News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Desktop Metal has made its third announcement of the month at Formnext today: the launch of “the world’s first metal binder jetting system designed for machine shops.” The new additive manufacturing system is fittingly called the Shop System and is available starting at $150,000.
Accucode, an American reseller of Nano Dimension’s electronics 3D printing technology, is opening the world’s first service bureau for 3D printing electronics. To support the new service, the company has also purchased a second DragonFly LDM 3D printer from Nano Dimension.
In addition to expanding its Arcam additive manufacturing portfolio at Formnext with the launch of the Arcam EBM Spectra L and an automated powder recovery system, GE Additive has unveiled the new Concept Laser M2 Series 5 system. The new 3D printer, the latest generation of its popular M2 system, integrates features that enable increased part quality and consistency, better productivity and enhanced usability and maintainability.
It is November 19th, 2019 and the fifth edition of Formnext is off to a promising start. 3dpbm’s team on the ground will be speaking with various industry partners and experts to learn about new technologies and releases as well as tracking this year’s Formnext trends. Playing a more omniscient role, I will be covering news from across the industry and compiling this year’s top stories here for you.
Royal DSM, Chromatic 3D Materials and German RepRap (GRR) have formed a partnership to develop high-performance, flexible solutions for 3D printing using Chromatic’s line of FlexTune polyurethane (PU) materials. Together, the companies will create PU-based 3D printed parts for the automotive, rail and footwear sectors, to name a few.
After acquiring a 30% stake in Italian metal AM service bureau BEAMIT, Swedish company Sandvik and its Italian partner are showcasing a combined metal powder and AM offering at Formnext. At their joint Sandvik-BEAMIT booth, the companies are displaying a range of Sandvik’s Osprey metal powders and customer use-cases, as well as introducing new nickel-based superalloys and titanium powders.
BigRep, the German large-scale 3D printing specialist, has brought a 3D printed “pod car” named LOCI to Formnext 2019. The autonomous electric car demonstrates the new BigRep Part DNA technology, which embeds NFC chips into 3D printed parts.
NASA has selected nScrypt’s 3Dn tabletop Factory in a Tool (FiT) for printing 3D print and 3D contour print silver and other conductive materials to support intelligent flight systems research at NASA’s Langley Research Center (LARC) in Hampton, Virginia. The system will be used specifically, for the creation of 3D antennas, sensors, and transmission lines on 3D surfaces at different angles. Creating 3D antennas and printing conformal antennas on non-flat surfaces are the top objectives of the NASA research project.
As Formnext opens the doors of its 2019 edition, we are excited to be reporting on all product launches, partnerships and new developments in the additive manufacturing industry. This morning, one of the first announcements of the day comes from Markforged, which is introducing a new Turbo Print feature for its X7 carbon fiber 3D printer. The new feature enables users to double the X7’s print speed without compromising on surface quality.
AREVO, a Silicon Valley company specializing in composite 3D printing, has enlisted AGC, Inc. as a strategic business partner in Japan. Through the collaboration, AGC will provide manufacturing-as-a-service (MaaS) to Japanese customers for the on-demand production of lightweight, 3D printed composite parts. The new service will leverage AREVO’s Aqua platform, an industrial continuous fiber 3D printing system with a build volume of up to one cubic meter.