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nScrypt Demonstrates 3D Manufactured Printed Circuit Structure

Orlando, Florida-based nScrypt demonstrated a 3D manufactured printed circuit structure (PCS) at the recent IPC APEX show in San Diego, California. The PCS was an inductor disc that, when held close to any show attendee‘s smart phone with an NFC Reader app, would open the nScrypt website on that person’s phone.

The discs were 3D manufactured using nScrypt’s Factory in a Tool (FiT). According to nScrypt’s CEO, Ken Church:

“We distinguish between printed circuit boards, which are incorporated into finished products, and printed circuit structures, or PCS, where the electronics and the structure or housing of a device are essentially the same thing.

“We’re doing a free live webinar about state of the art PCS on April 28 with rockstars in this area from Army, Air Force, NASA, SI2, University of Delaware, and DeLux Advanced Manufacturing.”

Anyone interested in the free webinar can register here.

nScrypt also distinguishes between 3D printing, which is mostly making parts, and using its Factory in a Tool to 3D manufacture fully functioning finished products, like the inductor disc PCS. As shown in the video, nScrypt’s FiT first 3D prints the disc’s ABS outer shell using its material extrusion tool head (also known as FFF or FDM), then uses its SmartPump^TM tool head to microdispense conductive lines, then uses its material extrusion tool head to print another ABS layer, then uses its milling tool head to mill the intermediate layer smooth, then uses its pick and place tool head to place a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip and the SmartPump tool head to dispense more conductive paste, then completes the structure of the disc, seals in the electronics, and prints the nScrypt logo with the material extrusion tool head, then uses its milling tool head to provide a fine surface finish for the finished PCS.

Ken Church said:

“This is a cool little demonstration of a simple printed circuit structure with fine surface finish, where the electronics are embedded in the housing of the device with our Factory in a Tool. This disc happens to be flat but the FiT can 3D manufacture virtually any shape, conformally printing the electronics into or on device’s structure. The sky is the limit for 3D manufacturing PCS with our Factory in a Tool. Or maybe the sky isn’t the limit because a ruggedized version of our bioprinter, which has basically the same capability as our FiT, is on the International Space Station.”

The FiT system can be equipped with nVision cameras that monitor the tool heads for automated in-process inspection and computer vision routines, surface mapping for Z-tracking and conformal printing onto objects of any surface shape, UV LED curing light, and a HEPA filter.

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Hybrid 3D Printing Profile: DMG Mori

DMG Mori is one of the largest machine builders worldwide, generating about $3 billion in revenue each from its Japanese and German divisions. Though its position in the 3D printing industry is comparatively limited, it is growing, which is why we thought we’d take a look at DMG Mori its role in additive manufacturing (AM).

A 1960’s era Mori Seiki MH 1500 lathe. Image courtesy of HASUDAI MACHINERY CO.,LTD.

DMG Mori began as textile manufacturing equipment maker Mori Seiki Co. in 1948, which ultimately led to the production of machine tools by 1958, from which it has not since diverted. Early machines included manually controlled lathes before the introduction of numerically controlled lathes, then vertical and horizontal machining centers. These various machine tools continued to improve up to the present day.

An important component of DMG Mori’s current operations is its German division, DMG Mori AG, which first became a partner of the Japanese company in 2009. The largest manufacturer of cutting machine tools in Germany, DMG Mori AG was founded as GILDEMEISTER by Friedrich Gildemeister in 1870 and, by 1910, was a mass manufacturer of turret lathes, multi-spindle automatic lathes, milling machines, and vertical and horizontal milling machines.

While new automation features and orders from a quickly industrializing Soviet Union allowed the German company to succeed during the depression of the 1920s, the two World Wars saw Gildemeister nearly shut down by Allied forces twice. After World War Two, the company began to boom as the German economy recovered, with Gildemeister ultimately releasing numerically controlled machine tools in the 70s. From the 60s through the 90s, the company made important acquisitions. By the time of the 1995 acquisition of Deckel Maho AG, it was an established European powerhouse in manufacturing machine tools.

As Mori Seiki’s partnership Gildemeister, deepened and the Japanese company increased its ownership shares in the German manufacturer, it changed its name to Deckel Maho Gildemeister (DMG) Mori in 2013. By 2016, the Japanese and German divisions were officially integrated into a single conglomerate.

It wasn’t until 2015 that DMG Mori entered the AM market with its first hybrid manufacturing system, the LASERTEC 65 3D, which incorporated a directed energy deposition (DED) head into a five-axis milling machine. The system features a 2.5-kW diode laser for DED at rates of up to 1 kg/h. Since then, the company continued to release hybrid machines. In 2016, the LASERTEC 4300 3D was added to its portfolio, which included DED, 5-axis milling and turning functionality. Its most recent hybrid system is the LASERTEC 125 3D Hybrid, unveiled at Formnext in 2019.

The new LASERTEC 125 3D hybrid from DMG Mori.

In 2017, DMG Mori acquired a majority stake in early metal powder bed fusion (PBF) company Realizer and released its first PBF 3D printer, the LASERTEC 30 SLM, to the market. This was followed up by the LASERTEC 12 SLM, which is smaller and designed specifically for thin-walled components.

Printed metal parts typically require heat treatment, which hardens the metal, before other post-processing operations can be performed, meaning that hybrid machines can’t necessarily move directly from printing to machining without heat treatment in between. However, the newest LASERTEC 125 3D hybrid can deposit material with a hardness of up to 63 HRC, DMG Mori suggests allows users to skip the heat treatment step when harder metals are used.

DMG Mori bills all of these systems as part of a larger collection of four process chains. While the hybrid systems are able to perform all of the additive and subtractive functions necessary for 3D printing, the SLM machines and the LASERTEC 65 3D (a pure DED system) can be complemented with CNC machines offered by the company. Workpieces 3D printed with these systems can be finished to proper tolerances and surface quality on a milling machine or previously milled base plats and bases can be have objects printed onto them without the need for support structures.

Now that the Japanese conglomerate is firmly settled in the additive space, it has begun offering AM consulting services. This includes verifying the printability of parts, redesigning parts for AM, engineering new components and product categories, simulation and topology optimization, 3D printing of prototypes and small series, courses and training, and consultations dedicated to overall strategy.

Because DMG Mori has developed laser PBF, DED and hybrid machines, it would appear to be an important contender in the AM space. Perhaps, in the near future, we’ll see the company release a hybrid PBF system, like Matsuura offers, or laser-based machining, like Trumpf. As impressive as hybrid 3D printing technology appears to be from the outside, we will have to see more success stories coming from industry before we can truly assess its place in the larger AM and manufacturing markets.

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VSHAPER Announces Release of 5-Axis Hybrid 3D Printer

VSHAPER is expanding on its history as a maker of fused filament fabrication (FFF) systems with more axes and production capabilities. Polish 3D printer manufacturer VSHAPER has announced the upcoming release of its latest system, a five-axis hybrid 3D printer dubbed 5AX.

The 5AX attempts to address FFF/FDM’s notorious anisotropic tensile strength problem by adding more axes to FFF. Because traditional FFF technology deposits molten thermoplastic layer by layer, the vertical (or ‘Z’) axis is weaker than X and Y. Whereas the continuous line of filament is chemically bonded, interlayer bonds are merely melted together, making them weaker overall.

5AX aims to overcome this by allowing the print head to print on five axes, allowing this continuous chemical bond to move in every direction, not just the horizontal X- and Y-axes. To do so, the printer uses a spinning and tilting print platform and five-axis kinematics. In addition to potentially overcoming anisotropy to a great extent, this setup removes the need for support structures, thus reducing material waste and post-processing. You can see how this works in the 5AX research footage below:

According to the company, the VSHAPER 5AX will also feature six different toolheads that can be swapped out automatically. These include a dual direct feeding extruder purportedly capable of printing multiple materials from a single printhead, as well as a finishing tool for milling, drilling and burnishing. VSHAPER has also developed a probing tool for measurement, quality control and preparing for milling and drilling operations.

The 5AX is obviously a unique addition to VSHAPER’s existing FFF portfolio. The company is one of a handful of manufacturers of lower cost FFF machines capable of 3D printing with high performance materials, such as the PAEK family of plastics.

Unlike the metal hybrid manufacturing space, the five-axis polymer 3D printing segment has been slower to grow. There are only a few five-axis polymer machines on the market, as far as we are aware. The most notable may be the Freeformer system from Arburg. The injection molding (IM) machine manufacturer has developed a system to 3D print with traditional IM pellets, which are less expensive and more diverse than filaments, using a piezoelectric-driven screw.

Ethereal Machines won an Innovation Award at CES in 2018 for its 5-axis hybrid manufacturing system. After a successful Kickstarter in 2014, 5axismaker is still selling 5-axis hybrid 3D printer kits. The space is still a very small one, so there will surely be others. It’s easy to imagine FFF extrusion modules incorporated into existing five-axis machining equipment. It remains too early to tell just how disruptive this technology will be to the 3D printing space.

VSHAPER first debuted its 5AX prototype at formnext in 2017 and is just now completing work on the machine. The system features a cylindrical workspace of 300mm in diameter by 300mm in height and a heated table. The release date for the 5AX is scheduled for May 26, 2020, but the price has not yet been disclosed. Users can register for the release at the 5AX website.

Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

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Horizon 2020 LASIMM Hybrid 3D Printing Project Complete

After three years of design and implementation, the Large Additive Subtractive Integrated Modular Machine (LASIMM) project, funded by the E.U.’s Horizon 2020 program, is officially complete. We’ve tracked its progress since its 2017 launch and the resulting LASIMM system is an exciting one.

The project aimed to develop a modular robotic system capable of metal 3D printing and machining directly from a CAD file. To accomplish this, the team members landed on wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), which relies on low-cost plasma arc welding of wire to deposit metal onto a substrate. Two industrial robotic arms were outfitted with WAAM capabilities, while a parallel kinematic motion (PKM) robot was performed the milling procedures.

The LASIMM is capable of producing objects up to five meters long and three meters wide, including aluminum, steel and titanium parts. To test the real-world applicability of the technology, partners BAE Systems, Vestas and Fosters + Partners provided their expertise and it is believed that the LASIMM could be integrated into production environments for both manufacturing and repair purposes. Key to this integration is the fact that the system is highly configurable and, therefore could be made customized for a given customer’s needs.

Other features that could feasibly be added to the LASIMM are metrology, inspection and cold-work—that is, the ability strengthen metal parts via mechanical stress, instead of heat. Other manufacturing techniques, such as rolling, peening and in-situ alloying could also be introduced to the system. The same PKM robot that performs the milling could perform the cold work processing by rolling the part, potentially resulting in material properties stronger than those achieved by forging. This, along with the alloying, would mean that parts coming out of the process would have superior mechanical properties.

Now that the project is complete, the industrialization process will begin, which team members estimate will take about a year. When LASIMM is commercialized, it will be available as a modular and self-contained platform with a technology readiness level of six on a scale of one to nine, with nine being the highest. The commercial system will be able to fabricate parts up to six meters long with mechanical properties matching or exceeding forged alloys.

The LASIMM proyect is ready to print (Loxin Image)

Based on the partners involved, including British aerospace and weapons company BAE Systems, it’s easy to imagine this technology being used for the production of large aerospace components, as well as wind turbine blades, automobile parts and structural parts used in construction. According to the team members, the LASIMM can reduce time and cost of manufacturing parts by 20 percent compared to current additive and subtractive processes, while increasing productivity for high volume AM production by 15 percent.

The LASIMM isn’t Europe’s only massive hybrid manufacturing project. Alongside it are the OpenHybrid and Kraken hybrid metal 3D printers. The OpenHybrid project ended with the development of two systems, one which integrates directed energy deposition toolheads into an existing CNC machine and another that is a large-scale gantry system. The Kraken is a massive WAAM system that has a build volume of 20m x 8m x 6m and can also 3D print polymers at rates of 120 kg/h.

Altogether, this is a sign that not only is Europe’s already strong hybrid manufacturing space getting bigger and stronger, but hybrid 3D printing as a market is growing as predicted by SmarTech in its recent report on the subject.

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Korea: 3D Printing Complex Transparent Displays

In the recently published ‘High-Resolution 3D Printing of Freeform, Transparent Displays in Ambient Air,’ researchers from Korea are studying complex geometries in the form of optoelectronic architectures. If you are not familiar with such work, you may be surprised to find out that that such structures have been studied extensively in the past few years.

In most cases, optoelectronic devices with 3D structures must be created with stacks of 2D device layers, with interconnections woven in via wire or metal; however, ‘stacking’ can result in limitations, constraining more complicated device shapes.

“Overcoming this limitation potentially could result in significant applications beyond improving the scalability in device integration technologies. For instance, the ability to seamlessly incorporate optoelectronics into 3D structures could impart enhanced functionalities to these devices, such as advanced optical, electrical, and mechanical properties,” stated the researchers.

Direct 3D printing has the potential to eliminate some barriers, including different forms such as:

Direct ink writing
Digital light processing (DLP)
Selective laser sintering
Fused deposition modeling
Inkjet printing

Such technology can be used in the following applications:

Electronic circuits
Batteries
Photonic structures
Optoelectronic devices

By creating a hybrid 3D printing system, the researchers can use DLP and electrohydrodynamic jet (e‐jet) printing to create transparent plastic frames. With e-jet printing, high‐resolution organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) pixels can be printed onto the mechanical frames. High resolutions can be printed, and the researchers point out that this is the case even with more ‘diverse geometries.’ Optoelectronic devices can be fabricated in a series, to include 3D mechanical frames and all OLED layers. No added thermal drying/annealing steps are necessary

“Although previous approaches on flexible/stretchable devices required the use of substrates and, therefore, must be attached only onto the surface areas of nonplanar objects, this hybrid 3D printing system can embed optoelectronic devices inside arbitrarily shaped 3D architectures selectively at desired locations instead of the surface regions, because all of the devices and mechanical frames are printed together as freeform optoelectronics,” stated the authors.

“Demonstrations of various 3D architectures, which include high‐resolution OLED pixels inside the architectures and a transparent, eyeglass‐type display for a wireless, augmented reality system, provide examples of the applications of this hybrid 3D printing system and indicate the future promise of freeform 3D optoelectronics.”

Schematic illustration of the hybrid 3D printing system and fabrication. a) Schematic illustration of the hybrid 3D printing system. b,c) Schematic illustration of the overall printing process for transparent 3D OLED devices

The e-jet printing system is comprised of:

Metal-coated nozzle connected to a syringe
Computer-controlled power supply
Pneumatic pressure controller
Translational stage controlled with five-axis movements

A key advantage is that this system can fabricate entire parts, along with ‘arbitrary-shaped plastic frames.’ Optoelectronic devices are embedded inside 3D architectures, becoming ‘freeform optoelectronics.’

Transparent OLEDs on various 3D architectures. a) Schematic illustration of the transparent OLED structure. b) Optical micrographs of EL emission from the fabricated OLEDs with TBADN:DPAVBi (top) and Merck White (bottom). Scale bars, 100 µm. c) Current density versus voltage curves of the 3D e‐jet‐printed OLED device with TBADN:DPAVBi (black) and Merck White (red). d) Luminance versus voltage curves of the 3D e‐jet‐printed OLED device with TBADN:DPAVBi (black) and Merck White (red). e) Normalized EL spectrum of the TBADN:DPAVBi (black) and Merck White (red). f) Optical transmittance spectrum of the 3D‐printed PC substrate, TBADN:DPAVBi, and SPW‐111‐based transparent OLEDs. g–j) Photographs of the 3D‐printed transparent OLEDs in turn‐off (left) and turn‐on (right) condition: g) cup of glass, scale bar, 5 mm. h) lotus leaf dish, i) round shape lamp, and j) human hand. Scale bars, 1 cm.

“Although previous works have been limited to printing only a few components of OLED devices on flat substrates, our approach allows the printing of all components of the device and the mechanical frames in ambient air. This allows transparent OLED pixels to be embedded inside the freeform 3D architectures at desired locations,” concluded the researchers. “Also, the integration of these transparent and freeform displays with wireless communication circuits demonstrates their substantial progress for use as augmented reality systems.”

“These process improvements, together with exploration of applications in biotechnology and other areas, represent promising areas for future work.”

3D printing has offered enormous impacts to the realm of batteries and energy storage, electronic circuits, optics, and so much more. 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.

Examples of applications of the 3D‐printed transparent OLEDs as augmented reality eyeglasses. a) Schematic illustration of the 3D‐printed augmented reality eyeglasses. b) Luminance versus current density curve of transparent OLED in augmented reality eyeglasses. c) Photographs of demonstrated augmented reality eyeglasses in turn‐off (left) and turn‐on (right) condition. Scale bars, 5 mm.

[Source / Images: ‘High-Resolution 3D Printing of Freeform, Transparent Displays in Ambient Air’]

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AFPALM: A New 3D Printing Technology Combines 3D Printing with Automated Fiber Placement

Several methods have been developed for the creation of lightweight composite structures. Two of the most commonly used are automated fiber placement (AFP) and automated tape laying (ATL). These two techniques are well-suited for large and/or geometrically complex structures, and their advantages over manual laydown include productivity and reproducibility. These methods hold a lot of potential for the aerospace industry, where high tolerances are required. However, these methods have their weaknesses: particularly on complex or double-curved surfaces, gaps can appear, reducing the mechanical properties of the composite structure. To counteract this, several layers are laid on top of each other, but this makes the component heavier and more expensive to produce.

In a new paper entitled “A Novel Approach: Combination of Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) and Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM),” which you can access here, the authors argue that combining 3D printing with AFP can avoid these problems. So what is AFPALM exactly?

“As the standard, the heads simultaneously lay 8, 16, 24, or 32 layers in the usual widths of 1/800 to 1/200 directly next to each other at the same time,” the researchers explain. “Thermoplastic or thermoset unidirectional (UD)-Prepregs are often used for the automated production of modern high-performance composite materials.”

Prepregs are strips of reinforcing fabric that already have resin, including the proper curing agent, within them.

“The challenge of automated fiber placement is to completely lay down the Prepregs with a defined fiber orientation without gaps or overlaps,” the researchers continue. “Successful fiber placement without gaps or overlaps is dependent on many parameters, such as mold geometry, tape width, and fiber orientation. The Prepregs must be laid down parallel to the flow of force in order to show their optimal properties.”

On a flat surface, prepregs can generally be placed without gaps or overlaps. With complex geometries, however, gaps or overlaps are common, and they can reduce the mechanical properties of the component, and lead to unnecessary material consumption, additional weight, and local thickening.

The researchers present the idea of combining 3D printing with AFP in order to fill in the gaps without adding extra weight. They created three samples: a laminate without gaps, a laminate with gaps, and a laminate in which the gaps were filled with 3D printed unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP-UD).

Microscope images of the laminate structure. (a) Laminate without gaps; (b) Laminate with gaps; (c) Laminate with printed CFRP-UD.

“The tensile strength, interlaminar shear strength, and flexural strength of the laminate with gaps were reduced by about 13% compared to the laminate without gaps,” the researchers state. “Accordingly, the tensile strength of the laminate with printed CFRP-UD was approx. 2%, the interlaminar shear strength was approx. 4%, and the flexural strength was approx. 1% less than that of the laminate without gaps.”

Importantly, the CRFP-UD does not add significant weight to the component, unlike adding multiple layers of prepregs to fill in gaps. The carbon fiber was laid down after an integrated edge detector in the 3D printer head detected the gaps online between the fiber tapes. Another option, the researchers add, would be to have the gaps be detected with a thermal camera integrated in the AFP head.

“By combining the 3D printing and AFP technology, composite parts can be manufactured in a more homogeneous manner,” they conclude. “Subsequently, the components are produced faster, cheaper and even lighter because of the avoidance of the additional layers.”

Authors of the paper include Mohammad Rakhshbahar and Michael Sinapius. AFPALM could be a highly automated process that is very advantageous in terms of costs and parts built for aerospace and other carbon fiber applications. AFPALM itself could be a labor-saving way to create very high strength carbon fiber components for industry. More industries looking at lightweight and lightweight components now have a possible alternative to handlayup and other methods of making carbon fiber parts with AFPALM.

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

Fabrisonic’s Whitepaper on Metal 3D Printed Heat Exchangers for NASA JPL

Founded in 2011, Ohio-based Fabrisonic uses its hybrid metal 3D printing process, called Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM), to merge layers of metal foil together in a solid-state thanks to high frequency ultrasonic vibrations. Fabrisonic mounts its patented hybrid 3D printing process on traditional CNC equipment – first, an object is built up with 3D printing, and then smoothed down with CNC machining by milling to the required size and surface. No melting is required, as Fabrisonic’s 6′ x 6′ x 3′ UAM 3D printer can “scrub” metal foil and build it up into the final net shape, and then machines down whatever else is needed at the end of the process.

Last year, Fabrisonic’s president and CEO Mark Norfolk told 3DPrint.com at RAPID 2017 that about 30% of the company’s business was in heat exchangers, as the manufacturing process is a lot smoother thanks to its low-temperature metal 3D printing technology – no higher than 250°F. UAM makes it possible to join metal alloys that are notoriously difficult to weld, such as 1000, 2000, 6000, and 7000 series copper, aluminum, stainless steel, and exotic refractory metals…all of which are used in the heat management systems at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

[Image: Sarah Saunders]

Justin Wenning, a production engineer at Fabrisonic I spoke with at RAPID 2018 this spring, recently published a whitepaper, titled “Space-grade 3D Metal Printed Heat Exchangers,” that takes a deep dive into the work he’s been doing with Fabrisonic’s 3D printed metal heat exchangers for aerospace applications. The company participated in a two-year program at JPL, and 3D printed a new class of metal heat exchanger that passed JPL’s intense testing.

“For every interplanetary mission that JPL oversees, numerous critical heat exchanger devices are required to regulate the sensitive, on-board electronic systems from temperature extremes experienced in space. These devices can be small (3 in. x 3 in.) or large (3 ft. x 3 ft.),” Wenning wrote in his whitepaper.

For many years, NASA glued bent metal tubes along, and fastened them to, the exterior of a space vehicle’s structure, which weigh a lot and do not perform well thermally. These devices were also assembled and quality-checked by hand, so production could take up to nine months. At the end of its partnership with NASA JPL, Fabrisonic showed that 3D printing can be used to improve upon all of these issues.

Evolution of UAM 3D printed heat exchanger with NASA JPL. Samples began small to
evaluate benchmark burst and helium leak performance in 2014. The team then began focusing on technology scale-up and system integration. The culmination is a full-size, functioning heat exchanger.

The UAM system does not use any controlled atmospheres, so the part size and design range greatly. NASA JPL first started working with Fabrisonic in 2014, thanks to a JPL Spontaneous R&TD grant, to look into small, simple UAM heat exchangers, before moving up to larger structures in 2015 through NASA’s SBIR/STTR program. The result was a full-size, functioning heat exchanger prototype for the Mars 2020 rover mission that was fabricated in far less time, with a 30% lighter mass.

The 3D printed heat exchangers that Fabrisonic creates involve building pumped-fluid loop tubing right into the structure for additional efficiency and robustness, as the company’s UAM process can also be used to mix and match materials, like copper and aluminum.

UAM starts with a metal substrate, and material is then added to and removed from the structure to make the device’s internal passageways. To help with material deposition, a proprietary water-soluble support structure is added, before adding strength and features, respectively, with optional heat-treating and final CNC machining. Fabrisonic then added SS tubing, which helps with fitting attachments, to the aluminum structure with friction welding for NASA JPL’s development parts.

NASA JPL also needed to raise its technology readiness level (TRL) from 3 to near 6. During the program, Fabrisonic and its EWI affiliate 3D printed and tested dozens of different heat exchangers, in order to develop a final prototype for ground-based qualification standards based off of NASA JPL’s existing heat exchangers.

UAM process steps for fabricating NASA JPL heat exchangers.

The NASA JPL TRL 6 qualification included several tests, including proof pressure testing to 330 PSI, two-day controlled thermal cycling from -184°F to 248°F in an environmental chamber, and vibration testing on an electrodynamic shaker, which simulated a common day rocket launch (1-10 G) in all orientations while attached to a dummy mass at the same time for imitating a normal hosted electronics package. Other tests included:

Burst testing greater that 2500 PSI with a 0.030-in. wall thickness
Helium leak testing to less than 1×10-8 cc/s GHe between thermal and vibration testing
Full 3D CT scans of each specimen before and after mechanical testing, in order to evaluate void density and any accumulated testing damage

JPL project with copper embedded. [Image: Sarah Saunders]

Each of the three UAM 3D printed heat exchanger components passed the qualifications, which raised the technology to its goal of near TRL 6. To corroborate the results, NASA JPL scientists completed more helium leak and burst testing, along with thermal shock testing on certain devices; this involved submerging certain heat exchangers in liquid nitrogen (-320°F) to test their bi-metallic friction welded stainless steel aluminum joints. According to the whitepaper, the joints were “robust and helium leak tight” post-submersion.

Fabrisonic’s new class of 3D printed metal heat exchanger, developed under NASA JPL, has uses in other commercial production applications, which the company is currently exploring.

“For instance, the lack of melting in UAM enables the integration of multiple metals into one build since high temperature chemistry is avoided,” Wenning wrote. “Thus, copper may be integrated as a heat spreader in critical locations improving thermal performance with a small weight penalty.”

Because of its low temperatures, UAM can also be used to embed sensors into solid metal. In 3D printed heat exchangers, sensors could help monitor system health and improve control by being integrated in important locations.

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

[Images: Fabrisonic unless otherwise noted]

3D Printing News Briefs: July 20, 2018

We’re starting out with some construction news in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, then following that with a little business, a little metal, and a little 3D design. Russian firm AMT-SPETSAVIA has updated two of its construction 3D printers, and the University of New Brunswick has chosen a Concept Laser 3D printer to use for its upcoming research. Mass Portal’s software team went through a reorganization, and attendees learned all about lightweight aluminum material at the recent AMAP forum. Finally, users of browser-based SelfCAD 3D software can access the MyMiniFactory design library…and share their own work there as well.

Spetsavia Completes Updates on Large Construction 3D Printers

Three years ago, Russian firm Spetsavia presented its home construction methods and 3D printers at the 3D Print Expo. Now, the group of machining and 3D printing companies collectively known as AMT-SPECAVIA has updated its range of construction 3D printers (Construction Objects Printing or COP) to introduce two new large-format models. The S-300, with a “working field” of 11.5 x 11 x 5.4 m, is able to print directly on the foundation of buildings up to two stories and 120 square meters, while the S-500 features an 11.5 x 11 x 15 m field and can 3D print buildings up to five, or even six, floors. However, the latter can be increased to a working field of 40 x 11 x 80 m, which Spetsavia says makes it “the largest 3D construction printer in the world.”

“New models of the S series are essentially the next generation of building printers. We’ve always been asked for a solution for multi-storey construction,” said Alexander Maslov, the General Director of AMT-SPETSAVIA. “Now we declare with confidence that such a solution exists! The AMT S300 and S500 printers are high-performance equipment with unprecedented capabilities and competitive price. During the development we’ve taken into account the wishes of the developing companies, at the same time maintaining the inherent reliability of our equipment, ease of management and maintenance.”

Both the S-300 and the S-500 have a direct flow print head for increased productivity, in addition to a new feed station that prepares the concrete mixture. The first shipment of the S-500 is scheduled for this fall, and a team of engineers will accompany the 3D printer to the customer for training.

University of New Brunswick to Use Concept Laser M2 Cusing

L-R: Keith Campbell, Senior Sales Director, GE Additive; Dr. Mohsen Mohammadi, Director of Research and Development for the Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence; Hart Devitt, Director of Industry and Government Services; Duncan McSporran, Director, Programs and Innovation, Office of Research Services, University of New Brunswick

GE Additive has announced that the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Canada, together with commercialization partner Custom Fabricators & Machinists and training partners Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), New Brunswick Community College (NBCC), and the College communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB), has chosen its Concept Laser M2 Cusing metal 3D printer to use in its latest research.

UNB is in charge of the country’s first Marine Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which will be the very first in Canada to fabricate certified parts for the marine industry with metal 3D printing. The M2 Cusing will mostly be used by UNB’s Dr. Mohsen Mohammadi, who will be the Director of Research and Development for the new center, and his team for multiple R&D areas, including bast resistance, enhanced corrosion protection, and hybrid 3D printing processes.

Mass Portal Announces Reorganization of Software Team

Latvian 3D printer manufacturer Mass Portal has reorganized, and appointed new leadership for, its software team, which is now an independent company called FabControl. The company will be building an open, next-generation software platform for managing 3D printers and AM workflows, and Mass Portal’s current CEO and co-founder Janis Grinhofs, the founder of FabControl and in charge of developing Mass Portal’s flagship Pharaoh 3D printers, will now serve as the CEO of the new company. Imants Treidis has been named the new CEO of Mass Portal.

“We will continue to serve our existing customers and industrial partners, in the same time striving for excellence in supplying the industry with highest quality machines and tailor built solutions for additive manufacturing needs,” Treidis said.

All About Aluminum at AMAP Forum

Not too long ago in Aachen, scientific and industry experts gathered at the AMAP Forum (Advanced Metals and Processes) to demonstrate the continuing potential of researching non-ferrous metals, like aluminum, for the purposes of lightweight automotive design. 14 entrepreneurs from industry and five of the RWTH Aachen University institutions formed the AMAP Open Innovation Research cluster at the forum, and discussed topics ranging from new production technologies and materials development to modeling and metallurgic process technology. Some of the specifics included using aluminum hollow castings to create structural components with functional integration, additive manufacturing, and new design and calculation methods for high-strength aluminum alloys.

Dr. Klaus Vieregge, Chairman of the AMAP Advisory Board and Head of the Hydro Aluminium Research and Development Center in Bonn, said, “We are an efficient network. New members are always welcome, but a high number of members is not the focus of the AMAP cluster, we want to convince people by the efficiency of the work and the research results.”

SelfCAD Partners with MyMiniFactory

Online 3D design platform SelfCAD, founded in 2015, combines 3D modeling, slicing, and several other tools and functions in one easy program. Earlier this year, the platform announced a partnership with popular 3D printable model marketplace MyMiniFactory.

This partnership makes it easy for SelfCAD users to access the design library in MyMiniFactory, and also gives them the ability to download their 3D models directly from the marketplace while still in the SelfCAD program. In addition, it’s also possible for users to upload their models directly to MyMiniFactory for maximum exposure.

To learn more, check out this helpful video:

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