News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Stratasys is aiming to simplify the design-to-3D print process for designers and engineers by eliminating the CAD-to-STL conversion roadblock in its GrabCAD Print software platform. The 3D printing giant says the software’s new Advanced FDM feature will enable users to streamline design-to-print workflows, while simultaneously improving production times and material usage, in an intuitive way.
Lithoz, the Austrian leader in 3D printed ceramics, is not a company known for its aggressive marketing and communication efforts. Its high-level LCM ceramics photopolymerization AM technology is making huge steps forward, however, we don’t often hear about it. That’s, well, because the company does not tell many people about its progress. Even after Lithoz launched the disruptive, production-ready Cerafab S65, we only learned about its progress in the market when a small Australian company – 3rdAxis – purchased one.
With yesterday’s day-long online seminar on what the company’s founders have come to define as Additive Manufacturing 2.0, Dekstop Metal officialized the commercialization of its Shop System with clients in North America, EMEA and APAC. Does this mean the much-awaited revolution of metal binder jetting for production is finally here? Probably. Let’s look at the facts.
Ever since users and groups of people began using 3D printing to make prosthetics more affordable we’ve been waiting for a time when these easily iterable devices would evolve from prosthetic limbs into bionic limbs. The startup Open Bionics was likely founded upon this objective and over time it has come closer to achieving it. With the release of the official Metal Gear Solid prosthetic/bionic version of its Hero Arm, it’s definitely getting closer.
HP’s additive manufacturing division and Cobra Golf have partnered to create the KING Supersport-35 putter. This putter, two years in the making, was a collaborative effort to produce a 3D printed golf club with exceptional balance and ideal blade shape. The club sports a metal lattice structure to optimize weight distribution along the body and the blade is designed to deliver the highest-possible MOI. The KING Supersport-35 also features a face insert designed in partnership with SIK Golf, which uses SIK’s patented Descending Loft Technology (DLT) to create the most consistent and accurate roll on every putt.
Senvol was awarded a United States Army Research Laboratory (ARL) contract to apply its machine learning software, Senvol ML, to rapidly design additive manufactured parts. The software allows the Army to qualify parts across AM processes and platforms, thus reducing the Army’s supply chain lead time. By leveraging ML algorithms, the qualification plan will also be notably more efficient than more traditional qualification plans (i.e. require fewer builds and less time).
New York-based design firm Studio Bitonti has become known in the additive manufacturing industry for its boundary-pushing designs that emphasize innovation, aesthetics and function—often in relation to the human body. The studio’s founder, Francis Bitonti even designed some of the most notable 3D printed fashion pieces over the years—including Dita von Teese’s iconic 3D printed dress.
Industrial binder jetting hardware OEM ExOne is introducing a new desanding station for use with the industrial S-Max and S-Max Pro sand 3D printers, the company’s most popular family of printers.
Aectual Studios, a platform for mass-customizable building and interior products, announced a new product line that is entirely circular and made of plant-based plastic, with a striking matte, ceramic-like appearance. The company designed a selection of 3D-printed room dividers and safety screens to offer a solution to the ad-hoc disposable plastic screens that clutter current work environments. Over time, screens can be shredded and reprinted into new panels, planters, or bookcases. The products were unveiled during Dubai Design Week, in the new Aectual Dubai Showroom.
MakerBot is launching METHOD X, a new manufacturing workstation engineered to challenge traditional manufacturing with real ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) material for durable parts, a 100°C chamber, and Stratasys SR-30 soluble supports. METHOD X can withstand up to 15°C higher temperatures, is up to 26% more rigid, and up to 12% stronger than modified ABS formulations used on desktop 3D printer competitors. MakerBot assures that Precision ABS parts printed on METHOD X have no warping or cracking that typically occurs when printing modified ABS on desktop platforms without heated chambers.