Industrial Additive Manufacturing
Industrial additive manufacturing applications are primarily linked to prototyping in the automotive field and early adoption for production in the aerospace segment, which is by far the biggest user of polymer and especially metal 3D printing technologies.
As the machines production throughput has increased in recent years, industrial adoption of AM is now beginning to extend to short and medium batch production for the automotive segment as well. Furthermore, as new metal and polymer technologies now enable the production of larger parts at reduced costs, the use of AM has begun to contaminate the energy segment (with applications in both traditional and sustainable energy production and transport) and the marine segment.
While the cost and time reduction benefits of AM technologies for weight and (topology) optimization, subassemblies and generative part design have been well documented, several hurdles still exist that are limiting a widespread adoption of these key technologies in full end-to-end digital and automated production cycles. Several of these hurdles are inherent to the AM technologies and related material availability, however, the biggest challenges remain linked to process standardization, part finishing and repeatability.
Today every major aerospace or automotive manufacturers has made some significant stride toward adoption of AM both for internal R&D and production and by leveraging external 3D printing service bureaus as a key resource for outsourced supplies. Every AM related industrial project is growing and the trend is clearly accelerating.
Latest industrial AM news:
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With the 2019 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in full swing in Detroit this week, it was only a matter of time before there was some additive manufacturing-related news. 3D printing company Carbon and the Ford Motor Company presented a series of digitally manufactured polymer parts at the Additive…
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Metal additive manufacturing processes are helping engineers to reinvent how parts are designed and produced. In the medical sector, orthopaedic implants are proving to be one of the key applications where metal AM is really having an impact, as the technology enables patient specific structures, as well as complex porous…
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Cody Wilson, the controversial figurehead of the 3D printed gun rights movement, has been indicted for sexual assault by the State of Texas. The formal accusation, which includes multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor, comes three months after a warrant for Wilson’s arrest was released after he was…
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The world’s first 3D printed sailboat hull was unveiled and introduced during a ceremony at the sailing club Circolo della Vela Sicilia (CVS), Italy. The revolutionary boat is designed and produced by OCore, an innovative Italian start-up dedicated to new manufacturing technologies. This challenging project was sponsored and supported by…
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Some time ago, we had the opportunity to see a preview of Siemens’ new facility dedicated to additive manufacturing—an impressive complex of over 4,500 square meters (created through an investment of €30 million) that aims to revolutionize the use of 3D printing technologies for production. Last week, Siemens officially opened…
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Italian 3D printer manufacturer Roboze has just announced the close of its first funding round. The three-year-old company has done exceptionally well, raising €3 million from Equiter SPA, a leading investment firm for research and innovation in southern Italy. The funding, along with Roboze’s continued sales, are setting up the…
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In the recent past, Thermwood has already 3D printed a full-size pattern which was used to produce production sports boat hull molds. Much larger vessels such as yachts, however, require a different approach. In these instances, it is desirable to print the yacht hull molds directly rather than print a…
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One of the biggest players in industrial additive manufacturing, GE Additive was certainly a big draw for Formnext 2018 attendees. Though the company did not unveil a brand new technology as others did, it did show off the new M LINE Factory systems and made headlines for a range of…
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Siemens will be showcasing its Digital Enterprise portfolio of seamless integrated solutions for additive manufacturing under the banner “Industrialize Additive Manufacturing” at formnext 2018, the lead exhibition for Additive Manufacturing (AM), in Frankfurt, Germany. The focus of the exhibition will be a digital representation of the real world – a…
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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…
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