FOCUS ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING quickly and functionally validate a material and a component and to analyse faster and more efficiently , whether the material can help with a specific application or not .”
Additive manufacturing and / or laser sintering or laser melting can be used to manufacture , coat or repair components with extremely high material requirements . Compared to traditional , ablative manufacturing methods , such as turning or milling , in additive manufacturing the design determines manufacturing . This is why it is referred to as ‘ design for additive manufacturing ( DfAM ).’
“ AM marks an inflection point in manufacturing that allows previously impossible structures to be produced . If you can design it , you can print it . What was once a physical inventory can now become a digital library , bringing a radically more efficient logic to logistics and eliminating multiple links in the supply chain such as packaging , warehousing and transport . Moreover , as an additive process , where only the exact amount of required raw materials are used , AM makes waste a thing of the past . Just imagine what this can do for performance throughout all industries as well as what it means for our planet in the long run ,” commented additive specialist , Sandvik .
“ In additive manufacturing , a complex design is often as easy to produce as a simple one . This means designers can use geometry , rather than bulk , to achieve structural strength with less weight . It ’ s also ideal for components where complex inner shapes — curved channels , for instance — can provide new functionalities and efficiencies ,” it added .
The strengths of additive manufacturing lie in those areas where conventional manufacturing reaches its limitations . The technology is of interest where a new approach to design and manufacturing is required to come up with solutions . It enables a design-driven manufacturing process , where design determines production and not the other way around .
AM at EMO Hannover
EMO Hannover , a leading trade fair for production technology , showcased its Additive Manufacturing Area from 18-23 September 2023 in Hall 9 at Messe Hannover ( Germany ).
“ Additive manufacturing is now a firm fixture at EMO Hannover ,” said Dr . Markus Heering , managing director of the Additive Manufacturing ( AM ) association within VDMA . “ This is because the AM process chain has many areas of overlap with subtractive manufacturing : many additively manufactured components still need to be machined before they can be used . Only then do the advantages of additively manufactured components — such as lightweight grippers , near-contour cooled tools , on-demand spare parts and much more — come into play ,” continued Heering .
Image : PROTIQ .
AM parts for BMW .
TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik , Dietzingen , Germany , took part in the Additive Manufacturing Area , using various components to demonstrate the great potential of 3D printing for tool and mould-making , for example . User benefits can be found in fields such as prototype development and tool weight reduction . Tool manufacturers can also use additive manufacturing to integrate filigree internal cooling channels into their tools . These enable precise cooling of the tool .
“ Layering technologies have become a distinct industrial manufacturing process and are now being used with increasing success in many fields of application . This innovative process holds great potential ,” added Markus Heering . As examples , he cited design
An AM part from TRUMPF at EMO Hannover .
freedom , flexibility and services — aspects which are useful not just for machine tools .
Oliver Friz , managing director of Q . Big 3D in Aalen , Germany , believes that 3D printing holds a great deal of potential which is far from exhausted .
“ Larger-scale 3D printing has not yet caught on in the market in the way that the printing of smaller components has developed . At EMO , we displayed engineering solutions for cladding parts , tanks and measuring and assembly fixtures , for instance . Exploiting all the geometric freedom offered by 3D printing , our machine can produce larger components faster , more cheaply and in more environmentally friendly ways than conventional manufacturing methods ,” he said .
For Kartik Rao , strategic marketing director at Additive Industries from the Netherlands , the main focus was on AM automation .
“ At EMO , we showed how the automation integrated into our printers improves the cost structure for parts production and offers even greater design freedom in additive metal manufacturing ,” he said .
Andreas Tietz , Global Head of Sales , Zeiss AM Technology emphasized the importance of high quality , including for 3D printing .
“ Automotive , aerospace , consumer goods and medical device manufacturers turn to additive manufacturing when they want to increase production efficiency , customise parts or achieve a faster time to market . However , these advantages can only be exploited if the required quality is guaranteed . At EMO , we offered many products and solutions aimed at improving quality , analysing the causes of defects , pushing long-term process improvements and setting standards for series production in the future ,” he explained .
An international conference on additive manufacturing was also held during EMO Hannover on 20 September 2023 in at the Convention Centre , hosted by CECIMO ( the European machine tool association ). n
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