News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
BMW Group has reached a big milestone in its use of additive manufacturing. According to the company, it has produced over a million parts with 3D printing over the past decade. By the end of this year alone it expects to reach more than 200,000 3D printed parts, marking a 42% increase over last year’s total.
The European Space Agency released details about a series of 3D printed ceramic objects it made using a simulated lunar regolith. The parts, consisting of small gears, screws and other components, demonstrate how 3D printing could one day be used on the moon’s surface, using local materials to print details parts to support a lunar base camp.
BigRep has leveraged its large-scale 3D printing technology to create what it calls the world’s first fully FFF 3D printed (and functional) e-motorcycle. The 3D printed e-motorcycle, dubbed the NERA, was on display last week at Formnext along with a number of other innovative 3D printed prototypes, including a bionic passenger seat, an adaptive robotic gripper and a 360 degree mobile industry platform.
Software company PTC has acquired generative design software developer Frustum Inc. The acquisition deal, worth about $70 million, will see PTC add Frustum’s AI-powered generative design tools to its Creo software portfolio.
NASA recently expressed interest in working with the UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). The organizations have announced they will form a collaboration to enable NASA to explore the use of MTC’s additive manufacturing technology for future space exploration missions. The MTC has been home to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) additive manufacturing benchmarking center since its launch in 2017.
Though there is still an important focus on Mars for its potential to host a human colony someday in the future, NASA is already thinking beyond the red planet and looking further out in the solar system to Saturn and Jupiter, whose moons may be the most likely places in the galaxy to show signs of life.
Desktop Metal has entered into a collaboration with the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Additive Production Technologies IAPT for the purpose of developing new, specialty materials for its Studio System+. The materials developed through the joint effort will reportedly become available to Studio System+ customers within Europe.
German machine tool manufacturer TRUMPF is seeking to expand the versatility of metal materials for its additive manufacturing technology. As announced at Formnext last week, the company’s TruPrint 5000 is capable of printing high-carbon steel or titanium alloys, while a new green laser with pulse product enables the printing of pure copper and other precious metals.
Energica Motor Company S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer of electric motorcycles, unveiled the Bolid-E, at EICMA 2018 earlier this month. The motorbike prototype, part of Samsung and Energica’s Smart Ride project, integrates a number of 3D printed components realized through a collaboration with CRP Technology.
Dimension Inx, a company that develops biomaterials for 3D printing, has signed a distribution agreement with Advanced Solutions Life Sciences (ASLS), a company specializing in biofabrication technologies. Through the partnership, ASLS will now offer Dimension Inx’s bioprinting materials to clients around the globe.