Additive Manufacturing

AUG 2017

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING is the magazine devoted to industrial applications of 3D printing and digital layering technology. We cover the promise and the challenges of this technology for making functional tooling and end-use production parts.

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AUGUST 2017 Additive Manufacturing FEATURE / Polymer Additive Manufacturing 38 By Stephanie Hendrixson Exceeding Expectations The sales force at Arizona Home Floors frequently encoun- ters contractors and homeowners who are skeptical that the company's technology can remove flooring without leaving dust behind. One of the tools that makes this claim possible is the DustRam, a chipping hammer accessory developed by company founder Jack King that enables vacuuming while breaking apart tile flooring. Seeing the device in action (and the results it leaves behind) is often what it takes to prove the skeptics wrong. Yet King himself was skeptical when one of the company's engineers suggested 3D printing a DustRam prototype, and then actually using that prototype for testing in the field. "I fully expected that it was going to shatter and break all to piec- es," he says, citing the demanding working conditions of floor demolition and the fact that the original DustRam is made of metal. But to his surprise, that 3D-printed prototype lasted far more than a couple of hours. The nylon device was used in tile removal operations for a full six months before the opening in the nose wore away too much and it had to be discarded. Seeing its success firsthand caused King to view 3D printing differently, and changed the way his company's products are designed and produced. Designing for Dust-Free Demolition King began developing equipment for dust-free tile removal about nine years ago, when the market for new housing construction took a hit and Arizona Home Floors refocused its efforts on remodeling. He found that the products available on the mar- ket were insufficient for dust-free tile removal, adding time and complexity as well as potential health hazards to renovations. In search of a cleaner and faster solution, he began developing his own products, starting with high-pressure lines and manifolds for vacuums. Today Arizona Home Floors sells its products to other contractors, but still uses them in its own renovation business. The DustRam is one of these products. The device fits around the chisel of a Bosch chipping hammer and connects to a heavy-duty vacuum system. The vacuum runs simultaneously with the hammer, immediately pulling in dust for a cleaner work environment and faster flooring removal. The DustRam and vac- uum are part of a package that also includes grinding wheels and shrouds plus debris removal and handling equipment. In addition to tile and stone, the system can be used in the removal of wood flooring, ceramic wall tile and other home construction materials. The original DustRam is made from machined aluminum and S7 tool steel. The manufacturing process entails CNC machining, TIG welding, heat treat and wire EDM; because all of these steps must be outsourced, it takes four or five months to produce a set of 10 or 15 DustRams. The finished accessory weighs 12 pounds and retails for more than $8,000. It is highly effective at capturing dust and rugged enough to help pry up tile during demolition, but is also heavy and difficult to work with for long periods of time. To reduce weight, the company decided to develop a plastic version of the DustRam. Given the expense of designing and man- ufacturing molds, Michael Hadley, lead engineer for DustRam, suggested 3D printing a prototype first. The company turned to Eric Miller, co-owner of Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies (PADT), for help with this task, having previously sourced some 3D-printed Ultem vacuum parts from PADT. (See page 48 for more of PADT's work.) The initial DustRam prototype was 3D printed as a single piece of nylon in 50 hours, and weighed less than 3 pounds. The cost, time and labor savings were significant, but King predicted it wouldn't last even a day in the field. After that prototype survived not just a full day, but months of heavy use, King saw Arizona Home Floors considered buying a mold to produce a plastic version of its DustRam product. But when a prototype proved durable enough to withstand working conditions, the production strategy shifted to 3D printing. Arizona Home Floors developed a plastic version of the DustRam, a chipping hammer accessory that enables dust-free tile removal. A 3D-printed prototype was so successful in use that the company now manufactures low volumes of the product in-house using a Fortus 450mc printer from Stratasys.

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