News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
NASA engineers are consistently achieving innovative breakthroughs with additive manufacturing. Most recently, they tested a 2,400 lbf 3D printed copper rocket thrust chamber with a composite overwrap to determine whether the part had the necessary heat and structural load resistance.
The construction sector has always been very close to the heart of the Belgian BESIX Group and forms the company’s core activities. In recent years, the construction sector has been working hard on catching up with regard to digitization and innovative tools. This technological progress is mainly in the design and design of buildings and structures. By introducing 3D concrete printing via a KUKA KR QUANTEC robot, BESIX Group has now been taking the next steps towards a digital implementation of projects.
AM software company Dyndrite Corporation this week emerged from stealth mode with the release of its Dyndrite Accelerated Geometry Kernel (AGK) and the software’s first application, the Dyndrite Additive Toolkit. The software, marketed as the world’s first fully GPU-native geometry engine, has been in development for three and a half years.
To follow up on the launch of its AlphaEdge 4D 3D printed sneakers last November, Adidas recently unveiled its first AlphaEdge 4D footwear model designed specifically for women. The shoes, which integrate Carbon’s 3D printed midsole, were designed in collaboration with major English fashion designer Stella McCartney.
Sydney-based machine tool distribution experts John Hart ply is now the Australian distributor of EOS metal 3D printers. For over seven decades John Hart has been providing Australian industry with advanced manufacturing technologies including CNC machine tools, automation and robotics, additive manufacturing systems, CNC lasers, CAD/CAM software and accessories. The company will now be in charge of EOS Australia distribution.
German engineering conglomerate thyssenkrupp announced its plans to open an Additive Manufacturing TechCenter Hub in Singapore this year. The facility, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), aims to bring additive manufacturing, as well as thyssenkrupp’s engineering capabilities to new customers in the Asia Pacific region.
GKN Powder Metallurgy is extending its partnership with PostNord AB, a provider of communications and logistics solutions in the Nordic region, to accelerate the accessibility of additive manufacturing with the goal of fully revolutionizing supply chains. Automation will be a key focus of the collaboration going forward.
Just weeks after 3D printer manufacturer Markforged reported an $82 million investment, the company has announced a significant expansion with the opening of its first official European headquarters. The new HQ is based in Dublin, Ireland and is being launched in cooperation with the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
AMT-Specavia, a Russian company specializing in construction 3D printing technologies, is partnering with a team in South Korea with the aim of producing artificial coral reefs for the Yellow Sea. The 3D printing effort, which it utilizing high-strength hydrophobic concrete to create the artificial coral, aims to rehabilitate the quickly deteriorating coral reef ecosystem in the Yellow Sea.
SmarTech Analysis has published the fifth edition of its Additive Manufacturing in Dentistry report. The firm projects that the total market for AM in dentistry will surpass $2.7 billion (USD) in 2019 (hardware, services, materials and software). The report also says that by 2022 as many as 500 million dental devices and restorations will be produced annually via additive manufacturing, driving the overall segment to top $9 billion by the end of the forecast period in 2028.