3D Metal Printing Newsletter

Metal-Printer-Equipped Field Lab
Reshaping the Shipping Industry
From the NauticExpo e-magazine comes this story on Ramlab—cited as the "first field lab equipped with 3D metal printers to serve maritime and port-related industries."

Ramlab (the Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing Laboratory), at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, carries out research and development aimed at making wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) commercially viable. The lab operates two WAAM systems—one working from 6-m-long rails to manufacture lifting hooks and other large objects, and the other with a manipulator traversing a 3 by 4-m space to manufacture propellers to 2-m dia.

Learn here how Ramlab leaders expect the facility to "reshape industry" by focusing on two challenges: investigating routes to regulatory approval for metal-AM parts; and the ability to develop metal-AM parts that can be welded to conventionally made parts and put into service.
Read more.
Share this Article on Twitter

Titanium 3D Printing Gives Birth
to Groundbreaking Hearing Aids
Swiss hearing-aid manufacturer Phonak has launched a new titanium model that it says is the "tiniest custom instrument" it has ever produced, using 3D metal printing to manufacture the thin shell.

"The titanium shell is half as thin as traditional shells," says a company press release, "and the overall size is reduced significantly, increasing invisible-in-the-canal fit rate."

Here's a 1-min. YouTube video showing the titanium hearing-aid shell being printed.
Share this Article on Twitter

Moog Blog Outlines Metal-AM
Opportunities and Challenges
Titled, A New Way of Looking at Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes, this post by Moog principal engineer George Small describes the firm's storied and 15-plus-yr. history with 3D metal-printing technology, then defines several opportunities/benefits and challenges/complexities related to expanding the use of AM production of metallic parts. Among the most significant challenges noted by Small: lack of standards, design allowables and powder specs.

Finally, Small presents an interesting case study describing metal-AM parts recently processed by Moog—15-5PH stainless-steel cylinders for hydraulic flight-control actuators. Learn how metal-AM improved part performance compared to the previously forged parts.
Share this Article on Twitter