News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
A major supplier to the space and aeronautics industry, the German company MT Aerospace, has renewed its confidence in the AddUp group with the acquisition of a second Modulo 400 machine. These two Directed Energy Deposition (DED) machines will enable MT Aerospace to multiply projects while reducing industrialization times, to move more rapidly towards the use of this technology for series production.
This year, at Formnext, in Frankfurt, Germany, Caracol will be exhibiting the company’s integrated hardware and software LFAM platform, Heron AM, together with five case studies developed with clients across sectors. This will be the first time that visitors will be able to see the 100% in-house-developed, multi-axis robotic platform at work, at stand C21, Hall 12.1.
The newly released NXG XII 600E from SLM Solutions, based on the 12-laser NXG XII 600 platform and featuring an extended 1.5M build envelope in the Z-axis, received its first order from Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), the prime contractor for a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) project. AFRL funded this work to leverage additive manufacturing for advanced DoD applications. Customers who already have the NXG XII 600 installed or are about to install customers can take advantage of its extensible architecture and have the option to upgrade their system to unlock the advantages of the extended Z build envelope. NXG XII 600E expects a scheduled delivery in 2023.
Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF), a pioneer in microscale 3D printing systems, unveiled the new microArch S350, the latest addition to its roster of industrial-grade micro-precision 3D printers. This next-generation version of BMF’s 25μm-resolution system offers the highest throughput in the company’s portfolio, combining high part quality with the print speed required for end-part production.
As additive manufacturing continues to grow, one of the most challenging and high-potential segments of AM, that of reactive thermoset materials, remains largely unexplored. Only very few companies have fine-tuned technologies that can proficiently and cost-effectively use these materials. One of them is the French company Lynxter, which built up knowledge and experience in silicone 3D printing starting with the launch of the first S600D silicone 3D printer. Ongoing development at Lynxter has led to a new solution for the 3D printing of elastomers: the S300X silicone 3D printer.
The Bosch Group has shown a growing interest for additive manufacturing over the past few years. The company owns Dremel (a pioneer in educational desktop 3D printers), it has made strategic investments in/formed strategic partnerships with companies such as Arris, Anisoprint and BigRep, it acquired 3D printers (from basic Ultimakers to industrial SLM Solutions systems) and its ceramic division, Bosch Advanced Ceramics has made progress in offering technical ceramic 3D printing capabilities. Now Bosch Industrial Additive Manufacturing, aka BIAM, unveiled a product known (for now) as 3D Printer MVP – (Minimum Viable Product), a 3D printer based on a pellet extrusion process that uses widely available granulate materials.
Creality has officially launched the Ender-5 S1, the latest printer in the company’s Ender series of FDM printers. According to Creality, the Ender-5 S1 has been designed not just to be another one of the printers in the series, but “a flagship that integrates and reinvents the essence of this popular series”. The upgraded motion system, which enables an acceleration speed of 2,000mm/s², and a printing speed of up to 250mm/s printing speed, is one of the ways the company is making this happen.
Swiss 3D printing manufacturer Sintratec will be unveiling a brand new selective laser sintering system at the upcoming Formnext exhibition: the Sintratec S3. The Swiss-made high-tech module features a laser three times more powerful than the previous generation.
Metal binder jetting technology, now also known by the acronym MBJ, is, at the same time, the first and the newest opportunity for binder-based metal AM processes. Invented at MIT in 1993, the technology uses an inkjet printhead to apply binder to a bed of metal powder and form green parts which are similar to parts produced by metal injection molding (MIM). These parts then undergo a series of post-process (which differ for each specific technology), including sintering, to deliver final parts.
Offering 8K resolution with proprietary next-generation illumination technology, Visitech’s newest LRS-8KA projector provides machine builders with up to 4x improvement in productivity. At Formnext, visitors will be able to see and experience how this compact and powerful subsystem will be at the heart of future production SLA 3D printers.