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AMFG Publishes Additive Manufacturing Landscape Report 2020: Breaking Down the Industry and Looking at the Future

Today, London-based company AMFG, which provides MES and workflow software for industrial additive manufacturing (AM) that helps companies streamline and manage their production workflows, has released the second edition of its annual Additive Manufacturing Landscape report and infographic. Since the first report was published in April of 2019, there have been some big changes in the AM industry, including new materials and technologies, investors and companies, and new applications – all of which are strong indicators that the sector is continuing to move towards greater industrialization.

“While the start of 2020 has ushered much uncertainty globally, the progress within the 3D printing industry shows no signs of slowing down,” said Keyvan Karimi, the CEO of AMFG. “In these extraordinary times, we are witnessing the continued maturation of 3D printing into an industrialised technology, driving digital transformation.”

The Additive Manufacturing Landscape 2020 edition provides some very important insights into the current AM market, breaking down the current landscape of the technology and providing industry stakeholders and manufacturing companies with some meaningful and shrewd observations regarding the trends that are molding the industry, both this year and into the future.

“In a time of global need, 3D printing is playing a key role in demonstrating its ability to respond to the need for on-demand production and help alleviate supply chain disruption,” the report’s Executive Summary states. “In addition to external factors, new players continue to enter the AM market, while acquisitions and partnerships continue to flurry across the industry.”

AMFG has customers across a range of industries in over 25 countries, and, so, has a breadth of experience to draw from in compiling this report. A total of 231 organizations were included in the 2020 landscape’s infographic, shown above, with hardware, materials, post-processing, and materials companies all included. However, as this report focuses on the industrial side of the industry, consumer 3D printing companies were not included.

The report, running 27 pages, breaks down the 2020 AM landscape, stating that the major “several factors driving the industry’s growth” include users focusing on establishing clear AM applications and the fact that the technology is now part of the broader trend of digitization in the manufacturing world. It also offers a look at the trends expected to come in 2021, and discusses some of the many milestones that occurred in 2019, such as:

the launch of Jabil’s Materials Innovation Center
the announcement that Orbex had produced the largest single-piece metal rocket engine
the new 5200 series of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers
Carbon’s major investments
Angel Trains and Stratasys partnering to 3D print components for passenger trains
the collaboration between Made In Space and CELLINK to develop bioprinting technology for space.

HP’s industrial Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D Printing Solution (Image: HP)

The white paper covers insights regarding the major segments within the industry, with an entire section just for AM service providers and online platforms. Additive Manufacturing Landscape 2020 takes a look at the rate of 3D printing adoption all over the world, from North America and the Asia-Pacific region to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and features some expert observations from Joseph Crabtree, the CEO of Additive Manufacturing Technologies and Scott Dunham, the Vice President of Research at SmarTech Analysis.

Scott Dunham at Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2020 (Photo: Sarah Saunders for 3DPrint.com)

“Based on our tracking and models, 2019 was the lowest growth total across the board of any year since I started providing consulting and research services to the additive community back in 2012,” Dunham said. “But while I don’t anticipate that any markets will be totally immune from the litany of negative impacts of COVID-19, I can see much of the additive manufacturing market actually coming out of this for the better.”

Some of the major points that the report makes include that the industry’s largest segment is metal machines, which make up 22.5 percent of the overall AM landscape, and hardware, at 56 percent, is the largest category. This category has a new segment this year in composite 3D printers, which are often niche, but have the potential to grow into a more profitable market.

Additionally, the white paper states that an estimated $1.1 billion worth of investments were made last year in 77 early-stage AM companies, with 3D printer manufacturers receiving the largest piece of the funding pie. Another important point stated in the report is that connectivity and collaboration will continue to be vital in helping the fragmented additive manufacturing industry consolidate into a more unified front.

To learn more, you can check out the entire Additive Manufacturing Landscape 2020 here, and you can also find a link to the report on our White Paper page.

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Support Structures: The Need, Impact, and Elimination Strategies

A Q&A with David Bentley, Protolabs

Digital manufacturing leader Protolabs has invested heavily in additive manufacturing equipment, with a concentration in laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF) technology. The company recently purchased their first Sapphire metal AM machine from Velo3D to explore its advanced SupportFree capabilities.

Since the earliest days of additive manufacturing (AM), support structures have been a nuisance, impedance, or problem. Whether printing with plastics or metals, very few AM technologies have been able to avoid building parts without them. The need for support structures adds unwanted challenges when designing them, printing them, and removing them.

Presently, nearly all metal AM systems based on the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) class of technology have the requirement for support structures to be added to parts. Generally, these AM processes require supports on all downfacing surfaces that are printed at an angle of less than 45 degrees from the horizontal plane, which is established by the build plate.

David Bentley, senior manufacturing engineer for 3D printed metals at Protolabs, responded to a recent Q&A with some insights into when support structures have the most impact, how elimination translates to benefits, and the best use cases.

Q: How does eliminating support structures impact turnaround time and cost reduction for Protolabs?

Bentley: Eliminating support structures certainly reduces lead time and decreases the expense of printing. Over 95% of the parts that I see in my role require support removal. Considering the resources needed to remove those supports and the associated costs, there’s certainly a business case for cost savings and labor savings. But, after discovering the full impact of a support-less metal AM process, the most compelling reason was that there are some big, high-value parts that simply can’t be produced without a support-less process. Our aerospace customers are really excited about Velo3D’s integrated solution, because it’s the complete package: good parts, good parameters, repeatability and comprehensive tracking and reporting of what’s going on through the process. And for Proto Labs, expanding into the aerospace industry is really interesting so having this advanced technology helps us serve that customer base.

An impeller is an example of a part design that has not been producible additively without major modifications to the design to facilitate support structure removal. By eliminating support structures throughout the interior, metal AM now has a strong business case for impellers, and many more part categories. Photo Credit: Velo3D

Q: How does eliminating support structures lead to quality improvement?

Bentley: Anybody who is experienced with metal AM systems has seen firsthand that support elimination improves part quality. Those that have not been exposed to the metal AM workflow may not appreciate that support structures have a significant, and very visible, effect.

When you have supported surfaces, part aesthetics are compromised after you remove the supports. There is the aspect of having to do the work to remove the supports, but there’s also the quality to consider. If you can have more surfaces that are untouched, you are just going to have a better part. And that’s something that I think Proto Labs really values. We want to have the best-looking parts out there.

Angles below 45 degrees require support structures to ensure stability of the part during the printing process. As the angle decreases, the downward-facing surface becomes rougher and eventually will fail if the angle is reduced too far. Photo Credit: Protolabs

For example, one of our customers has a requirement for consistent surface finish all the way up, and their part has some angles a bit below 45 degrees that would usually require support. These surfaces needed to be consistent with those on unsupported side walls. This was only possible with the elimination of support structures.

Q: How does eliminating support structures enable you to print parts you couldn’t before?

Bentley: The best part candidates are ones with inlets, outlets, and manifold-like structures between these points of accessibility. Examples include shrouded impellers, heat exchangers, and manifolds; essentially anything with complex internal passageways. Support removal can be difficult, impractical, and even impossible due to the lack of accessibility. A lot of those parts are still manufactured via traditional methods. Support-reducing technology really opens up the ability to print those types of designs with much less risk.

Eliminating support structures in AM provides geometric enablement, enabling the printing of parts that would typically fail in the LPBF process. Parts with characteristics of high aspect ratio, steep overhangs, and complex internal passageways are all good candidates. Photo Credit: Velo3D

Also, the unique non-contact recoating technology of the Sapphire machine we’ve just purchased allows you to pretty much build a half-a-millimeter stick that is fourteen inches tall. We don’t have to worry about any height to width ratio anymore. That type of geometry would typically fail in the LPBF process.

David Bentley was one of the six experts that Todd Grimm interviewed for his whitepaper titled “The Business Impact of a Support-Less Process for Metal AM.” To learn more about his insights and experiences with a support-less process, please download the whitepaper here.

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From design to reality: Windform® Composite Materials to go beyond 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing is evolving very quickly, powering the development of innovative, lightweight applications.

Energica Ego running prototype with several 3D printed parts in Windform® composite materials (starting point) and Energica Ego electric motorcycle homologated for street use (present day)

This growth has a major reason: advances in additive materials. According to many 2019 reports, the number of materials available for AM has more than doubled in the past five years, and the rules of manufacturing have been rewritten as the technical capabilities of these polymers met up with the opportunities that 3D printing offers in term of product development and low-volume parts production. Materials for professional 3D printing are completely changing traditional production schemes.

Amongst the most known and long-running high performance materials on market, there are Windform® TOP LINE range of Carbon or Glass fiber reinforced composite materials created by Italy-based CRP Technology.

Windform® TOP LINE composite materials are for selective laser sintering (SLS), an additive manufacturing technique that uses a laser as the power source to sinter powdered material from a 3D model.

Windform® TOP LINE are designed to offer full range of options, possibilities and features, from excellent thermal properties to resistance to high temperature, from high stiffness and excellent strength to reduced weight, just to name a few.

Eva EsseEsse9 3D printed terminal cover in Glass-fiber filled composite material Windform® LX 3.0 and 3D printed chain slider in Glass-fiber filled composite material Windform® GT

Examples concerning the wide range of uses of high performance composite materials and professional 3D printing, comes from Energica Motor Company, first Italian manufacturer of super-sport electric motorcycles and single manufacturer for FIM Enel MotoE World Cup.

Long-term technological partnership with CRP Technology enabled Energica to be on the market quickly, fueling innovation, accelerating the prototyping and product development phase.

All Energica motorcycles models currently on the market were created and engineered through the support of CRP Technology: its innovative and avant-garde solutions in the field of additive manufacturing technology have made Energica a unique model throughout the world.

“We relied on CRP Technology and their 3D printing department as they have the right composite material to meet every demand, especially for a project as complex as Energica electric motorcycles. I’m not referring to an ordinary motorcycle, but a high-voltage, high power electric motorcycle that has special needs. CRP Technology proved to be the right partner to support customers in their challenge,” explains Energica Motor Company CTO, Giampiero Testoni.

Eva EsseEsse9 3D printed water pump support realized in Windform® RL thermoplastic elastomer material for 3D printing

From the R&D and testing phases to pre-series, Energica motorcycles have been mounting many functional components 3D printed by CRP Technology.

Let’s consider the first model ever, Energica Ego which is “the most powerful and sophisticated electric motorcycle homologated for street use anywhere in the world” (from Energica website).

In the first prototype phase, several components of Energica Ego motorcycle such as aerodynamic parts, fairings, front and rear fenders, tail, were made by CRP Technology via professional 3D printing using Windform® XT 2.0 Carbon-fiber filled composite material from CRP Technology’s TOP-LINE range of high performance materials.

Dashboard support, rear mirrors and front fairing were made in Windform® SP Carbon fiber filled composite material.

Windform® TOP-LINE are production-grade materials. Their use is not limited to the prototype phase, but also short production runs. Let’s see some examples: Windform® XT 2.0 is nowadays used to produce the frontlight cover on the Energica Ego motorcycles currently on the market.

Eva EsseEsse9 3D printed terminal cover and 3D printed sprocket cover both in Glass-fiber filled composite material Windform® LX 3.0

This component isn’t the only one that CRP Technology is manufacturing for the Energica motorcycles that get to the world market: CRP Technology produces the electric motor terminal cover (for Energica Ego, Energica Eva EsseEsse9 motorcycles), turn signal indicators, sprocket cover (both for Energica Ego, Energica Eva EsseEsse9). These components are manufactured via selective laser sintering using Windform® LX 3.0 Glass-fiber filled composite TOP-LINE material.

The chain slider (for both Energica Ego, Energica Eva EsseEsse9) is manufactured by CRP Technology using the other Glass-fiber filled composite material from the TOP-LINE family: Windform® GT.

The water pump-support (for Energica Ego, Energica Eva EsseEsse9 motorcycles) is manufactured by CRP Technology in Windform® RL thermoplastic elastomer material for SLS.

CRP Technology partnered with Energica even on the development and construction of Ego Corsa, Energica’s electric racebike for the FIM Enel MotoE World Cup which is derived from the street-legal motorcycle Energica Ego.

Energica Ego running prototype drives on the road: 3D printed dashboard support, rear mirrors, front fairings manufactured in Carbon fiber filled composite material Windform® SP

A first preview: Some recent components inside the Ego Corsa’s new battery are 3D printed using Windform® FR2, the newest and disruptive material from the Windform® TOP-LINE range. It is the first composite material for 3D printing which is Glass fiber-filled and flame retardant, FAR 25.853 and UL94 HB compliant.

The massive use of high quality 3D printing allows to fine tune the style (e.g. fairing) and, at the same time, allows to carry out specific test rides on the road.

This prerogative is not limited to the Automotive and Motorsports industry, as it is viable in all advanced sectors.

Learn more in CRP Technology’s white paper, available for download here.

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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.

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Free 3D Systems Whitepaper Discusses Scalable, Digital Molding Process and Figure 4 3D Printing

Injection molding was invented nearly 150 years ago, and while the manufacturing process has been improved several times over the years, something that hasn’t changed about the technology is its need for tooling, which can take weeks and even months to complete. Digital molding is a scalable 3D printing process that can increase the speed and simplicity of producing plastic parts, allowing designs to move from CAD to manufacturing without the use of tooling, and can make parts too complex for injection molding to handle.

This disruptive technology – a good alternative for low-volume plastic part production – is also the focus of the latest whitepaper by 3D Systems. The company’s tool-less digital molding is backed by its configurable, modular Figure 4 manufacturing process, making it possible to facilitate part design iterations on the spot and increase product transitions without retooling.

“This paper outlines the evolution of digital molding, explains how it works, details benefits for manufacturers, reveals business drivers for the technology, and provides perspectives from an industry expert,” 3D Systems writes. “Cost and time savings claims are documented by benchmarks that demonstrate the performance of digital molding versus traditional injection molding.”

Chuck Hull with his 1984 patent that inspired the Figure 4.

Figure 4 technology can manufacture parts out of hybrid materials that are biocompatible and durable, and feature elastomeric properties and high temperature deflection. The process uses arrays of manufacturing modules, serviced by robotics, to rapidly output a finished geometry; downstream workflows are also used to optimize throughput, and the Figure 4’s processing speed “enables use of reactive plastic resins with short vat lives, leading to tough, functional parts such as those used in thermoplastic applications.”

The Figure 4 SLA configuration was patented by 3D Systems’ co-founder Chuck Hull 30 years ago, when the technological advancements he needed to make the process a reality were not yet available. But progress in advanced robotics systems, continued SLA and materials advancement, digital texturing, CAD/CAM software that enables 3D design, and higher speed in processing raw materials in the vat have led to the technology’s current digital molding process.

“The digital molding process invented by 3D Systems is comprised of discrete modules for every step required in direct 3D production. Each stage is automated, reducing the need for human intervention. Following input of the digital benchmarking vent file, the first part was produced within 92 minutes, followed by additional vents at rates equivalent to one recurring unit every 95 seconds,” 3D Systems wrote in its whitepaper.

“The Figure 4 technology that drives digital molding comprises an array of super-fast membrane micro-DLP (Digital Light Processing) printers. The array enables the digital molding process to take advantage of parallel processing efficiencies. Printers within the array are called “engines,” and each one is extremely fast at producing physical objects. So fast, in fact, that 3D Systems characterizes the process as a motion or velocity. Depending on the geometry and material, a 3D object can be pulled from a 2D plane at speeds measured in millimeters per minute.”

3D Systems’ Figure 4

Robotic arms that move the parts through each process step allow for streaming parts production, and digital inspection can also be integrated into the Figure 4 modules.

There are many benefits to digital molding technology, such as lower costs, more efficient part customization, greater part complexity, no minimum order quantity or batching, no more physical storage issues, and because there’s no waiting for tooling, production can start right away. This means more flexibility, and multiple products can also be created at the same time. Additionally, digital molding configurations complement existing production methods used on the shop floor.

“The advantage of digital molding is that it gets rid of tooling. Design for digital molding needs to address functionality only, not draft angles, undercuts, side inserts and other features required for injection molding. As compared to the several weeks it takes for the initial design of a textured injection molded part, digital molding can be done in a matter of hours,” 3D Systems stated in the whitepaper.

The whitepaper also discusses the implications of digital molding on cost and Product Lifecycle Management, in addition to revealing the results of its benchmarking study that compared the design and production of an automotive vent using traditional injection molding versus digital molding. Perspective from industry expert Tim Shinbara, vice president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), was also shared.

Figure 4 Direct 3D Production vs. Injection Molding

“Digital molding, as implemented in high-speed, modular and massively scalable configurations by 3D Systems, has the immediate potential to be a disruptive alternative to traditional injection molding for low volume plastic part production,” the 3D Systems whitepaper concluded.

You can download the 3D Systems whitepaper for free on the 3DPrint.com website.

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Fabrisonic’s Whitepaper on Metal 3D Printed Heat Exchangers for NASA JPL

Founded in 2011, Ohio-based Fabrisonic uses its hybrid metal 3D printing process, called Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM), to merge layers of metal foil together in a solid-state thanks to high frequency ultrasonic vibrations. Fabrisonic mounts its patented hybrid 3D printing process on traditional CNC equipment – first, an object is built up with 3D printing, and then smoothed down with CNC machining by milling to the required size and surface. No melting is required, as Fabrisonic’s 6′ x 6′ x 3′ UAM 3D printer can “scrub” metal foil and build it up into the final net shape, and then machines down whatever else is needed at the end of the process.

Last year, Fabrisonic’s president and CEO Mark Norfolk told 3DPrint.com at RAPID 2017 that about 30% of the company’s business was in heat exchangers, as the manufacturing process is a lot smoother thanks to its low-temperature metal 3D printing technology – no higher than 250°F. UAM makes it possible to join metal alloys that are notoriously difficult to weld, such as 1000, 2000, 6000, and 7000 series copper, aluminum, stainless steel, and exotic refractory metals…all of which are used in the heat management systems at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

[Image: Sarah Saunders]

Justin Wenning, a production engineer at Fabrisonic I spoke with at RAPID 2018 this spring, recently published a whitepaper, titled “Space-grade 3D Metal Printed Heat Exchangers,” that takes a deep dive into the work he’s been doing with Fabrisonic’s 3D printed metal heat exchangers for aerospace applications. The company participated in a two-year program at JPL, and 3D printed a new class of metal heat exchanger that passed JPL’s intense testing.

“For every interplanetary mission that JPL oversees, numerous critical heat exchanger devices are required to regulate the sensitive, on-board electronic systems from temperature extremes experienced in space. These devices can be small (3 in. x 3 in.) or large (3 ft. x 3 ft.),” Wenning wrote in his whitepaper.

For many years, NASA glued bent metal tubes along, and fastened them to, the exterior of a space vehicle’s structure, which weigh a lot and do not perform well thermally. These devices were also assembled and quality-checked by hand, so production could take up to nine months. At the end of its partnership with NASA JPL, Fabrisonic showed that 3D printing can be used to improve upon all of these issues.

Evolution of UAM 3D printed heat exchanger with NASA JPL. Samples began small to
evaluate benchmark burst and helium leak performance in 2014. The team then began focusing on technology scale-up and system integration. The culmination is a full-size, functioning heat exchanger.

The UAM system does not use any controlled atmospheres, so the part size and design range greatly. NASA JPL first started working with Fabrisonic in 2014, thanks to a JPL Spontaneous R&TD grant, to look into small, simple UAM heat exchangers, before moving up to larger structures in 2015 through NASA’s SBIR/STTR program. The result was a full-size, functioning heat exchanger prototype for the Mars 2020 rover mission that was fabricated in far less time, with a 30% lighter mass.

The 3D printed heat exchangers that Fabrisonic creates involve building pumped-fluid loop tubing right into the structure for additional efficiency and robustness, as the company’s UAM process can also be used to mix and match materials, like copper and aluminum.

UAM starts with a metal substrate, and material is then added to and removed from the structure to make the device’s internal passageways. To help with material deposition, a proprietary water-soluble support structure is added, before adding strength and features, respectively, with optional heat-treating and final CNC machining. Fabrisonic then added SS tubing, which helps with fitting attachments, to the aluminum structure with friction welding for NASA JPL’s development parts.

NASA JPL also needed to raise its technology readiness level (TRL) from 3 to near 6. During the program, Fabrisonic and its EWI affiliate 3D printed and tested dozens of different heat exchangers, in order to develop a final prototype for ground-based qualification standards based off of NASA JPL’s existing heat exchangers.

UAM process steps for fabricating NASA JPL heat exchangers.

The NASA JPL TRL 6 qualification included several tests, including proof pressure testing to 330 PSI, two-day controlled thermal cycling from -184°F to 248°F in an environmental chamber, and vibration testing on an electrodynamic shaker, which simulated a common day rocket launch (1-10 G) in all orientations while attached to a dummy mass at the same time for imitating a normal hosted electronics package. Other tests included:

Burst testing greater that 2500 PSI with a 0.030-in. wall thickness
Helium leak testing to less than 1×10-8 cc/s GHe between thermal and vibration testing
Full 3D CT scans of each specimen before and after mechanical testing, in order to evaluate void density and any accumulated testing damage

JPL project with copper embedded. [Image: Sarah Saunders]

Each of the three UAM 3D printed heat exchanger components passed the qualifications, which raised the technology to its goal of near TRL 6. To corroborate the results, NASA JPL scientists completed more helium leak and burst testing, along with thermal shock testing on certain devices; this involved submerging certain heat exchangers in liquid nitrogen (-320°F) to test their bi-metallic friction welded stainless steel aluminum joints. According to the whitepaper, the joints were “robust and helium leak tight” post-submersion.

Fabrisonic’s new class of 3D printed metal heat exchanger, developed under NASA JPL, has uses in other commercial production applications, which the company is currently exploring.

“For instance, the lack of melting in UAM enables the integration of multiple metals into one build since high temperature chemistry is avoided,” Wenning wrote. “Thus, copper may be integrated as a heat spreader in critical locations improving thermal performance with a small weight penalty.”

Because of its low temperatures, UAM can also be used to embed sensors into solid metal. In 3D printed heat exchangers, sensors could help monitor system health and improve control by being integrated in important locations.

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[Images: Fabrisonic unless otherwise noted]