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BEAMIT to purchase 15 more machines from SLM Solutions AM Industry

by Business

BEAMIT, Italy’s largest metal additive manufacturing service bureau, has come a long way since 3dpbm staff last visited the company’s AM facilities in 2013. The Fornovo-based firm has grown into one of the largest metal AM factories in Europe and – by extension – worldwide. However, its expansion is not slowing down. In fact it is accelerating with an agreement to purchase 15 Selective Laser Melting machines from SLM Solutions within the next three years. The commitment emphasizes SLM Solutions as the preferred supplier for BEAMIT’s machines.

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Someone 3D printed a life-size teenage Drogon from Games of Thrones 3D Printing Processes

by Consumer

Youtube channel 3D Maker Things, which specializes in very large format and life-size print jobs, just completed a life-size replica of Drogon, the largest of the three dragons from the Game of Thrones series. With an almost three and a half meter wingspan, the print replicates Drogon in his teenage years (you know, when he ran around burning up sheep and the occasional kid) but it is nonetheless an impressive feat. You can see the project taking shape in this video.

Additive manufacturing history in the making as Boeing 777X makes maiden flight with GE9X engines Aerospace

Additive manufacturing history in the making as Boeing 777X makes maiden flight with GE9X engines Aerospace

by Aerospace

Additive manufacturing history was made with the first flight of the Boeing 777X aircraft. That’s because each of the two GE9X engines powering the aircraft is built using over 300 3D printed parts (of which about 80% are the titanium alumide engine blades). These parts were produced by GE teams at Avio Aero in Cameri, Italy and GE’s Additive Technology Center (ATC) in West Chester, Ohio.

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GE, ORNL and PARC granted $1.3M to accelerate 3D part design for turbomachinery Industrial Additive Manufacturing

by Business

GE and partners at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Xerox-owned PARC have been granted over $1.3 million through ARPA-E’s DIFFERENTIATE program. The funding will enable the partners to pursue a research project aimed at reducing design and validation timelines for additive manufacturing by as much as 65%. If successful, the project could influence the adoption of industrial 3D printing technologies for energy systems, as it would effectively make AM faster than many traditional manufacturing processes.

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Researchers look to the human fetus for DfAM inspiration AM Software

by Design

For those in the additive manufacturing industry, it is a well known fact that AM requires different design principles than subtractive manufacturing techniques. Today, many resources in the industry (as well as at a research level) are dedicated to advancing Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), which leverages the design freedom of AM to create parts with new functions and innovative geometries.