News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
GoPrint3D, a UK-based supplier of 3D printing technologies, is the newest addition to HP’s UK channel partner program and will begin supplying HP’s Jet Fusion 3D printing systems to its network of customers.
Recently, many new 3D software startup companies entered the market offering various solutions mainly for industrial users. It goes from decision-support solutions for better utilization of 3D printing, generative design/topology optimization, to workflow management and parts IP protection. Each of them seems to be focused on specific challenges heavy users face, challenges that will only increase in the foreseeable future as 3D printing moves from prototyping to manufacturing.
Recently acquired by Premium AEROTEC, APWORKS is one of the firms carrying out some of the first and most advanced research on materials and applications for AM, especially in the aerospace segment. Located at the Airbus headquarters close to Munich, the company was Additive Industries’ first customer and has extensively tested the MetalFAB1 Beta system since its installation in March 2016. Now the time has come to scale up.
In Santiago of Chile, Copper3D Inc., the company that develops antimicrobial materials for 3D printing, has partnered with Toylisto, an online platform to turn 2D drawings into 3D printable designs called “Art Toys”. Combining these two technologies, Copper3D and ToyListo developed these antimicrobial 3D printed toys, in a beautiful project that seeks to ease the emotional well-being and recovery of children suffering from complex illnesses and immunosuppression. These children are often placed in clinical isolation and thus have no access to conventional toys, which by their characteristics (porous polymers and complex geometries), harbor a high bacterial burden that can be very dangerous for their health.
For quantum technologies to fulfill their promise, the systems that support them need to shrink. Laurence Coles from Added Scientific, an AM consultancy service which spun off from the University of Nottingham, wrote an article for Physics World (full article here) on how advances in additive manufacturing are bringing miniaturization within reach and heralding a wider revolution in vacuum system design, which could represent a breakthrough for quantum computers.
Mats Beckman, a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, contacted 3dpbm to let us know about his graduation project: the world’s first flexible, compostable menswear outfit created using a 3D printer as well as a 3D pen and heat pressure. The collection was awarded with KADK’s UN Sustainable Development Award.
Musashi Seimitsu Industry, a Japanese automotive manufacturing company, has announced a partnership with battery developer KeraCel to develop and bring-to-market 3D printed solid-state batteries for the automotive sector. As a strategic partner, Musashi will support the accelerated development of KeraCel’s additive manufacturing technology for solid-state batteries in order to scale it for high-volume production.
Indiana-based medical device manufacturer Nexxt Spine has announced that its NEXXT MATRIXX Stand Alone Cervical System has been approved by the FDA, receiving FDA 510(k) clearance. The spinal solution is a stand-alone anterior cervical interbody fusion system manufactured using GE Additive’s Mlab 100R metal 3D printer.
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR) have announced they will be launching a new medical 3D printing clinical data registry in order to collect 3D printing data at the point of clinical care. The registry is expected to launch as a pilot program in autumn 2019 and is expected to bolster the advancement of clinical 3D printing.
After successfully optimizing its design processes for aircraft and motorcycle engines in collaboration with UK-based metal AM company Renishaw, engine manufacturer Cobra Aero has decided to invest in its own AM 400 3D printer. Prior to the investment, Cobra Aero worked in close collaboration with Renishaw to learn about the company’s metal AM process.