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3D Printing News Briefs: July 2nd, 2019

We’re talking partnerships and materials in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. The Alfa Romeo F1 team and Additive Industries are strengthening their technology partnership, while Beam-IT and SLM Solutions are expanding their own cooperation. Metallum3D just opened a new beta testing program for its stainless steel filament, while Zortrax and CRP Technology are both introducing new materials.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team and Additive Industries Strengthen Partnership

At the recent Rapid.Tech-Fabcon industrial 3D printing conference in Germany, Additive Industries announced that its current technology partnership with the F1 team of Alfa Romeo Racing would be growing stronger. The Sauber Engineering company, on behalf of Alfa Romeo Racing, has ordered an additional: 4-laser, multi-module MetalFAB1 Productivity System, bringing the total up to four systems and making it Additive Industries’ largest customer with a high-productivity metal 3D printing capacity.

“Our installed base is growing fast, not only with new customers in our core markets like aerospace and the automotive industry but also through existing customers like Sauber Engineering, who are advancing to become one of the leading companies in industrial 3D printing in Europe, ramping up production,” stated Daan Kersten, the CEO of Additive Industries. “Although most users of metal additive manufacturing are still applying prototyping systems, we see an increasing number of companies concluding they need dedicated systems for series production. Our modular MetalFAB1 family is the only proven system on the market today designed for this use. We are grateful and proud to be technology partner to Sauber Engineering and the F1 team of Alfa Romeo Racing.”

Beam-IT and SLM Solutions Sign Expanded Agreement

M.Sc.Eng. Martina Riccio, AM Process Leader of Beam-IT and technical team

Italian 3D printing service bureau Beam-IT and metal 3D printing provider SLM Solutions have signed an agreement, which will expand their current long-term cooperation. Together in a joint venture project, the two will work to develop more material parameters – focusing on certain material properties – for the nickel-based alloys IN939 and IN718; this process will help create a less lengthy timeframe in terms of parameter testing. Additionally, Beam-IT has added two new SLM 3D printers to its product portfolio: an SLM 280 and an SLM 500.

 

 

 

“We are pleased to announce our cooperation agreement with SLM Solutions and the two additional machines,” said Michele Antolotti, the General Manager of Beam-IT. “We regularly produce high-quality parts for our customers using selective laser melting because the SLM ® technology works efficiently, quickly and, above all, safely. With the expanded capacity of our new multi-laser systems we can also increase our productivity and react to the increased interest in SLM ® technology from our customers.”

Metallum3D Opens Stainless Steel Filament Beta Testing Program

Virginia-based company Metallum3D announced that it has opened a beta test program for its stainless steel 316L 3D printing filament. This new program will support the company in its development of an affordable and accessible on-demand metal 3D platform for FFF 3D printers. The Filament Beta Test Program is open until July 31st, 2019, and a limited run of 150 0.5 kg spools of Metallum3D’s stainless steel 316L filament will be offered for a discounted price on a first come, first serve basis.

Nelson Zambrana, the CEO of Metallum3D, said, “Our 1.75mm Stainless Steel 316L filament material has a metal content of 91.7% by weight or 61.5% by volume, while maintaining enough flexibility for a minimum bend diameter of 95 mm (3.75 in.). The combination of high metal loading and filament flexibility was a tough material development challenge that took us over a year to solve.”

Zortrax Introducing Biocompatible Resins for Inkspire 3D Printer

Last year, Polish 3D printing solutions provider Zortrax developed the Inkspire, its first resin 3D printer. The Inkspire uses UV LCD technology to create small and precise models for the architecture, jewelry, and medical industries. With this in mind, the company is now introducing its specialized biocompatible resins that have been optimized for the Inkspire to make end use models in dentistry and prosthetics.

The new class IIa biocompatible Raydent Crown & Bridge resin is used for 3D printing temporary crowns and bridges, and is available in in an A2 shade (beige), with high abrasion resistance for permanent smooth surfaces. Class I biocompatible Raydent Surgical Guide resin for precise prosthetic surgical guides  is safe for transient contact with human tissue, and offers translucency and high dimensional accuracy. With these new materials, the Zortrax Inkspire can now be used by prosthetic laboratories for prototyping and final intraoral product fabrication.

CRP Technology Welcomes New Flame Retardant Material

Functional air conditioning piping made with LS technology and Windform FR1

In April, Italy-based CRP Technology introduced its Windform P-LINE material for for high-speed, production-grade 3D printing. Now, it’s officially welcoming another new material to its polyamide composite family – Windform FR1, the first carbon-filled flame-retardant laser sintering material to be rated V-0. The material is from the Windform TOP-LINE family, and passed the FAR 25.853 12-second vertical, the 15-second horizontal flammability tests, and the 45° Bunsen burner test. The lightweight, halogen-free material combines excellent stiffness with superior mechanical properties, and is a great choice for applications in aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, and electronics.

“Only a few days from the launch of a new range of Windform® materials, the P-LINE for HSS technology, I’m very proud to launch a new revolutionary composite material from the Windform® TOP-LINE family of materials for Laser Sintering technology,” said Franco Cevolini, VP and CTO at CRP Technology. “Our aim is to constantly produce technological breakthroughs. With Windform® FR1 we can steer you toward the proper solution for your projects.

“We will not stop here, we will continue our work on renewal and technological expansion in the field of Additive Manufacturing. Stay tuned!”

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

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New Balance and Formlabs Launch TripleCell 3D Printing Platform and Rebound Resin for Athletic Shoes

The New Balance 990

While I’m not much for recreational jogging these days, I’ll always remember my first real running shoes – a pair of dark gray Sauconys, which I got to pick out from the store when I made the track team in seventh grade; a short-lived activity, as I was neither fast enough for sprinting nor strong enough for shot put. Shoes have changed dramatically since then in their looks and features. Manufacturing processes have only recently begun to change with new weaving techniques, more use of polymers, and 3D printing. With the way things are going these days, it may not be long before everyone’s favorite pair of athletic shoes is of the 3D printed variety, no matter which manufacturer they come from.

Back in 2015, Boston-based athletic leader New Balance announced that it was teaming up with 3D Systems to create the first 3D printed running shoe. The company released its Zante Generate shoe a year later, and while it wasn’t the first 3D printed shoe ever created, it was the first to be made commercially available.

Now, New Balance has launched a brand new premium 3D printing platform, called TripleCell, which is powered by SLA technology from Formlabs and a completely new material.

“3D printing is changing how companies approach manufacturing, with this announcement New Balance is pioneering localized manufacturing. By eliminating the dependence on molds and direct printing for both prototyping and production, their team shifts from months to hours in the development and production cycles,” said Dávid Lakatos, Chief Product Officer of Formlabs. “We’re moving towards a world where design cycles are closing in on the whim of the consumer and it’s exciting to be on the frontlines of this with New Balance.”

It all started last year, when the two Massachusetts companies announced an exclusive relationship focused on creating high performance hardware and materials, in addition to a manufacturing process for athletic footwear. They wanted to create a 3D printing production system, with unlimited design freedom, that would open up opportunities for innovation in the athletic footwear sector – a high inventory, high volume business that involves plenty of craftsmanship and manual labor. But as more people clamor for customized products, it’s getting harder to produce them without embracing modern technology.

Katherine Petrecca, New Balance General Manager of Footwear, Innovation Design Studio, said in a Formlabs blog post, “We saw innovation with 3D printers and materials and started to envision the future of how this could come together in consumer products.

“When you’re able to use techniques like 3D printing to turn to more of an on-demand manufacturing model, that’s a game changer. There are advantages both for the consumer and for New Balance as a manufacturer. On the consumer side, the ability to design and what you can fabricate with printing is well beyond what we can do with molding. It really opens up a lot of opportunity for us to make better parts than we’re making now with foam and plastic.”

Formlabs worked closely with New Balance to develop a production system to bring TripleCell to life

New Balance realized it would need a specific material that didn’t yet exist in the industry. The new TripleCell platform can deliver components that are pretty close to traditional performance cushioning, thanks to the proprietary photopolymer Rebound Resin that was developed as a result of the partnership. Rebound Resin was designed in order to make resilient, springy lattice structures with, according to a Formlabs press release, “the durability, reliability, and longevity expected from an injection molded thermoplastic.”

“TripleCell will deliver the industry’s pinnacle expression of data to design with seamless transitions between variable properties underfoot. This new, cutting edge, digitally manufactured technology is now scaling exclusively within New Balance factories in the U.S. further establishing us as a leader in 3D printing and domestic manufacturing,” said Petrecca. “Formlabs has been an integral partner to bring this to life. We’re really going to be able to disrupt the industry not only in performance, but also in athlete customization and speed to market.”

Rebound Resin has a higher tear strength, energy return, and elongation than any other Formlabs SLA material. Most foam components in current footwear are made with compression or injection molding, which limits design possibilities. But using 3D printing for prototyping and production has allowed New Balance to open brand new opportunities in the fabrication of its footwear.

“What we could do to date is engineer the outside of the shoe and rely on the inherent properties of the material to provide all the performance benefits we’re looking for,” explained New Balance Senior Additive Manufacturing Engineer Dan Dempsey. “Any degree of what you could consider customization is disparate pieces of foam glued or molded together, with a lot of assembly steps on the back end. Using additive manufacturing, we can essentially vary the lattice structure to really change localized properties inside of a single form, giving us the ability to engineer throughout the entire volume of the shoe; we can design a system from the inside out.”

Using the new TripleCell platform for both prototyping and manufacturing allows the creation of shoes with a high cushion zone, which transitions to an area of high stability, within a single design, using a single material. It also helps decrease the time to market.

New Balance Animation

“The traditional timeline for our product cycle from paper initiation to delivery in market is 15-18 months. And when we’re building tools and waiting for foam or rubber parts, we’re looking at 4-6 week lead times. By eliminating molds, we can save months of development time,” said Petrecca. “TripleCell technology makes it possible to easily produce multiple designs at the same time, reinventing the traditional iterative testing approach. We had the ability to generate and edit thousands of options before landing on the high-performance, running focused structures you see today.”

This week, New Balance launched the first product from its new platform – the limited edition $185 990 Sport, which is now shipping and features TripleCell technology in the heel for a cushioning experience on par with its classic silhouette, but is 10% more lightweight than the 990v5 shoe.

The $175 FuelCell Echo shoe will come in September, and the first full-length high performance running product will launch in 2020.

Petrecca said, “The TripleCell 3D printed components deliver more lively, spring-like cushioning than you’ve ever experienced in foam, with the ability to ultimately be produced on-demand in our own facilities in Massachusetts.”

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

[Source/Images: Formlabs]

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Carbon and Arkema’s Sartomer Subsidiary Partner to Increase Materials Performance & Digital Manufacturing Adoption

Four years ago, specialty chemical and advanced materials developer Arkema announced that it would increase its focus on 3D printing materials research; this was followed two years later by a major investment plan, together with its advanced liquid resin solutions subsidiary Sartomer, for advanced 3D printing materials. The company, which operates in nearly 55 countries around the world, continues its materials focus today, and is partnering up with Silicon Valley-based company Carbon to help increase adoption of digital manufacturing and deliver a new supply chain model and cycle of materials performance for Carbon’s manufacturing partners.

“Since Carbon’s early days, Arkema has been an important partner to us,” said the CEO and Co-Founder of Carbon, Dr. Joseph DeSimone. “It’s rewarding to see all the amazing outcomes of our work together over the years bringing new, innovative materials to market.”

Using its innovative Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology, which is enabled by its proprietary CLIP process, Carbon is working to reinvent how we design, engineer, and manufacture polymer products, such as automotive and mobile protection solutions, parts for medical devices, shoes, and even blender nozzles. Since it was founded, the company has shared a similar goal with Sartomer – to drive innovation in order to scale resin manufacturing and process technology, so that DLS 3D printed parts can be more cost-competitive and reliable.

Thierry Le Hénaff, the Chairman and CEO of Arkema, said, “We are eager to continue and strengthen our joint efforts in delivering Carbon next generation products and full solutions to our partners & customers, disrupting the way parts are mass manufactured and accelerating new market opportunities.”

Through this new strategic partnership between Carbon and Arkema’s Sartomer business line, which was announced through an investment in the startup’s capital, the two companies will help disrupt the existing supply chain model, deliver new technologies to help bring digital manufacturing more into the mainstream, and deliver advanced materials.

As additive manufacturing continues to advance and mature, we will keep seeing the way that products are designed and fabricated change across industries…and partnerships like this one between Arkema and Carbon are at the forefront of these changes. Already, their collaboration has been responsible for creating some, according to a press release issued about the partnership, “holistic solutions” that are changing things up in the consumer goods, dental, and sporting markets.

Earlier this week, Carbon announced that it had received $260 million in additional investments after a round of growth funding; one of the participants in this round was Arkema, which invested $20 million in Carbon’s Growth Funding Round. This funding will help Carbon support its next generation of integrated digital manufacturing platforms, solutions, and materials. As the two companies have a similar vision for the AM industry, their growing partnership is a great way for them to use advanced materials technology to grow their collective pipelines of production applications.

What do you think? Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

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3D Printing News Briefs: June 27, 2019

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re starting with a couple of stories from the recent Paris Air Show: TUSAS Engine Industries has invested in GE Additive technology, and ARMOR explained its AM materials partnership with Airbus. Moving on, Formlabs just hosted some live webinars, and PostProcess Technologies released a whitepaper on surface finishing metal 3D printed parts. Modix is sharing a lot of news, including four new 3D printer models, and finally, FormFutura has introduced sustainable packaging.

TEI Invests in GE Additive Technology

TUSAŞ Engine Industries, Inc. (TEI), founded in Turkey as a joint venture in 1985, has invested in GE Additive‘s direct metal laser melting (DMLM) technology. GE Additive announced at the recent Paris Air Show that TEI had purchased two of its M LINE factory systems and two M2 cusing machines. While the financial terms of the investment were not disclosed, the 3D printers will be installed at TEI’s Eskişehir headquarters, joining its current fleet of laser and Arcam EBM printers.

Professor Dr. Mahmut Faruk Akşit, President and CEO of TEI, said, “Today, we invest in TEI’s future by investing in additive manufacturing, ‘the future of manufacturing.’ Our longstanding partnership and collaboration with GE is now broadening with GE Additive’s machine portfolio.”

Armor and Airbus Partner Up for Aerospace 3D Printing

Air pipe prototype printed using the Kimya PLA HI (Photo: ProtoSpace Airbus)

Continuing with news from the Paris Air Show, ARMOR Group – a French multinational company – was also at the event, exhibiting its Kimya materials and a miniFactory printer, as well as its new aeronautics filament, PEI-9085. While there, ARMOR also met up with Airbus, which has frequently used 3D printing to create parts and prototypes, such as an air nozzle for the climate control system of its 330neo passenger cabin. The company has now requested ARMOR’s expertise in better qualifying its materials in order to standardize its own AM process.

“We have qualified the PLA-HI and PETG-S. We are currently testing more technical materials, such as the PETG Carbon before moving on to the PEI and PEEK. We have requested a specific preparation to make it easier to use them in our machines,” Marc Carré, who is responsible for innovation at Airbus ProtoSpace in Saint-Nazaire,

“We expect to be able to make prototypes quickly and of high quality in terms of tolerances, aesthetics and resistance.

“Thanks to ARMOR and its Kimya range and services, we have found a partner we can share our issues with and jointly find solutions. It is very important for us to be able to rely on a competent and responsive supplier.”

Webinars by Formlabs: Product Demo and Advanced Hybrid Workflows

Recently, Formlabs hosted a couple of informative webinars, and the first was a live product demonstration of its Form 3. 3D printing expert Faris Sheikh explained the technology behind the company’s Low Force Stereolithography (LFS) 3D printing, walked through the Form 3’s step-by-step-workflow, and participated in a live Q&A session with attendees. Speaking of workflows, Formlabs also held a webinar titled “Metal, Ceramic, and Silicone: Using 3D Printed Molds in Advanced Hybrid Workflows” that was led by Applications Engineering Lead Jennifer Milne.

“Hybrid workflows can help you reduce cost per part and scale to meet demand, while taking advantage of a wider range of materials in the production of end-use parts,” Formlabs wrote. “Tune in for some inspiration on new ways of working to advance your own process or to stay on top of trends and capabilities across the ever-growing range of printable materials.”

PostProcess Whitepaper on 3D Print Surface Finishing

PostProcess Technologies has released its new whitepaper, titled “Considerations for Optimizing Surface Finishing of 3D Printed Inconel 718.” The paper discusses a novel approach to help improve surface finish results by combining a patent-pending chemistry solution and software-driven automation. Using this new approach, PostProcess reports increased consistency and productivity, as well as decreased technician touch time. The whitepaper focuses on surface finishing 3D prints made with alloys and metals, but especially zeroes in on nickel superalloy Inconel 718, 3D printed with DMLS technology.

“With current surface finishing techniques used that are largely expensive, can require significant manual labor, or require the use of hazardous chemicals, this paper analyzes the benefits of a novel alternative method for post-printing the part’s surface,” PostProcess wrote. “Key considerations are reviewed including part density and hardness, corrosion (chemical) resistance, grain structure, as well as manufacturing factors including the impact of print technology and print orientation on the surface profile.”

You can download the new whitepaper here.

Modix Announces New 3D Printers, Reseller Program, and Executive

Israel-based Modix, which develops large-format 3D printers, has plenty of news to share – first, the company has come out with four new 3D printer models based on its modular design. The new models, which should be available as soon as Q3 2019, are the 1000 x 1000 x 600 mm Big-1000, the 600 x 600 x 1200 mm Big-120Z, the 1800 x 600 x 600 mm Big-180X, and the 400 x 400 x 600 mm Big-40. Additionally, the company has launched a reseller program, where resellers can offer Modix printers to current customers of smaller printers as the “best next 3D printer.” Finally, Modix has appointed 3D printing veteran John Van El as its new Chief Commercial Officer; he will help build up the company’s partner program.

“We are proud to have John with us,” said Modix CEO Shachar Gafni. “John brings aboard unique capabilities and experiences strengthening Modix’s current momentum on the path to become a global leader in the large scale 3D printing market.”

FormFutura Presents Recyclable Cardboard Packaging

Dutch filament supplier FormFutura wants to set an example for the rest of the industry by not only raising awareness about sustainability, but also by stepping up its own efforts. That’s why the company has moved completely to cardboard packaging – all of its filaments up to one kilogram will now be spooled onto fully recyclable cardboard spools, which will also come in cardboard boxes. All of FormFutura’s cardboard spools and boxes are manufactured in its home country of the Netherlands, which helps reduce its carbon footprint in terms of travel distance, and the material is also a natural drying agent, so it will better protect filament against humidity.

“Over the past couple of months we’ve been brainstorming a lot on how we can make FormFutura more sustainable and help renew our branding. As over this period we have received feedback from the market about helping to find a viable solution to the empty plastic spools, we started setting up a plan to reduce our carbon footprint through cardboard spools,” said Arnold Medenblik, the CEO of FormFutura. “But as we got to working on realizing rolling out cardboard spools, we’ve also expanded the scope of the project to include boxes and logistics.”

Because the company still has some warehoused stock on plastic spools, customers may receive both types of packaging during the transition.

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

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Boom Supersonic Working with VELO3D to Make Metal 3D Printed Hardware for Supersonic Flight Demonstrator

Metal 3D printing startup VELO3D came out of stealth mode last year with its innovative, support-free laser powder bed fusion process that offers a lot more design freedom than most metal systems. Since the company commercialized in 2018, it’s made known that aerospace manufacturing is one of its largest target markets, and since that time at least two OEMs in that industry are using its Sapphire 3D printing systems to make parts. Now, it has just announced a partnership with Colorado-based Boom Supersonic – the company working to build the fastest supersonic airliner in history.

“Boom is reimagining the entire commercial aircraft experience, from the design, build, and materials used. Our technology is designed to help innovators like Boom rethink what’s possible, empower advanced designs with little or no post-processing, and enable an entirely new approach to production,” said VELO3D’s CEO Benny Buller. “Boom needed more than just prototypes and we’re thrilled to help them create the first 3D-printed metal parts for an aircraft that will move faster than the speed of sound.”

Boom, founded in 2014 and backed by several investors, employs over 130 people to help realize its vision: use supersonic travel to make the world significantly more accessible to the people who live in it. The company wants to bring businesses, families, and cultures closer together, and has recognized that 3D printing will help speed up the process. Recently, Boom renewed its existing partnership with Stratasys in order to create 3D printed parts for its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft, which is exactly what VELO3D will be doing as well.

“High-speed air travel relies on technology that is proven to be safe, reliable, and efficient, and by partnering with VELO3D we’re aligning ourselves with a leader in additive manufacturing that will print the flight hardware for XB-1. VELO3D helped us understand the capabilities and limitations of metal additive manufacturing and the positive impact it would potentially have on our supersonic aircraft,” said Mike Jagemann, the Head of XB-1 Production for Boom Supersonic. “We look forward to sharing details about the aircraft development and improved system performance once XB-1 takes flight.”

The 55-seat, Mach-2.2 (1,687 mph) aircraft is the first supersonic jet to be independently developed, and is made up of over 3,700 parts, combined with multiple advanced technologies, such as a refined delta wing platform, an efficient variable-geometry propulsion system, and advanced carbon fiber composites. Because the demonstrator aircraft – a validation platform called the “Baby Boom” – has such demanding precision, performance, and functional requirements in order to reliably provide safe and efficient travel, Boom is using VELO3D’s Intelligent Fusion technology to make the metal flight hardware for the jet, as it offers more design freedom, process control, and quality assurance; these qualities are essential in challenging design environments.

Boom is also working with VELO3D in order to leverage its customer support partnership, market expertise, and ability to guarantee consistent production quality. The supersonic flight company hopes that by utilizing metal 3D printing, it will be able to improve system performance and speed up the development of its XB-1 – which should eventually fly at twice the speed of sound – and any future aircraft as well.


The two companies have already conducted validation trials together, which were successful in their accurate performance and achieving the desired results. VELO3D developed two 3D printed titanium flight hardware parts, which will be part of the ECS system and make sure that the supersonic aircraft is able to conduct safe flights in any conditions; these parts will be installed on the prototype aircraft early next year.

In addition, the company also 3D printed some engine “mice” for Boom, which were used to validate the additive process.

Engine “mice” as 3D printed on the VELO3D Sapphire system

“The mice allow for high engine operating line testing, ensuring we can achieve safe flight at all conditions,” Ryan Bocook, a manufacturing engineer at Boom Supersonic, said in a VELO3D blog post.

“The 3D printed mice helped Boom execute the test plan and validate predictions, and furthers the success of the program.”

These mice helped to facilitate testing, which included flow distortion simulation at the inlet, by decreasing the nozzle area in order to help simulate stall conditions while the engine is running from part power to mil power.

Not only did Boom Supersonic receive 3D printed flight hardware out of its partnership with VELO3D, but the company’s engineers also had the chance to familiarize themselves with the limitations and capabilities of 3D printing in terms of supersonic aircraft.

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

[Source/Images: VELO3D]

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Interview with RIZE: Trying Out the XRIZE 3D Printer at RAPID 2019

[Image: Julie Reece, RIZE]

Typically, when I attend trade shows and events like RAPID + TCT and SOLIDWORKS World, I attend some presentations, maybe sit in on a panel discussion or two, and walk the show floor, conducting interviews and seeing what there is to see. I take closer looks at the systems we write about every day, get the chance to handle a part or two, and sometimes even try on 3D printed helmets. But I don’t normally have the opportunity to actually operate the hardware…until the recent RAPID 2019, when I met with Boston-based additive manufacturing company RIZE.

Let me back up – I was there for an interview with RIZE President and CEO Andy Kalambi to discuss the company’s patented Augmented Polymer Deposition (APD) technology, which allows for the easy snap-off release of supports. At formnext in November, the company introduced its industrial desktop XRIZE 3D printer, and I wanted to get a good look at the system that promises to print parts twice as fast as other leading AM technologies.

First, Kalambi told me that the company had just announced a partnership with Wichita State University’s National Institute of Aerospace Research (NIAR) at RAPID that’s focused on bringing 3D printing to end users.

“We launched this whole concept called ‘smart spaces,’” Kalambi explained. “Makerspaces need to come to engineers, engineers don’t need to go to makerspaces.”

He told me that RIZE and its 3D printers are “purpose built” for safety, which is an area the company will not compromise on – this year, RIZE actually won the New Equipment Digest Innovation Award (the only 3D printing company to do so), and the Frost & Sullivan award for Best Practices in Technology Innovation, for its safe, zero-emission polymer 3D printing technology. In fact, Kalambi shared that a customer had told them at the AMUG conference that he uses their printers because he knows in 30 years he won’t get cancer – quite the endorsement.

“So we said, let’s purpose build our machine and our system for safety. Then we start extending that, and from safety we extend that to security – how do we ensure that a print is secure? That’s where the marking came in. And then we said, let’s start looking at applications and start solving those application problems. So that’s how we introduced carbon composite – this is another original material that has good strength.”

Engineering-grade RIZIUM CARBON is the company’s newest material, and features a higher modulus and excellent visual finish, making it perfect for functional prototyping.

Going back to the safe spaces concept, RIZE wanted to see what else they could add – more materials for more applications, and color as well.

“The 3D printing industry has condemned users to a monochrome world. So let’s bring color – every part can be in different colors, and not color for the sake of color, but color for the sake of communication, color for the sake of reducing errors, color for the sake of being more lifelike,” Kalambi said. “This is consumer validation…when you’re waiting at a traffic light and you see red, that’s communication.

“I don’t think this industry has bothered about color.”

I mentioned there were only a few companies I could think of off the top of my head that were really doing color well, and he agreed, but stated that they were all really costly machines. Kalambi hopes that the next time we see RIZE machines displayed at a conference, all of the sample parts will be in color, and not just a few.

“There are many difference aspects to color, and that’s really exploded our use case scenarios.”

The company’s new color 3D printer will be heading to the market soon, shipping to early customers this month and generally available for purchase in August.


After mentioning that RIZE’s recent strategic partnership with Dassault Systèmes has brought the company a lot of continuity, we moved on to generative design and the company’s unique digitally augmented parts. He showed me how easy it was to add the company’s logo to the design file, as well as the bar code.

“Our uniqueness is our ability to mark,” Kalambi told me. “We’re the only ones doing it.”

Kalambi explained that RIZE covers the entire stream, all the way from digital marketing and quoting to manufacturing and delivery.


“You’re investing in the platform, not just the 3D printer,” he said. “We are focused on the user, not just the product.”

He said that RIZE wants users to feel comfortable using its machines and software, and that the company can train customers on its 3D printers in just 15 minutes. That’s when he got an idea – let me print something on the XRIZE at RAPID. Kalambi called over Vice President of Marketing Julie Reece to see if we’d have time to make it happen the next day, and once we figured out timing, he asked for my business card so it could be turned into a 3D model. Feeling pretty excited over what was to come, I left to conduct my next interview, with RIZE newly on my schedule for the next morning.

[Image: Julie Reece, RIZE]

When I arrived the next morning, Reece introduced me to RIZE Applications Engineer Neil Foley, who gave me a quick rundown on how the XRIZE 3D printer works. He opened the side panel so I could see the colored inks inside, and explained that the print of my business card would have a total of 29 layers; the first five layers would be a raft. The white filament is a little translucent so that the colors really shine through.



With just a few simple instructions from Foley, I was able to put in the magnetized build plate, close the door, and easily navigate the 3D printer’s touchscreen to select, and start, the print. The touchscreen not only tells you how long the print will take, but what layer it’s currently printing, with options to pause or cancel if necessary.

I stayed at the booth to watch the five layers of the raft, and the first layer of the print itself, but then had to leave to take care of a few things before driving home from the show later that day. During the time I was gone, Reece contacted me to let me know that the print was complete, and that I could come back to the booth anytime to remove it from the plate.

Once I arrived, I took a few pictures of my completed print, then opened the door and pulled out the build plate, This was a little tougher than I imagined, possibly due to the magnets, but more likely because I tend to be nervous when handling expensive machinery and was afraid to pull too hard.



I was supposed to remove the supports myself, which I was really excited about, but because the print was pretty thin, they came off almost immediately when Foley removed the raft. But, Reece brought me over a small part that had just come off the Rize One so I could remove those supports, and it truly is as easy as it looks – hardly any pressure is required to snap them off. As for the XRIZE itself, it is definitely a user-friendly system, and for an industrial machine, that’s pretty great news.

All in all, I had a good talk with Kalambi at RAPID, and was thrilled to be given the chance to operate the XRIZE 3D printer and make a 3D printed version of my business card, which now sits on my desk at home. Take a look below to see more pictures that RIZE’s Julie Reece took of me operating the printer at RAPID:







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[Images: Sarah Saunders unless otherwise noted]

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3D Printing News Briefs: June 8, 2019

In this week’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re talking about partnerships, new software and buildings, and a neat 3D printed miniature. Together, Evolve Additive Solutions and Evonik are developing materials for the STEP process, while Awexim has partnered with Farsoon in an exclusive sales agreement, and SHINING 3D and 3D Systems released Geomagic Essentials. Oerlikon inaugurated its new R&D and production facility, and a Reddit user posted video of a miniature 3D printed steering wheel that fits on a video game controller.

Evonik and Evolve Partnering to Develop 3D Printing Materials

A little over a year ago, Stratasys spinoff company Evolve Additive Solutions emerged from stealth with its production-scale additive manufacturing STEP (selective thermoplastic electrophotographic process) solution. Now, the company is partnering up with the Evonik Corporation, a leading specialty chemicals company, in a joint development agreement to formulate the thermoplastic 3D printing materials for STEP solutions. Initial efforts will be focused on polyamide 12, PEBA, transparent polyamide, and polymer for the polyamide 6 series, and the two companies also plan to create a wider range of production materials for STEP users in the future.

“Evolve’s entirely new technology approach will allow us to expand the range of applications of our high-performance powder materials, which are produced through a unique production process,” said Thomas Grosse-Puppendahl, the Head of the Additive Manufacturing Innovation Growth Field at Evonik. “With more than 20 years of experience in 3D printing, we will also develop a wider range of customized powder formulations to unlock the full potential of the STEP technology.”

Farsoon and Awexim Sign Exclusive Sales Agreement

Another 3D printing partnership has Farsoon Europe GmbH, which is located in Stuttgart, signing an Exclusive Sales Agreement with Warsaw-based Awexim, which was founded in 1991 as a technical consulting and cutting tools supplier. Awexim’s 3D printing adoption as an official Farsoon Europe sales agent will support Poland’s industrialization of 3D printing with Farsoon’s Open Laser Sintering Systems.

“Farsoon’s strength in industrial Laser Sintering Systems, ideally supports our strategy to enter into the 3D Printing market. We support industrial customers in Poland for almost 30 years with top quality tools, machine tools and especially top quality technical and customer service. We are glad to start cooperation with such solid partner as Farsoon, whose approach and vision is similar to ours,” said Andrzej Wodziński, the Managing Director of Awexim. “This cooperation opens huge possibilities to bring even more solutions for our customers on solving their needs. 3D printing is a future of industry, and we are sure, that connection of Farsoon and our team will have big influence on this industry in Poland.”

SHINING 3D and 3D Systems to Deliver Geomagic Essentials

Chinese company SHINING 3D recently announced that it has partnered up with 3D Systems to launch a new cost-effective scan-to-CAD solution. The two released Geomagic Essentials on the market as a bundled offering along with SHINING 3D’s most recent handheld, multi-functional 3D scanner: the Einscan Pro 2X series.

The Einscan Pro 2X and 2X Plus are lightweight and compact, with faster scanning speeds and higher accuracy. The new Geomagic Essentials bundled offer only increases these capabilities, as the solution is perfect for downstream reverse engineering and scan-to-print applications. While many CAD software programs are limited in terms of what they can do in processing, Geomagic Essentials makes the scan data compatible with native CAD workflows, so designers wanting to integrate part design and 3D scan data can do so with ease.

Oerlikon Inaugurates New R&D and Production Facility

Technology company Oerlikon is based in Switzerland, but it has 170 locations in nearly 40 different countries, including the US. The company provides surface solutions, equipment, and materials processing, and as part of its continuing growth strategy here, recently celebrated the opening of its new $55 million, state-of-the-art Innovation Hub & Advanced Component Production facility in Huntersville, North Carolina. This is Oerlikon’s second location in the state, and the 125,000 sq ft, fully functional facility employs about 60 people and will continue to gradually add jobs as the business continues to expand.

“We are already working with customers in the aerospace, automotive, energy and medical industries in the US, and we anticipate continued growth in those sectors, as well as in others. We believe that additive manufacturing can transform production in many industries, and we are excited that our presence here in North Carolina allows us to better demonstrate those possibilities to our customers,” said Dr. Sven Hicken, Head of Oerlikon’s Additive Manufacturing business.

State and federal officials spoke at the inauguration event, which was attended by employees and their families, in addition to business leaders and customers. Oerlikon presented a local robotics club with a check at the event in order to begin growing collaborations with academic institutions and show support for STEM learning.

Oerlikon Huntersville Event

We had a lot of fun last week opening our new Innovation & Proctuction Hub in Huntersville, NC. Check out what happened on the big day! #OerlikonUSA #OerlikonAM

Gepostet von Oerlikon Group am Freitag, 7. Juni 2019

3D Printed Steering Wheel

Reddit user Malespams recently posted a video of a 3D printed steering wheel in action, but not one for a regular-sized car…or even a car at all, actually. No, this miniature green wheel is made to attach to the controller for a video game system, like XBox, to make it easier and more natural to play racing games. However, not everyone who commented on the video thought that the 3D printed mod would make these games easier. One person said that it would offer “zero control” during play, and another noted that it covered the controller’s right stick and would make it hard to press any buttons,

“I have one, but while it’s a fun concept it covers the dpad so if you’re playing horizon you can’t access Anna m. Sometimes it hits the clutch and messes me up,” user 3202 people wrote. “It’s sometimes fun and I could see people having fun if they got used to it.”

If you’re interested in making your own game controller racing mod, check out this Thingiverse link.

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RAPID 2019: Talking 3D Printing and Partnerships with Ultimaker’s Jamie Howard

While attending the recent RAPID + TCT conference and trade show, I also visited the Ultimaker booth to meet with Jamie Howard, the new president of Ultimaker North America. On the first full day of RAPID, when the show floor had officially opened and there were just a few less lectures and workshops, the company announced that Heineken is using its on-demand 3D printing solutions to create functional machine parts and custom tools for the manufacturing line at its Seville brewery in Spain.

“We’re still in the first stages of 3D printing, but we’ve already seen a reduction of costs in the applications that we found by 70-90% and also a decrease of delivery time of these applications of 70-90%. Local manufacturing helps us a lot in increasing uptime, efficiency and output. We use 3D printing to optimize the manufacturing line, create maintenance and quality control tools, and create tools for our machines which help us increase safety for our people. I think there will be even more purposes in the future,” Isabelle Haenen, Global Supply Chain Procurement at Heineken, said in a press release.

Howard told me that he would describe Heineken as a “global customer,” and that Ultimaker was already looking at additional 3D printing applications in the brewery, aside from the ones it’s already working on, like safety and line optimizations and tooling.

The brewery produces multiple brands of beers owned by Heineken, which all adds up to 500 million liters of beer annually. Engineers at the Seville brewery started off using the Ultimaker 2+ about a year ago, but have since switched to a set of Ultimaker S5 machines.

Howard explained that the project partnership with Heineken included the Ultimaker applications engineering team going through the plant to help the brewery “discover and develop applications that could be 3D printed.”

Heineken’s 3D LAB [Image: Ultimaker]

“We offer that to our Enterprise customers as a service to help them accelerate the adoption of 3D printing in the enterprise,” Howard said. “We also facilitated some advanced training in design for 3D printing so that they could actually print the parts and tools we discovered during what we call the ‘site scan’ process, and that enables the transfer of knowledge and the adoption of knowledge necessary to have them be able to do it more on their own.

“So teaching the competency to discover new applications – it expands the catalogue of parts and applications that they can actually 3D print, which increases the adoption and expands the footprint of the printers.”

Since adopting Ultimaker’s solutions, the brewery has been able to increase its production uptime and save about 80% in production costs.

“The Heineken opportunity is really a good demonstration of the range of applications you can use the Ultimaker platform to do,” Howard said. “Our vision and mission is accelerating the world’s transition to local digital manufacturing, and in a distributed way, where you have the opportunity to leverage our software.

“The open materials platform gives us the flexibility to, at a local level, expand the range of applications with all the same accessibility to the material partners that we have through our Partner Alliance. The Heineken use case includes four categories of applications, from rapid prototyping to safety devices and also jigs, fixtures and tools on the manufacturing line, and also tooling for end-use parts – parts that fail during the production line process – to keep the uptime of the facility higher.”

I asked Howard what types of materials Heineken was using, and he showed me a device made out of Tough PLA material that is used to keep bottles from falling off the line.

“It’s light, and yet has the strength to be able to handle the weight from the bottle,” Howard explained.

“The tool that they were using before was a lot more rigid and rough, and it was sometimes causing the bottles to come off the line.”

The 3D printed version of the tool causes less friction on the bottles, which means a higher yield for Heineken as less bottles are breaking. It also saves the brewery time and money, as they can fabricate the tool on-site rather than send the design away to a third party for manufacturing. Howard also told me about one of the 3D printed safety device that’s been implemented in the brewery.

“There was a piece of equipment that required maintenance, and there was a safety latch that they built to prevent the machine from accidentally coming on during the maintenance process, to protect the workers from any injury. So the part that was printed goes over the power [switch] so you can’t inadvertently turn that machine on during the maintenance process.”



We then moved on to some parts 3D printed by other Ultimaker customers, including one for Volkswagen Autoeuropa. The tool, pictured above, was used on the manufacturing line to keep the wheel assembly from getting scratched. The tool has multiple drill guides to keep the wheel from falling off the lug nuts while it’s being screwed on, and Volkswagen was able to save a lot of time and money in upgrading to this 3D printed tool from the one they were previously using from a molding company, which would often break.

“We redesigned it…before, they were molding it in one piece. Our engineers helped them to discover that if they designed this differently, they could do it in a way that, if this part breaks, then you can just print that part, you don’t have to take the whole thing and throw it away,” Howard explained.

“All the principles of lean manufacturing are addressed in this particular piece.”

This new 3D printed version of the part reduces the amount of the time the tool was unavailable due to breakage, keeps productivity up, and also protects the wheel, so that the yield of the assembly at the end of the line is higher overall.

Take a look at more of my pictures from the Ultimaker booth at RAPID + TCT below:



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[Images: Sarah Saunders, unless otherwise noted]

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ORNL and UMaine Initiative Receives Funding to Create New Bio-Based 3D Printing Materials

UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center students and staff lift a boat roof from a mold 3D printed with a new biomaterial, nanocellulose-reinforced PLA, developed at the University of Maine. L-R: Michael Hunter, Camerin Seigars, Zane Dustin, Alex Cole, Scott Tomlinson, Richard Fredericks, and Habib Dagher. [Image: UMaine]

The researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee have spent a lot of time working with unique 3D printing materials, such as polyester, lignin, and nanocellulose, which is a bio-derived nanomaterial. Now, a new research collaboration between ORNL and the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center aims to increase efforts to use wood products as 3D printing materials. Together, the team will work with the forest products industry to create new bio-based 3D printing materials that can be used to make products like building components, boats and boat hull molds, wind blades, and shelters.

The large-scale initiative was announced this week in Washington, DC. Leaders from the university and ORNL, as well as the DoE‘s assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy Daniel Simmons, the founding executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center Habib Dagher, and US Sens. Susan Collins, Lamar Alexander, and Angus King were all on hand for the announcement, which also stated that UMaine and ORNL had received $20 million in federal funding for the program from the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.

[Image: UMaine]

“While Oak Ridge is a global leader in additive manufacturing, the University of Maine is an expert in bio-based composites. By working together, they will strengthen environmentally responsible advanced manufacturing in America as well as helping the forest industry in the state of Maine,” Senator Collins said.

Sens. Collins and King requested federal help to save the declining forest products industry in Maine back in 2016, after several paper mills in the state closed their doors. This led to the founding of the Economic Development Assessment Team (EDAT) to work across agencies in order to come up with economic development strategies for the rural communities in Maine that were suffering from the mill closures. This team resulted in the ongoing partnership between UMaine and ORNL.

“Using Maine forest products for 3D printing is a great way to create new jobs in Maine and a good reminder that national laboratories are our secret weapons in helping the United States stay competitive in the rapidly changing world economy. The partnership between the University of Maine and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a model for how science and technology can help Americans prosper in the new economy,” said Senator Alexander.

A 3D printed representation of the state of Maine presented by Habib Dagher, executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. The material was a wood-based product developed at UMaine. [Image: Contributed by the office of Sen. Susan Collins]

This October, ORNL’s BAAM 3D printer will be installed at UMaine, which is actually considered a world leader in cellulose nano fiber (CNF) technology. UMaine students can also visit ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), while staff from the laboratory can in turn learn about cellulose fiber and composites at UMaine’s composites center.

One of the printer’s first tasks will be to fabricate a boat mold out of a wood-based plastic, though the team hopes to apply the technology to many large-scale manufacturing applications.

Habib Dagher, Executive Director of the Advanced Structures & Composites Center holds up 3D printed representations of Maine and Tennessee signifying new manufacturing programs between UMaine and ORNL that will use wood-based products in 3D printing. Sen. Angus King, I- Maine, and Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, watch Dagher’s presentation after announcing $20 million in federal funding for the collaboration. [Image: Contributed by the office of Sen. Susan Collins]

Dagher explained, “The material is nanocellulose, basically a tree ground up to its nano structure. These materials have properties similar to metals. We are taking those and putting them in bioplastics so we can make very strong plastics that we can make almost anything with.”

The team will then add the nanocellulose to PLA.

“The University of Maine is doing cutting-edge research related to bio-feedstocks and the application of advanced manufacturing in regional industries,” said Thomas Zacharia, the director of ORNL. “We are thrilled at this opportunity to expand our research base while providing UMaine with access to the leading national capabilities we have developed at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.”

The overall goal for the initiative is to find new uses for wood-based products in an effort to reinvigorate Maine’s forest products industry, while also helping to make regional manufacturing stronger by connecting university–industry clusters with the MDF. The federal funding will be divided equally between both facilities.

“We will integrate 20 years of research in bio-based composites at UMaine and 3D printing at ORNL. It is an opportunity engine for our students, faculty, staff and manufacturing industry who will work side by side with researchers at our nation’s foremost research laboratory. Together, we will break down wood to its nanocellulose structure, combine it with bioplastics, and print with it at hundreds of pounds an hour,” said Dagher. “The research we will be conducting with ORNL will spur next-generation manufacturing technologies using recyclable, bio-based, cost-effective materials that will bolster our region’s economy.”

Scientists from UMaine and ORNL will be conducting research in multiple areas, such as multiscale modeling, CNF production, drying, functionalization, and compounding with thermoplastics, and sustainability life-cycle analysis.

CNF could actually rival the properties of steel, and by successfully adding it into plastics, the researchers could create a renewable feedstock for strong, recyclable, bio-derived material systems that might even be 3D printed at deposition rates of hundreds of pounds an hour. Additionally, using a material that’s 50% wood could help open new markets for the forest products industry.

UMaine will get world’s largest 3D printer and use wood-based plastic to make boat molds

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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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