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Thermwood Develops New Vertical Tech for Large Format 3D Printing

Indiana-based Thermwood Corporation is the oldest manufacturer of highly flexible 3 and 5 axis CNC routers, and entered the 3D printing industry five years ago with a unique hybrid machine. Since then, it’s introduced, and continued improving upon, its Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) systems. These machines have both 3D printing and trimming capabilities, and are obviously used for making really big parts, like thermoplastic composite molds and tooling, for a variety of industries, such as aerospace, automotive, defense, government, marine, and military. Users have 3D printed parts that stand over 20 feet tall and weigh up to 50,000 pounds on Thermwood’s larger LSAM machines, using the company’s patented Vertical Layer Print (VLP) technology.

Instead of printing on a horizontal plane, VLP prints on a vertical one, which makes it possible to fabricate much taller parts than prints with horizontal layers could accomplish. But now, Thermwood has announced that it has successfully demonstrated a new approach to large-format 3D printing with this technology.

Moving gantries, high walls, and a fixed table are the typical features of Thermwood’s LSAM 3D printing systems, and when vertical printing is required for a tall part, a vertical moving table is used, which is supported by stainless steel belts that slide right on top of the main fixed table. However, Thermwood released its MT last year, which is a less expensive LSAM printer with a moving table and fixed gantry but the ability to trim on the same machine. Just like the larger LSAM systems, parts are 3D printed at high speed and then machined to their final shape and size once they’ve cooled.

To achieve vertically 3D printed tall parts on the LSAM-MT, the machine would need what the company referred to in a press release as a “fundamentally different approach.”

Thermwood’s new VLP approach prints parts on a support structure, which rides along on the moving table but is fixed in place to the back. The back of the main table features a second 5′ x 10′ print table that’s been vertically mounted, and as the part continues to get larger, the moving table pulls it onto a support structure. This process allows the LSAM-MT 3D printer to fabricate parts that are up to 5′ x 10′ x 10′ (ZXY axes). It reminds me somewhat of a much larger version of conveyor belt 3D printers, though as far as I’m aware, those allow for long parts but don’t ensure vertical 3D prints.

In order to validate its new VLP process, the company printed parts out of low- and high-temperature thermoplastics. The first of these parts was made using carbon fiber reinforced ABS, often the choice for parts like fixtures, foundry patterns, industrial tooling, and structural components that operate at or right above room temperature.

The second high temperature part Thermwood built using the new approach weighed in at 1,190 pounds—the limit for a moving table system. It took just shy of 17 hours to complete and was printed out of a Techmer blended 25% carbon fiber reinforced PSU/PESU material, which, along with PEI, is used most often for tooling and molds that work at higher temperatures, typically with pressure and vacuum in an autoclave.

Not only do Thermwood’s LSAM 3D printers have practically no weight limitations, but they can also print large parts that are able to maintain “vacuum to aerospace standards” without having to add a secondary coating. Now, with its new and improved VLP approach, the company is building and delivering large-scale 3D printing systems that are actually up to 40 feet long.

(Source/Images: Thermwood Corporation)

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Mobile Robotic System 3D Prints Single-Piece Concrete Structures

The scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have spent a lot of time and energy over the last few years researching construction 3D printing with concrete materials. Two years ago, the NTU Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) team, led by Assistant Professor Pham Quang Cuong with NTU’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, published a paper about their work developing concurrent mobile 3D printing construction robots. The idea was that multiple robots working together to build a concrete structure wouldn’t be held back by common issues like volume constraints and long lead times.

Adoption of concrete 3D printing is limited because of problems like lack of mobility and small size, and the use of synchronized, mobile robots is an excellent place to start working on the issue of scalability. But now, Professor Cuong and his team are taking things to the next level. They’re still using mobile robots for a print-while-moving approach, but instead of a pair systems, they’ve developed a single-robot industrial AM platform that can complete large-scale construction printing all by itself.

“Our system is mounted on a mobile robot. The ability to move the robot base in space allows our robot to print structures that are larger than itself,” Professor Cuong explained. “Also, having a mobile base makes it easier to bring the robot into the construction site and move it around inside.”

The NTU team—comprised of Mehmet Efe Tiryaki, Xu Zhang, and Professor Cuong—published a paper about their new system, titled “Printing-while-moving: a new paradigm for large-scale robotic 3D Printing.”

The abstract reads, “Building and Construction have recently become an exciting application ground for robotics. In particular, rapid progress in material formulation and in robotics technology has made robotic 3D Printing of concrete a promising technique for in-situ construction. Yet, scalability remains an important hurdle to widespread adoption: the printing systems (gantry-based or arm-based) are often much larger than the structure be printed, hence cumbersome. Recently, a mobile printing system – a manipulator mounted on a mobile base – was proposed to alleviate this issue: such a system, by moving its base, can potentially print a structure larger than itself. However, the proposed system could only print while being stationary, imposing thereby a limit on the size of structures that can be printed in a single take. Here, we develop a system that implements the printing-while-moving paradigm, which enables printing single-piece structures of arbitrary sizes with a single robot. This development requires solving motion planning, localization, and motion control problems that are specific to mobile 3D Printing.”

This system only needs one robot to print differently sized single-piece structures, which also helps to ensure better structural properties.

The mobile robotic 3D printing system

Typically, construction materials wider than the construction 3D printing system’s gantry foothold distance can’t be printed. That’s because a printed structure’s dimensions are constrained by one of three things: the robot arm’s reach, the gantry’s restricted volume, or the framework which enables the printhead to move along a particular axis. But the NTU researchers have enabled their system to move in any direction, so long as it’s on a flat surface, by mounting an industrial robot manipulator to a wheeled base. Then, a hose is used to connect the platform’s manipulator flange nozzle to a pump.

The robot manipulator’s motions, and those of the mobile platform, are painstakingly planned out in this new system in order to achieve a coordinated effort. It uses feedback motion control, and highly accurate robot localization, to make sure that the nozzle deposits the concrete material at the right pace in the correct location. By placing a camera on the back of the mobile base, its “localization system” works better over a larger surface area.

Model of NTU’s 3D printing system setup and printing process pipeline

The NTU research team claims that their printing-while-moving system can increase the size of structures that one robot can fabricate. To prove it, they used the platform to 3D print a single-piece 210 x 45 x 10 cm concrete structure, which is definitely larger than the robotic arm’s 87 cm reach. This system could significantly increase the effectiveness of 3D construction printing. But, their work is not yet done, as the system does still have some limitations, particularly in terms of uneven work areas.

Professor Cuong explained, “We’re planning to add collaborative features to our robot. The idea is to have a human operator take the robot by hand and move it around the construction site, towards the desired location, guiding it to achieve high-precision assembly.”

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(Source: IEEE)

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MELD Manufacturing Reaches Major Milestone with Metal 3D Printed Components

Virginia-based company MELD Manufacturing Corporation was launched in the spring of 2018 as a subsidiary of Aeroprobe Corporation, which produces instruments that provide and measure real-time air and flow data. Aeroprobe had been working with the Edison Welding Institute to develop Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing for printing functionally gradient metal components, and founded MELD to continue working on this novel technology.

That’s exactly what the company did. Even though its technology had already been in development for more than a decade, MELD continued making strides to its patented process of creating, and repairing, metal components out of off-the-shelf materials. Not long after its launch, MELD was in the news for winning the RAPID Innovation Award at RAPID + TCT 2018.

“The MELD technology is a revolution. To be recognized at RAPID by these industry leaders demonstrates just how much potential MELD has to change the way we think about manufacturing,” MELD Manufacturing Corporation’s CEO Nanci Hardwick said at the time. ” We want to see MELD adopted across industries, so it’s exciting to see genuine interest from such a diverse crowd.”

MELD Manufacturing Corporation CEO Nanci Hardwick and Production Manager David Smith with measuring tape extended to 1.85 meters (6 feet).

A few months later, the company was selected as a finalist for the global R&D 100 Awards, and is now celebrating a major milestone regarding the size of its metal 3D printed parts. Using off-the-shelf Aluminum 6061, MELD has 3D printed components that are larger than 1.4 meters (55 inches) in diameter; some of these components even have solid walls that are over 102 mm (4 inches) thick!

So, what makes this technology so unique? It can actually print fully dense parts without having to melt any metal. The innovative, solid-state process can be used to 3D print, coat, repair, and join metals and metal matrix composites. By avoiding melting, MELD also avoids issues like hot-cracking and porosity, and uses less energy to produce high-quality parts with full density and low residual stresses.

Large scale components made from off-the-shelf Aluminum 6061 material using the MELD process.

“MELD is uniquely open atmosphere, meaning no special chambers or vacuums are needed. This flexibility not only means less equipment and cost, but also that MELD is scalable and can make parts bigger, better, and faster than other processes,” the MELD website states.

“The combination of material freedom and scalability make MELD a revolution for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, defense, turbomachinery, and many others.”

Due to a decrease in domestic forges and mills, there’s an increased demand for large-scale metal parts, like the ones MELD is now creating, than foreign companies can readily supply. The current COVID-19 pandemic has not made these delays any better, either.

“Prior to the pandemic our customer told us that these parts, printed in a few days at MELD, would have taken them up to two years to get from their supply chain,” Dr. Chase Cox, MELD’s Director of Technology, said in a press release. “This global economic shutdown likely added 6 months or more to that 2-year lead time estimate. MELD represents an opportunity to re-establish domestic manufacturing capability at a critical time.”

MELD Manufacturing Corporation CEO Nanci Hardwick with a large-scale aluminum component built with the MELD process.

MELD’s material is widely used in industry applications, though it’s not compatible with other forms of metal additive manufacturing, and the large size of its 3D printed components is a good example of the advantages in scalability that this type of open-air 3D printer can provide. Large metal structures that are commonly fabricating with forging can now be 3D printed, on-demand, with MELD’s technology.

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(Images provided by MELD Corporation)

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Mimaki USA Releases New Large-Scale 3DGD-1800 3D Printing System

Wide-format inkjet printer and cutter manufacturer Mimaki USA, an operating entity of Mimaki Engineering in Japan, is expanding its existing 3D printer offering with the new large-scale Mimaki 3DGD-1800 system, which complements the company’s full-color UV-cure inkjet 3DUJ-553 3D printer and 3DFF-222 desktop system. Due to its size, the new 3DGD-1800 is a great choice for 3D printing dimensional displays for multiple applications.

Mimaki USA develops and builds a full line of digital printers and cutters, and provides a total workflow solution for applications in the industrial 3D printing, art, sign graphics, and textile and apparel markets. Its new 3DGD-1800 3D printer, which offers a processing speed that’s three times faster than what conventional FFF and other extrusion-based systems can provide, creates large-scale prints using Gel Dispensing Printing technology, which sounds similar to Massivit 3D’s proprietary GDP method that combines FDM and SLA techniques.

Mimaki’s newest 3D printer offering, weighing in at 2,500 kg, is able to create a figure that’s 70.8″ high in only seven hours, with a maximum build weight of 150 kg and dimensions of 57” x 43.7” x 70.8”. The 3DGD-1800 has an assembly-based design, which allows users to print massive objects that, as Mimaki USA puts it, far exceed “the size of the formation area.” Additionally, because the system does not need to use support materials for internal structures, it can print objects with hollow interiors at a higher rate of speed than conventional 3D printers, “which can later accommodate infill material or be left open.”

Mimaki 3DGD-1800 3D printer

The Mimaki 3DGD-1800 features a dual-printhead configuration, which helps decrease production time as it can provide output for two different structures simultaneously. Its MG-100W material, which is a white UV-curable resin, is a good choice for applications that are lit internally with LED modules. The printer is a complete solution for fabricating large-scale 3D objects, and includes easy to use 3DGD slicer software.

Example application

The printer’s surface be decorated with output from Mimaki’s inkjet printers, and specialty graphics producers can add a desktop 3DFF-222 or full-color 3DUJ-553 as supplementary systems if they’re also interested in printing smaller 3D figures and models with fine details. The new Mimaki 3DGD-1800 is a great system for manufacturing large, colorful items, including channel letters and logos, event decorations and product mock-ups, movie props and sets, interior design elements and entertainment promotions, vacuum molds, interior-illuminated signage, museum/POP/window displays, and more.

Additional specs for the new Mimaki 3DGD-1800 include:

Ethernet
1.8 / 2.6 mm diameter nozzle
Supports standard STL, OBJ, 3DS, ply, blend file formats

The new large-scale 3DGD-1800 3D printer is now available for purchase through Mimaki USA. With this new addition, Mimaki now offers more 2D and 3D printing solutions than any global wide-format digital printing company.

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(Images: Mimaki USA)

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3D Printing News Briefs: March 16, 2020

We’ve got news about 3D printers in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as BigRrep has shipped its 500th large-format 3D printer. Peopoly is developing new 3D printers for its Phenom series, and startup Excelencia is offering a 3D printing service for large objects. Moving on, MPA, NAMIC, and SSA have launched a Joint Industry Program for 3D printed maritime parts.

BigRep Ships 500th Industrial Large-Format 3D Printer

Large-format 3D printing leader BigRep, founded in 2014, just announced that it has shipped its 500th industrial large-format AM system. The company’s managing director, Martin Beck, said that this delivery shows how much all of the company’s industrial customers value BigRep products, which are utilized in a wide variety of applications. The 500th delivery was a BigRep ONE 3D printer, which was shipped to e-mobility tech company JAMADE GERMANY, creator of the AMAZEA underwater scooter – the first water sports mobility device that will use serial produced 3D printed parts at the consumer level.

“We are very excited about this delivery because it represents a new dimension of industrial AM in end-consumer products, both for us as a company and the industry,” said JAMADE Managing Partner and Technical Director Detlef Klages. “The new BigRep ONE will enable us to launch the serial production of AMAZEA as planned, completing our existing fleet of four BigRep ONE printers. We greatly value the printers’ cost efficiency, accuracy and quality when compared to the extremely high investment for traditional tools.”

Peopoly Developed Two New Phenom Series 3D Printers

In October, Hong Kong company Peopoly launched its Phenom 3D printer series, which was well-received by industrial users due to a higher resolution print, shorter workflow, and reduced cost. So, using the same MSLA technology, the company, which was founded back in 2016, has developed two new systems for its third generation series: the extra-large Phenom L and the fast Phenom Noir.

The Phenom L has a build volume of 345.6 × 194.4 x 400 mm – over 50% larger than the original, which a 20% faster rate of print speed. It also features new build plate designs, which improves the post-processing experience and simplifies the workflow for larger prints. The Phenom Noir has a monochrome LCD panel, designed for enterprise 3D printing applications, that reduces UV light waste, which Peopoly says makes the system run five times faster than the Form 3. With its 293.76 × 165.24 x 400 mm build size, it’s also nearly 13% bigger than the original Phenom.

Excelencia’s Launches 3D Printing Service for Large Objects

MASSIVIT project

Spanish 3D and textile 3D printing distributor Excelencia Tech just launched earlier this month with two big projects. First, the startup is an official distributor for MASSIVIT 3D printers, so it’s focusing on selling these. Secondly, Excelencia is promoting its XL MEDIA Project, which is a service it offers for 3D printing very large objects on its MASSIVIT systems. The 3D printers the startup owns are pretty costly, which is why Excelencia is promoting the use of them to companies that need to print large objects, but can’t afford to purchase their own large-format printer.

“Nowadays, if one of our 3D printings have to be done by a “traditional” 3D printer, it will take couple of weeks and an enormous budget to succed. So we offer the chance to create your 3D products using our machine without buying it, to understand and check all advantatges that Massivit’s machines have,” Miguel Preda Lliso, the Marketing and Business Development Manager for Excelencia, told 3DPrint.com.

“With our technology we can do giant products (about 180 cm) in less tan 48 hours and without generating as much waste as traditional machines (our machines just use as much kilos of material as the product weight).”

Phase 2 of Joint Industry Program for 3D Printed Marine Parts

Singapore’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), along with SSA and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), has launched the second phase of a Joint Industry Programme (JIP) for the 3D printing of marine and maritime parts. Phase 1 was completed in October, and Phase 2 consists of the call for proposals from classification societies or AM technology suppliers that would like to participate in the JIP as an industry consortium leader. The objective of this JIP, which has the potential to spin off further developmental projects in the future, is to establish the technical feasibility, regulatory requirements, and commercial viability for creating 3D printed marine parts.

“Maritime assets are capital intensive, and downtime is costly,” the JIP Challenge Statement reads.

“Replacement of marine spare parts involves many actors in the supply chain, and can be costly in terms of inventory, logistics, and cost of spare parts (especially for obsolete parts).”

The JIP is also working to shine a light on some of the opportunities, and challenges, involved in deploying 3D printing for marine parts, such as approval and certification processes. The application deadline for this phase is 6 pm on April 6, 2020.

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Twente AM Live Streams Large-Scale 3D Printing of Concrete Formwork

Dutch company Twente Additive Manufacturing B.V. (Twente AM, or TAM) is working to change the home building industry for the better, by challenging traditional construction methods through the use of automation and additive manufacturing. The company hasn’t been around that long, but had a big goal for its inaugural year in business – to create a large-scale 3D printer using an ABB 9-axis robot that is placed on a gantry-like structure for a large build footprint.

I’d say that Twente AM definitely succeeded in its mission. The structure supporting the conventional robot is able to move around enough so that it can build structures that are five meters high and ten meters long, which gives it a pretty impressive footprint of 391 m³….for comparison, a 6-axis robot can only complete a job with a 42 m³ footprint, but the rotational 9th axis that Twente AM added takes it the extra distance.

Ian Comishin, the President and Co-Founder of Twente Additive Manufacturing, explained in a press release that “The main role of this huge printer will be to create leave-in-place formwork for the construction of concrete homes to be built in British Columbia.”

The release goes on to explain that the extremely detailed prints its robotic AM system is capable of creating are made with a mortar material, which can rapidly cure within minutes to create artistic features and complex shapes that conventional methods of manufacturing just can’t complete. According to a video that the company released, parametric CAD/CAM software is directly connected to the large-scale printer, and makes these shapes through the use of algorithms.

The applications for Twente AM’s new 3D robotic 3D printing system include industrial architecture and building houses. That’s why the company took a pretty big risk in marketing its machine, only a few days after completing it, by live streaming its operation at the 40th Big5 international building and construction show in Dubai. Every day during the show, the team in Canada woke up at 2 am to get the machine started for the day. Check out the video to see the live 3D printing of Twente AM’s “record breaking concrete parts” below:

“Without hiding our failures, we gave them a taste of 3D concrete printing,” the video states.

And there were indeed some failures, though as awed exhibition attendees could probably tell you, most of the complicated parts they fabricated were completed successfully. The team in Canada showed off the system’s fancy footwork with intricate designs, had a little fun in making an Arabic beach cabana, and also created some necessary parts for its ongoing project, such as a formwork for the loading dock.

The Twente AM team is obviously thrilled with the results of what I’d call a pretty big gamble, which is making many in the industry think harder about what 3D printing is capable of in the architecture field. But the company also recognizes that they wouldn’t be where they are today without the help of many colleagues – collaboration is key to making these kinds of big advances.

“We couldn’t be where we are now without collaborating with other talented members of the industry…We didn’t make this ourselves, this technology is at the very early adoption stage and working with the other companies and academic institutions throughout the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, The UK and Canada who are taking on the challenge of solving 3D printing for home building is what Twente’s foundation is built upon,” said Tim Brodesser, head of R&D.

I’m pretty impressed with Twente AM’s work, and even more impressed by the fact that they live streamed the 3D printing process at a crowded exhibition not long after completing the system. It reminds me of something I witnessed two years ago in Illinois, by invitation of the US Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL).

ACES demo (Image: Sarah Saunders for 3DPrint.com)

The team performed a live demonstration of its Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures (ACES) technology by attempting to fabricate a 512 square foot barracks within 24 hours of continuous 3D printing; I say attempt because they did not succeed. But that’s what was so refreshing – we often hear a lot of hype about 3D printed construction, without much to back the claims up. So it’s really great to see teams that are brave enough to let others watch the process live, even if it may fail a time or two.

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(Images provided by Twente Additive Manufacturing)

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State of the Art: Carbon Fiber 3D Printing, Part Six

One topic we’ve skirted around in our carbon fiber series so far is large-scale composite printing processes. The reason for this is because it is both a big topic, literally and figuratively and involves material mixes that don’t quite fit with the continuous carbon fiber reinforcements we’ve discussed so far.

The BAAM 3D printer. Image courtesy of ORNL.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a pioneer in this space because the U.S. Department of Energy Lab almost single-handedly developed the technology, though it did so with the help of public tax dollars and partnerships with companies in the industry. Working with machine manufacturer Cincinnati Incorporated and Local Motors, ORNL developed the first large-scale plastic pellet 3D printer.

The project team used an old experiment additive construction that consisted of a large gantry system meant for extruding concrete. The printer was retrofitted with a screw extruder to process pellets made up of ABS with roughly five percent chopped carbon fiber filler. Using pellets has the advantage of much faster material handling, as well as reduced cost, since these are the same materials made for injection molding. Since injection molding pellets are available in wide supply and don’t need to be further processed into filament, the price is significantly lower.

The result was the Big Area Additive Manufacturing-CI system. The original BAAM-CI system was capable of printing 40 pounds of material per hour in a build volume of 7 ft x 13 ft x 3 ft. To demonstrate the sheer power of the machine, ORNL and its partners have 3D printed the chassis for a number of vehicles, including cars, boats and excavator cabs.

This Shelby Cobra is 3D-printed. Image courtesy of ORNL.

Since the first BAAM-CI printer was used to create a replica Shelby Cobra, its capabilities have grown greatly. Cincinnati Inc. now offers four sizes ranging from 11.7 ft x 5.4 ft x 3 ft to 20 ft x 7.5 ft x 6 ft, with a feed rate that has doubled to 80 lbs/hr. Cincinnati Inc. now offers a wider portfolio of 3D printers, including a Medium Area Additive Manufacturing system with a 1m x 1m x 1m build volume and 1 kg/hr deposition rate, as well as desktop-sized Small Area Additive Manufacturing printers.

The ability to handle composites with higher carbon fiber content has been achieved, as well. When 3D printing the first vehicle chassis for Local Motors, a 15 percent carbon fiber fill was used. In some cases, up to 50 percent carbon fiber content has been printed. Cincinnati states that “dozens of materials” have been used on its BAAM machines, such as ABS, PPS, PC, PLA, and PEI. In addition to carbon fiber, glass fiber and organic fiber have been used for reinforcement.

Taking a cue from its competitor, CNC manufacturer Thermwood developed its own large-scale additive extrusion technology, the Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) series. Available with either a fixed or moving print table, the dual-gantry LSAM series is available with a print volume of 10 ft x 20 ft x 10 ft or 10 ft x 40 ft x 10 ft and can deposit 500 pounds of material per hour. And, while projects made by the BAAM printer require post-processing via CNC milling, the LSAM series has built-in machining capabilities that bring near-net-shape blanks to their final form.

Ingersoll’s MasterPrint was used to 3D print this boat. Image courtesy of Ingersoll.

To beat out everyone else in the manufacturing equipment space, Ingersoll Machine Tools worked with ORNL to develop the MasterPrint 3D printer, capable of 3D printing objects as large as 100 feet long, 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall at rates of 150 lbs/h to 1000 lbs/h. The system also features a CNC tool for machining parts to completion. We should note here that Thermwood claims its LSAM platform can be extended to be 100 feet long, though we have not yet seen such a setup.

Ingersoll sold its first MasterPrint system to the University of Maine, which it used to 3D print a 25-foot, 5,000-pound boat in under 72 hours. The ship, which will be used in a simulation program, had the distinction of achieving a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest solid 3D-printed item and largest 3D-printed boat.

The goal of the printer for Ingersoll is to fabricate massive tools for the aerospace industry. Upon the unveiling of the massive ship, CEO Chip Storie said, “The reality is we went into this technology targeting aerospace and you can print a large aerospace tool in a matter of hours or days where if you go the traditional route, it can take nine or 10 months to be able to build a tool. The cost difference for traditional tooling can run upwards of a million dollars to build an aerospace tool, where you can print a tool using our technology for tens of thousands of dollars. So, there’s a huge cost benefit. There’s a huge time benefit for the aerospace industry.”

The composites being used by these companies may only feature chopped reinforcement materials, but the speed and scale at which they can print is certainly impressive. In the case of Ingersoll, the company is working on incorporating hybrid modules that include fiber placement, tape laying, inspection and trimming.

We may see such systems as these become commonplace in certain manufacturing environments, particularly if continuous reinforcement can be integrated into the process. To learn more about the future of carbon fiber 3D printing, we’ll be looking at research endeavors in this field in our next section in the series.

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Henkel & Shapeways: Large-Scale Manufacturing with Loctite Materials

Together, Henkel and Shapeways are reaching for bigger and better solutions in 3D printing, complementing each other in partnership to expand large-scale manufacturing of Loctite materials. The two companies will be exhibiting at Formnext, presenting more about their work together from November 19-22 in Frankfurt.

Germany’s Henkel is a global adhesive technology leader, while Shapeways is undeniably one of the leaders in product creation, offering a platform for others to see their ideas fabricated on demand. As accessibility and affordability in 3D printing continue to sweep the world, the two companies are on a mission to help other companies integrate 3D printing and 3D printed components into their production lines—and especially with the use of the next generation resins included in the Loctite brand. Shapeways provides both the technology and capability for enhancing materials and presenting even greater accessibility to industrial users.

Currently, the two companies are launching the ‘Loctite Powered by Shapeways’ multi-step program, which allows users to order predefined Loctite demo parts, including a new photopolymer for fire safety standard UL’s 94V-0.

“We are excited about the collaboration with Shapeways as a leading technology platform for customized 3D printing solutions,” explained Philipp Loosen, Head of 3D Printing at Henkel. “Combining Shapeways’ technology and production expertise with our materials know-how and industry access enables a powerful combination for the large-scale 3D printing of customized Loctite parts. Based on the partnership, we will launch a digital platform leveraging novel opportunities to its global customers for Loctite solutions in 3D printing through Shapeways’ existing platform integration.”

Loctite 3D Printing 3870 High Impact Bearing Cover

Loctite 3D Printing 3172 Tough High Impact Gray Robot Bracket

Both Henkel and Shapeways have been in the news recently. Henkel—a 143-year-old company—has continued its presence in the 3D printing market, further strengthening it with their Loctite brand and division. They continue to operate the bulk of their global portfolio in other technology, innovation, and branding to include adhesives, laundry, home care, beauty, and more. They also continue to lead as a force in sustainability.

As the two powerful forces combine resources in working together, they will be able to build on the strength of Shapeways, with factories and offices in New York, the Netherlands, and a network of other partners around the world. Shapeways has continued its dynamic presence, with a recent e-commerce integration with Etsy, a customized jewelry collection, and accelerated expansion.

For the future, the 3D printing partnership is on a mission to continue enhancing the functionalities they have created, ultimately allowing customers for Henkel to order industrial Loctite parts. If you will be attending Formnext next week, find out more about their new program at Hall 12.1, Booth C41.

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.

Loctite 3D Printing 3860 High Temp Exhaust Manifold

Loctite 3D Printing 3843 Tough HDT80 Black Puck Adapter

[Source / Image: Henkel / Shapeways press release]

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Northwestern University: Researchers Produce Large Scale 3D Printer & Control Heat with HARP Technology

3D printing technology is often seen from the ‘bigger is better’ perspective, especially as researchers and manufacturers continue to out-do each other in digital fabrication of enormous proportions. Now, a team at Northwestern University has created a large-scale, ‘futuristic’ 3D printer capable of printing a prototype or part that is the size of an adult human—and in just two hours.

Using high-area rapid printing (HARP), the research team has made enormous technological progress with throughput never seen before in on-demand manufacturing. And while historically 3D printing users want it all, there are usually numerous trade-offs with that ideal, including missing out on some of the advantages of such technology due to strength in one area and great loss in another—often at the risk of diminishing performance or quality or causing restrictions.

The researchers state that such compromises are not required with HARP technology, featuring a 13-foot-tall printer with a print bed measuring 2.5 square feet. The prototype—projected to be on the market in around 18 months—is currently able to print half a yard of material (whether single, large, or different parts at one time) in one hour, which the research team states is a record.

Chad Merkin (Photo: Northwestern)

“3D printing is conceptually powerful but has been limited practically,” said Northwestern’s Chad A. Mirkin, product development leader. “If we could print fast without limitations on materials and size, we could revolutionize manufacturing. HARP is poised to do that.”

This project evolved as chemists Joseph DeSimone and Mirkin, long-time friends, began working together in the 3D printing field in 2015. DeSimone and colleagues at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill wrote about continuous liquid interface production (CLIP). And while it has been groundbreaking, undeniably, CLIP technology still offers challenges in production also—notably during curing, causing warping and cracking, often due to size. Mirkin’s developers, working within their new company Azul 3D, have worked past such issues by circulating coolant beneath the resin, and then sending it through a unit made for cooling—literally ‘pulling’ the heat from printed parts. This has allowed researchers so far to print objects that are one square meter in cross-section—and over 4 meters high.

Using ‘tiling,’ the researchers use light positioned from four projectors sitting side-by-side during the new SLA process.

(A) A hard, machinable polyurethane acrylate part (print rate, 120 μm/s; optical resolution, 100 μm) with a hole drilled against the print direction. Traditional noncontinuous layer-by-layer printing techniques typically delaminate and fracture when drilled in this orientation. (B) A post-treated silicon carbide ceramic printed lattice (print rate of green polymer precursor, 120 μm/s; optical resolution, 100 μm) stands up to a propane torch (~2000°C). (C and D) A printed butadiene rubber structure (print rate, 30 μm/s; optical resolution, 100 μm) in a relaxed state (C) and under tension (D). (E) Polybutadiene rubber (print rate, 30 μm/s; optical resolution, 100 μm) returns to expanded lattice after compression. (F) A ~1.2-m hard polyurethane acrylate lattice printed in less than 3 hours (vertical print rate, 120 μm/s; optical resolution, 250 μm). Scale bars, 1 cm. (Image: ‘Rapid, large-volume, thermally controlled 3D printing using a mobile liquid interface’)

“Tiling, with our technology, is theoretically unlimited,” Mirkin says.

Converting liquid plastics into solid parts, HARP prints vertically, curing under UV light. Parts can be used in applications for the automotive industry, aerospace, dentistry, and different areas of medicine. More detailed information about their work has also just been published in the recently published ‘Rapid, large-volume, thermally controlled 3D printing using a mobile liquid interface.’

Most 3D printers generate an obvious amount of heat, which can be prohibitive in design on a larger scale. In this case, light is projected through a window, that allows for the removal of heat and circulation through the cooling unit.

The HARP system 3D prints vertically (Image: Northwestern Now)

“Our technology generates heat just like the others,” Mirkin said. “But we have an interface that removes the heat.”

“When you can print fast and large, it can really change the way we think about manufacturing,” Mirkin also added. “With HARP, you can build anything you want without molds and without a warehouse full of parts. You can print anything you can imagine on-demand.”

3D printing varies from one extreme to another, which is one facet of this technology that makes it so exciting. One day you may be reading about 3D printing on the micro-scale or experimenting with nano-composites, and the next, learning about manufactures fabricating parts on the large scale.

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.

(A) Stationary print interface. (B) Mobile interface. (C) Mobile interface with active cooling. Elapsed time between panels (left to right) is ~500 s; scale bars, 25 mm. Data and thermal color mapping correspond to movies S1 to S3. (Image: ‘Rapid, large-volume, thermally controlled 3D printing using a mobile liquid interface’)

[Source / Images: Science; Northwestern Now; ‘Rapid, large-volume, thermally controlled 3D printing using a mobile liquid interface’]

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Additive Manufacturing Collaboration: Ai Build & WEBER Offer Advanced Large-Scale 3D Printing Solutions

Headquartered in London, Ai Build specializes in making manufacturing easier. Setting their sights on collaborating with Germany’s Hans Weber Maschinenfabrik of WEBER Additive—a manufacturer of plastic extrusion machinery for more than a century—the two teams will work together with the common goal of integrating AiSync into their AM systems.

A 3D printing software meant to work with pellet extrusion based large scale 3D printers, AiSync was just released this earlier this year. So far, Ai Build reports that clientele developing applications in design, construction, and automotive industries are using the software while engaged in fabricating large-scale products.

Ai Build and WEBER will be offering an advanced additive manufacturing package for industrial users 3D printing with engineering-grade polymers and composites, aiming toward construction, infrastructure, automotive, and aerospace. AiSync is different from typical 3D slicing application, offering the ability to create multi-axis, 3D toolpaths that are non-planar and highly optimized—while requiring little effort or input from the operator.

“We are proud to win with Ai Build a highly innovative, revolutionary partner, who—in conformity with us—pursue their vision courageously, with strong goal orientation and focus on ground-breaking success. With the combined expertise of the two companies in complex software (AiSync) and high-quality mechanical engineering, we will be able to offer strong, unbeatable complete solutions for future-oriented additive manufacturing and thus exceed limits, according to the motto: ‘To want the impossible is the prerequisite for creating the possible’ (Karl Liebknecht),” states Markus Weber, executive board of Hans Weber Maschinenfabrik.

Ai Build’s digital twin capabilities for remote operation and machine learning algorithms for automated quality control combined with WEBER Additive’s robust and high throughput 3D printing hardware is aimed to reduce operational costs and accelerate mass adoption of additive manufacturing in construction, infrastructure, automotive and aerospace industries.

“We are very excited to announce this strategic alliance. Weber’s products are known for their high quality by tradition and their ethos are perfectly aligned with our vision for flawless automation. Working with such strong industrial partners allows us to break new grounds in additive manufacturing and deliver the most advanced technology to our clients,” said Daghan Cam, CEO of Ai Build.

If you are in attendance at the K2019—a trade fair for plastics and rubber in Düsseldorf, Germany—running from October 16-23, check out the Ai Build – WEBER Additive booth. The two companies will also be in attendance at Formnext in Frankfurt from November 19-22. Hans Weber Maschinenfabrik will be presenting new extruder technology, along with the new AM machine using AiSync. Products 3D printing during this new collaboration will be on display also.

Ai Build has continued on as a dynamic presence in the 3D printing world, involved in other collaborations for large-scale 3D printing and development in materials and sustainability. 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.

[Source / Images: Weber Additive]

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