A Supplement to Modern Machine Shop & MoldMaking Technology

Additive Options for Mold and Die Tooling

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design today build tomorrow

Unlock the potential of Additive Manufacturing

Renishaws laser melting system is a pioneering process capable of producing fully dense metal parts direct from 3D CAD. From tooling inserts featuring conformal cooling, to lightweight structures for aerospace and high technology applications, laser melting gives designers more freedom, resulting in structures and shapes that would otherwise be constrained by conventional processes or the tooling requirements of volume production. It is also complementary to conventional machining technologies, and directly contributes to reduced lead times, tooling costs and material waste.

Shorten development timebe frst to market Reduce waste and costbuild only what you need Increase design freedomcreate complex structures and hidden features

Scan here to nd out more

Renishaw Inc Hoffman Estates, IL www.renishaw.com/additive

Contents
FEBRUARY 2013

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Something to Add
Nature Triumphant

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PUBLISHER

F E AT U R E S

Travis Egan tegan@gardnerweb.com

EDITORS

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Adding to Your Tooling Options Understand the additive choices for making molds and dies. By Michael Siemer Interview: GE Aviation and the Morris Technologies Acquisition AM talks to Randy Kappesser of GE Aviation.
By Peter Zelinski

Peter Zelinski pzelinski@mmsonline.com Christina Fuges cfuges@moldmakingtechnology.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR

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El McKenzie emckenzie@gardnerweb.com
MANAGING EDITOR

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What If Metal Follows the Same Path as Plastic? It will, says Directed Manufacturing. The rm is preparing for production work in metal.
By Peter Zelinski

Kate Hand khand@gardnerweb.com

ART DIRECTOR

14 15

Product News
News from AMTThe Association for Manufacturing Technology

Laurie Dugan ldugan@gardnerweb.com

ADVERTISING MANAGER

William Caldwell billc@gardnerweb.com

ABOUT ThE cOvER: Fabrisonic provided this image of a die made through ultrasonic additive manufacturing. Read more about this additive process at mmsonline.com/articles/high-frequency-production.

February 2013 1 February 2013 1

Something to Add

Nature Triumphant
The freedom to tailor a parts shape to its engineering needsparticularly when the result is a complex organic formmight be the most transformative beneft of additive manufacturing.

When I stand up, none of the leg bones that support my weight is a straight, solid shaft. Instead, a bone is curved, it has a varying cross section, and a close view of the bone reveals that the material is not solid but a porous lattice. Compare that to a manufactured component. If a manufacturer produced a comparable structural membersay, a machine component that moves a weight uprightthen this part most likely would be solid and straight. A form such as this is what our established manufacturing methods are suited to produce. Using those established methods to make a part as complex as a bone would be so expensive that we dont think much about this option. We accept straight lines and high material density as two dening traits of engineered objects. Yet this acceptance comes at a cost. Compared to that leg bone, the machine component is a poor performer. Its strength-to-weight ratio is lower, suggesting that the man-made part is heavier and costlier than it needs to be. Enter additive manufacturing. Given an additive approach to production, complexity is cheap. An elaborate form can be 3D printed just as easily as a simple one. As a result, subtle curves and lattice structures become design options that are accessible and easy to employ.

Peter Zelinski Editor

2 AM Supplement

The photo above illustrates what that promise might mean. The part seen here was designed using software from Within Technologies (a maker of tools for engineering complex forms) and produced through laser sintering on a machine from EOS. The part represents a simple componenta weight-bearing manifoldreimagined for additive production. How would this same part be made traditionally? Likely it would begin as a solid block. Its channels would be drilled. Additive manufacturing opens the door to a dramatically different solution, one that is more efcient in multiple ways. Inside the part, the mating ducts curve together for better uid ow than straight holes that intersect at a corner. In addition, this form that was designed specically to bear the parts intended load uses only the amount of material necessary for this purpose. That makes the part lighter than the solid block would be, and less wasteful of stock. In other words, the more natural form is better. In light of this, our expectations about how manmade parts should look and feel might have to give way. Imagine how different our manufactured world might soon start to look, as engineers increasingly exercise the freedom to move away from straight shafts, square housings and solid supports in favor of more organic shapes.

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February 2013 3

F E AT U R E
Pattern-based tooling (RTV molding and urethane casting). Courtesy of Met-L-Flo.

By Michael Siemer, P.E. By Michael Siemer, P.E., IMDS

Adding to Your Tooling Options

Understand the benets and applications of processes for making tooling through additive manufacturing.
dditive manufacturing (AM) has come far since rst gaining traction in the 1990s. In recent years, the technology has seen an ofcial name change from the old term rapid prototyping, the creation of an ASTM International committee on standards, and the announcement that the pilot institute for the new National Network for Manufacturing Innovation will focus on additive manufacturing. If you are watching AM but not yet working with it, you may be left behind. According to ASTM F2792-12a, rapid tooling (RT) is dened as the use of additive manufacturing to make tools or tooling quickly. Rapid tooling went through a push in the 90s when processes such as Direct AIM, 3D Keltool, QuickCast and others were created. Most of these processes faced material and process limitations, but a few survived. Recently, there has been a resurgence in attention to AM tooling thanks to both material and process improvements.

There are two broad categories of tooling from AM. One involves indirect approaches that use a master pattern to create a mold or die, such as a silicone rubber mold made from a master. The second category is a direct approach in which the AM machine builds the actual tool or tooling insert. Direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) from EOS, ProMetal from ExOne and LENS from Optomec or POM are examples of processes that can directly produce metal tooling.

Additive vs. Subtractive in Tooling

In contrast to these additive approaches, CNC machining, the conventional approach to toolmaking, is an established and well-understood technology that is currently the worldwide standard for producing prototype and production injection-mold tooling. Whether the machining is entirely milling or includes EDM, CNC machining is not subject to the material, size and accu-

4 AM Supplement

racy limitations inherent to most unconventional toolmaking processes. Plus, the leanest mold suppliers are discovering that machining molds does not need to take months. Here are some general differences between AM and CNC machining: Surface fnish. AM is rough without secondary operations. A system with layers at 0.0005-0.001 inch might produce an Ra nish of 100-600. CNC can produce surfaces that are smoother. Feature detail. AM typically is better for part features in special situations where CNC cannot make the geometry. Examples include internal features and trapped geometries. Part size. 24 36 24 inches is typical for AM, though larger systems exist from such manufacturers as Materialise, Stratasys and Voxeljet. Geometry/complexity. AM handles geometric complexity easily. CNCs geometric limitations include deep slots, deep holes and undercuts. Accuracy. AM offers tolerances of +/-0.005 to

0.020 inch. The comparable tolerance range for CNC is +/-0.0005 to 0.005 inch. Speed. AM is faster for small, complex parts, while CNC wins for large, less-complex parts. Labor is low for AM in terms of both the amount required and needed skill level. Setup time, operator attendance at the machine and the requisite skill level are higher for CNC.

Direct Tooling
Direct approaches to tooling using AM do not require a pattern, and numerous additive options exist for making metal or plastic components. These can reduce the number of steps in the toolmaking process, saving cost and time. Some manufacturers have been using AM to produce metal inserts for injection mold tooling, including Linear Mold of Livonia, Michigan, which has been successfully producing injection mold components off of DMLS inserts for several years. (Editors note: See our article on Linear Mold at short.moldmakingtechnology.com/linmld.) One of the most popular forms of direct tooling from the 90s, Direct AIM, used stereolithography (SL) parts as molds. It was developed for small runs of injection molded parts off of a relatively cheap tool. Though this process had been in decline, a small rebirth has occurred in recent years thanks to tougher SL materials such as ceramiclled Nanotool from DSM Somos. 3D printers also should not be overlooked. 3D printers from Objet, 3D Systems and Stratasys can be effective rapid tooling machines, especially when casting thermoset plastics and rubbers. Stratasys fused deposition modeling (FDM) prints have also been successfully used for thermo/ vacuum-forming direct molds. The porous nature of tooling produced this way enables air to pass through, possibly preventing the need for holedrilling. FDM tools are also being used for more demanding direct applications such as stamping and hydroforming tools. Direct tooling isnt necessarily limited to small components, either. ExOne and Voxeljet both have large systems that can produce direct tooling, including Voxeljets VX4000, which is capable of building tooling larger than 12 6 3 feet.
February 2013 5

Component made by pattern-based plaster casting (rubber plaster mold). Courtesy of Mydea Technologies.

3D-printed tool for silicone casting. Courtesy of Objet and Mydea Technologies.

F E AT U R E
an AM pattern. This can include basic room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) molds poured onto an AM pattern or rotocasting (spincasting) of urethane. When higher quantities are needed than an RTV mold can accommodate with its average life of 25-50 units, epoxy tooling is an attractive option. Used for reaction injection molding (RIM) or standard injection molding, epoxy tooling can be a cost-effective method to produce bridge tooling. Sacricial (one-time) molds also can be useful in AM, and FDM technology has been used successfully for wash-out mandrels in the composites arena. Other pattern-based RT processes include cast kirksite tooling (epoxy tooling with ller), 3D Keltool, MetalCopy, PHAST, V-Process and rubber plaster molding (plaster casting).

High-Performance Tooling
With high-performance tools, molding cycle time is more important than the time it takes to produce the actual tool, and creating conformal cooling channels within the tool using AM can help speed the molding cycle. These channels conform to the shape of the mold cavity and enable coolant to pass through, removing heat from the mold or die faster and more evenly than straight-line channels. Tests suggest that conformal cooling can reduce cycle time by 30 percent or more and improve part quality. The result can have a signicant impact on part costs and production rates. Another method of thermal management is the use of functionally graded materials. The idea

Metal casting tool made with Sandform. Courtesy of Voxeljet.

Indirect Tooling
Several pattern-based processes have been developed for creating a tool rapidly through AM, with varying costs, lead times and process capabilities. In general, any processwhether additive, subtractive or formativecan be used for indirect tooling. The accuracy of these processes depends, in large part, on the accuracy of the method used to create the pattern. Few areas of manufacturing have been impacted as much by AM as investment casting. Early on in the development of AM, Helisyss laminated object manufacturing (LOM) system used layered paper for casting patterns because of the low ash content. Companies now make casting patterns via QuickCast (a stereolithography build style), jetted wax and resin systems such as PolyJet and Multi-Jet Modeling (MJM), and with selective laser sintering (SLS) for polystyrene and FDM for ABS. In the plastics eld, many companies that need to produce a relatively small run of plastic parts employ silicone rubber tooling made from
6 AM Supplement

is to use a hard, resistant material such as H13 tool steel for the surface of the mold and a highly conductive material such as a copper alloy for most of the remainder of the mold. Optomec and POMboth using LENS technology from Sandia Labshave successfully used additive manufacturing to directly produce molds and dies with copper cores. Ultrasonic Consolidation, commercialized by Solidica, is now being promoted for rapid tooling by Fabrisonic under the name ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM). The process can produce molds out of aluminum, copper and steel that can be used for die casting, investment casting and vacuum forming. UAM can produce complicated conformal cooling passages and also bond dissimilar metals, allowing for molds with multiple materials. Spray metal technologies, such as those from RSP Tooling and Ford Motor Co., also have demonstrated signicant tool life improvements with functionally graded materials.

after producing the rst iteration of a tool, successive versions can be produced quickly as needed. Other tooling suitable to be made this way includes conformal press tools, drilling and trimming guides, wire harness check gages and holding tools for quality control inspection.

Future Opportunities
Although many niche solutions exist, an advance is needed in the area low-volume production. For quantities between 100 and 500 units (depending on size and complexity), it can be difcult to determine the best AM or tooling-based process. One reason for this is that requirements change daily in the shop. An engineer may need to tweak a shape or geometric feature, or a customer may need 10 units one day and 100 the next, followed by 50 of a different design permutation. Because of their thermoplastic material outputs, FDM and SLS, coupled with post-processing innovations, will likely make an impact in this area. Also, metal AM companies like EOS and ExOne can improve machine tools and processes to deliver fast, accurate and smooth parts directly from the machine. Design limits have not been removed by AM, but they have changed. The feasibility of conformal cooling is an example of this change. Now that the new constraints have been dened and awareness of the change is advancing, increasingly innovative thermal management solutions are likely to be developed. An important consideration in assessing why AM hasnt made a bigger impact to date on tool making is that real, value-added change takes a long time to implement. Even as effective rapid tooling methods evolve, a company that is already knowledgeable and efcient in its current methods will typically be reluctant to change. The most effective driver for change can be competition. When a few trailblazers prove the value of an emerging process, competitors often follow.
Contributor: Michael Siemer of IMDS has 17 years of

Jigs and Fixtures

AM has also been used for several other types of tooling, including jigs, xtures, templates, drill guides and other devices. Where this tooling involves complex shapes or multi-axis hole patterns, AM can provide signicant benets. Shapes are digitally and accurately produced to match for registration. The number of copies of xtures or jigs required on an assembly line often is quite low, but
Conformal and conventional cooling channels in a mold for cups. Courtesy of EOS.

product development and AM experience. In 2003, he founded Mydea Technologies, a Kinkos-like AM service bureau later acquired by IMDS. Some of this article is excerpted from the rapid tooling section of Wohlers Report 2012, which he coauthored.
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By Peter Zelinski

InTERvIEw:

GE Aviation and the Morris Technologies Acquisition

The aircraft engine maker recently purchased two sister companies dedicated to additive manufacturing. Technology leader Randy Kappesser discusses the reasons for this move and what it means to GE.

n an article that appeared in Additive Manufacturing last year, engineers with GE Aviation were candid about not only the promise of additive manufacturing technology, but also its challenges. One of the challenges they described relates to the size of the supplier base. There is not currently enough capacity in North America, in GE Aviations preferred method of additive metal manufacturing, to accommodate the demand that GE Aviation by itself expects to have for this mode of production. Not long after that article appeared, GE announced a move aimed at addressing this very challenge. Located in the Cincinnati area near GE Aviations Evendale, Ohio headquarters is a leading supplier of contract additive manufacturing servicesMorris Technologies. In order to secure this companys capacity for its own use, GE Aviation acquired Morris Technologies and a sister company, Rapid Quality Manufacturing (RQM).
8 AM Supplement

The move is a clear indication that additive manufacturing is destined to become an established option for discrete-parts production at GE. At the same time, though, the move was a fairly natural step for the company. GE Aviation has worked closely with Morris Technologies for more than a decade. There has been plenty of time to get to know both Morris and RQM, and to recognize the worth of these rms. Randy Kappesser, composites technology leader with GE Aviation, was involved in the Morris/RQM acquisition and will continue to be involved as these companies are integrated into GE. He recently responded to questions about the acquisition and what it signies.

The LEAP engine will incorporate components made through additive manufacturing. In the photo above, the engine is being evaluated at GE Aviations Peebles Test Operation.

Peter Zelinski: Describe how Morris and RQM will now change. Will all of the companies additive manufacturing capacity be dedicated to GE Aviation production? If so, how quickly will this occur? Randy Kappesser, GE Aviation: Morris and RQM will be fully dedicated to GE Aviation and other GE businesses. The companies will meet their obligations to their non-GE customers. After they are met, Morris and RQM will be fully focused on GE work. The transition to a fully GE-dedicated operation will take about a year. However, RQM and Morris have done a great job working with many leading companies, which could mean the continuation of certain opportunities, assuming all parties are in agreement. PZ: Will the Morris and RQM names remain? Will the equipment relocate to the Evendale campus? RK: That is to be decided. At least for the short-term, the names will remain. As for the equipment, at this point there does not appear to be reason to disrupt the operations and move to the Evendale campus. PZ: Characterize the importance of additive manufacturing to GE Aviation. Give a sense of the amount of production to be done in this way in the years to come. RK: GE clearly views additive manufacturing as a game-changing technology. Morris and RQM are already committed to providing components within the combustion system of the LEAP jet engine currently under development by CFM International (a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma of France). CFM has received orders for more than 4,000 LEAP engines. Additional components for the LEAP engine, as well as for other GE engines under development, are being explored for additive production. By 2020, well over 100,000 end-use parts in GE/CFM engines will be produced through additive manufacturing. Thats a huge change and, we believe, a competitive advantage. With the acquisition, work on identifying and developing GEs other additive applications can be accelerated. PZ: Component-making processes are often outsourced. Is additive manufacturing an excep-

tion that argues in favor of having the production in-house? RK: Additive manufacturing is a signicant technology GE wants to keep in-house. It is comparable to other capabilities GE is keeping in-house, such as the production of carbon ber composite and ceramic matrix composite components. As more advanced materials are developed for the jet propulsion and aerospace industry, producing large and small engine parts with these materials increasingly requires proprietary, highly sophisticated manufacturing processes that will be retained in-house. PZ: How does this acquisition t within the context of what GE Aviation sees looking forward? Why does this move make sense? RK: Additive manufacturing gives GE Aviation opportunities for both cost and weight reduction on jet engines. Meanwhile, the acquisition will allow all GE businesses the opportunity to better understand the breadth and potential of new additive manufacturing applications. As manufacturing technologies and materials progress within the aerospace industry, jet engine suppliers are increasingly moving capability in-house. Pratt & Whitney, for example, has recently announced that it is moving its geared technology capability in-house. GE, for its part, has made strides in producing non-metallic parts, with GE Aviation leading the jet propulsion industry in the production of composite components. The additive manufacturing acquisition is another example. Jet propulsion represents one of the most attractive sectors of the aerospace industry, and the main suppliers will continue to build upon their internal capability.
A Supplement to Modern Machine Shop & MoldMaking Technology

What will Additive Mean for Aircraft Engines?

Hint: 1,000 pounds less weight

Read our article on GE Aviations view of additive manufacturing, and watch a video interview with Morris Technologies CEO Greg Morris that was recorded before the acquisition. Find links to both resources at short.mmsonline.com/geaviation.
February 2013 9

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By Peter Zelinski

What if Metal Follows the Same Path as Plastic?

It will, says Directed Manufacturing. This company sees metal additive manufacturing becoming as much of an established technology for nal part production as plastic additive manufacturing is now. It expects to buy more metal additive machines in anticipation of the work thats coming.

oday, 99 percent of the time on Directed Manufacturings ve plastic additive manufacturing machines is committed to making production parts. Those parts include fuel tanks, enclosures, winglets and other components for unmanned aircraft. They also include various specialized surgical instruments and surgical alignment guides. These selective-laser-sintered products are all complex, high-value and low-volumeperfect for additive manufacturing. In the past, additive processes were associated with prototyping. Now, except for that remaining 1 percent of machine time, this is no longer the way that Directeds customers view this capability. But thats plastic. The Austin, Texas-based additive manufacturing contractor uses 3D printing processes to make metal parts as well. Seeing additive manufacturing accepted for plastic part production took years, perhaps even decades. Materials and processes had to be proven, the company says, and designs and designers had to adapt to the geometric freedom that additive manufacturing makes possible. In metal, this acceptance
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is coming faster than it did for plastics, but it has not yet been won. The tipping point might come this year. To date, most of the companys additive metal capacity has been devoted to product development, but some of those developed products have now been committed to nal manufacturing on the same additive machines. The company expects to buy more additive metal equipment to meet the growing demand. Those additive machines will probably come from Renishaw. Last year, Directed became the rst U.S. commercial user of the selective laser melting machine now offered by this company (which is known for technology that relates to CNC machining). Renishaws additive manufacturing system is open architecture, which allows users such as Directed to develop and customize machine parameters for new materials specied by their customers. Directeds managers say that this feature, and Renishaws promise of assistance in developing parameters for new materials as needed, was a major factor in their decision to choose the machine. Then, once they had it, they say that another valuable feature proved to be the machines 12-inch build height. Three other additive metal machines at Directed all have a maximum build height of 10 inches. The 2-inch difference might not seem like much, but the work envelope on these machines often proves to be the crucial factor that determines whether a part can be additively produced.

Directed Manufacturings fourth and newest additive metal manufacturing machine came from Renishaw, making the Texas company the rst U.S. commercial user of this machine. Renishaw provided the images on the facing page of representative components that this machine is able to additively produce.

Cost Savings
Alex Fima and James Hockey are part of the technical and business development and sales staff at Directed, and Alex Ramirez manages the production oor. They say that not only is metal additive manufacturing moving from prototyping to production in the same way that plastics did, but metal additive technology is making this transition faster. The fact that plastics blazed the trail is just one of the reasons for this. Another is that the buyers of metal parts are more likely to be making an established product that faces strong pressures for cost reduction. In the right applications, additive manufacturing delivers these needed savings.

Aircraft engines are an example, Hockey says. The potential for cost improvements within the engines traditional production processes has largely been explored. The low-hanging fruit has been picked. Engine makers are therefore looking to non-traditional methods in the hope of signicant cost savings. Potentially, additive manufacturing can provide these savings in multiple ways. One is through reduced material use and part weight. Much of the product development that Directed performs involves rening and redesigning parts to try to make them as material-efcient as possible. Parts produced through additive manufacturing can be highly intricate. They also do not have to be solid. Together, the intricacy and the option for hollowness provide opportunities for removing any and all material that is not needed for the parts performance. Another, similar advantage is the chance to optimize the parts t and effectiveness without having to worry about how the resulting shape
February 2013 11

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will be cast or machined. For example, engine makers can modify components to optimize the ow of fuel or air, without having to make any geometric compromises because of the needs of traditional manufacturing. Plus, additive manufacturing requires no tooling or xturing, Hockey says. This makes it economical for low volumes. Many high-value production parts are needed in quantities of only 1,000 or so per year. But he says that the greatest cost savings from additive manufacturing arguably come from reducing or eliminating assembly. A complex subassembly of 10 or more pieces fastened or welded together could be redesigned to be made as a single, solid metal piece through additive manufacturing. While this approach is not inexpensive, neither is the labor and potential for error involved in assembling a critical component. When assembly-related costs can be avoided, additive manufacturing often can deliver dramatic cost reduction while it reduces the overall part count.

Directed also succeeds in additive production of plastic parts. This alignment tool used for knee surgery is tailored to CAT scan measurements of the patient. The company expects to serve production needs in metal comparable to those it is already serving in plastic.

Machine Advantages
In certain ways, the design of the Renishaw machine extends the reach of these additive

Directeds Erling LaSalle prepares an additive metal manufacturing machine for its next build cycle.

manufacturing benets. The machines build size is one aspect of this. Directeds Ramirez says the extra clearance in Z already has been important for various parts the company otherwise couldnt have produced additively. But another advantage of this machine design relates to the force of the blade that passes across the material with every layer of the build process. On the Renishaw machine, this blade is exible. That detail might seem like a minor change from the harder blades of the shops current machines, but Ramirez says this change expands the range of part designs that can be additively produced. The lower force of the exible blade has allowed Directed to make parts with thinner walls and more delicate forms than it otherwise might. It can make more delicate supports, too. Parts produced additively sometimes are made with temporary supports that are removed when the part is complete. On the Renishaw machine, Ramirez can make these supports slender enough to be broken off by hand. On the shops other additive metal machines, the parts supports have to be removed through a subsequent machining setup. There is still room for improvement. He says the primary area where he expects to see the new machine get better is in the control interface. Unlike competing machines, this machines interface

12 AM Supplement

does not make it possible to graphically validate the build cycle on the control screen before the cycle begins. Occasionally, the operator will spot a simple error in programming only by watching through the machine window as the build cycle starts. Stopping the cycle to correct the error and begin again wastes time.

Size and Speed

But temporary shortcomings such as this are acceptable, he says. Renishaw is working to rene the machine, in part by learning from Directeds feedback. Additive production manufacturing in metal is so new that all of the machines that do this work are still improving rapidly. Certain limitations are common across most or all of the machines that do this work. According to Fima, the main factor limiting these machines in general is not just build size, but their slow speed within that size. In metal, the sweet spot for us is producing a part with about the volume of a softball, he says. New customers are often surprised to learn how long it takes to build such a part. The typical additive manufacturing cycle time for a metal part this size is 18 to 20 hours. Part of the reason for the customers surprise is that additive technology is still often associated with speed. 3D-printing-style technology still carries the label rapid prototypinga term that is doubly questionable. Directed and other companies are proving that this technology is not just

James Hockey shows the replaceable portion of the soft blade. This blade enables the machine to build delicate structures.

The Renishaw machines exible blade permits delicate part forms to be made, including parts with thin walls. Directeds examples of parts using this capability are condential, but this screw helps make the point. It was built vertically on the Renishaw machine, just like this.

about prototyping. Meanwhile, in metal, the technology is not necessarily rapid, either. In additive manufacturing of plastic parts, the same limitations are not so limiting. Directeds plastics machines are much larger, as well as much faster. The company expects additive metal machines to improve in both of these respects as well. For right now, though, the Texas company faces a dilemma. Given the limitations of size and speed, adding one additive metal machine does not add a large amount of production capacity. Thats why the company expects to add several such machines, expanding its machine count dramatically. However, even this will fall short of the level of potential opportunity the company sees for this method of production.
February 2013 13

Product News
Large-Format 3D Printer Creates Industrial-Scale Prototypes
The Objet1000 is Objet Ltd.s largest 3D printer to date, featuring a 1,000 800 500-mm wide-format build envelope. This large build platform is combined with inkjet 3D printing and the companys Connex multi-material capability, making the printer suited for all-around t, form and functional prototyping. Designed to save manufacturers from having to assemble prototypes from smaller-sized pieces, the Objet1000 is suited for automotive, defense and aerospace, industrial machinery, consumer goods and household appliance sectors, as well as high-end service bureaus that need to create industrial-size, 1:1 scale prototypes. It offers a choice of more than 100 materials, enabling designers and engineers to simulate both standard and ABS-grade plastics, and is able to print as many as 14 different material properties within a single model.
objet.com

Double-Beam SLM Achieves High Build Rates

SLM Solutions GmbHs SLM 500 HL selective laser melting machine features a 500 280 325-mm build chamber and double-beam system of two ber lasers that operate on the powder bed by means of a 3D scanning unit. A shell-coreimaging process includes two different laser beam proles that can be used independently, or in parallel and simultaneously (dual-spot scanning) to increase productivity. Because the lasers can melt powder in multiple layers, the SLM 500 HL can achieve higher build rates over other additive metal systems, the company says. The SLM system also includes Magic AutoFab rapid prototyping software that can process CAD/STL data les and has modules for monitoring, auditing and quality control.
slm-solutions.com

FDM Technology Uses Resin to Produce Small-Volume Aerospace Parts

Ultem 9085 resin from the Innovative Plastics business of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) is formulated to be strong, lightweight and ame-retardant, and it now is being used to help aerospace OEMs produce small-volume parts quickly and cost-effectively. Together with fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology from Stratasys Inc., the resin is enabling companies like Taylor-Deal Aviation LLC, based in Dallas, Texas, to create specialty parts in hours rather weeks. The Statasys FDM process creates 3D parts directly from computer-aided design les, layer by layer. According to SABIC, this combination of resin and FDM offers enhanced design exibility; cost-effective low-production runs; accelerated cycle times; and compliance with Federal Aviation Administration ame, smoke and toxicity regulations.
sabic-ip.com / stratasys.com

3D Systems to Acquire Geomagic

3D Systems has signed a denitive agreement to acquire Geomagic Inc., a provider of 3D authoring solutions, including design, sculpting and scanning software tools used to create 3D content and inspect products throughout the design and manufacturing process. Ping Fu, Geomagics founder and CEO, will serve as the companys chief strategy ofcer. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the rst quarter of this year. Terms were not disclosed. In October, 3D Systems acquired Rapidform, a Seoul, South Korea-based provider of 3D scan-to-CAD and inspection software.
3dsystems.com / geomagic.com / rapidform.com
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National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) Updates

We start 2013 anew, with less than a month before the rst NAMII project proposals are due (Jan. 31). NAMII has a set Executive Committee being led by Dr. John Russell (Program Manager, Defense-Wide Manufacturing Science and Technology) from the Oce of the Secretary of Defense/Air Force Research Laboratory. Here is an update on NAMIIs progress: technologies (including ensuring a proper workforce is available to improve productivity and product oerings). NAMII has evolved toward a more stakeholdercentric model to support an optimal approach to lling the gap and to ensuring appropriate developments occur at the institute. Te Executive Committee continues its eorts to nalize the Operating Plan (how

Background For those asking what NAMII is and why it is an initiative, here is a quick summary. NAMII is the pilot initiative of National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institutes that are meant to foster manufacturing advancements (from technology to workforce) necessary to improve American manufacturing competitiveness. NAMIIs singular focus is to accelerate additive manufacturing technologies to the U.S. manufacturing sector and increase domestic manufacturing competitiveness. For more on NNMI, please visit www. manufacturing.gov/nnmi.html, and for more on NAMII (including project proposal and membership processes), please visit namii.org. Updates NAMII is working toward an integrated approach to better serve the additive technology community. One of the key elements is a partnership among government, university and the private sector to bridge a gap that has been identied from a readiness/transition perspective (see chart). Stakeholders interested in lling this gap have multiple needs. Te government wants to increase American manufacturing competitiveness; universities and other educational institutions want to conduct benecial research and develop/sustain a workforce; and the private sector wants to improve the level of readiness for transition and insertion of developed
NAMII is run) and the Membership Agreement (denes eligibility, responsibility, member lifecycle) to ensure initial and subsequent member interests are accommodated. NAMII has its next challenge ahead when it reviews proposals and selects its rst projects to fund. It will be a litmus test for the Operating Plan and stakeholder coordination. We are looking forward to what proposers deliver and what NAMII selects, but more importantly, we are looking forward to further enabling an already exciting eld such as additive manufacturing. For more information about NAMII or additive technologies, contact AMTs technical director, Tim Shinbara, at tshinbara@AMTonline.org or 703-827-5243.
February 2013 15

Advanced Cleaning for AM: When Subtractive Applies to Additive

By Tim Shinbara, Technical Director, AMTTe Association For Manufacturing Technology While additive manufacturing provides improvements in realizing a designers functional intent, some additive processes are still limited due to the required removal of residual materials. Any additive process that uses either polymers or metals and requires a support structure must subsequently employ a means to remove that unwanted support structure. For powder-based processes, that support structure is the non-sintered or non-melted materials themselves, which must be removed post-processing. Tere are several ways to remove residuals from additive parts, including media extrusion, aqueousbased ultrasound and liquid carbon dioxide (CO2). I will discuss the liquid CO2 process here. Wikipedia denes supercritical CO2 in this way: Carbon dioxide usually behaves as a gas in air at standard temperature and pressure (STP), or as a solid called dry ice when frozen. If the temperature and pressure are both increased from STP to be at or above the critical point for carbon dioxide, it can adopt properties midway between a gas and a liquid. [Tis] supercritical uid [expands] to ll its container like a gas but with a density like that of a liquid. Te dense state is just below critical and still maintains the lower viscosity and surfaces tension for improved residual removal capabilities, but with an increased density to better remove oils, particles, etc., that you would not otherwise be able to eciently remove with a supercritical uid. Te centrifugal, liquid CO2 dierentiators are most relevant when you consider cost of phase management (temperature and pressure manipulation to maneuver between liquid and gas states); renewable, green attributes (uses industrial byproduct CO2 that is recyclable in a closed-loop system with negligible waste and no industrial volatile organic compound or greenhouse gas emissions); and eective material
16 AM Supplement

removal (accommodates high geometric complexity and full-feature penetration). While water also is environmentally sound, readily available and aordable, its relative surface tension and viscosity attributes are not sucient enough for many applications. Why centrifugal? Te uid shear force produced by centrifugal action is a promoter that advances the material separation and removal eort augmenting the chemical, uidic action provided by the liquid CO2 and ultrasonic excitations. Terefore, you reduce processing time, improve the eciency and lower required pressures to remove unwanted materials. For cleaning of additive manufactured parts, an immersion system is most eective, as it allows for the combination of cleaning using environmentally friendly solvents with the particle removal, distillation and ltration processes, and drying using liquid CO2. While immersed, an ultrasonic frequency is applied to excite particles, which then ow to ltration. As the dense-phase CO2 completes the cleaning/removal/ drying process, distillation occurs by manipulating the temperature and pressure, which forces the gaseous dense state of CO2 into a pure liquid state, recovering approximately 99 percent of the original pure liquid CO2. Te bottom line is, if you require high-volume, gross cleaning of simple features, use an aqueousbased solution. However, for low-to-medium-volume, intricate cleaning of highly complex components (like many additive parts), an immersion process that employs a dense-phase CO2 for cleaning and removal may be a more eective and economical approach over other pure compound options and approaches.
For more information about advanced cleaning technologies or additive manufacturing, contact Tim at tshinbara@AMTonline. org or 703-827-5243.

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