Additive Manufacturing

FEB 2013

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.

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does not make it possible to graphically validate the build cycle on the control screen before the cycle begins. Occasionally, the operator will spot a simple error in programming only by watching through the machine window as the build cycle starts. Stopping the cycle to correct the error and begin again wastes time. Size and Speed But temporary shortcomings such as this are acceptable, he says. Renishaw is working to refine the machine, in part by learning from Directed's feedback. Additive production manufacturing in metal is so new that all of the machines that do this work are still improving rapidly. Certain limitations are common across most or all of the machines that do this work. According to Fima, the main factor limiting these machines in general is not just build size, but their slow speed within that size. "In metal, the sweet spot for us is producing a part with about the volume of a softball," he says. New customers are often surprised to learn how long it takes to build such a part. The typical additive manufacturing cycle time for a metal part this size is 18 to 20 hours. Part of the reason for the customers' surprise is that additive technology is still often associated with speed. 3D-printing-style technology still carries the label "rapid prototyping"—a term that is doubly questionable. Directed and other companies are proving that this technology is not just The Renishaw machine's flexible blade permits delicate part forms to be made, including parts with thin walls. Directed's examples of parts using this capability are confidential, but this screw helps make the point. It was built vertically on the Renishaw machine, just like this. James Hockey shows the replaceable portion of the soft blade. This blade enables the machine to build delicate structures. about prototyping. Meanwhile, in metal, the technology is not necessarily rapid, either. In additive manufacturing of plastic parts, the same limitations are not so limiting. Directed's plastics machines are much larger, as well as much faster. The company expects additive metal machines to improve in both of these respects as well. For right now, though, the Texas company faces a dilemma. Given the limitations of size and speed, adding one additive metal machine does not add a large amount of production capacity. That's why the company expects to add several such machines, expanding its machine count dramatically. However, even this will fall short of the level of potential opportunity the company sees for this method of production. February 2013 — 13

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