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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Machine manufacturer Thermwood has achieved a milestone in the development of 3D printed composite molds for compression molding. The company, working in collaboration with Purdue’s Composite Manufacturing & Simulation Center, has successfully compression molded tests parts using 3D printed composite tooling. The project marks a step ahead for the use…
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moi composites, an Italian startup specializing in Continuous Fiber Manufacturing (CFM), will be bringing quite the sample part to Formnext 2019 in collaboration with Autodesk and others. Spanning 6.5 meters in length (22 ft.) and reaching 2.5 meters in height, the part is actually a 3D printed boat called MAMBO.…
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Within Germany—and even Europe—the VDMA (Mechanical Engineering Industry Association) is an influential organization. With over 3,000 members, it is actually the largest industry association in Europe! In recent years, it has formed a growing focus on the additive manufacturing industry, bringing together players in 3D printer manufacturing, materials development, AM-focused research…
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Among the newest generations of products, drones are arguably those that best embody the concept of innovation. Not only for their technical characteristics, but also for the cutting-edge technologies used to develop and build them. As a manufacturing process, 3D printing is increasingly used within the drone production cycle, mainly…
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At the recent AI Accelerator Summit in Boston, Additive Leader at GE Global Research Brent Brunell addressed the growing need for AI-enabled applications within the context of industrial metal 3D printing. With an audience made up of some of the leading hardware and chip innovators in the tech industry, Brunell explained…
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King Agro, a John Deere company specializing in the development and production of spraying equipment for the agricultural industry, has seen the light—so to speak—since adopting 3D printing technologies into its workflow. The company, reportedly the leading manufacturer of spray booms in South America and Europe, has experienced dramatic cost…
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Spanish footwear brand Camper, recognized for its stylish yet casual and comfy shoes for men and women, has found its own way to benefit from 3D printing technologies. At its headquarters in Inca, on the island of Mallorca, Camper has installed a number of desktop 3D printers from Barcelona’s BCN3D…
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This summer, bioprinting company nScrypt revealed an interesting partnership with the U.S. Military aimed at deploying a ruggedized version of its BioAssembly Tool (BAT) bioprinter to print samples in a forward-deployed desert environment. In July, the company also sent its bioprinter into space to be used aboard the ISS. Following…
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Remet, a leading European manufacturer of steel structures used in the oil and gas industry, has opened a modern laboratory specializing in the production of prototypes and parts using metal 3D printing technology. Located in Stalowa Wola, Poland, the company has installed one of the most modern metal 3D printers…
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A team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM) has produced a scaled gas turbine demonstrator model using additive manufacturing to showcase both the potentials and limitations of powder bed fusion technologies. The model, a 1:25 scale version of a power generation gas turbine, was almost…
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