The growth of metal Additive Manufacturing has been held back, believes Oqton’s Dr Ben Schrauwen, by a specific set of challenges: repeatability, cost, and the need for a high level of expertise. This article considers how next-generation software solutions that leverage Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing, and hybrid modelling are improving metal AM workflows. By addressing all three challenges, Schrauwen believes that metal AM can achieve faster and deeper adoption, leading to a more efficient and innovative future.
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Metal Additive Manufacturing is on a long journey, from the early technology concepts of several decades ago to its current usage in a relatively small number of markets with specific, highly-specialised application requirements. If the journey leads to the widespread adoption of metal AM technology by industry, can we ask, ‘Are we there yet?’ Dr Maximilian Munsch, Dr Eric Wycisk, and Matthias Schmidt-Lehr, from strategy consultancy and AM market analysis specialist AMPOWER, delve into the evolution, current status, and future prospects for the industry, seeking to uncover the true extent of its potential.
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Dr Adrian Keppler has been an active participant in the AM industry for close on fifteen years. Based on his past experience as the Managing Director, and later CEO, of EOS GmbH, and his current role on the advisory boards of numerous AM startups, Keppler believes that more can, and should, be done to advance industrial applications of AM. Are the industry’s efforts to develop new technologies without perfecting and industrialising existing technologies holding it back? Should the less exciting work of industrialisation be prioritised over the next shiny technology release? Joseph Kowen interviews Keppler for Metal AM magazine.
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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is the world leader in the design and manufacture of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The company is no stranger to AM, with its Additive Design and Manufacturing Center of Excellence being integral to the qualification of more than 300 AM flight components and the installation of more than 10,000 AM parts on its aircraft. Now, it is working to identify and partner with some of the most innovative players in the industry in order to further leverage the capabilities of the technology. Divergent Technologies, the company behind Czinger Vehicles, is one such company. Jeff Kerns reports for Metal AM magazine.
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Kennametal is a particularly interesting company when it comes to the adoption of Additive Manufacturing. It is a dynamic global producer of tooling and industrial materials with sales of $2 billion in 2022, yet its roots are very much in ‘old school’ sinter-based PM processes. It is, therefore, no surprise that the company was an early adopter of AM, leveraging its materials and sintering expertise, as well as its broad customer base, to develop a leading position in the AM of hardmetals and steels. Bernard North, who fortuitously happens to be a past VP Industrial Technology at Kennametal, visited the company’s AM operation and reports for Metal AM magazine.
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A decade ago, the majority of commercial metal Additive Manufacturing machine, materials and application developments took place in Europe and North America. Today, the picture is very different and China in particular has become a leading global player. Clear national strategies, combined with a strong drive to leverage commercial opportunities, have resulted in a powerful and dynamic metal AM industry that is moving rapidly towards self-sufficiency. In this article, Xuesong Pan (Peter), co-founder of China’s 3D printing media company Nanjixiong, reports on recent developments.
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Additive Manufacturing offers the opportunity to transform industrial production. Currently, however, AM components are typically produced in only one material, which in many cases does not allow for full performance utilisation. In this article, Xiaoshuang Li and Arthur Seibel describe, through a heat sink case study, how multi-material design and manufacturing can increase component performance as well as integrate additional functionalities when using the Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) process.
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Thanks to a new generation of compact metal Additive Manufacturing machines optimised for dental laboratories, combined with software improvements and optimised workflows, AM technology is now being more widely implemented in medium- to large-sized dental laboratories. In this article, Stijn Hanssen, Director, Dental Applications & Business Development, 3D Systems, reports on the application of metal AM technology for digital dentistry, reducing labour costs, maximising productivity and providing faster outcomes for patients.
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Three years ago, Metal AM magazine published a widely read article on the use of Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) technology for precious metal jewellery production. Today, the continuing rise of sinter-based AM technologies promises to open up the jewellery sector yet further, with new opportunities for both mass-market production as well as bespoke pieces. Chiara Armbruster, Sonja Kappler, Carlo Burkhardt, Gerald Mitteramskogler and Apollinaria Frydmann offer an overview of this new generation of solutions and the state of the technology. A number of application examples are also presented.
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So much is discovered when it just all goes wrong. From a ‘design-fail-fix’ perspective, it’s expected that developmental components may be pushed to destruction. With rocket engines that operate near the limits of their performance, however, the need to understand the causes of a failure is critical. In the competitive commercial space business there’s a clear advantage not to disclose knowledge gained from such incidents. Thankfully, NASA can share what others cannot. Here, Alison Park, Deputy Technical Fellow, Materials and Additive Manufacturing, and Paul Gradl, Principal Engineer, share insights into one failure.
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The Additive Manufacturing industry is in a state of continual evolution. As one group of processes moves towards widespread adoption, others are being introduced and refined. In such a dynamic environment, how do we define AM, and what does ‘good’ AM look like? This article considers the status quo of conventional manufacturing before comparing key AM processes. Steven Camilleri, Andrew Duguid, Sam Katz and Chris Massar (SPEE3D), Martin McMahon (MAM Solutions), Victor Champagne (US Army Research Laboratory), Ozan Özdemir (Northeastern University), Anthony Naccarelli and Timothy Eden (Penn State), Krishnan Kannoorpatti (Charles Darwin University) and Bruce McLean (University of Sydney) unravel AM’s value metrics.
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A technical session at the World PM2022 Congress & Exhibition, organised by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) and held in Lyon, France, October 9-13, 2022, focused on the corrosion and wear resistance of materials processed using beam-based Additive Manufacturing. This session comprised three papers which looked at ways to improve these properties – both particular pain points for AM’s wider adoption – by way of chemical-mechanical surface polishing, adjusted laser power, and the development of new, wear-resistant alloys for AM. Dr David Whittaker reviews the presented papers.
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