Page 23 - 3DMP Summer 2022

Tech Centers Help Manufacturers Jump Aboard the Metal-AM Train 3D
respond by helping manufacturers identify technologies—AM, Industry 4.0, big data, etc.—that can help them grow.”
Among the key services that CCAT and its ATC provide are sup- porting manufacturing career- readiness efforts, and providing technology demonstrations to companies, all to help them trans- form and become early adopters of new technology. Recently, CCAT, under an Additive Manufacturing Adoption Program (AMAP), com- pleted a $600,000 grant program that provided $100,000 matching grants to six CT-based companies to support their AM-adoption efforts.
“AM technologies have advanced tremendously and continue at an accelerated rate,” said Ron Angelo, president and CEO of CCAT, at the time of the grant awards. “Support- ing the adoption of AM technology throughout the Connecticut supply chain is vital to sustaining the advanced technical capabilities that our state is known for.”
The DMG Mori Lasertec 65 DED hybrid AM machine at CCAT provides a 29 by 25.5 by 22-in. work envelope for five-axis material deposition and milling, along with closed-loop process monitoring and adaptive process control.
here, says Zownir: Allow for early involvement with customers in product development, assisting in design for manufacturing and product launch.
“We expect to use our metal 3D printer in concert with CNC machining to reduce lead times and enable customers to iterate more quickly,” Zownir says.
Technology Readiness
When it comes to supporting local and regional manufacturers with technology readiness, the CCAT team spends much of its resources on the demonstration and adoption of applied tech- nologies for the industrial supply base, working with OEMs, prime contractors and small to mid- sized manufacturing enterprises. Initially launched as a laser- applications lab, CCAT transi- tioned into AM in 2011 when it partnered with several local aero- space manufacturers—United Technologies Research Center, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce and
Added Paul Striebel, AMAP’s program manager: “Connecticut manufacturers are clearly striving to stay at the forefront of technology, as evidenced by their eager- ness to adopt new AM techniques and equipment.”
AM for Medical, Aerospace and Other Industries
Among the companies receiving AMAP awards from CCAT: Burke Aerospace, Accu- rate Lock and Hardware Co., and medical- device manufacturer Okay Industries.
Okay purchased its metal AM system, officials tell 3D Metal Printing, from Rapidia Inc. The setup includes a printer with two independent print heads fed with Rapidia’s water-based metal and support paste, as well as a sintering fur- nace. As explained by Okay Industries’ R&D engineer Ron Zownir, the Rapidia system is “economical, versatile and open. Parts are sintered overnight instead of taking days as is the case with competitive
systems.
“And the relationship we have with
Rapidia has been outstanding,” he adds. “The support it provides is above and beyond first-class. As we continue to inte- grate the capability into our operations, an underappreciated headwind has been design for AM, and playing to the strengths of the technology to maximize its impact. Breaking through requires experience, comfort and confidence in metal additive part making.”
Commenting on Okay’s future use of AM, Zownir points to reducing toolroom burden as an important goal. “Demand on our toolroom resources continues to increase with out strong growth,” he says. “Metal AM technology enables our tool- makers to focus their skills on the work that has the greatest impact.”
Another goal for AM at Okay: enhanc- ing its prototyping services, as delivered by its NexTech Labs R & D centers, estab- lished at each of its locations. The goal
others—on an Air Force project to study AM for repair of titanium components. Since then, it’s been performing on federal programs for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Department of Energy while also pro- viding commercial business for NASA, research institutes and companies across industry sectors.
The CCAT ATC inhouse metal-AM port- folio includes laser directed-energy depo- sition (DED) (an Optomec 850-R Lens sys- tem and DMG Mori Lasertec 65 3D hybrid); laser powder-bed fusion (Renishaw AM- 400); and binder jetting (ExOne Innovent+).
CCAT also has recently added what it calls a high-rate AM (HRAM) FlexCell, per- forming wire and/or powder-fed DED. It features an eight-axis ABB industrial robot equipped with interchangeable heads for both wire-arc ( WAAM), cold metal transfer and soft plasma (Fronius) and laser pow- der/wire DED (Meltio) within a 12 by 14 by 10-ft. work envelope offering about a 2-cubic-meter build area.
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