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Additive Micromanufacturing (µAM): a Big Breakthrough on a Small Scale

Additive micromanufacturing (μAM) is a newly developed technology, quite different from mainstream AM. Minute metal objects (1 μm to 1000 μm) are manufactured with this revolutionary 3D printing process. The newly founded company Exaddon AG, the former 3D printing business unit of Cytosurge AG, is considered as a world leader in this new field. Exaddon develops processes and systems for additive micromanufacturing and builds customized solutions for the global marketplace.

It is a mind-boggling thought: Michelangelo’s entire David statue has been printed on the equivalent of a cross-section of a human hair. In pure metal! To accomplish this astounding result, the µAM technology uses an extremely small printing nozzle with an opening size of only a few hundred nanometres. The tiny nozzle, in combination with the well-known process of electroplating, achieves something that is called “locally confined electrochemical deposition”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is all available in the first µAM system that Exaddon has built: CERES. CERES is a complete and stand-alone system that is available for research, prototype and low-volume production purposes.

The 3D printing process itself is much like building a structure with small toy bricks used by children. Bricks are laid one after the other. In µAM, these “bricks” are called voxels. The nozzle deposits one voxel and then moves on to deposit the next. Voxels can be stacked on top of each other, but can also be stacked horizontally, like horizontal bridges, but without any support structure.

 

Just as with the children’s toys, once the bricks are laid, the object is finished. There are no post-processing steps and it is all done at room temperature. That means that an object can be printed on temperature-sensitive components and that it is immediately fully functional. This is a huge advantage, especially for its use in the semiconductor industry. It is now possible to customize a metal layer or repair an existing chip within a single process step.

Unlike putting toy bricks on top of each other, the voxels of the µAM technology produce a dense body that can no longer be separated after it was produced. The voxels seamlessly merge together, and the inner structure of the material does not reveal any of the brick-laying process anymore. This surprising feature results in very pure and high-quality metals, which is reflected in its excellent electrical and mechanical properties.

  

Newly founded Exaddon is completely focused on the technology of additive micromanufacturing (μAM). Exaddon assumes the research and development results, as well as the AM customers of Cytosurge. Cytosurge has acted as an incubator for the business unit over the past two and a half years and will remain to be an important partner.

The key reasons for the spin-off are found in the tremendous market feedback, the very different target market, the growth potential and the ability to independently work on solutions for customers anywhere in the marketplace. As a side benefit, the framework for potential future investment has now become even more focused and stable.

As a technology leader, Exaddon continuous to work closely with research institutions and high-tech companies on innovative products and technology solutions.

The post Additive Micromanufacturing (µAM): a Big Breakthrough on a Small Scale appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Switzerland: Exciting New Technology Multi-Metal Electrohydrodynamic Redox 3D Printing

Researchers from Switzerland explain more about how metals dissolved and re-deposited in liquid solvents can further AM processes by promoting fabrication without post-processing. Their findings are outlined in the recently published, ‘Multi-metal electrohydrodynamic redox 3D printing at the submicron scale.’  This new method allows users to create polycrystalline multi-metal 3D structures from a single nozzle with multiple channels.

The authors point out that additive manufacturing on the microscale is very popular, and especially with expanded capabilities in relation to materials. Users want more—and especially on the industrial level; realistically though, challenges still abound:

“…first, common multi-nozzle approaches enforce extensive practical limits to the complexity of the 3D chemical architecture; second, as-deposited properties of inorganic materials, mostly dispensed as nanoparticle inks, are often far from those demanded in microfabrication, and the hence required post-print processing largely complicates many materials combination,” state the researchers.

The ink-free electrohydrodynamic redox printing (EHD-RP) eliminates these issues in metal, with direct printing and combination of materials from one nozzle. The authors say that their new method offers ‘unmatched control of the 3D chemical architecture of printed structures.’ Many different metals can be used in EHD-RP, with both direct and indirect printing possible.

Electrohydrodynamic redox printing (EHD-RP). a Working principle: (1) Solvated metal ions Mz+ are generated within the printing nozzle via electrocorrosion of a metal electrode M0 immersed in a liquid solvent. (2) Ion-loaded solvent droplets are ejected by electrohydrodynamic forces. (3) Upon landing, Mz+ ions are reduced to zero valence metal M0 through electron transfer from the substrate. Switching the oxidative voltage between different electrodes in a multichannel nozzle enables on-the-fly modulation of the printed chemistry (Schematics not drawn to scale: typical dimensions of the electrode wire are 100 μm × 2 cm). b Typical two-channel nozzle. c Optical micrograph of the printing process. Scale bar: 10 μm. d, e Printing Cu, Ag and Cu–Ag from a single, two-channel nozzle. d Mass spectra of ejected ions when biasing the Cu electrode, the Ag electrode, or both electrodes immersed in acetonitrile (ACN). e Printed Cu, Ag and Cu–Ag pillars with corresponding energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra reflecting the chemical nature of the respective source electrode (background subtracted). The C–K and O–K peaks likely originate from residual solvent and minor oxidation, respectively. The Cu and Ag contents of the Cu–Ag pillars are given in at.% normalised to the total Cu + Ag signal. Scale bars: 500 nm.

The authors mention that while there is very little lateral misalignment during switching, there has been some indication of minor shifting between the two metals. The authors state that this is usually caused because of the nozzle’s asymmetry. Complexity in geometry and fidelity are not as high as the authors would like either, but they state that this is a common issue in EHD-based microprinting techniques.

Geometrical performance and as-printed microstructure. a Array of 50 × 50 Cu pillars printed with a point-to-point spacing of 500 nm. Scale bar: 5 μm. b Walls printed at decreasing wall-to-wall spacing, with a minimum spacing of 250 nm. Height: ten layers for the leftmost image, three layers for the others. Scale bars: 1 μm. c Printed Cu line less than 100 nm in width. d Cu wire with an aspect ratio of approximately 400. e Overhangs formed by a lateral translation of the stage balancing the out-of-plane growth rate. The sequence of pillars was printed by increasing the respective in-plane translation speed towards the front pillar, with a maximum speed of 2.1 μm s−1. Scale bar: 1 μm. f Concentric, out-of-plane sine waves printed with a layer-by-layer strategy. Scale bar: 2 μm. g As-printed Cu pillar and corresponding cross-section showing the dense, polycrystalline microstructure. Scale bars: 200 nm

This process also improves mechanical and electrical properties, allowing for potential in applications for manufacturing sensors or actuators, optical metamaterials, and small-scale wire bonding. For this study, the researchers only used three metals, but that number could be increased with the use of nozzles bearing additional channels.

“Thus, EHD-RP holds the potential for unlocking unique routes for the bottom-up fabrication of chemically designed 3D devices and materials with locally tuned properties and a rational use of alloying elements. Such materials could find application in catalysis, active chemical devices, small-scale robotics and architected materials that go beyond single-material cellular designs,” concluded the researchers.

While you may look at a term like electrohydrodynamic redox 3D printing and think things are really getting out there now, the idea behind the process is very simple, but two-fold: to both refine 3D printing and additive manufacturing further—and cutting out the much-dreaded post processing processes still prevalent. Researchers have been working on this issue continually, from creating post-processing hardware, to eliminating post processing from color 3D printing to providing automation for dental printers.

Find out more about electrohydrodynamic redox 3D printing here. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Additive control of the chemical architecture with a single nozzle. a, b Fast switching between two metals printed from a two-channel nozzle. a Summed mass spectrometry (MS) ion currents of Cu+ (red) and Ag+ (blue) cations ejected upon switching the anodic voltage between a Cu and a Ag electrode at different intervals. Switching between two ejected ion species is highly selective. b Overlaid SE micrograph and EDX elemental map of trajectories printed with the same switching profile as in (a) (Cu-L signal, red, and Ag-L signal, blue). The corresponding EDX line profiles show that the switching between Cu and Ag is resolved up to the smallest pulse width. Scale bar: 2 μm. c, d Examples of chemically heterogeneous structures printed using a single nozzle. c Sequence of pillars with different numbers of Cu and Ag modulation periods. Scale bars: 1 μm. d Out-of-plane Cu wall with the letters ‘Ag’ embedded in silver, printed with a continuous layer-by-layer printing mode

[Source / Images: ‘Multi-metal electrohydrodynamic redox 3D printing at the submicron scale’]

 

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3D Printing News Briefs: April 21, 2019

We’re beginning with an aerospace 3D printing story in 3D Printing News Briefs today, then moving on to news about some upcoming industry events and finishing with a little business. Launcher tested its 3D printed rocket engine on an important date in history. DuPont will be introducing new semi-crystalline 3D printing products at RAPID + TCT, and Nanofabrica has offered to 3D print micro parts at no cost for interested companies attending the annual euspen conference. Ira Green Inc. used Rize technology to transform its production process, GOM is now part of the Zeiss Group, and the Ivaldi Group received its ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Launcher Tests 3D Printed Rocket Engine

New York startup Launcher, which uses EOS technology to create 3D printed components for metal rocket engines, has completed many firing tests with these parts over the last year and a half. Recently, on the anniversary of the date the first human left Earth to go into space, the startup announced the results of the latest test.

Launcher’s founder and CEO Max Haot posted on his LinkedIn account that the E-1 copper bi-metal rocket engine, which was 3D printed on the EOS M290, broke the startup’s combustion pressure record at 625 psi, mr 2.5. It will be interesting to see how the engine performs on its next test.

DuPont to Introduce New Semi-Crystalline Materials 

At next month’s RAPID + TCT in Detroit, DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers (T&AP), a DowDuPont Specialty Products Division business, will be launching an expansion to its 3D printing portfolio: advanced, high-performance semi-crystalline materials, which will give customers more manufacturing agility and open new opportunities to lower costs while increasing production.

Jennifer L. Thompson, Ph.D., R&D programs manager for DuPont T&AP, will be presenting a technical paper about the materials during the event as part of the Material Development and Characterization session. During her presentation at 10:15 am on May 23rd, Thompson will discuss alternative 3D printing methods, like pellet extrusion modeling, in addition to highlighting new engineering materials and talking about tailored material testing programs. Thompson and other DuPont employees will be at DuPont T&AP’s booth #552 at RAPID to answer questions about the company’s 3D printing materials.

Nanofabrica Offers Free 3D Printing Services for euspen Attendees

Last month, Israeli 3D printing startup Nanofabrica announced the commercial launch of its micro resolution 3D printing platform. In order to show off the system’s abilities to potential customers, Nanofabrica has made an enticing offer to attendees at next month’s euspen conference and exhibition in Spain: the startup will print parts for interested companies at no charge. Then, the parts printed on the new micro AM platform will be presented to them at the event, which focuses on the latest technological developments that are growing innovation at the micron and sub-micron levels.

“It’s quite simple really. We believe that the best way to prove what our AM system can do, how high the resolution and accuracy of the parts we make are, is to manufacture parts for attendees,” Jon Donner, the CEO of Nanofabrica explained. “Registered attendees are welcome to send us their files, and we will examine and print them. That is how confident we are that you will be amazed by the capabilities of our system, and this we feel will mean that we can forge meaningful relationships with manufacturers that will endure into the future.”

Rize 3D Printing Transformed Company’s Production Process

Rhode Island-based IRA Green Inc. (IGI), a full-service manufacturer and distributor of unique uniform items earned and worn by military personnel around the world, recently turned to RIZE and its 3D printing capabilities in order to manufacture small fixtures for its tool shop. The company’s products are in high demand, but lead times were growing longer due to bottlenecks and 8 hours of work for each $300 fixture. Precision is also important for these parts, which is why IGI decided to turn to the RIZE ONE hybrid 3D printer. According to a new case study, IGI’s design team uses the printer every day to manufacture accurate fixtures in just 50 minutes for $2.00 a part. Using the RIZE ONE, which has the unique capability of adding ink markings to parts for verification, the company has been able to standardize its nails and molds, which helped lead to an ROI in less than five months.

IGI’s Manufacturing Manager, Bill Yehle said, “Implementing RIZE 3D printing as part of a strategic process shift has completely transformed our production process.

“We have realized an 80% time savings in setup and changeover alone using RIZE and virtually eliminated errors.”

ZEISS Group Acquires GOM

In an effort to expand its industrial metrology and quality assurance portfolio, the ZEISS Group, a technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics fields, has acquired GOM, which provides hardware and software for automated 3D coordinate measuring technology. By combining GOM’s optical 3D measuring technology with its own products, ZEISS could expand market access, and create new opportunities, for its Industrial Quality & Research segment. Once the transaction is complete, which should happen soon, GOM will become part of this ZEISS segment, while the legal form of its companies in Germany and elsewhere will stay the same. The financial details of the transaction will not be discussed publicly.

“Our growth strategy expressly mentions the targeted acquisition of highly innovative solutions, technologies and companies, which can reach their full potential as part of the ZEISS Group. By acquiring GOM and thereby expanding our solutions portfolio, we are bolstering the leading position of our Industrial Quality & Research segment and will be able to offer even better solutions for our customers. This is entirely in keeping with our corporate strategy, which is focused on our customers’ success,” said Dr. Michael Kaschke, President & CEO of ZEISS.

Ivaldi Group Awarded ISO 9001:2015 Certification

California startup Ivaldi Group, which uses 3D printing and metal fabrication solutions to provide in-port parts on-demand services for the maritime, mining, offshore, and construction industries has become ISO 9001:2015 certified in less than ten months. This standard, which is certifies quality managements systems that focus on customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and active involvement of employees and management in a process-based approach, is the first step in the certification process that’s required to certify specific products. This proves Ivaldi’s commitment to constantly improving itself.

“Certifying our quality management system has helped us to structure our processes to create a solid foundation. This will allow us to improve efficiency, productivity, and traceability,” said Anna D’Alessio, Quality Management Specialist of Ivaldi Group. “Global quality management systems are important to align processes and optimize operations across facilities. This certification proves our commitment to meet requirements of stakeholders affected by our work.”

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Nanofabrica Releases Micron Resolution 3D Printing Platform Aimed at Industrial Applications

Israeli 3D printing startup Nanofabrica, which was founded in 2016 and chosen by the the I-YBI collaborative in 2017 to get help entering the American market, is working to mass-produce 3D printed parts on the micro and nanoscale. Now, its hard work has paid off, as the company just commercially launched, in the words of CEO Jon Donner, a true “mass manufacturing” micron resolution that’s targeted directly at pan-industrial micro manufacturing applications expanding throughout sectors like aerospace, automotive, medical, optics, and semiconductor.

Most manufacturers looking to fabricate tiny components and product in volume, with features at the micron resolution, have had to use more traditional micro molding and machining technologies. But the startup’s micro 3D printing process is cost-effective and fast, with the ability to achieve highly accurate results.

“The discipline of Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D Printing (3DP) is regularly cited as being disruptive to traditional manufacturing processes,” Donner wrote.

“AM has made the shift from a prototyping technology to a true production technology, but many lack the insight about what can really be produced on AM platforms, and the inherent characteristics of the process that add significant advantages when it come to cost, complexity, and timeliness of manufacture.”

3D printer manufacturers are doing what they can to combat adoption barriers, and are refining their technologies by adding valuable features or looking for niches that are under-served, or not even served at all…such as micro manufacturing.

“When viewed from the perspective that across industry today there is an inexorable shift towards miniaturisation, with many applications demanding extremely exacting levels of micron and sub-micron precision on macro and micro parts, there is huge potential for an AM platform that can service this trend,” Donner stated. “A whole raft of traditional production platforms have developed to cater for this demand, but until recently, the ability for AM to produce such precision at all —let alone at volume production levels — has been impossible.”

Nanofabrica develops its own proprietary materials, focusing on common plastics like ABS and PP. Its AM platform is perfectly tailored for micro and nano manufacturing, and, according to TCT, is made up of two new 3D printers: the Industrial System, said to achieve a one-micron resolution with a 50 x 50 x 100 mm build volume, and the Workshop system. This provides manufacturers who need “micron and sub-micron levels of resolution and surface finish” with a bespoke end-to-end solution.

“Successful AM platform developers in today’s crowded market need to focus technological advances on areas that open up innovation and the manufacture of products and components hitherto impossible using AM,” Donner wrote. “It is here that Nanofabrica has been particularly successful, having identified a series of killer applications where there is burgeoning market demand, where the only route to market at the moment is through disproportionately expensive or restrictive traditional manufacturing technologies, and where the use of AM can open up significant advances on terms of design and functionality.

“These killer applications exist in the area of optics, semi-conductors, micro electronics, MEMS, micro fluidics, and life sciences. Products such as casing for microelectronics, micro springs, micro actuators and micro sensors, and numerous medical applications such as micro valves, micro syringes, and micro implantable or surgical devices.”

Nanofabrica’s new 3D printers are based on a Digital Light Processor (DLP) engine, which is combined with adaptive optics to ensure repeatable micron levels of resolution – a necessary feature when creating cost-effective, highly precise components for industrial manufacturing. Additionally, the AM platform uses multiple sensors to allow for a closed feedback loop, which also helps deliver high accuracy.

The startup’s AM platform is also unique in how it combines several technologies in order to “achieve micron resolution over centimeter-sized parts.”

Donner explained, “Specifically, the company has taken its innovative use of adaptive optics and enhanced this imaging unit with technology and know-how used in the semiconductor industry (where the attainment of micron and sub-micron resolutions over many centimetres is routine.) By working at the intersection of semiconductors and AM, Nanofabrica is able to build large “macro” parts with intricate micro details. It can also do this at speed by introducing a multi resolution strategy, meaning that the parts where fine details are required are printed relatively slowly, but in the areas where the details aren’t so exacting, the part is printed at a speeds 10 to 100 times faster. This makes the entire printing speed anything from 5 to 100 times faster than other micro AM platforms.”

Nanofabrica’s hardware enables multi resolution capability due to “a trade off between speed and resolution,” while its software algorithms define and section off both the part and its 3D printing path into low and high resolution areas to be fed into the machine parameters and path. A “spectrum of resolutions” make it possible to optimize speed and achieve “satisfactory results,” while the “final algorithm family” is focused on file preparation and optimizing parameters like supports and print angle.

“Perhaps of key interest is the fact that AM is relatively agnostic to part complexity, and it is possible to design and manufacture unique geometries. As such, the Nanofabrica technology becomes an enabling technology, and a true stimulator of innovation, making the manufacture of parts and features previously impossible, possible,” Donner said.

“Nanofabrica is aware — as the first mover in the micro AM space for production — that it establishes a partnership relationship with its customers that extends from product inception through to mass manufacturing. The technology is today the only micron-resolution platform aimed at true manufacturing applications not just R&D projects, the real game changer being the combination of commercially-oriented build volumes, optimised materials, significant lines of investment, and a platform that is competitively priced.”

The startup is also an advocate of customer collaboration for the purposes of optimizing outcomes, and provides advice on design for additive manufacturing (DfAM), which is often used for macro AM platforms but not micro.

“It is because of this that Nanofabrica promotes a collaborative relationship with its customers to locate the opportunities and avoid the bear traps that exist when adopting — or considering adopting — AM for production purposes in the micro manufacturing arena,” Donner said.

Nanofabrica’s micro 3D printing platform is still new, which is another reason it’s looking to ” partner with key players in relevant sectors.” This will allow the startup to better customize its technology for specific applications in a variety of markets.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

[Images provided by Nanofabrica]

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3D Printing News Briefs: February 16, 2019

We’ve got business, events, software, and materials news for you in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. MELD has introduced a new operator training course, and Protolabs is launching a range of secondary services. AMUG announced the keynote speakers for its upcoming conference, while the call has gone out for submissions to the 2019 Altair Enlighten Award. This week at SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2019, Stratasys introduced AdvancedFDM software for GrabCAD Print. Finally, a gold partner at America Makes has created an Ultem 9085 materials database for FDM 3D printing, and 3D MicroPrint is using a powder rheometer to push the limits of additive manufacturing.

MELD Manufacturing Offers Training Program

MELD Manufacturing Corporation is launching a new operator training program to teach participants how to operate its award-winning technology, which uses an innovative no-melt process to additively manufacture, repair, coat, and join metals and metal matrix composites. The 4-day courses will provide both classroom instruction and hands-on machine training, and attendees will also review the history of MELD’s development.

“This program creates certified MELDers and delivers the capacity to integrate and innovate with MELD. Our customers have raved about the elegance of the MELD process and the ease of training. We’re excited to offer more of these opportunities,” said MELD’s CEO Nanci Hardwick.

The size of the classes, which will be held at MELD’s Virginia headquarters, will be limited so that each attendee can have the maximum amount of machine time in order to become certified, so you should register ASAP.

Protolabs Launches Secondary Services in Europe

Protolabs is a digital manufacturing source for custom prototypes and low-volume production parts and offers all sorts of traditional and additive manufacturing services. This week, the company announced that it was introducing detailed measurement and inspection reporting, which will be only the first part of its newly launched in-house Secondary Services across Europe. These services will provide support for the company’s On-Demand manufacturing requirements, and will also help in launching more value-add secondary operations, like assembly and surface treatment, in the future.

“Our customers really value our rapid manufacturing services for low-volume parts and prototypes, but they now want the benefit of On-Demand manufacturing for production parts, which have higher expectations for sampling, measurement and process documentation,” said Stephen Dyson, Protolabs’ Special Operations Manager. “The marked increase from customers across all industries wanting to take advantage of the speed and flexibility of On-Demand manufacturing brings with it a desire to simplify the supply chain. We are offering Secondary Services to reduce the number of process steps that the customer has to manage, saving time and resources.”

Protolabs will hold a webinar for designers and engineers on February 28th as part of its Secondary Services launch.

AMUG Announces Keynote Speakers

L-R: Brian McLean, Brad Keselowski, Todd Grimm

The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) recently announced who the keynote speakers will be for its 2019 conference, which will be held in Chicago from March 31st to April 4th. The conference, which will have nearly 200 presentations, workshops and hands-on training sessions, is designed for both novice and experienced additive manufacturing users, and the three keynote speakers will address the use of additive manufacturing in a variety of different applications. Brian McLean, the director of rapid prototype for LAIKA, will take attendees on a visual journey of how 3D printing has helped to redefine stop-motion animation, while NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, the owner and founder of Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM), will share how technology such as 3D printing can help companies win the race. Finally, Todd Grimm, the president of T. A. Grimm & Associates, is returning to the conference as a keynote speaker again.

“We are extremely excited about our 2019 AMUG Conference keynote speakers,” said Gary Rabinovitz, the AMUG chairman and chair of its program committee. “They will provide a snapshot of the most transformative ideas shaping the AM industry today.”

2019 Altair Enlighten Award Submissions

Michigan-based technology company Altair, together with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), are now taking submissions from around the world for the 2019 Enlighten Award, which is the only award from the automotive industry for dedicated lightweighting. The award will be presented in the categories of Full Vehicle, Module, Enabling Technology and The Future of Lightweighting, and winners will be recognized during the CAR Management Briefing Seminars (MBS), along with getting the chance to ring the Nasdaq stock market opening bell in New York. Suppliers and manufacturers can learn more about the criteria and submit an entry for the awards here.

“We are pleased to continue our collaboration with Altair because of their global leadership in solutions that produce the optimal balance between weight, performance and cost. This award helps drive innovation in lightweighting, which is critical to the success of e-mobility solutions,” said Carla Bailo, the President and CEO of CAR. “We can’t wait to see the key contributions the 2019 nominations will bring in new approaches to automotive engineering and design, contributing to further reductions in weight, fuel consumption, and emissions.”

Stratasys Announces AdvancedFDM Software for GrabCAD

At this week’s SOLIDWORKS World 2019 in Dallas, Stratasys introduced a new feature for its GrabCAD Print software that will remove more complexity from the design-to-3D print process. Advanced FDM will use intuitive model interaction to deliver lightweight yet strong and purpose-built parts to ensure design intent, and is available now via download with GrabCAD Print from versions 1.24 on up. The software feature will help users avoid long, frustrating CAD to STL conversions, so they can work in high fidelity and ramp up parts production, and it also features CAD-native build controls, so no one needs to manually generate complex toolpaths. Advanced FDM can automatically control build attributes, as well as calculate 3D print toolpaths, in order to streamline the process.

“For design and manufacturing engineers, one of the most frustrating processes is ‘dumbing down’ a CAD file to STL format – only to require subsequent re-injection of design intent into the STL printing process. This software is engineered to do away with this complexity, letting designers reduce iterations and design cycles – getting to a high-quality, realistic prototype and final part faster than ever before,” said Mark Walker, Lead Software Product Manager at Stratasys.

America Makes Ultem 9085 FDM Properties in Database

America Makes has announced that its gold-level member, Rapid Prototype + Manufacturing LLC. (rp+m), has created and delivered a complete, qualified database of material properties for the FDM 3D printing of high-performance ULTEM 9085 thermoplastic resin. This comprehensive database, which features processing parameters and both mechanical physical properties, was released to America Makes, and the rest of its membership community, in order to ensure the widespread use of the Type I certified material for 3D printed interior aircraft components. The database is available to the community through the America Makes Digital Storefront.

“The qualification of the ULTEM 9085 material and the establishment of the material properties database by the rp+m-led team are huge steps forward for AM, particularly within the aerospace and defense industries. On behalf of all of us at America Makes, I want to commend rp+m and its team for enabling the broad dissemination of the collective knowledge of ULTEM 9085 for the innovation of future part design,” said Rob Gorham, the Executive Director of America Makes. “The ability to use AM to produce parts with repeatable characteristics and consistent quality for certifiable manufacturing is a key factor to the increased adoption of AM within the multi-billion dollar aircraft interior parts segment.”

3D MicroPrint Identifying Ultra-Fine 3D Printing Powders

Additive Manufacturing Powder Samples

Germany company 3D MicroPrint uses 3D printing to produce complex metal parts on the micro-scale with its Micro Laser Sintering (MLS) technology, and announced that it is using the FT4 Powder Rheometer from UK-based Freeman Technology, which has over 15 years of experience in powder characterization and flow, in order to push the technology to its limits by identifying ultra-fine metal powders that will process efficiently. The system can differentiate raw powder materials, less than five microns in size, with the kinds of superior flow characteristics that are needed to produce accurate components using 3D MicroPrint’s Micro Laser Sintering (MLS) technology.

“With MLS we are essentially pushing standard AM towards its performance limits. To achieve precise control at the micro scale we spread powders in layers just a few microns thick before selectively fusing areas of the powder bed with a highly focused laser beam. The ultra-fine powders required typically behave quite differently to powders of > 25µm particle size,” explained Joachim Goebner, the CEO at 3D MicroPrint. “We therefore rely on the FT4 Powder Rheometer to identify materials which will perform effectively with our machines, with specified process parameters. Before we had the instrument selecting a suitable powder was essentially a matter of trial and error, a far less efficient approach.”

Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

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Microlight3D Introduces New Altraspin 3D Printing System for High-Resolution, Microscale Parts

As you can probably guess by its name, French 3D printer manufacturer Microlight3D specializes in ultra high-resolution 3D microprinting systems. The company’s two-photon polymerization direct laser writing technology, which includes proprietary software specifically tuned for faster direct laser writing speeds with sub-micron resolution, allows a laser to move freely in three dimensions, performing uninterrupted 3D printing inside a polymer resist.

This week, Microlight3D launched the next generation of high resolution, microscale 3D printing with its new turnkey system – the compact Altraspin, a 3D printer that can produce extremely complex micro-parts with sub-micron resolution.

“Microlight3D designed Altraspin to respond to manufacturing demands for more customization and the rapid prototyping of submicron parts that are not constrained by their geometric or organic shape. We removed another constraint by extending user choice in the materials available for 3D microprinting. Altraspin is compatible with a wide range of polymers and biomaterials, including those of our customers,” said Microlight3D president Denis Barbier. “Without a doubt, the submicron resolution our technology obtains has been key to our growing success within the scientific community. We anticipate that industrial companies will also benefit from the advantages of our 3D-printer for micro-parts, geared to helping them overcome limitations and reduce time-to-market.”

The Altraspin can achieve a sub-micron resolution down to 0.2µm, which means it can 3D print micro-parts with a resolution that’s 100 times smaller than a single strand of hair, which is great news for applications that need a high-quality surface finish and exact precision, such as cell culture, micro-sensors, metamaterials, micro-optics, tissue engineering, and 3D printing shapes that can fit inside microfluidic devices.

The company’s technology uses a proprietary continuous print flow technique, which is how it manages to not be constrained by the typical layer-by-layer method that limits most 3D printing resolution to 25µm. It’s able to fabricate micro-parts that are so smooth they don’t need any post-processing, which can save manufacturers both time and money.

When designing the new Altraspin 3D printer, Microlight3D focused on its ease of use. As soon as the user designs a 3D model with CAD tools and picks a polymer material, the company’s algorithms will calculate the laser’s path. A laser pulse then writes directly inside the printer’s liquid-material bath in order to very precisely solidify the path it’s taking. The laser can build complex architectures, since it’s able to move around freely and continuously, and a solvent washes away the excess monomer at the end of the process, so users can handle the print immediately upon removal.

The Altraspin has high-writing resolution and precision, along with high-writing speeds, for complex 3D structures, and also features a new TPP slicing tool. Due to its compact design, it’s well-suited for use in clean-room and sterile environments, along with laminar flow cabinets.

Additional tech specs for the Altraspin include:

  • Print speed up to 5 mm per second
  • STL and STEP files
  • Maximum object size of 100 x 75 x 0.6 mm
  • Anti-vibration system
  • Advanced machine control, including replication and custom plugins for complex parts

Next week at the two-day SPIE BiOS expo, which is part of the week-long Photonics West event in San Francisco, Microlight3D will be exhibiting its new Altraspin 3D printer at its booth #8136.

Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

[Source: Optics / Images: Microlight3D]