3D Printed Turbine Combines 61 Parts into One

In July this year, Velo3D had qualified a new nickel-based alloy, Hastelloy X, due to its suitability in the additive manufacturing of power generation components such as gas turbines, using the company’s Sapphire metal AM platform. This announcement had followed relatively quickly on the back of securing the company’s largest order yet, worth $20 million, and raising $40 million in funding which increased the company’s total investment to $150 million till date.

Industrial gas turbines are a priority application for Velo3D, and offering optimized materials for power generation applications is critical to driving full-scale adoption among its clients. Following the approval of Hastelloy, the company swiftly moved to partner with Sierra Turbines and nTopology, provider of generative design solutions, to test the material in 3D printing 95% of a unicore of a 20-kilowatt microturbine engine. The material is optimized to have high resistance to oxidation or corrosion cracking, resulting in better performing microturbines which require lower maintenance.

Image Courtesy of Sierra Turbines

The results from the additively manufactured Aurelius Mk1 core really bring home the advantages of using AM over the traditional manufacturing approach. Part count was reduced from 61 separate components to one. This alone eliminates the need to procure and transport various raw materials to manufacture individual parts using different process, as well as the need for assembly of course, involving dissimilar material joints, seals, fasteners. It also reduces post-processing requirements. The reduction of joints, and the ability to design with closer tolerances additionally prevents the possibility of leaks, improving engine efficiency.

AM also allowed designers to build in internal oil and fuel circuits, as well as re-think the fuel spray and flame shape in the combustion chamber. Using the nTop generative design platform, Sierra Turbines modeled a specific lattice geometry to atomize the fuel and a 360-degree fuel injector to distribute fuel equally around the circumference of the combustor. By redesigning from scratch, designers were also able to make the turbine more mass efficient (reducing weight by 50%), resulting in an expected thrust-to-weight ratio (10x increase in power density) significantly higher than existing state-of-the-art turbines of similar power. Regarding the ability to advance design using AM, Roger Smith, CEO of Sierra Turbines, stated,

“My design team is freed from the constraints of traditional manufacturing and even existing metal AM technologies such that they can focus purely on defining the geometry needed to maximize performance and differentiation.”

Image Courtesy of Sierra Turbines

This was enabled in no small part by the Velo3D Sapphire Platform, with support-free metal 3D printing, and the new specialized Hastalloy material. The case study from nTopology notes,

“This high level of integration however wouldn’t have been possible using machines other than the VELO3D Sapphire metal 3D printer. The no-contact re-coater blade used in the VELO3D machine allows support-free printing of overhangs down to 30 degrees, which in terms of additive manufacturing freedom is the equivalent of the falling of the Berlin wall.”

Altogether, every one of the benefits AM contributes to increasing the operational time of Aurelius Mk1, with time before overhaul (TBO) 40x greater than existing comparable turbines, and reducing operational cost. This is no small feat, small turbine engines average 40-50 hour between overhaul, and the Aurelius will average a significant 1000+ hours, comparable to that of commercial aircraft. It provides a remarkable demonstration of the difference AM can make in industrial power generation applications, and the results in bringing together specialized AM hardware and software solution providers to develop a revolutionary product.

Image Courtesy of Sierra Turbines

The Aurelius Mk1 will complete development shortly, with a few engines running by end of this year, and commercialization will begin with UAV manufacturers, with whom the company has already signed agreements. The company will to advance optimization and improvement of their Aurelius Mk1 microturbine, stating

Once the combustor has been thoroughly tested and benchmarked, he intends to pursue additional performance improvements. He’s also planning to work on the microturbine’s rotating components, an unorthodox move that many aerospace pundits would agree is beyond the pale. Here again, Smith is determined:

“VELO3D believes that you can use additive for full-scale production, and so do I,” he says. “For future gas turbine development, we aim to leverage the power of additive manufacturing to integrate features such as an efficiency-boosting recuperator, printed-in sensors, and more novel insulating and cooling geometries.”

You can learn more about the development of the Aurelius Mk1 in this webinar, and the full case study can be found here. Earlier this month, Velo3D had also partnered with Lam Research to explore potential applications for its metal 3D printing solutions in the semiconductor industry.

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3D printing events guide for August featuring nTopology, Creaform, DI Labs, ASME and more 

Introducing 3D Printing Industry’s monthly 3D printing events guide. Our summary of the latest 3D printing events features additive manufacturing summits, 3D printing workshops, online training courses, and digital webinars.  Are you organizing an event? It’s free to add your 3D printing event to our online guide. Simply access the 3D Printing Industry events website, […]

Additive Flight Solutions gains AS9100D certification for its 3D printed aerospace parts 

Additive Flight Solutions (AFS), a joint venture between 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys and Singaporian aircraft specialist SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC), has received AS9100D Certification.  Combining Stratasys’ additive manufacturing knowledge with SIAEC’s expertise in spare parts, AFS has gained international accreditation for its 3D printed aerospace parts. The certification is a standardized quality management and assurance […]

3D printing industry news sliced: Stratasys, Sciaky, FIT AG, Essentium, SPEE3D, VELO3D, Sygnis and more 

In this edition of Sliced, the 3D Printing Industry news digest, we cover the latest business developments, partnerships, and acquisitions across our industry.  Today’s edition features a host of new partnerships from within the industry, new aerospace and army additive applications, reimagined 3D printing facilities, industry partnerships and of course, 3D printed 300 year old […]

3D printing industry news sliced: Satair, VELO3D, 3D Systems, Dimension Inx, REGEMAT, Open Additive, DP Technology and more

In this edition of Sliced, the 3D Printing Industry news digest, we cover the latest business developments, partnerships, and acquisitions across our industry.  Today’s edition features updated quality assurance guidance, fresh funding for US universities, a new CFO at 3D Systems, Singaporian marine technology and 3D printed miniature satellites.  Read on for the latest news […]

VELO3D Develops Process for 3D Printing Aluminum F357 on Sapphire Systems

California-headquartered digital manufacturing company VELO3D, which recently raised $28 million in a Series D funding round, just announced that it has developed a process for 3D printing parts out of foundry-grade Aluminum F357 on its Sapphire metal 3D printers. The commercial release of this capability is significant, because the material is traditionally manufactured with casting technology, but now it can be 3D printed in intricate, complex shapes that casting just can’t achieve.

“Aluminum F357 has already been certified for mission-critical applications—unlike some exotic alloys—so it was a logical addition to our materials portfolio. We will continue to add more compatible materials that enable customers to print parts they couldn’t before, yet with even better material properties than traditional manufacturing,” explained VELO3D Founder and CEO Benny Buller.

This aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, which is well-suited for laser powder bed fusion 3D printing, lets companies in the aerospace, defense, and military sectors 3D print parts that used to be made through casting. Specific components that VELO3D specializes in 3D printing with Aluminum F357 are for thin-walled heat transfer applications.

These photos of 3D printed components demonstrate various perspectives of the design freedom that VELO3D’s SupportFree capabilities offer when it comes to heat exchangers.

VELO3D worked with global advanced cooling solutions supplier PWR to develop the Sapphire metal 3D printing process for Aluminum F357. This was a smart partnership, as PWR has provided cooling solutions to several racing series, including Formula 1 and NASCAR, and customers in the aerospace, automotive, and military industries.

Matthew Bryson, General Manager for PWR, said, “We chose Aluminum F357 due to its ideal material properties to suit thermal performance, machining and weldability.

“Our ability to print free-form and lightweight structures for heat transfer applications with our Sapphire system from VELO3D will further enhance performance and packaging optimization opportunities for our product range and provide significant value to our customers.”

VELO3D’s patented SupportFree capability for metal 3D printing means that support structures for steep overhangs, low angles, and complex passageways are not required, allowing users to attain geometric freedom. The Sapphire metal 3D printing system is built with a semiconductor mindset to ensure repeatability in serial manufacturing, and paired with a con-contact recoater, its print process is able to fabricate the high aspect ratios and extremely thin wall structures needed for flight-critical applications.

Notice the ultra-thin features in the core (cross-section image). Such complexity is near-impossible to attain with existing AM technologies.

While other aluminum alloys, like AlSi10Mg, are used in metal 3D printing more often, Aluminum F357 is ideal for thin-walled AM applications due to shared characteristics with popular casting alloy A356, and because it can be anodized. SmarTech Analysis reports that aluminum alloys accounted for close to 10% of 3D printed metal content last year, which led to a 43% growth in shipments of aluminum powder. The lightweight material is obviously growing in AM popularity, as VELO3D wasn’t the only company this week to roll out the material – Optomec just announced the use of its LENS DED systems for 3D printing aluminum parts.

VELO3D’s Sapphire metal 3D printer is now compatible with Aluminum F357, INCONEL alloy 718, and Titanium64. If you’re interested in a 3D printed aluminum alloy prototype, contact the company. Last month, VELO3D also announced that a 1-meter tall Sapphire system would be available in Q4 2020 for industrial customers, like Knust-Godwin, interested in using LPBF technology to print tall parts without supports.

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

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Velo3D Raises $28 Million in D Round

Metal 3D printing company Velo3D has just raised $28 million in a Series D funding round, making it a total of $138 million that the firm has raised so far. The D round was lead by Piva. Just recently the firm announced that it now has a 1m tall build volume metal printer with its first customer being found in oil and gas. On the most recent episode of the 3DPod, we delve deeper into that along with the customer and Velo3D team.

Sapphire

Velo3D CEO Benny Buller said:
“Customers in industries such as aerospace, oil & gas, and power generation are now able to achieve part quality for their mission-critical applications with performance levels that weren’t possible before with 3D metal printing.”
In the press release, the company stated that,
“VELO3D plans to use the new capital to expand its product portfolio to include more machine options, compatible alloys, and enhanced software and hardware capabilities. The company anticipates that the injection of fresh capital will help them reach sustainable profitability by mid-2022.”
Ricardo Angel, CEO of Piva stated,
“We have been impressed by Benny, the team and their breakthrough technology that will have a significant impact on the efficient design and manufacturing of more complex components, previously unattainable, with clear commercial traction already in the aerospace and aviation markets. VELO3D will lead a new wave of more resilient, distributed manufacturing capabilities for its most critical components, which the world will need to ensure local product availability and timeliness, while mitigating potential future worldwide disruptions.”
Velo3D has used software, FPGA’s and then hardware to improve DMLS/Powder Bed Fusion success rates and increase the number of geometries that can comfortably be made with little or no supports. We discuss the technology and its capabilities here with Velo3D’s Zach Murphee. The company is a real challenger to GE and EOS as well as other players such as SLM Solutions. This level of funding really supersizes Velo3D’s efforts in penetrating the market. The firm is up against some players with serious technological chops and large installed bases. The matchup in DMLS also pits very different firms and funding mechanisms against each other.
EOS is closely held an asset of the Langer family whose second-generation CEO Marie Langer recently told us “would never sell.” The Langer family has its sights set on a far off horizon. I once said, only half-jokingly, “no they won’t sell to Siemens, they want to be Siemens.” They are trying to cement EOS’ lead and burrow deep into applications with broad materials and industrial penetration and a focus on organizational design, sustainability, and stewardship. Meanwhile, GE is a large corporate, wounded sure, but still one of the mightiest and formidable engineering organizations on this earth. They are focusing on industrializing 3D printing for themselves in order to gain further entrenched advantages in aero engines and other units. GE’s commitment is sometimes questioned by those who could imagine the firm walking away from our industry. I do see them as capable of taking sanguine decisions but Additive is in one sense a rounding error for them but also a way for them to gain advantages in markets that they are strong while speeding up to go to market and saving costs. SLM is Parcom private equity-owned the firm is really making progress with new machine generations but still somehow seems hurting from being a hares breadth away from being acquired by GE years ago. They signed before it was killed by activist investor Elliott demanding more and GE bought Concept Laser instead which was a huge misread by Elliott because they should have realized that what GE needed most was Arcam. There was no alternative for Arcam EBM patent cover but there was for DMLS patent cover. SLM did have a big win when manufacturing leader Beam IT bought 15 systems recently though. Other firms such as precision measurement firm Renishaw is making more credible machines now but still seems a bit behind in the new generation of automated higher productivity machines. 3D Systems is trying to partner in order to deliver post-processing and workflows. DMG Mori and other entrants are gearing up, as is Trumpf. Additive Industries is a startup with a long view, vision, and breadth but this kind of Velo3D investment thing could make them think of tie-up possibilities due to comparative scale even though their series focused machine is very much where the market is headed.
With investor attention long focused on binder jet, this will put the spotlight on DMLS 3D printing once again for the Silicon Valley set; and now for higher value parts manufacturing in aerospace, oil and gas, and the like. The hope of binder jet is now replaced by the higher cost reality of DMLS. This is a great development for our industry and a huge win for Benny and the team.

The post Velo3D Raises $28 Million in D Round appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

3DPOD Episode 25: Velo3D, Knust-Godwin, and 3D printing in the Oil & Gas industry

This episode of the 3DPod is one without me in it. I had to miss this one since I was getting evacuated from Ecuador, exciting times. Instead of me, you got a bunch of good people though. Max hosted together with 3DPrint.com’s own Michael Molitch-Hou. Today the subject was very specific about Velo3D metal 3D printing. Velo3D can now make 1m tall parts with a new updated Velo3D system. The new Velo system can now 3D print much taller parts than we are used to in DMLS. Mike Corliss is from Knust-Godwin a Houston based precision manufacturing company that’s been using 3D printing for over 8 years to make metal parts for the oil and gas industry. What will they do with their new capabilities? What does it mean for oil and gas to be able to 3D print larger metal parts? Why is it important to them? We hope that you enjoy this episode.

Previously we talked with Materialise CEO Fried VancraenEOS CEO Marie Langer, 3D Printing COVID, Ty Pollak about Open Additive, the ethics of 3D printing & handheld scanning.

People we admire in 3D printing.

Greg Paulson joins us to talk about 3D printing trends.

Velo3D’s Zach Murphy talks about Velo’s technology and development.

We interview Formalloy’s Melanie Lang on directed energy deposition.

Greg Paulsen of Xometry talks to us about 3D printing applications and 3D printing at scale.

Here we discuss 3D Printing in space.

We interview pioneering designer Scott Summit as he crosses Amsterdam on a bicycle.

Janne is another pioneering designer in 3D Printing.

3D Printing in Medicine.

3D Printed Guns.

Interview with 3D Scanning pioneer Michael Raphael.

3D Printers in the classroom, panacea or not?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, what is happening now?

We’re all going to live forever with bioprinting.

The first episode: Beyond PLA.

 

The post 3DPOD Episode 25: Velo3D, Knust-Godwin, and 3D printing in the Oil & Gas industry appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Duncan Machine Products 3D printing oil & gas components with VELO3D

VELO3D, a Californian metal 3D printer manufacturer, has announced plans to work with Duncan Machine Products, an Oklahoma-based precision machining company. As a supplier to oil and gas and aerospace industries, Duncan Machine Products (DMP) will use metal additive manufacturing to both improve part performance and reduce lead times. DMP has selected VELO3D’s Sapphire printer […]

VELO3D and Honeywell to qualify Sappire 3D printer for aerospace

VELO3D, a Californian metal 3D printer manufacturer, has announced a partnership with Honeywell Aerospace to qualify VELO3D’s Sapphire 3D printer for use in the production of components for aerospace applications. The qualification process will determine the viability of the Sapphire 3D printer as a manufacturing system for 3D printing aircraft components. As the aerospace division […]