Page 8 - 3D Metal Printing magazine Fall 2022

3D
TECH UPDATE
GE Additive Sets 2023 Second Half for Production Delivery of New Binder Jetting Line
GE Additive has announced that pro- duction delivery of its new binder jetting line and Series 3 printer, designed for high-volume serial production, will com- mence in the second half of 2023 follow- ing 4 yr. of development and testing.
The Binder Jet Line Series 3 can addi- tively manufacture complex, small and large parts repeatably and reliably, offer company officials, with material proper- ties that exceed casting equivalents with achievable through-hole diameters and wall thicknesses of less than 500 μm. Through the development program, GE’s Binder Jet technology reportedly has regularly proven the ability to successful- ly print and sinter large parts that meet dimensional and feature resolution toler- ances for production, with demonstrated capability in (but not limited to) parts weighing to 25 kg in stainless steel, and no known limitations on maximum wall thickness.
Stated benefits of this line include the ability to:
• Depowder intricate parts without destroying fine features, enabled by GE’s proprietary binder systems
• Sinter parts within the desired toler- ances, enabled in part by GE Additive’s Amp software’s distortion prediction and compensation capability
• Develop casting-equivalent or bet- ter high-quality parts more quickly than traditional methods
• Print and sinter parts with low sur- face roughness.
GE Additive: www.ge.com/additive
Spee3d Debuts Containerized Metal 3D Printer
Spee3d has rolled out XSpee3d, a fully transportable metal-AM machine housed as a standard shipping container with the printer and all auxiliary equipment in one box. Quickly deployable, it requires only a connection to electrical power. Developed with military deployable field operations in mind, the XSpee3d uses the company’s Super- sonic Deposition process that reportedly cold-spray deposits—via kinetic energy rather than high-power lasers and gases—at rates to 1000 times faster than other AM methods.
XSpee3d can 3D-print metal parts from more than 12 metal alloys, including copper, stainless steel, titanium, high-strength aluminum and nickel-based carbides, and can withstand extreme heat and rough terrain in the field, according to company officials
During the recently concluded Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition in Brisbane, Australia, the XSpee3d produced an array of parts including, in 23 min., a 3-kg copper wheel. Also at Land Forces, Spee3d announced a partnership with the United Kingdom’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), an independent research and technology organization that works with military and commercial clients. With the partnership, MTC becomes the first organization to use the XSpee3d printer. Spee3d: www.spee3d.com
Portable DED AM Robot Cell
Additec has launched a portable AM robot cell, the AMRC-P (AM Robot Cell- Portable). A turnkey robotic metal-AM system in a compact cell—and reportedly the world’s first portable AM robot cell rated for reactive materials such as titanium—it can print parts to 1.8 meters in any dimension in a range of materials. The AMRC-P, featur- ing directed-energy deposition (DED) technology, can be customized with any indus- trial robot to fit a user’s specific needs.
The system features customizable software tools to accommodate complex multi- axis geometries to ease the printing process, making metal AM more accessible for both experienced and new users, according to company officials.
The cell features a Meltio printing engine, a multi-laser deposition head (Additec is a founding partner of Meltio) with multi-material capability that allows for printing dual wire for hard-facing or anti-corrosion applications, or wire and powder to create new alloys.
Additec: www.additec.net Meltio: www.meltio3d.com
6 | 3D METAL PRINTING • FALL 2022
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