North America’s annual Rapid event has for 27 years been the region’s leading exhibition on Rapid Prototyping and Additive Manufacturing technologies. This year’s event, Rapid + TCT 2017, took place in Pittsburgh from May 8-11 and attracted a record 6,000 attendees from more than 45 countries. Metal AM magazine’s Emily-Jo Hopson attended the event and reports on a theme that is becoming ever more important to the industry as it looks towards new markets – affordability and accessibility [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 2017]
... Read more »
X-ray Computed Tomography (micro CT) is just one option for the inspection of metal AM parts. Other options include using eddy current, ultrasonic technology, white-light interferometry and non-interferometric optics. However, given recent developments, it is micro CT that has the most potential in view of its unique capability for the inspection of complex internal structures and geometries without destroying the part. The capabilities of this inspection method are presented by Andrew Ramsey and Herminso Villarraga-Gomez of Nikon Metrology Inc. [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 2017]
... Read more »
In January this year Markforged Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, announced its Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing (ADAM) process along with the Metal X production system. The company is more widely known for its successful development of composite printing technology, introduced in 2014. In the following report Ian Campbell and Terry Wohlers discuss ‘indirect’ metal AM systems and outline the advantages and disadvantages of such systems in relation to commercial production [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 2017]
... Read more »
There is a growing recognition that software can play a vital role in determining the success or failure of Additive Manufacturing within an organisation. As Autodesk’s Michael Gouge and Pan Michaleris explain, metal AM is about far more than having the right machine or specifying the right material. Dedicated AM software can today quickly and accurately simulate distortion in metal AM processes, significantly reducing build failure rates, minimising the associated economic impact and contributing to the enhancement of the technology’s reputation amongst end-users [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
Materialise NV, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has more than 25 years of experience in developing industry-leading software for Additive Manufacturing. The company also operates some of the largest AM factories in Europe, including a metal AM facility in Bremen, Germany. Kirsten Van Praet reveals how the latest release of the company’s Materialise Magics suite can help users achieve higher levels of AM production success through advanced part orientation and support solutions. Key advantages of the metal AM process are also reviewed through a case study and a number of application examples [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
EOS GmbH, based in Krailling, near Munich, has long been recognised as a leader in powder bed Additive Manufacturing technologies for both metals and plastics. The launch of its Additive Minds training and consultancy service, however, represents a significant expansion of the support that the company can offer to those entering the industry. Nick Williams talks to EOS’s Güngör Kara, Director of Global Application & Consulting, on the evolution of the metal AM industry and the changing approach that customers are taking to implement the technology [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
Bottle openers manufactured by metal Additive Manufacturing have become a popular promotional gift, with a variety of designs produced by AM technology suppliers. In the first of a new series of design oriented articles for Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine, Olaf Diegel and Terry Wohlers reveal how these products effectively demonstrate several key concepts that designers need to understand in the development of parts for production by metal AM [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
Additive Manufacturing promises huge benefits for industry, but exploiting these in practice can prove difficult. For example, although truss-like component forms will often be found to be much more structurally efficient than traditional forms, identifying these has thus far been laborious and time-consuming. However, a new optimisation approach means that engineers can now directly identify optimised truss forms for AM components, saving time and effort. Prof. Matthew Gilbert of LimitState and the Advanced Additive Manufacturing (AdAM) Centre at the University of Sheffield outlines the technology and its application [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
At the World PM2016 Congress, held in Hamburg, Germany, 9-13 October, 2016, two papers discussed the potential for the replacement of gas-atomised powders with water-atomised powders as the raw material for Selective Laser Melting of different alloy types. Dr David Whittaker reports on the work undertaken to assess the viability of the water atomisation process for these materials which could, in turn, offer significant cost savings [First published in Metal AM Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring 2017]
... Read more »
Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine was recently invited to visit the GKN Aerospace facility at Filton, Bristol, UK, to discover the business’s global development activities in Additive Manufacturing (AM) and to view the company’s on-site AM centre. Dr Robert Sharman, Head of Additive Manufacturing at GKN Aerospace, and Tim Hope, Manager of the Additive Manufacturing Centre at Filton, hosted the visit and outlined the company’s current activities and future aspirations in the field of AM for aerospace applications [First published in Metal AM Vol. 2 No. 4, Winter 2016]
... Read more »
One of the most promising aspects of Additive Manufacturing is the design freedom it enables. One manifestation of this design freedom lies in our ability to manufacture cellular structures such as lattices and honeycombs. Implementing cellular structures with AM, however, poses a range of design and manufacturing challenges. In this article Dr Dhruv Bhate, from Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, Inc. (PADT), focuses on a key area connecting design and manufacturing to final part implementation – the mechanical behaviour of these structures and the challenges and approaches to developing a reliable way to predict it [First published in Metal AM Vol. 2 No. 4, Winter 2016]
... Read more »
Additive Manufacturing gives industrial designers the freedom to create ever more complex and customised products. However, with the increasing adoption of the technology by sectors such as aerospace, where product failure can have catastrophic consequences, component verification is becoming a critical issue. In the following article Dr Chris Hole, from the UK’s TTP Group plc, reviews the challenges of verification in an industry that is associated with low volume runs of complex, often highly customised components with sophisticated hidden internal structures [First published in Metal AM Vol. 2 No. 4, Winter 2016]
... Read more »
Join our community