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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Sir Ben Ainslie and INEOS TEAM UK are implementing metal AM technology from Renishaw in their bid to bring the America’s Cup home to Britain (where the competition originated). As the team’s official precision measurement and additive manufacturing (AM) partner, Renishaw is contributing its engineering expertise to aid and fast track…
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BAE Systems, a UK-based defense, security and aerospace company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with British AM company Renishaw. Through the agreement, the companies will work to develop additive manufacturing solutions for the defense and aerospace sectors with the aim of reducing costs and increasing production times and…
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Keppel Offshore & Marine, a specialist in offshore rig design, has been granted certification by Lloyd’s Register (LR) to produce offshore-grade steel using Laser Aided Additive Manufacturing (LAAM) technology. The certification, which follows ASTM A131 requirements, will also impact Keppel O&M’s partners, the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) and…
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Texas-based high precision machining services provider Knust-Godwin is expanding its additive manufacturing parts production services. After acquiring four Renishaw SLM systems last year, the company has just acquired a Sapphire metal 3D printer from VELO3D. As a new and very young player in the metal AM sector, every single system…
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An international collaboration between France-based metal AM company AddUp Group and the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) seeks to further advance powder bed fusion 3D printing for the production of metal molds and tooling. The partners have signed a $2.7 million cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA). In the…
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The U.S. Army has demonstrated its interest in additive manufacturing over the years, but according to service secretary Ryan McCarthy, it’s now time to really ramp up adoption. At a recent press event at the Reagan National Defense Forum, McCarthy emphasized how crucial 3D printing will become to the military,…
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IT service provider Accucode is partnering up with RCAM Technologies, a specialist in large-scale concrete additive manufacturing, to develop 3D printed wind energy components made from concrete. Central to the project is RCAM’s additive manufacturing technology, which is being adapted from concrete 3D printing and more conventional construction methods. The…
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The Mannheim-based Röchling Group is exploring new horizons in manufacturing. The new Röchling additive manufacturing center is part of Röchling Direct Manufacturing GmbH, headquartered in Waldachtal in the German state of Baden-Württemberg (district of Freudenstadt). The company has thus reinforced its commitment to additive manufacturing technology. “Additive manufacturing at the…
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SHINING 3D has been working in close contact with automotive companies and motorsports teams for years to help them adopt additive manufacturing and increase productivity while reducing costs. In a recent case, SHINING 3D helped an automotive company design, produce and test a new exhaust pipe through a new phase…
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The present of industrial manufacturing is very much based on injection molding. The ability to gradually introduce the advantages of additive manufacturing into consolidated formative technologies is paramount in the effort to commercially implement AM in the short term. Using the THERMA DM500 resin for DWS stereolithographic AM systems, Italian…
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