Metal Forming Processes and Machines

Lecture 9
Additive Manufacturing
and Rapid Prototyping

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Additive Manufacturing
Table of Content
1. Introduction: What is Additive Manufacturing
2. Historical development
3. From Rapid Prototyping to Additive Manufacturing (AM) Where are we today?
4. Overview of current AM technologies
1. Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
2. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
3. 3D Printing (3DP)
4. Selected Laser Sintering (SLS)
5. Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
6. Multijet Modeling (MJM)
7. Stereolithography (SLA)

5. Modeling challenges in AM
6. Additive manufacturing of architected materials
7. Conclusions

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Additive Manufacturing
From Rapid Prototyping to Additive Manufacturing
What is Rapid Prototyping

- From 3D model to physical object, with a click

- The part is produced by printing multiple slices (cross
sections) of the object and fusing them together in situ
- A variety of technologies exists, employing different
physical principles and working on different materials
- The object is manufactured in its final shape, with no need
for subtractive processing

How is Rapid Prototyping different from Additive Manufacturing?

The difference is in the use and scalability, not in the technology itself:
Rapid Prototyping: used to generate non-structural and non-functional demo pieces or batch-of-
one components for proof of concept.
Additive Manufacturing: used as a real, scalable manufacturing process, to generate fully
functional final components in high-tech materials for low-batch, high-value manufacturing.

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Additive Manufacturing
Why is Additive Manufacturing the Next Frontier?

EBF 3 = Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (Developed by NASA LaRC)

The Buy-to-Fly ratio is the weight ratio between the raw material used for a component and the weight of the component itself.

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Additive Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing vs. other Manufacturing today

Wohlers Report 2011 ~ ISBN 0-9754429-6-1

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Additive Manufacturing
 From Rapid Prototyping to Additive Manufacturing
A limitation or an opportunity?
Rapid Prototyping in a nutshell
1. 3D CAD model of the desired object is generated
2. The CAD file is typically translated into STL* format
3. The object described by the STL file is sliced along one
direction (the z or printing direction)
4. Each slice is manufactured and layers are fused together
(a variety of techniques exist). The material can be
deposited by dots (0D), lines (1D) or sheets (2D)

A voxel (volumetric pixel or, *The STL (stereo lithography) file format is
more correctly, Volumetric supported by most CAD packages, and is is widely
Picture Element) is a volume used in most rapid prototyping / additive
element, representing a value manufacturing technologies.
on a regular grid in three STL files describe only the surface geometry of a
dimensional space. This is three dimensional object without any representation
analogous to a pixel, which of color, texture or other common CAD model
attributes. The STL file describes a discretized
represents 2D image data in a
triangulated surface by the unit normal and vertices
bitmap. coordinates for each triangle (ordered by the right-
hand rule).

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Additive Manufacturing
 Compromises in Additive Manufacturing
Another key compromise is among process speed, volume and tolerances.

Laminated Object Modeling (LOM)

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
3D Printing (3DP)
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
Multijet Modeling (MJM)
Stereolithography (SLA, STL)
Micro-stereolithography (serial and projected)
Two photon lithography

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Additive Manufacturing
 Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
1. Sheets of material (paper, plastic, ceramic,
or composite) are either precut or rolled.
2. A new sheet is loaded on the build platform
and glued to the layer underneath.
3. A laser beam is used to cut the desired
contour on the top layer.
Courtesy, Cubic Technologies
4. The sections to be removed are diced in
cross-hatched squares; the diced scrap
remains in place to support the build.
5. The platform is lowered and another sheet
is loaded. The process is repeated.
6. The product comes out as a rectangular
block of laminated material containing the
prototype and the scrap cubes. The
scrap/support material is separated from the
prototype part.

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Additive Manufacturing
 Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)
KEY METRICS ADVANTAGES

Maximum build size 40in x 40in x 20in Relatively high-speed process

Low cost (readily available materials)
Resolution in (x,y) +/- .004 in
Large builds possible (no chemical
Resolution in z Variable reactions)
Speed Medium Parts can be used immediately after the
process (no need for post-curing)
Cost Low No additional support structure is
Available materials Paper, Plastic required (the part is self-supported)
Sheet
DISADVANTAGES

KEY APPLICATION AREAS Removal of the scrap material is laborious

Pattern Making The z resolution is not as high as for other
technologies
Decorative Objects
Limited material set
Need for sealing step to keep moisture out

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Additive Manufacturing
 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
1. A spool of themoplastic wire (typically
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)) with a
0.012 in (300 m) diameter is continuously
supplied to a nozzle
5. The sacrificial support material (if available)
is dissolved in a heated sodium hydroxide
(NaOH) solution with the assistance of
ultrasonic agitation.

2. The nozzle heats up the wire and extrudes a

hot, viscos strand (like squeezing toothpaste of
of a tube).

3. A computer controls the nozzle movement

along the x- and y-axes, and each cross-
section of the prototype is produced by
melting the plastic wire that solidifies on
cooling.

4. In the newest models, a second nozzle

carries a support wax that can easily be
removed afterward, allowing construction
of more complex parts. The most common
support material is marketed by Stratasys
under the name WaterWorks

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Additive Manufacturing
 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
"Ribbon Tetrus" (Carlo Squin)

Conceptual Models
Engineering Models
Functional Testing Prototypes

Courtesy, Dr. Robin Richards,

ADVANTAGES University College London, UK

Economical (inexpensive materials)

Enables multiple colors
Easy to build DIY kits (one of the most
common technologies for home 3D
printing)
A wide range of materials possible by
loading the polymer

DISADVANTAGES

Materials suite currently limited to

thermoplastics (may be resolved by loading)

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Additive Manufacturing
 3D Printing (3DP)
1.A layer of powder (plaster, ceramic) is
spread across the build area
2.Inkjet-like printing of binder over the top
layer densifies and compacts the powder
locally
3.The platform is lowered and the next
layer of dry powder is spread on top of
the previous layer
4.Upon extraction from the machine, the
dry powder is brushed off and recycled

Olaf Diegel Atom 3D printed guitar

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Additive Manufacturing
 3D Printing (3DP)
KEY METRICS
Maximum build size 14 in x 10 in x 8 in
Resolution in (x,y) 640 dpi
Resolution in z Variable
Speed Fast
Cost Low
Available materials Plaster, sand, oxide
ceramics, sugar
and starch for food
printing
ADVANTAGES
Can create extremely
realistic multi-color
parts (24-bit color)
using inkjet technology
Can generate complex
components with
internal degrees of
freedom
Economical
Versatile

KEY APPLICATION AREAS DISADVANTAGES

Very limited materials suite

Widely used to print colorful and complex
Low resolution (lowest of all AM technologies)
parts for demonstration purposes
Negligible mechanical properties (unusable
Molds for sand casting of metals
for any structural application)

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Additive Manufacturing
 Selective Laser Sintering (SLS))
1.A continuous layer of
powder is deposited on the
fabrication platform
2.A focused laser beam is
used to fuse/sinter powder
particles in a small volume
within the layer
3.The laser beam is scanned
to define a 2D slice of the
object within the layer
4.The fabrication piston is
lowered, the powder delivery
piston is raised and a new
layer is deposited
5.After removal from the
machine, the unsintered dry
powder is brushed off and
recycled

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Additive Manufacturing
 Selective Laser Sintering (SLS))
KEY METRICS ADVANTAGES
Maximum build size 700 mm x 380 mm x 560 Wide array of structural materials beyond
mm polymers
Resolution in (x,y) High (Spot Dependant) No need for support materials
Resolution in z 0.005 Cheaper than EBM
One of two technologies that allow
Speed Medium complex parts in metals
Cost Medium
Available materials Powdered plastics
(nylon), metals (steel,
titanium, tungsten),
ceramics (silicon
carbide) and fiber-
reinforced PMCs DISADVANTAGES

KEY APPLICATION AREAS Expensive relative to FDM, 3DP

The quality of metal parts is not as high as
with EBM
Structural components

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Additive Manufacturing
 Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
1.The fabrication chamber is maintained
at high vacuum and high temperature
2.A layer of metal powder is deposited
on the fabrication platform
3.A focused electron beam is used to
melt the powder particles in a small
volume within the layer
4.The electron beam is scanned to
define a 2D slice of the object within the
layer
5.The build table is lowered, and a new
layer of dry powder is deposited on top
of the previous layer
6.After removal from the machine, the
unmelted powder is brushed off and
recycled

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Additive Manufacturing
 Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
KEY METRICS ADVANTAGES
Maximum build 200mm x 200mm x Method of choice for high-quality metal
size 350mm parts
Resolution in (x,y) +/- 0.2mm Wide range of metals
Resolution in z 0.002 (0.05 mm) Fully dense parts with very homogeneous
microstructures
Speed Medium
Vacuum operation allows building of highly
Cost High reactive metals (e.g., Titanium)
Available materials Metals: titanium, High temperature operation (700-1000C)
tungsten, stainless results in structures free of internal stresses
steel, cobalt chrome, EBM allows even better microstructural
Ni-based superalloys. control than many conventional processes.

KEY APPLICATION AREAS DISADVANTAGES

Extremely expensive (more than SLS)
Structural components for aerospace Conventional machining may be required
(Ti6Al4V, gammaTiAl, Ni superalloys) to finish the goods (rough surface)
Custom-made bio-implants (Ti6Al4V) Requires vacuum operation

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Additive Manufacturing
 Stereolithography (SLA)
1.A structure support base is positioned on
an elevator structure and immersed in a
tank of liquid photosensitive monomer, with
only a thin liquid film above it
2.A UV laser locally cross-links the
monomer on the thin liquid film above the
structure support base
3.The elevator plate is lowered by a small
prescribed step, exposing a fresh layer of
liquid monomer, and the process is
repeated A suitable photosensitive polymer
must be very transparent to UV
4.At the end of the job, the whole part is
light in uncured liquid form and
cured once more after excess resin and
very absorbent in cured solid form,
support structures are removed
to avoid bleeding solid features
into the layers underneath the
current one being printed.

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Additive Manufacturing
 Stereolithography (SLA)
KEY METRICS
Maximum build size 1500mm x 750mm ADVANTAGES
x 550mm
Fast
Resolution in (x,y) Spot Dependent
Good resolution
Resolution in z 0.004 No need for support material
Speed Medium Photosensitive polymers have acceptable
mechanical properties
Cost High
Available materials Thermoset
polymers:
photosensitive
resins
DISADVANTAGES

Expensive equipment ($100-$500K)

KEY APPLICATION AREAS
Expensive materials (photosensitive resins
are ~$100-200 /kg)
Patterns for metal processing (e.g., molding)
Material suite limited to resins
Prototypes for demonstrational purposes

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Additive Manufacturing
 Current materials in Additive Manufacturing
Materials in AM today
-Thermoplastics (FDM, SLS)
-Thermosets (SLA)
-Powder based composites (3DP)
-Metals (EBM, SLS)
-Sealant tapes, paper (LOM)
-Starch and sugar (3DP)
Functional/structural parts
FDM (ABS and Nylon)
SLS (thermoplastics, metals)
EBM (high strength alloys, Ti, stainless steel, CoCr)
Non-functional/structural parts
SLA (resins): smoothest surface, good for casting
LOM (paper), 3D Printing (plaster, sand): marketing and concept prototypes, sand casting molds

As new materials are introduced, more functional components will be manufactured (perhaps
30-40% by 2020).
Importantly AM is one of the best approaches for complex architected materials.

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Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2012

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 Challenges in AM materials properties predictions

Most AM processes introduce anisotropy in mechanical properties (z different from x,y)

Local differences in laser/EB power (e.g., perimeter vs center) introduce heterogeneity
in mechanical properties
Laser fluctuations might result in embedded defects that are difficult to identify
All existing machines are open-loop: temperature sensors have been introduced in
some processes, but the readings are not used to optimize the processing parameters
on the fly.

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Additive Manufacturing