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3D Printing News Briefs: October 27, 2018

We’re starting off with some news about products being displayed at the upcoming formnext in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, and then moving on to business and research news. Clariant and Xaar have both revealed what they will be showcasing at formnext 2018 in Munich next month. Aurora Metals has announced a new partnership, while Lockheed Martin is the first organization to have an additive manufacturing facility certified to UL 3400 for AM hazards. Finally, America Makes has announced its next Directed Project Opportunity.

Clariant Presenting Industrial 3D Printing Materials at formnext

This year’s formnext is coming up in just a few short weeks, and companies all over the world are announcing what products they’ll be bringing with them to the show. Specialty chemicals company Clariant will be showcasing its 3D printing materials and solutions for intelligent industrial manufacturing at the event this year, including featured materials like polyamides for small lot production, customer-tailored colorant and additive guidance, and high impact strength materials that offer electrostatic discharge protection for manufacturing aids.

“OEMs require that 3D printing materials perform at the same level as their injection molded counterparts. This was the significant factor in achieving the acceptance to allow product production with our materials and will continue to be,” said Joanna Marguier, Senior Manager of R&D for Clariant’s 3D printing business. “From the inception of our 3D printing business, Clariant has focused on providing superior 3D printing materials that achieve the customer’s requirements for their specific application. We work closely with them to tailor solutions to meet their needs.”

Marguier will also be outlining the company’s success with flame retardants in a technical presentation at formnext on November 15. formnext runs November 13-16, and you can visit the Clariant team at booth 3.1-H40 in Hall 3.1 at the Messe Frankfurt.

Xaar Showcasing Latest Inkjet Printhead Technology at formnext

Speaking of formnext, digital inkjet technology Xaar will be exhibiting the latest in inkjet printhead technology at the show. Visitors can learn how the company’s award-winning High Laydown (HL) technology, which allows for the jetting of 3D fluids with high viscosity (at least 55cP), coupled with its partnerships with other industry leaders, can help its customers get ahead in volume 3D printing. Xaar will also be displaying samples that were produced with high viscosity photoresins from BASF 3D Printing Solutions

“The formnext show is a major global event for the 3D Printing sector and we are excited to be exhibiting our complete printhead portfolio and HL Technology for volume 3D production. We pride ourselves on providing ongoing support to all our customers’ projects – from early fluid evaluation through to commercialisation. That’s why we are welcoming manufacturers and integrators to visit the Xaar stand and discover how our printhead technology can help them introduce new printers quickly and cost-effectively, thereby delivering a true competitive edge and real value to 3D end- users,” said Simon Kirk, Senior Product Manager at Xaar.

You can visit Xaar at formnext at booth A78 in Hall 3.1

Aurora Labs Partnering with Fortescue Metals Group

Aurora Labs’ managing director David Budge. [Image: Ross Swanborough]

Australian metal 3D printing Aurora Labs has signed a preliminary non-binding term sheet agreement with fellow Australian company Fortescue Metals Group. The agreement comprises an Industry Partner Program, and Aurora Labs will work with Fortescue to demonstrate the potential for application of its Rapid Manufacturing Technology (RMT) in the mining industry. The terms of the agreement are for an initial 12 months and may be extended by mutual agreement, and Aurora believes that the venture could even progress further to developing technology together in order to lower operation and production costs in the mining industry.

“We’re very excited to sign a preliminary agreement with Fortescue, and pursue the opportunity to apply Aurora’s Rapid Manufacturing Technology to the mining sector,” said David Budge, Aurora Labs’ Managing Director. “Fortescue are an ideal industry partner for us and they are at the forefront of technological advancements in the mining sector.”

Lockheed Martin Certified UL 3400

Top global safety science company UL has announced that it has certified the first additive manufacturing facility to UL 3400, a set of safety guidelines published last year that address the hazards associated with AM facilities. UL issued this prestigious certification to Lockheed Martin, and its 6,775-square-foot Additive Design and Manufacturing Center in Sunnyvale, California. UL 3400, also called the Outline of Investigation for Additive Manufacturing Facility Safety Management, considers the three layers of safety: material, equipment, and the facility itself, and references applicable standards from OSHA, ASTM International, the National Fire Protection Association, and others. UL and its 3400 guideline cover the potential hazards and risk mitigation measures that are required for these facilities to function safely.

“Employers, employees, local regulators as well as insurance companies who have to underwrite additive manufacturing facilities, were not fully aware of the inherent material and technology risks. Safety is designed rather than built. Not a single standard or statutory guideline was available that specifically focused on additive manufacturing. Other standards and guidelines were developed for conventional manufacturing processes,” explained Balu V. Nair, UL’s Additive Manufacturing Lead Development Engineer and an important player in developing UL 3400. “We decided to address this industry need by developing a set of guidelines with exclusive focus on additive manufacturing.”

America Makes Announces Next Directed Project Opportunity

This week, America Makes announced its next Directed Project Opportunity, available for its members for AM applied (R&D) projects for Advanced Tools for Rapid Qualification (ATRQ). The goal is to promote and accelerate the development and deployment of cost effective, energy-efficient 3D printing technologies in  order to meet defense and/or commercial needs. Approximately $3.9 million should be made available to fund multiple awards, with at least $1.95 million in matching funds from the winning project teams. The technical requirements of the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity relate to the America Makes Technology Roadmap, as well as the Integrated DoD AM Roadmap.

“For our partners at the DoD, the anticipated outcomes of the America Makes ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are of the utmost importance. The DoD’s need for rapid qualification and certification of AM processes and materials is great,” said Rob Gorham, the Executive Director of America Makes. “These projects will be instrumental in resolving the current deterrents that are hindering the wider adoption and deployment of AM technologies within the DoD and its supply chain.”

Technical topics for the ATRQ Directed Project Opportunity are Surrogate Damage Generation for LPBF Defects, Degradation of Polymer Parts Deployed in Harsh Environments, and Corrosion Mechanisms of LPBF Materials. All Project Concept forms are due no later than 5 pm EST on Wednesday, November 28, 2018. To see all of the technical project requirements, as well as other information about the Directed Project Opportunity like non-disclosure agreements, eligibility, and the proposal process, check out the America Makes website.

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ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence Welcomes Strategic Partner NAMIC, Announces First Round of Projects

About a year ago, international standards organization ASTM International announced that it would be setting up an Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, and began enlisting partners to help launch the center. The most recent partner to be added to the roster is Singapore’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), which will coordinate the center’s R&D and related activities in Asia as well as invest up to $1.5 million in the first two years.

NAMIC’s Managing Director, Dr. Ho Chaw Sing, and ASTM International’s Director of Global Additive Manufacturing Programs, Dr. Mohsen Seifi, signed a Strategic Partnership Statement last week at NAMIC’s Global Additive Manufacturing Summit.

“We are excited to enter into this partnership with ASTM International,” said Dr. Sing. “We look forward to catalyzing crucial research that helps establish technical standards, guiding additive manufacturing into the future for Singapore, Asia, and the entire world. Our investment into the center’s regional-based activities will support implementation of additive manufacturing technologies globally.”

NAMIC is the first organization in Asia to join with ASTM, and its role will be to support R&D and standardization activities that will help drive commercialization of additive manufacturing technologies in sectors such as aerospace, maritime and offshore, logistics and fabrication.

“We are thrilled that NAMIC will be leading the Asia-Pacific’s efforts to drive advancements and innovation in additive manufacturing on a global scale,” said Dr. Seifi. “NAMIC’s leadership in aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul, maritime and offshore, and other industries will complement the center’s capabilities, and we are pleased to welcome additional investments in this world-class partnership which will accelerate standardization in this fast-growing field.”

The center’s founding partners are Auburn University, NASA, manufacturing technology innovator EWI, and the UK-based Manufacturing Technology Centre. NAMIC and the US National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) are the first two strategic partners.

Recently, ASTM International also announced its first round of funding to support research that will help advance the development of standards for additive manufacturing. The investment of $300,000 as well as in-kind contributions will help the Center of Excellence partners to address technical information needs.

“We are very fortunate to work with such renowned organizations to leverage their expertise towards standardization in additive manufacturing,” said Oerlikon engineer Matthew Donovan, who chairs the research and innovation group under ASTM International’s additive manufacturing technology committee (F42).

The initial round of projects approved by the committee involve four areas: feedstock, process qualification, post-processing and testing. The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) will research the development of quality assessment standards for metal powders used for additive manufacturing. The research will contribute to a standard guide for evaluating powder quality and recyclability.

NASA will work on developing standard procedures, metrics and requirements to help qualify machines and processes for laser bed fusion, while EWI will research how various surface finishing techniques for additively manufactured products impact performance and structural integrity. This will help standardize surface quality and measurement metrics.

Auburn University will research mechanical testing issues in additive manufacturing to better understand the relationships between the properties of test specimens and the performance of parts. This will contribute to a standard that provides guidance on designing test samples that best represent additively manufactured components. Meanwhile, NIAR will focus on mechanical testing issues surrounding polymers used in 3D printing.

You can learn more about the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence here.

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America Makes and ANSI Publish Latest Version of Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing

America Makes, the national accelerator for additive manufacturing and 3D printing based in Youngstown, Ohio, began working with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private non-profit organization, back in early 2016 to develop standards and specifications for the rapidly evolving 3D printing industry. Together, they formed a regulatory institution for the industry, called the America Makes and ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC), and in an effort to facilitate industry growth, immediately got to work developing a roadmap that could be used to identify necessary additive manufacturing standards.

The AMSC was specifically chartered to coordinate and speed up the development of industry-wide additive manufacturing standards that are consistent with stakeholders’ needs, along with setting up a possible approach to the future development process. Four working groups in the areas of design, maintenance, process and materials, and qualification and certification began working, and in December of that same year, the AMSC released the preliminary final draft of its Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 1.0) to the public for review and comment.

The completed roadmap was published last February, naming 89 ‘gaps’ – 19 of which were labeled high priority – where no standard or specification had been previously published for a specific industry need. Phase 2 of the project began not long after, and just a few months ago, the AMSC released its preliminary final draft of the Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 2.0).

The AMSC released the 260-page draft in order to receive public review and comments, and planned for its final publication this June. About 320 individuals, from 175 different public and private sector organizations, supported the development of this second document version.

This week, the group, which receives major funding from the US Department of Defense (DoD), has announced the publication of its completed Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 2.0), which is available for download here.

Jim Williams, the President of All Points Additive and Chair of the AMSC, said, “It’s been a privilege to be involved with the committed group of professionals who make up the AMSC and I want to thank all of them who contributed to this undertaking.”

This latest version of the AMSC roadmap offers a description of the existing additive manufacturing standardization landscape, and also lists progress updates on the gaps identified in the first version, many of which have been, as America Makes puts it, “substantially revised.” A total of five gaps have been withdrawn.

Rob Gorham, Executive Director of America Makes, which is driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), said, “We are extraordinarily pleased at the AMSC’s continued progress to define a coherent set of additive manufacturing standards and specifications that will benefit the industry.”

V2 of the roadmap has identified 93 gaps, of which 18 are listed as high priority, where no specifications or standards have been published to address an industry need. These new gaps include a lot about polymers, including topics such as laser-based additive repair, the use of recycled polymer precursor materials, NDE of polymers and other non-metallic materials, and heat treatment polymers. In a total of 65 of these gaps, the document lists additional pre-standardization R&D needs.

Joe Bhatia, President and CEO of ANSI, said, “Coordination of standards development activity in emerging technology areas is something that ANSI excels at, and we have been very pleased to partner with America Makes to define the standards needed to help grow the additive manufacturing industry.”

The Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 2.0) considers the entire life cycle of a 3D printed part in its standards, all the way from the design and selection of the materials and process through production, post-processing, finished material properties, testing, qualification, and even maintenance post-print.

The document reads, “As with the earlier version of this document, the hope is that the roadmap will be broadly adopted by the standards community and that it will facilitate a more coherent and coordinated approach to the future development of standards and specifications for additive manufacturing.

“To that end, it is envisioned that the roadmap will continue to be promoted in the coming year. The roadmap may be updated in the future to assess progress on its implementation and to identify emerging issues that require further discussion.”

This latest roadmap version is supplemented by a listing of standards, titled the AMSC Standards Landscape, which are either peripherally or directly related to the issues laid out in the document. Both this document, Version 2.0 of the roadmap, and additional information are available on the AMSC website.

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