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Oerlikon at Formnext 2019: 3D printed rocket parts, post-processing, and digital factories
Oerlikon AM, the additive manufacturing branch of Swiss technology group Oerlikon, has announced a series of partnerships at this year’s Formnext show. The company has revealed that it will be providing metal 3D printed parts and qualification for United Launch Alliance (ULA), a U.S. rocket launch service provider. ULA will use the metal components to […]
3D Printing News Briefs: May 1, 2019
In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ve got stories on events and business for you, followed by an innovative piece of 3D printed furniture. The fourth Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference will be held in Sweden this November, and Oerlikon AM will soon be hosting the grand opening event for its new Innovation Hub. Link3D is partnering up with Additive Rocket Corporation, and an industrial designer created a 3D printed chair that can fold up flat.
MAMC 2019 Coming to Sweden this November
From November 25-27, 2019, the fourth Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference (MAMC 2019) will take place in Örebro, Sweden. In addition to keynotes and other presentations, there will also be site visits to metal additive manufacturing companies and users AMEXCI, Lasertech LSH, and Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery. Then, directly following the conference, the Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials (ASMET) will be holding a two-day metal Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) course in the same city.
The specialized course is for designers and engineers with basic CAD experience, in addition to technical and managerial personnel in industry who are interested in learning more about AM. Hands-on exercises in DfAM will occur during the course, and several experts from around the world, such as Professor Olaf Diefel from the University of Auckland, will be lecturing. The registration fee is €490, and the deadline to register is September 1st, 2019. Please contact Mrs. Yvonne Dworak with ASMET to register.
Grand Opening for Oerlikon AM’s Innovation Hub
On May 29, Oerlikon AM will be hosting an industry event to celebrate the grand opening of its new Innovation Hub & Advanced Component Production facility. The event, which will take place at the company’s new Huntersville, North Carolina facility, will showcase major developments in advanced manufacturing to guests including academics, business leaders, community members, customers, and lawmakers. This is an important step for the Swiss aerospace components manufacturer and will give them the opportunity to enter the US market and serve customers there.
After a brief welcome and breakfast, there will be remarks from 9:45-10:15 on the front lawn of the facility, located at 12012 Vanstory Dr. Then there will be a ribbon cutting, after which attendees can enjoy cake, coffee, and networking opportunities. A tour of the facility will follow, and then Oerlikon will have a BBQ lunch and a children’s program, in addition to several information booths.
Link3D Partnering with Additive Rocket Corporation
At this week’s Aerodef event, AM software company Link3D announced a new partnership with California-based Additive Rocket Corporation (ARC), which makes high-performance 3D printed metal rocket engines. This is ARC’s first step towards adopting Link3D’s digital Additive Manufacturing Execution System (AMES), and will enable standards compliance, in addition to streamlining its 3D printing production for affordable, reliable propulsion solutions. Link3D’s workflow software allows companies like ARC to track and trace data in a secure environment, and adherence to quality assurance and quality control requirements from regulatory standards board will also be embedded in the software.
“Link3D is the perfect compliment to our design process, streamlining our manufacturing operations and building quality into the workflow,” said Kyle Adriany, the Co-Founder & CTO of ARC. “Link3D’s Standards Compliance Program is a built-in solution of its additive manufacturing workflow software that tremendously helps organizations in Aerospace & Defense increase productivity and reliability, improve its market position, reduce costs and advance new technologies.”
3D Printed Chair Folds Up Flat
Industrial designer Patrick Jouin has long used 3D printing in his work, including his unique One Shot Stool, but his latest prototype really pushes the limits of the technology’s material process. His TAMU chair, developed together with Dassault Systèmes, was launched during the recent Milan Design Week and was inspired by nature and origami. Jouin utilized Dassault’s generative design software to create the chair, which not only helps it look delicate and ornate but also makes it possible to fold it down so it’s almost completely flat. The goal was to use as little material as possible to create the chair, which only weighs a little over five pounds. Jouin’s team in Milan 3D printed 1,643 individual components and assembled the prototype chair by hand, but he hopes to make the chair in one continuous 48-hour print in the future.
“Previously designers were inspired by ‘organic’ as a style, but what is completely new is that designers are now inspired by the organic process itself, and how to emulate it. Manufacturing has fallen into the habit of producing more material than necessary. but with the help of innovative digital technologies, we are now able to create with much more efficiency and less waste, even as early as the design process,” Jouin stated.
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3D Printing News Briefs: November 28, 2018
We’re starting with some business news in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, and then moving on to an award. A British company is the first automotive consumer retail brand built entirely around 3D printing, which is a pretty big deal. Oerlikon has a new online instant quoting and tracking tool, while MakePrintable has released some new updates and Additive Industries is launching a new center in Singapore. Finally, the SMS Group has won a prestigious award.
First Automotive Consumer Retail Brand Built Around 3D Printing
Leeds-based digital manufacturing company Carbon Performance uses 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to design and fabricate lightweight, next-generation automotive components that are environmentally sustainable. Recently, the company designed an suspension upright for a Lotus Elise sports car that was 3D printed in aluminum. The part, with an organic design, ended up being 25% more lightweight and was consolidated from a total of nine parts into just one.
But what really sets Carbon Performance apart is that it packages up its 3D printed automotive components and retails them to end customers, which technically makes the company the first automotive consumer retail brand in the world that’s built entirely around 3D printing. Take a look at its short promo video below:
Oerlikon Offering New Online Tool
Swiss technology and engineering group Oerlikon is now offering a new online tool to help its customers save time with their on-demand manufacturing and rapid prototyping needs. The company is offering an online instant quoting and tracking tool that’s capable of handling a large variety of metal and polymer part needs.
The tool is easy to use – just upload your CAD file and prepare your part for 3D printing by choosing from available options. Then, Oerlikon will 3D print your part, and you can track the order until it’s sent quickly right to your door. The company is even offering a discount for the first order you place in its new service through December 31st, 2018. Simply enter the promo code AMFIRST in the Oerlikon AM online quoting tool to take advantage of the deal.
MakePrintable Releases New Updates
Speaking of tools, the MakePrintable service launched by San Francisco startup Mixed Dimensions back in 2014 has just released a few major updates. It already offers such services as easy, automated 3D file fixing and better user efficiency in 3D printing, and is now rolling out its latest – a pay per download service and a full color 3D printing service. The first lets customers repair files, then pay if they’re pleased with the quality, without having to purchase a subscription, while the latter service is able to produce “unmatched quality prints at competitive pricing compared to others in the industry.”
“When we designed our printing service we focused heavily on all pillars (quality, speed and cost) as we know how much expensive and problematic it is to get quality prints and even to get past most 3D printing services checkout process,” Baha Abunojaim, Co-Founder and CTO of Mixed Dimensions, told 3DPrint.com. “At MakePrintable we guarantee our users a smooth and fast experience with a competitive pricing point while also leveling up the quality thanks to our years of research and robust file preparation technology.”
Additive Industries Announces New Center in Singapore
After an official State Visit from Mdm Halimah Yacob, the President of the Republic of Singapore, to its Eindhoven headquarters, Additive Industries announced that it would be building a Process & Application Development (PAD) Center in Singapore. The company plans to build its newly launched PAD Center up into a regional Asia Pacific hub for customer support and local development. The PAD Center will also serve as a competence center for the industrialization of metal 3D printing within the company itself, with special market focus on important regional verticals like semiconductor equipment and aerospace applications.
“Singapore is an ideal stepping stone for Additive Industries’ growth ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Daan Kersten, the CEO of Additive Industries. “It is a natural hub with great infrastructure, it’s an excellent fit with our target markets and the governmental support accelerates our execution.”
3D Printed Spray Header by SMS Group Wins Award
A group of companies that’s internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry known as the SMS Group just announced that it won the German Design Award 2019, in the Industry category, for its 3D printed spray head for forging plants. This is likely the first time a small machine component like the spray head, which is used to cool dies in forging presses, has won one of these awards, so it’s a pretty big deal. The 3D printed spray head is the result of a joint effort between the group’s Forging Plants Department, Additive Manufacturing Project Team, and simulation technology experts. While it is a small component, it’s certainly mighty – it was designed to fulfill its function in the most efficient way possible. 3D printing helped to make the spray head smaller, less expensive, easily customizable, and made it possible to add flow optimized channels for cooling die heads.
“Winning the Design Award makes us extremely proud. It is recognition of many teams within SMS group whose work is characterized by a highly interdisciplinary approach,” said Axel Roßbach, Research and Development Extrusion and Forging Presses with the SMS group GmbH. “The spray head is a milestone innovation marking a new era in the design of plant and machine components, enabled by the game-changing potential of 3D printing and function-optimized design. The design of a machine part is today no longer limited by the constraints imposed by conventional – process-optimized – forming and machining techniques. Supported by latest software and computer technology, we can now give a component exactly the design that fulfils its designated function in the best possible way. Another important aspect is that we have used new materials. Therefore the Award honors not only a new design, but above all the new way of thinking lived within SMS group, which has materialized in a global approach to Additive Manufacturing.”
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