Modern Machine Shop and MoldMaking Technology present ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, a quarterly supplement reporting on the use of additive processes to manufacture functional parts. More at additivemanufacturinginsight.com.
Issue link: https://am.epubxp.com/i/542042
Product News AM Machine Designed to Compete with Injection Molding An additive manufacturing machine in development at the University of Sheffeld's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is intended to compete with con- ventional injection molding for high-volume production. Developers estimate that small components will be printed at a rate of less than 1 sec. per part, depending on size. The additive machine uses high-speed sintering (HSS) to selectively fuse polymer powder layer by layer. The process involves printing layers of infrared-absorbing ink onto a powder bed. Once printed, each layer is exposed to infrared light which heats the powder covered by the ink, causing it to fuse while the rest of the powder remains cool. The machine will be built in the AMRC before installation in the University's Centre for Advanced Addi- tive Manufacturing (AdAM). amrc.co.uk 3D Printing System Enables Fast, Large-Scale Production The Objet1000 Plus 3D Production System from Stratasys offers a build envelope measuring 1,000 × 800 × 500 mm (39" × 31" × 19"), plus accelerated speeds and simple post processing to reduce cost per part. Optimized block movement is said to enable print speeds as much as 40 percent faster over the system's predecessor, and smooth surface fnishes are possible in high-speed mode. According to the company, the system enables mixing ma- terials and part sizes while maintaining precision, and users can choose from more than 100 Stratasys materials for printing. Workfow is identical to smaller PolyJet systems, and the machine is designed to support unattended operation. Applica- tions include aerospace, automotive, medical devices and consumer products manufacturing, including 1:1 scale prototypes, large ergonomic production tools or low volumes of small parts. stratasys.com Collaboration to Create Titanium Powder for Aerospace A new collaborative research program led by GKN Aerospace will develop titanium powder specifcally formulated and blended for additive manufacturing of aerospace components. The titanium powder for net- shape component manufacture (TiPOW) program will develop techniques and equipment to produce the powder consistently, in quantity and at a lower price. The program will also explore effective re-use and recycling of titanium, and study potential applications for the recycled material. The project is backed by the UK's Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and Innovate UK. Consortium partners include UK companies Phoenix Scientifc Industries Ltd., Metalysis and the University of Leeds. The TiPOW program runs alongside another program led by GKN Aerospace and supported by ATI called Horizon (AM), which aims to take promising AM techniques through viable production processes. gknaerospace.com Partnership to Supply Spherical Metal Powders LPW Technology and Metalysis are collaborating to develop an alternative supply chain for clean, spherical tantalum and tungsten powders for quality-critical applications. The partnership combines Metalysis' metal production technology, which produces metal powder directly from oxide using electrolysis, with LPW's spherodization and post processing capability to size and blend high-quality, free-fowing powders directly from the raw material and alloys. LPW will also be responsible for selling the optimized powder. lpwtechnology.com 20— AM Supplement