Upcoming euspen event to highlight AM for precision engineering
The annual euspen event will take place in June 2019 in Bilbao, Spain
The European Society for Precision Engineering & Nanotechnology (euspen) is preparing to host its 19th Annual Conference and Exhibition in Bilbao, Spain this June. The focus of this year’s event? A manufacturing technology of the additive sort.
According to a recent statement by euspen, the upcoming event will highlight additive manufacturing by discussing opportunities and challenges presented by the quickly evolving technology within the context of precision engineering. Key topics will include the analysis of dimensional errors and surface topography, as well as design for additive manufacturing (DfAM).
In the DfAM category, euspen says it is interested in delving into the issues that design engineers have to consider and deal with in order to manufacture highly complex, custom parts with graded material composition.
Setting standards
The event will also emphasize the importance of establishing AM standards—a theme which has pervaded the global 3D printing industry as the technology becomes increasingly viable for industrial applications and the production of end-use parts. This discussion will address the importance of characterizing AM machines, process monitoring, in-process measurement and process feedback and corrections.
“Standards allow engineers to design a known set of parameters and build a level of trust in the fulfillment and manufacturing process,” euspen writes. “Today, most major companies using additive manufacturing for end-use part production have to create their own set of materials and processing guidelines. In addition, most of the design tools do not account for the advantages and disadvantages of AM—creating a need for design standards. Standards are part of the necessary evolution of technology.”
Importance of metrology
Broad in its focus topics related the AM, the euspan annual event will also create a platform for discussing how additive technologies can be integrated into a holistic manufacturing process, whilst highlighting cost-benefit trade-offs and the connections between AM and secondary finishing operations.
Finally, a portion of the event will focus on metrology, a key part of ensuring the precision of additively manufactured components. Advanced metrology instrumentation and post-measurement analysis techniques will play a critical role in keeping AM processes under tight control. At this stage, however, there is still need for new instruments to be designed specifically for additive applications that meet speed and accuracy requirements for industrial end-use parts.
The annual event, to take place from June 3 to 7, 2019 in Bilbao, will also welcome first time exhibitor Nanofabrica, an Israeli developer of micron-accurate additive manufacturing solutions. The company will showcase the growing significance of additive technologies in the micro and nano-manufacturing world.
