Page 25 - 3D Metal Printing Summer 2019

FEATURE 3D Binder Jetting
in Barcelona
That’s just what HP is doing as it opens an AM R&D Center in Spain to extend development of its Metal Jet and nonmetal 3D printing technology. BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
This past June in Barcelona, Spain, 3D Metal Printing was on hand as HP Inc. unveiled its 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence, an R&D facility bringing together hundreds of additive manufac- turing (AM) experts in more than 150,000 sq. ft. of space. The new center boasts professionals in systems engineering, data intelligence, software, materials science, design and applications—it may be the world’s largest population of AM special- ists in one location, according to HP offi- cials. The 3-plus-acre facility at HP’s Barcelona campus is dedicated to the development of the company’s industrial 3D printing portfolio and provides a large- scale factory environment to collaborate with customers and partners on digital manufacturing technologies.
Opening of the Barcelona location fol- lows a number of other recent AM devel- opmentsbyHP,whichillustratethecom- pany’s deliberate path forward with the technology, including commercial devel- opment of metal printing systems and materials.
HP Goes Metal at IMTS 2018
Beginning at IMTS in 2018, HP Inc. went public in a big way with its efforts in metal AM. At that show, the company debuted its Metal Jet 3D-printing tech- nology, designed to enable volume man- ufacturing of production-grade metal parts. The Metal Jet printer offered a build volume of about 430 by 320 mm, with voxel-level 1200 by 1200-dpi 3D printing accuracy via binder jetting. It was slated to produce stainless-steel finished parts, delivering isotropic properties upon post- print sintering that meet or exceed ASTM and MPIF Standards, according to HP officials.
At IMTS, representatives from GKN Powder Metallurgy and Parmatech dis- cussed how they have employed the tech- nology to produce parts for Volkswagen, Wilo and others.
HP built carefully and deliberately on that debut, and now the company plans to ship printers in the second half of 2020
At HP Inc.’s new 150,000-sq.-ft. 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Barcelona, Spain, employees test systems and materials, and collaborate with customers and partner companies to develop metal and nonmetal binder jetting technologies.
for lead customers, with broad commer- cial availability planned for 2021.
To help promote the technology and its capabilities, at AMUG 2019 in April, HP announced the wide availability of its Metal Jet Production Service for final- parts production. Users, via the service, can upload 3D design files and receive functional metal parts, produced on HP Metal Jets by GKN and Parmatech, in large quantities. Tim Weber, global head of HP’s Metal Jet business and a 25-year HP vet- eran, including the past five dedicated to 3D printing, detailed the service in an AMUG presentation.
The AMUG conference also provided the venue for a presentation on HP’s work
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