology for enhanced part quality across the entire build area. Additionally, the DMP Flex 350 offers a 15-percent improvement in print productivity over the previous model, according to 3D Systems officials.
3D Systems unveiled the DMP Flex 350 at formnext 2018, where 3D Metal Printing sat down with the Sharon brothers to learn more about Sharon Tuvia’s operations. The printer features a build volume of 275 by 275 by 420 mm with a maximum achiev- able part size of 275 by 275 by 380 mm using a standard-height build plate of 40 mm. A unique vacuum chamber heavily reduces argon-gas consumption while achieving oxygen levels of less than 25 ppm. This results in exceptionally strong parts of high chemical purity, according to 3D Systems officials. Designed for R&D projects, application development or for serial production, the machine also is scal- able for volume part production. Features include quick-swap build modules and
and also has been a long-time user of 3D Systems’ Cimatron
CAD/CAM software. 3DXpert 14, the latest version of 3DXpert, focuses on the capabil- ities required to easily scale up to serial metal- part production, accord- ing to 3D Systems officials. Enhanced integrated simulation facilitates more rapid design-to- manufacturing lead time, and the new Engineering Change Order manager enables rapid design changes within the 3D model ver- sus needing to recreate it. Other features include enhanced auto- orientation, new optimized lat- tice structures and smart pro-
duction labeling.
Sharon Tuvia also employs DMP Mon-
itoring, a process-monitoring and non- destructive quality-control system that provides data for assessing product qual- ity, and also offers a means of process traceability and documentation.
Better Parts Sell Company on Technology
The company intends to use the DMP Flex 350 to produce topology-optimized titanium brackets for aerospace compa- nies, as well as parts for commercial satel- lites. Medical parts also are a possibility, reports Yair. 3D Systems is supplying Sharon Tuvia with its LaserForm Ti Gr23 for use on the new machine, with the high quality of final titanium parts leading the company to purchase the equipment and material combo.
“We challenged titanium parts pro- duced on the DMP Flex 350 with a battery of external tests—evaluating elongation, stress, fatigue, microstructure analysis and other factors,” says Ronen. “The LaserForm Ti Gr23 parts performed with- out parallel. The results were especially extraordinary when checking for lack of fusion (incomplete fusion) as most parts produced using metal 3D printing tech- nologies, we’ve found, will reveal lack of fusion.”
3DMPmag.com
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The new metal printer onsite at Sharon Tuvia is intended to produce topology-optimized titanium brackets for aerospace companies.
rapid powder recycling to help speed pro- duction. A central server manages print jobs, materials, settings and maintenance, enabling 24/7 productivity.
Besides the DMP Flex 350, other new additions to the DMP product platform include the Factory 350, with an integrated powder-management system providing sieving and automated powder con- veyance in an O2-free atmosphere. If desired, the DMP platform allows Sharon Tuvia to readily scale from the DMP Flex 350 to the DMP Factory 350. Also announced at formnext: the DMP Factory 500, a scalable system developed in part- nership with GF Machining Solutions and designed to build metal parts to 500 by 500 by 500 mm. This platform includes GF Machining Solutions’ System 3R ref- erencing and clamping system, with zero- point clamping that enables optimal posi- tioning of the build plate, facilitating a quick transition from the 3D printer to post-processing steps.
In tandem with its new DMP Flex 350, Sharon Tuvia uses 3D Systems’ 3DXpert integrated software for the entire metal- AM workflow, encompassing preparation, simulation, optimization and post-pro- cessing operations. Sharon Tuvia also employs the software for its three other metal-printing units. The company brought on the software two years ago,
3D