Additive Manufacturing Flashcards
Types
Vat polymerisation/ SLA: material cured by light-activated polymerisation
Material jetting: Droplets of build material are jetted to form an object
Binder jetting: Liquid bonding agent jetted to join powder materials
Material extrusion/ FDM: Material is selectively dispensed through a nozzle and solidifies
Sheet lamination/LOM: Sheets bonded to form an object
Powder bed fusion/ SLS/SLM: energy (laser electron beam) used to selectively fuse regions of a powder bed
Directed energy deposition/LENS: focused thermal energy is used to fuse materials by melting as deposition occurs
Positives
Rapid prototyping
Reducing Assembly
Complex geometries
Multi-Material
Enhanced performance (e.g. weight, thermal management, etc
Low-volume manufacturing => market testing, product differentiation, personalisation
Supply chain efficiency and reduced inventory
Simple
Highly available and accessible
Implications for Manufacturing
Optimising the production of custom single unit and low-volume production runs
Reduced capital investment and component/sub-assembly inventories
Reduce the need to maintain an inventory of physical moulds
Reduces the need for tooling and skilled labour needed to run the different kinds of machines
Enables printing on demand without build-up of inventories
Sustainability: up to 90% less material used/ up to 90% less energy used
Reduced material consumption
Efficient supply chains
Optimised product efficiency
Lighter weight components
Reduced lifecycle burden
Current AM Industry Changes
Mergers and partnerships in the AM industries, especially among major users, machine manufacturers and complementary technologies:
GE Aviation acquired Morris Technologies; Arcam acquired the powders/coatings division of Raymor (Canada).
GE Additive then acquires Arcam and Concept Laser
Stratasys and 3D systems acquired many small businesses to broaden their scope, e.g., desktop machines, new materials (food, ceramic), 3D scanning.
Rapid expansion of industry and consumer service providers (small/large), retail expansion (MakerBot stores, 3DP at staples, Home Depot).
New materials initiatives by materials manufacturers
Commoditization of the low-end printer market.
The rapid arrival of new machines, material capabilities, and design tools
Why has AM Become Prominent
Expiration of cornerstone process patents
Proven products
Favourable public
Doftware
Improved machine performance
Wider library of materials
Extrusion
Widest range of materials
Widest range of processing conditions
Multimaterial
Widest range of printer price points
100-100,000
Dedicate support material
Surface finish
Anisotropic mechanics
Toolpath planning
Rate can be low
Vatpolymerisation/ SLA
Good resolution
Good surface finish
Can be rapid
Limited Materials
Single Material
Messy
Support Removal
Other
BAAM: Big area Additive manufacturing
type of manufacturing technology specific to creating large-scale objects
High-speed polymer AM: HP Multi-Jet Fusion
Focuses on producing detailed parts at high speed
Carbon ‘Continuous liquid interphase production’ (CLIP): resin based additive manufacturing resin-based process designed to create parts with high accuracy and speed.
How do you Decide Whether to use AM?
Machine cost
Material cost
Throughput
Quality
Process control
Validation
High flexibility
Classes of Complexity
Simple tools and components (i.e. those that can be made subtractively thus inspected the same way)
Optimized standard parts; could be made subtractively but using specialized/intricate operations.
Parts with embedded features (e.g., cooling channels); if made by CM, assembly of multiple class-2 components would be required.
Design for AM’ – essentially impossible by subtractive methods. Ideal for hybrid (additive/subtractive) technology.
Lattice structures – impossible without AM. Also most challenging to inspect
Major Application Markets
Components that have advantageous performance if made by AM:
e.g., save material, enhance performance; make assemblies as one; use materials not easily otherwise formed.
or generate value externally, e.g., saving inventory
begin with applications that can embrace low-volume and high unit cost, e.g., aerospace, boutique
High-value personalized products (e.g., dental, medical).
Rapid prototyping → tooling → short-run manufacturing.
Future
More materials
3D cloud software
IP issues
New business models
Inventory
