News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
The Selective Laser Melting technology (SLM®) by leading German metal 3D printer manufacturer SLM Solutions enables the production of new 3D printed tire tread mould segments in shorter time, less expensive and using three-dimensional geometries for prototype and mass production tools.
Large size binder jetting 3D printer manufacturer and service company ExOne teamed up with Finalnd based ideas2cycles engineers and designers to produce a topologically optimized set of steel 3D printed custom bicycle parts. The result is that the parts where not only more aesthetically pleasing lighter and efficient, but also that they were produced in on tenth of the time and at less than 50% of the cost compared to traditional manufacturing processes.
At Choc Edge we’re always looking to improve the experience of our customers, whether that’s through upgrading the machine itself or the software that comes with it. This April we’re pleased to announced exciting new developments in both areas – Wi-Fi connectivity to control the printer without the need for a cable, and a mobile drawing app that allows you to instantly print your own designs.
Prior to launching his new venture, What the Future Venture Capital (WTFVC), designer Janne Kyttanen acted as the creative director for the 3D printing giant 3D Systems for five years. One of the more renowned 3D designers across the industry, Kyttanen was responsible for designing the Cube desktop 3D printer, which won a multitude of awards and helped immerse 3D Systems into the consumer market. But, as time went on, 3D Systems began to withdraw itself from the consumer market, and Kyttanen ultimately decided to depart from the industry for greener pastures.
Kegelmann Technik and Concept Laser just concluded a framework agreement for multiple machines, the first being a Concept Laser M2 cusing Multilaser with QM Coating. Production begins in June 2016, and the first orders have already been received
Cosine Additive LLC is partnering with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the development of a revolutionary new additive manufacturing platform. The goal of this partnership is to develop and demonstrate the enabling technologies for mid-scale additive manufacturing using Cosine’s AM1 machine. The AM1 has a build chamber of approximately 4’ x 4’ x 4’ and will open up new areas of U.S. manufacturing for rapid production of medium size tooling in support of the transportation, appliance and energy industries, significantly reducing cost and lead time. As with Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM), the initial focus is on the deposition of composite materials. Printing with carbon fiber filament is still in its infancy with its immediate value just starting to be realized by manufacturing industries.
Anyone familiar with injection molding knows that the cooling system design is critical to cycle times, which takes up 70% to 80% of the injection molding cycle. Traditional methods for cooling molds involve secondary machining operations to drill cooling channels that follow straight lines and don’t consistently keep temperatures uniform. A well-designed cooling system can shorten the molding time and improve productivity tremendously. Enter conformal cooling.
Threeding.com and Artec 3D Add Animal Anatomy Models to 3D Printing Marketplace
The Hungarian ‘3DTECH in Schools’ program takes a huge leap forward by welcoming CrafUnique, Hungarian 3D printer manufacturer and Leopoly, online 3D modeling software developer on board. With this turn the program awards another 10 3D printers to teach about 3D printing in Hungarian schools, which adds up to 21 institutions equipped with this innovative technology.
The latest “Opportunities in Low-Cost 3D Printers: Technologies, Materials and Markets 2016” report by SmarTech Publishing indicates that, in spite of significant decrements by the traditional leaders in this area, low cost 3D printer sales grew both in terms of unit sales and revenues, driven in part by the new “prosumer” segment and enterprise-level adoption of desktop 3D printing.