News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
With all eyes on Formnext, 3D Systems has taken the event as an opportunity to announce two new metal 3D printers: the DMP Flex 350 and DMP Factory 350. The machines, the latest additions to the company’s DMP metal 3D printing range, were developed to fulfill volume production of critical components for industrial applications in the aerospace, healthcare and transportation industries.
One of the most important weeks for the additive manufacturing industry is kicking off, and the excitement is palpable. Companies—big and small—are readying to unveil new or upgraded products and technologies at Formnext 2018. And though the big event officially launches tomorrow, news is already streaming in.
Though a small nation, the Netherlands has made quite a significant impact on the additive manufacturing industry in recent years. Industrious and innovative companies, including professional 3D printing service Oceanz, got their start in the Netherlands and many startups and businesses are helping to cultivate a rich environment there for the advancement and adoption of additive manufacturing.
BASF 3D Printing Solutions (B3DPS), the subsidiary of German chemical company BASF, is preparing to unveil a range of new AM-related products, including new photopolymer and laser sintering materials, at Formnext 2018 in Frankfurt. The company is also marking the AM industry event with the announcement of several new partnerships, including Origin, Photocentric and Xunshi Technology.
Carbon, a Silicon Valley-based 3D printing company, today announced a further set of price reductions for its most widely-used resins, expanding upon the bulk discount program introduced last year. Effective today, EPX 82 (epoxy), EPU 41 (elastomeric polyurethane), and RPU 70 (rigid polyurethane) will be offered in bulk volumes at $50 per liter. This move will increase the total addressable market for large-scale digitally manufactured parts across industries, and continue to drive down costs and spur growth for the implementation of Carbon’s digital manufacturing solution globally.
COBOD International, the construction 3D printing branch of Danish company 3D Printhuset, has received a grant to put towards developing the next generation construction 3D printer. The grant is part of the N3XTCON project, which itself has over 2 million euros in support from the Innovation Fund Denmark.
The 2019 edition of the 3D Pioneers Challenge has officially launched, inviting designers and specialists from around the globe to submit their most innovative and boundary pushing 3D printing-related projects. For the fourth year running, the 3D Pioneers Challenge is seeking to find the best AM ideas and projects in the categories of Design, MedTech, FashionTech, Material, Architecture, Digital and Mobility. This year, a new category, Sustainability, has also been added to the roster.
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) announced the expansion of an existing agreement with America Makes to increase its role in the collection of performance data for the 3D printing industry. UTEP, which became the first America Makes Satellite Center in 2015, says the updated partnership will not only benefit the AM industry but will offer greater advantages to its students.
Ford has been using additively manufactured production and assembly tools for several years. Up to 50% of the respective costs are related to the creation of design data. In order to scale the applications of Additive Manufacturing (AM), Ford is partnering with software company trinckle to automate the design process.
Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, today announced they will be featuring their innovative ADDvance powder cabinet at formnext, the leading exhibition and conference showcasing the best of next-generation manufacturing technologies. Linde’s ADDvance powder cabinet has been designed to retain the quality of the valuable, sensitive metal powders used in additive manufacturing by protecting them from exposure to ambient air and humidity. The quality of metal powder has a fundamental impact on the microstructure and physical properties of the printed item, so they must be of a defined and consistent quality, meaning that correct storage and handling is vital.