TEI (Tooling & Equipment International), a company specializing in complex castings in the engineering and manufacturing industry, has acquired the second voxeljet VX4000 system for sand binder jetting, one of the largest 3D printers in the world. TEI specializes in optimizing components, for example, to save weight in the aircraft industry, but also to accelerate the development of new components and vehicles in the e-mobility sector.

TEI is one of the largest users of 3D sand printing in the US and runs a fully equipped aluminum foundry in Livonia, Michigan. The engineering expert decided to invest in the second VX4000 3D printer to further expand its already existing capacities for additive manufacturing and quickly and economically realize technically demanding projects for prototyping inquiries as well as production orders. The 3D printer will be installed at TEI’s Livonia facility in Livonia, Michigan.

“At our facility, we cover the full workflow, from printing to casting to heat treatment and machining,” said Oliver Johnson, president of TEI. “With the second VX4000 in-house, we are able to further capitalize on the advantages 3D sand printing has to offer to metal casting. By eliminating the need for tooling and thanks to the large build volume of the 3D printer we can reduce delivery times drastically, which in turn greatly benefits our customers, whether it’s the automotive or aerospace industry. In addition to that, we can produce parts that cannot be made conventionally, such as lightweight components and topology optimized parts.”

The casting expert specializes in optimizing components, for example to save weight in the aircraft industry, but also to accelerate the development of new components and vehicles in the e-mobility sector.

With a build envelope of 4 x 2 x 1 meters, the VX4000 from voxeljet is one of the world’s largest 3D sand binder jetting printers for metal casting applications and can be used for the production of single, very large sand molds or several smaller molds with production quality.

Michael Dougherty, Managing Director at voxeljet America Inc. added: “When it comes to castings for industries with very high standards, such as the aerospace or automotive industry, the VX4000 is the perfect tool to meet the requirements for dimensional stability and accuracy and still be able to produce the parts needed as fast as possible. We are very proud to support TEI’s growth in additive manufacturing technologies and see the potential of this technology develop further.”