Additive Manufacturing

NOV 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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TECH TRENDS CATEGORY: T Trends in Additive mtadditive.com 35 By Bonnie Gurney Director – Industry Partnerships AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology "Ben, I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics! There's a great future in plastics. Think about it." This iconic career advice was provided to a very young Dustin Hoffman in 1967's "The Graduate." Fast-forward 50 years, and there's no doubt the one word of advice would be "additive"—except that instead of just plastics, additive manu- facturing now includes titanium and other alloys. There is no doubt about the popularity of the Additive Manufacturing Pavilion at IMTS—The International Manu- facturing Technology Show. Whether or not visitors actively use additive manufacturing in their own operations (yet), a multitude of IMTS 2016 visitors demonstrated an interest in additive manufacturing. "As a job shop, you can see additive as a threat or an op- portunity. Job shops need to embrace and understand additive processes so they can support post-process machining of metal additive products," said Ted Toth, senior technical advisor, Adding More Space for AM at IMTS 2018 Continued on page 40 For IMTS 2018, the Additive Manufacturing Pavilion will move to the West Building and expand to 31 exhibitors. In addition, the West Building will feature an Additive Emerging Technology Center (ETC) and showcase innovations such as the 3D-printed Shelby Cobra. Rosenberger North America. Toth has attended every single IMTS Show since 1974. Joe Elliot, a model maker with Master Lock Company, adds that, "Additive manufacturing…is chang- ing the face of manufacturing as we speak." To meet visitors' growing interest, as well as the demand for increased exhibition space among exhibitors at IMTS 2018, the Additive Manufacturing Pavilion has been relocated to the front of the West Building. "Moving the Additive Manufacturing Pavilion to the West Building enabled us to increase the square footage from 15,900 to 26,600 square feet and accommodate more exhibitors. At IMTS 2018, the pavilion will have 31 exhibitors, up from 21," says Peter R. Eelman, vice president – Exhibitions & Business Development, AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology, the parent organization of IMTS. IMTS 2018 ex- hibitors include GE Additive, 3D Systems, EOS North America, HP, Carbon, Stratasys, ExOne, Mazak and more (see a complete list of exhibitors in the IMTS 2018 Additive Manufacturing Pavilion at ow.ly/6D9l30fgTnT ). "In addition, we can now announce that IMTS 2018 will feature an Additive Emerging Technology Center (ETC) where the Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Labora- tory (ORNL) will demonstrate rapid innovation through addi- tive manufacturing," says Eelman. "The Additive ETC will be in addition to AMT's ETC, which will remain in its original location at the entrance to the North Building." Keeping Current by Looking Ahead Additive manufacturing is a reality for the industrial marketplace. Although it is still maturing, the technology has progressed so far that if visitors ignore 3D printing at IMTS, they do so at the peril of reducing their competitiveness. Andrea Wosel, project manager of C&R; Manufacturing, noted that, "It's amazing how fast the technology moves," as exemplified by the 3D-printed vehi- cles on display. For example, the Shelby Cobra replica at the ETC featured a 25 percent carbon fiber/ ABS composite hood pulled off a mold that took less than six hours to 3D print (see photo). Compare this to traditional mold

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