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3D Printing News Briefs: October 6, 2019

We’ve got lots of material news for you in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, starting with a Material Development Kit from RPS. Polymaker and Covestro are releasing three new materials and EOS has introduced a new TPU material for industrial 3D printing. Moving on, CASTOR and Stanley Black & Decker used EOS 3D printing to reduce costs and lead time, and Velo3D is partnering with PWR to make high performance heat exchangers.

RPS Introduces Material Development Kit for NEO800

UK 3D printer manufacturer RPS just launched its NEO Material Development Kit, which was designed by company engineers to be used as a polymer research and development tool for its NEO800 SLA 3D printer. The MDK comes in multiple platform and vat sizes, and allows developers to work with different resin formulations, so that R&D companies can work to develop a range of polymers that are not available in today’s industry. Users can print single layer exposure panes with Titanium software and the 1 liter vat in order to find the photo-speed of the formulation they’re developing; then, tensile testing of different material formulations can commence. Once this initial testing is finished, developers can scale up to the 13 liter vat – perfect for 3D printing prototype parts for use in optimizing final configuration settings.

“This NEO Material Development Kit now opens the door for large industrial chemical companies such as BASF, DSM and Heinkel to push the boundaries of UV photopolymers,” said David Storey, the Director of RPS. “The industry is looking for a quantum jump in materials to print end-user production parts from the stereolithography process.”

New Polycarbonate-Based Materials by Polymaker and Covestro

Advanced 3D printing materials leader Polymaker and polymer company Covestro are teaming up to launch three polycarbonate-based materials. These versatile new materials coming to the market each have unique properties that are used often in a variety of different industries.

The first is PC-ABS, a polycarbonate and ABS blend which uses Covestro’s Bayblend family as its base material. Due to its high impact and heat resistance, this material is specialized for surface finishings such as metallization and electroplating, so it’s good for post-processing work. Polymaker PC-PBT, which blends the toughness and strength of polycarbonate with PBT’s high chemical resistance, is created from Covestro’s Makroblend family and performs well under extreme circumstances, whether it’s subzero temperatures or coming into contact with hydrocarbon-based chemicals. Finally, PolyMax PC-FR is a flame retardant material that’s based in Covestro’s Makrolon family and has a good balance between safety and mechanical performance – perfect for applications in aerospace motor mounts and battery housings.

EOS Offers New Flexible TPU Material

In another materials news, EOS has launched TPU 1301, a new flexible polymer for industrial, serial 3D printing. Available immediately, this thermoplastic polyurethane has high UV-stability, great resilience, and good hydrolysis resistance as well. TPU materials are often used in applications that require easy process capabilities and elastomeric properties, so this is a great step to take towards 3D printing mass production.

“The EOS TPU 1301 offers a great resilience after deformation, very good shock absorption, and very high process stability, at the same time providing a smooth surface of the 3D printed part,” said Tim Rüttermann, the Senior Vice President for Polymer Systems & Materials at EOS. “As such the material is particularly suited for applications in footwear, lifestyle and automotive – such as cushioning elements, protective gears, and shoe soles.”

You can see application examples for TPU 1301 at the EOS booth D31, hall 11.1, at formnext in Frankfurt next month, and the material will also be featured by the company at K Fair in Dusseldorf next week.

CASTOR, Stanley Black & Decker, and EOS Reduce Costs and Lead Time

Speaking of EOS, Stanley Black & Decker recently worked with Tel Aviv startup CASTOR to majorly reduce the lead time, and cost, for an end-use metal production part that was 3D printed on EOS machinery. This was the first time that 3D printing has been incorporated into the production line of Stanley Engineered Fastening. In a CASTOR video, EOS North America’s Business Development Manager Jon Walker explained that for most companies, the issue isn’t deciding if they want to use AM, but rather how and where to use it…which is where CASTOR enters.

“They have a very cool software in which we can just upload the part of the assembly CAD file, and within a matter of minutes, it can automatically analyze the part, and give us the feasibility of whether the part is suitable for additive manufacturing or not. And in case it is not suitable, it can also let us know why it is not suitable, and what needs to be changed. It can also tell us what is the approximate cost, which material and printer we can use,” said Moses Pezarkar, a Manufacturing Engineer at Stanley’s Smart Factory, in the video.

To learn more, check out the case study, or watch the video below:

PWR and Velo3D Collaborating on 3D Printed Heat Exchangers

Cooling solutions supplier PWR and Velo3D have entered into a collaborative materials development partnership for serial manufacturing of next-generation heat exchangers, and for the Sapphire metal 3D printer. PWR will be the first in the APAC region to have a production Sapphire machine, which it will use to explore high-performance thermal management strategies through 3D printing for multiple heat exchange applications. Together, the two companies will work on developing aluminum alloy designs with more complex, thinner heat exchange features.

“PWR chose Velo3D after extensive testing. The Velo3D Sapphire printer demonstrated the ability to produce class-leading thin-wall capabilities and high-quality surfaces with zero porosity. Velo3D and PWR share a passion for pushing the limits of technology to deliver truly disruptive, class-leading, products. We are a natural fit and look forward to building a strong partnership going forward,” said Matthew Bryson, the General Manager of Engineering for PWR.

“Heat exchanger weight and pressure-drop characteristics have a huge impact on performance and are significant factors in all motorsport categories. Using additive manufacturing to print lightweight structures, enhancing performance with freedom-of-design, we have the ability to further optimize these characteristics to the customer’s requirements whilst providing the necessary cooling. The broad design capabilities and extremely high print accuracy of the Velo3D Sapphire 3D metal printer will help us optimize these various performance attributes.”

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

The post 3D Printing News Briefs: October 6, 2019 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Germany: Research Shows Good Response from Students Using 3D Printed Dental Traumatology Training

Authors M. Reymus , C. Fotiadou, R. Hickel, and C. Diegritz explore the uses of 3D printed models in dental traumatology training, with their findings outlined in the recently published ‘3D printed model for hands-on training in dental traumatology.’ For their study, they used an SLA printer to create a 3D printed model of a dental patient’s maxilla, mimicking several different traumatic dental injuries.

Being able to create accurate models exhibiting significant trauma offers a host of benefits to dental students who can take their time in a deliberate learning mode rather than waiting to rush in to see what could be a relatively small number of injured patients on-site. This also accentuates the enormous amount of learning gained from lectures. The hope is that more knowledge can be gained about dental traumatology, as the researchers point out that dental accidents are often treated by general dentists who may not have an adequate education or experience to deal with such cases overall.

The researchers wanted to make a model that was not only realistic but would allow for students to practice both diagnosis and treatment too. They also wanted to design a product that would translate from educational settings to dental clinics. With these hands-on tools available, the authors also created another level to their study regarding the use of dentaltraumaguide.org, offering the resource to only half of the students participating in the study—and comparing their knowledge.

The model was designed and 3D printed as follows to show dental trauma for a 16-year-old boy:

“The data generated were exported as single DICOM files and imported to Invesalius for Mac (Centre for Information Technology Renato Archer, Amarais, Brazil) to convert it into one .stl file. This file was subsequently imported to Meshmixer for Mac 11.0 (Autodesk, San Rafael, CA, USA) and trimmed to a region extending from the right first premolar to the left premolar. The right lateral incisor, the left first incisor as well as the left second incisor were cut out of the STL-mesh and exported as single STL-files.

Using the function ‘Boolean difference’, these teeth were cut out, leaving imitation tooth sockets in their original position. Additionally, the right lateral incisor was positioned at a 30° angle towards the palatal from its original position, and again, the function ‘Boolean difference’ was used to imitate a lateral luxation of the tooth perforating the buccal bone. The left lateral incisor was separated into two parts at its apical third imitating a horizontal root fracture. The extracted left incisor was not changed, imitating an avulsion. The mesial edge of the right incisor was removed, exposing the pulp chamber to imitate a complex crown fracture.”

Computer-aided designed model with empty tooth sockets, buccal perforation and complicated crown fracture.

The 32 undergraduate students were tasked to work on the case, even simulating a conversation with the mother of the injured boy as they practiced asking the correct questions about the accident, as well as advising on post-traumatic behavior. Upon examining the 3D printed model, they were given information about every tooth, and asked to offer the following:

  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment plan
  • Recall regime
  • Prognosis of each injured tooth

The assessment was considered in these areas:

  • Pre-treatment
  • Therapy
  • Post-treatment
  • Recall
  • Complications

“The presented workflow allowed the manufacturing of a radiopaque model that imitated a luxation injury, a complicated crown fracture, an avulsion, and a horizontal root fracture in a realistic way,” stated the authors.

Radiograph of the right lateral incisor with a luxation injury (left) and Radiograph of the empty tooth socket of the left incisor and the left lateral incisor with a horizontal root fracture (right).

And while their goal was for such a workflow to be easily transferred to another dental school, they would need to own a CBCT and a stereolithographic printer, along with software that could be offered free. The 32 students were asked to evaluate the model, with 57 percent reporting it to be ‘very realistic,’ and 43 percent choosing ‘rather realistic.’

“The diagnosis of the lateral luxation was evaluated to be the most difficult of all injuries, whereas the avulsion was the easiest injury to diagnose. Concerning treatment planning, the horizontal root fracture was rated as being the most difficult injury. When listing possible complications, the students had serious problems with the horizontal root fracture.

Students’ evaluations of difficulty in diagnosis, treatment planning, therapy and knowledge about complications for each injury.

“All participants reported to have gained new knowledge on dental traumatology, and 97 percent felt better prepared for treating traumatic dental injuries in the future.

“Students seem to focus especially on the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic injuries to teeth when dealing with dental traumatology. This is logical because these steps are of outmost importance for immediate care when confronted with a trauma case. Fortunately, both groups of students in the present study achieved their best results in these fields. The group without access to dentaltaumaguide.org, however, had only poor results when faced with developing a recall regime and knowing about possible complications,” concluded the researchers.

Many dentists and orthodontists rely on 3D printing today for digital dentistry, dentures, and even grafts for issues like alveolar augmentation. 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.

Printed model with gingival mask.

[Source / Images: ‘3D-printed model for hands-on training in dental traumatology’

The post Germany: Research Shows Good Response from Students Using 3D Printed Dental Traumatology Training appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Shipboard 3D Printing Expanding Worldwide

Polar waters, icy environments and seemingly harsh surroundings make the Arctic one of the most difficult marine settings to work in, especially with regards to ship and marine technology. This complexity demands some risk-based designs and frameworks for safe and sustainable technology that can survive in harsh ecosystems. Very difficult sailing conditions in Arctic or Antarctic waters, offshore oil rigs and fleets travelling in harsh seas, has propelled governments and companies to include additive manufacturing in structures made to survive severe maritime conditions. In 2014 the United States Navy began considering bringing 3D printers on board their ships, they envisioned a not so distant future when they could print spare parts, miniature combat drones, and even organs or other body parts, on Navy vessels in the middle of the sea. While In 2017, the US Coast Guard used 3D printers to create spare parts (not normally kept on vessels and which may be difficult to source) on board its ships. Currently, 3D printers are available for crew use on five Coast Guard cutters as well as at several shore units, including Base New Orleans and the Surface Forces Logistics Center Engineering Services Division in Baltimore.

Similarly, Coast Guard academy professor, Ron Adrezin, uses the technology for operations in remote areas aboard the Cutter Healy, a 420-foot icebreaker that goes on research missions in the Arctic and Bering seas. On another front, International Submarine Engineering (ISE) used Sciaky’s Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) technology to produce a titanium Variable Ballast (VB) tank for an arctic submarine. It’s all about having a 3D printer for full access and on site to create some hard-to-get parts that come in really handy when bad weather conditions keep ships from moving, severe storms break something in the middle of the sea or ice threatens entire fleets.

In 2015, Canadian company Oceanic Consulting Corporation, a subsidiary of Fleetway, used 3D printing to create bespoke replacement parts and modify them as required in house, for many of their research and development projects to study and improve ships, fixed and floating offshore structures and other advanced marine systems. Located in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the company applies 3D technology to realize some ambitious projects. Their ongoing need to create accurate scale models and simulate real-world environments, made Oceanic search for the perfect-fit 3D printer. The research and design team on Oceanic works towards improving the safety of vessels navigating in harsh sea ice environments, managing extreme cold temperatures and large ice loads. Combining expertise in mechanical engineering, experimental research and numerical simulation in Arctic Engineering with 3D printing could be just what they needed to increase efficiency and reduce costs for some of their projects. 

3D Printed Marine Part from a Stratasys Machine

The company purchased a Stratasys 3D printer from Javelin Technologies, for fabricating essential components as they usually work under very tight timelines due to their customers’ needs for delivery in short time periods -usually just a few weeks-. Using the Stratasys 3D printer, together with SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD Software, allows Oceanic specialists to quickly turn concepts into physical parts, giving them new opportunities to do work in house that was once sent to outside suppliers. Making the complexity of parts fabrication possible with the 3D printer has allowed for enhanced sophistication in physical model experiments, which allows for improved accuracy and happier clients.

Oceanic claims they save time using SOLIDWORKS and doing their own 3D printing to validate designs quickly to meet demanding project deadlines. They are also always testing and pushing the 3D printer and the capabilities of the build material to their limits, sometimes designing very thin parts. The fabrication team was already accustomed to Javelin’s high level of service and support, so working with the company was an obvious choice.

Working in an often harsh marine environment presents extra challenges, and having a 3D printer allows Oceanic to efficiently print replacement parts and modify them as required. It is now possible to 3D print parts that were once only machined, so designers can add detail and features that would otherwise be very expensive – even impossible – to machine. Examples include mechanical linkages, rudders, mounting brackets, props, and even custom instrumentation.

The scope of some of Oceanic’s projects is to develop guidelines for the safe and sustainable design of ships and fleets that need to venture into harsh marine environments, by combining practical knowledge, state of the art engineering methods, and fundamental hazard concept design. That is why Oceanic has access to a comprehensive suite of world class marine research facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador, which include the National Research Council of Canada’s Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Portfolio, and Memorial University’s Ocean Engineering Research Centre and Marine Institute.  Whether it has been contracted to study ships, boats, offshore structures, or other marine systems, Oceanic provides clients with the expertise, advanced facilities, and now 3D printing technology to realize even the most ambitious project. 

NOAA: Formlabs Form2 Printer mounted to the GyroPro stabilization platform, used for mapping deepwater areas in the Caribbean and South Atlantic Bight

Going one step further and in a more recent attempt to 3D print in a dynamic environment, in 2018 the US Department of Commerces’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent a team on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer with a Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA) style printer which uses an ultraviolet (UV) curable liquid and a laser to cure the liquid layer by layer, to map deepwater areas in the Caribbean and South Atlantic Bight. Harsh marine areas pose quite a challenge for engineers and designers to develop technology that will aid ships, marine structures and communities to work in some of the worst conditions in the planet, but having accesible 3D printing technology either in house for restoring and creating spare parts or even on board can become life-changing.