Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, has continued to evolve for nearly 35 years since its commercial use. The aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, transportation, medical, dental, and consumer industries use additive manufacturing for a wide range of applications.
With such widespread adoption, it is clear that additive manufacturing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. According to the ISO/ASTM 52900 terminology standard, almost all commercial additive manufacturing systems fall into one of seven process categories. These include material extrusion (MEX), bath photopolymerization (VPP), powder bed fusion (PBF), binder spraying (BJT), material spraying (MJT), directed energy deposition (DED), and sheet lamination (SHL). Here they are sorted by popularity based on unit sales.
A growing number of industry professionals, including engineers and managers, are learning when additive manufacturing can help improve a product or process and when it can’t. Historically, major initiatives to implement additive manufacturing have come from engineers experienced with the technology. Management sees more examples of how additive manufacturing can improve productivity, reduce lead times and create new business opportunities. AM will not replace most traditional forms of manufacturing, but will become part of the entrepreneur’s arsenal of product development and manufacturing capabilities.
Additive manufacturing has a wide range of applications, from microfluidics to large-scale construction. The benefits of AM vary by industry, application, and required performance. Organizations must have good reasons for implementing AM, regardless of the use case. The most common are conceptual modeling, design verification, and suitability and functionality verification. More and more companies are using it to create tools and applications for mass production, including custom product development.
For aerospace applications, weight is a major factor. It costs about $10,000 to put a 0.45kg payload into Earth orbit, according to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Reducing the weight of satellites can save on launch costs. The attached image shows a Swissto12 metal AM part that combines several waveguides into one part. With AM, the weight is reduced to less than 0.08 kg.
Additive manufacturing is used throughout the value chain in the energy industry. For some companies, the business case for using AM is to quickly iterate projects to create the best possible product in the shortest amount of time. In the oil and gas industry, damaged parts or assemblies can cost thousands of dollars or more in lost productivity per hour. Using AM to restore operations can be especially attractive.
A major manufacturer of DED systems MX3D has released a prototype pipe repair tool. A damaged pipeline can cost between €100,000 and €1,000,000 ($113,157-$1,131,570) a day, according to the company. The fixture shown on the next page uses a CNC part as a frame and uses DED to weld the circumference of the pipe. AM provides high deposition rates with minimal waste, while CNC provides the required precision.
In 2021, a 3D printed water casing was installed on a TotalEnergies oil rig in the North Sea. Water jackets are a critical element used to control hydrocarbon recovery in wells under construction. In this case, the benefits of using additive manufacturing are reduced lead times and reduced emissions by 45% compared to traditional forged water jackets.
Another business case for additive manufacturing is the reduction of expensive tooling. Phone Scope has developed digiscoping adapters for devices that connect your phone’s camera to a telescope or microscope. New phones are released every year, requiring companies to release a new line of adapters. By using AM, a company can save money on expensive tools that need to be replaced when new phones are released.
As with any process or technology, additive manufacturing should not be used as it is considered new or different. This is to improve product development and/or manufacturing processes. It should add value. Examples of other business cases include custom products and mass customization, complex functionality, integrated parts, less material and weight, and improved performance.
For AM to realize its growth potential, challenges need to be addressed. For most manufacturing applications, the process must be reliable and reproducible. The subsequent methods of automating the removal of material of parts and supports and post-processing will help. Automation also increases productivity and reduces the cost per part.
One of the areas of greatest interest is post-processing automation such as powder removal and finishing. By automating the process of mass production of applications, the same technology can be repeated thousands of times. The problem is that specific automation methods can vary by part type, size, material, and process. For example, the post-processing of automated dental crowns is very different from the processing of rocket engine parts, although both can be made of metal.
Because parts are optimized for AM, more advanced features and internal channels are often added. For PBF, the main goal is to remove 100% of the powder. Solukon manufactures automatic powder removal systems. The company has developed a technology called Smart Powder Recovery (SRP) that rotates and vibrates metal parts that are still attached to the build plate. Rotation and vibration are controlled by the CAD model of the part. By precisely moving and shaking the parts, the captured powder flows almost like a liquid. This automation reduces manual labor and can improve the reliability and reproducibility of powder removal.
The problems and limitations of manual powder removal can limit the viability of using AM for mass production, even in small quantities. Solukon metal powder removal systems can operate in an inert atmosphere and collect unused powder for reuse in AM machines. Solukon conducted a customer survey and published a study in December 2021 showing that the two biggest concerns are occupational health and reproducibility.
Manual removal of powder from PBF resin structures can be time consuming. Companies such as DyeMansion and PostProcess Technologies are building post-processing systems to automatically remove powder. Many additive manufacturing parts can be loaded into a system that inverts and ejects the medium to remove excess powder. HP has its own system that is said to remove powder from the Jet Fusion 5200′s build chamber in 20 minutes. The system stores unmelted powder in a separate container for reuse or recycling for other applications.
Companies can benefit from automation if it can be applied to most of the post-processing steps. DyeMansion offers systems for powder removal, surface preparation and painting. The PowerFuse S system loads the parts, steams the smooth parts and unloads them. The company provides a stainless steel rack for hanging parts, which is done by hand. The PowerFuse S system can produce a surface similar to an injection mold.
The biggest challenge facing the industry is understanding the real opportunities that automation has to offer. If a million polymer parts need to be made, traditional casting or molding processes may be the best solution, although this depends on the part. AM is often available for the first production run in tool production and testing. Through automated post-processing, thousands of parts can be produced reliably and reproducibly using AM, but it is part-specific and may require a custom solution.
AM has nothing to do with industry. Many organizations present interesting research and development results that can lead to the proper functioning of products and services. In the aerospace industry, Relativity Space produces one of the largest metal additive manufacturing systems using proprietary DED technology, which the company hopes will be used to manufacture the majority of its rockets. Its Terran 1 rocket can deliver a 1,250 kg payload to low Earth orbit. Relativity plans to launch a test rocket in mid-2022 and is already planning a larger, reusable rocket called the Terran R.
Relativity Space’s Terran 1 and R rockets are an innovative way to reimagine what future spaceflight might look like. Design and optimization for additive manufacturing sparked interest in this development. The company claims that this method reduces the number of parts by 100 times compared to traditional rockets. The company also claims it can produce rockets from raw materials within 60 days. This is a great example of combining many parts into one and greatly simplifying the supply chain.
In the dental industry, additive manufacturing is used to make crowns, bridges, surgical drilling templates, partial dentures and aligners. Align Technology and SmileDirectClub use 3D printing to produce parts for thermoforming clear plastic aligners. Align Technology, manufacturer of Invisalign branded products, uses many of the photopolymerization systems in 3D Systems baths. In 2021, the company said it had treated over 10 million patients since it received FDA approval in 1998. If a typical patient’s treatment consists of 10 aligners, which is a low estimate, the company has produced 100 million or more AM parts. FRP parts are difficult to recycle because they are thermoset. SmileDirectClub uses the HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) system to produce thermoplastic parts that can be recycled for other applications.
Historically, VPP has not been able to produce thin, transparent parts with strength properties for use as orthodontic appliances. In 2021, LuxCreo and Graphy released a possible solution. As of February, Graphy has FDA approval for direct 3D printing of dental appliances. If you print them directly, the end-to-end process is considered shorter, easier, and potentially less costly.
An early development that received a lot of media attention was the use of 3D printing for large scale construction applications such as housing. Often the walls of the house are printed by extrusion. All other parts of the house were made using traditional methods and materials, including floors, ceilings, roofs, stairs, doors, windows, appliances, cabinets and countertops. 3D printed walls can increase the cost of installing electricity, lighting, plumbing, ductwork, and vents for heating and air conditioning. Finishing the interior and exterior of a concrete wall is more difficult than with a traditional wall design. Modernizing a home with 3D printed walls is also an important consideration.
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are studying how to store energy in 3D printed walls. By inserting pipes into the wall during construction, water can flow through it for heating and cooling. This R&D project is interesting and innovative, but it is still in an early stage of development. This R&D project is interesting and innovative, but it is still in an early stage of development. This research project is interesting and innovative, but it is still in the early stages of development. This research project is interesting and innovative, but still in the early stages of development.
Most of us are not yet familiar with the economics of 3D printing building parts or other large objects. The technology has been used to produce some bridges, awnings, park benches, and decorative elements for buildings and the outdoor environment. It is believed that the advantages of additive manufacturing at small scales (from a few centimeters to several meters) apply to large-scale 3D printing. The main benefits of using additive manufacturing include creating complex shapes and features, reducing the number of parts, reducing material and weight, and increasing productivity. If AM does not add value, its usefulness should be questioned.
In October 2021, Stratasys acquired the remaining 55% stake in Xaar 3D, a subsidiary of British industrial inkjet printer manufacturer Xaar. Stratasys’ polymer PBF technology, called Selective Absorbion Fusion, is based on Xaar inkjet printheads. The Stratasys H350 machine competes with the HP MJF system.
Buying Desktop Metal was impressive. In February 2021, the company acquired Envisiontec, a longtime manufacturer of industrial additive manufacturing systems. In May 2021, the company acquired Adaptive3D, a developer of flexible VPP polymers. In July 2021, Desktop Metal acquired Aerosint, a developer of multi-material powder coating recoating processes. The largest acquisition came in August when Desktop Metal bought competitor ExOne for $575 million.
The acquisition of ExOne by Desktop Metal brings together two renowned manufacturers of metal BJT systems. In general, the technology has not yet reached the level that many believe. Companies continue to address issues such as repeatability, reliability, and understanding the root cause of problems as they arise. Even so, if the problems are resolved, there is still room for the technology to reach larger markets. In July 2021, 3DEO, a service provider using a proprietary 3D printing system, said it had shipped one millionth to customers.
Software and cloud platform developers have seen significant growth in the additive manufacturing industry. This is especially true for performance management systems (MES) that track the AM value chain. 3D Systems agreed to acquire Oqton in September 2021 for $180 million. Founded in 2017, Oqton provides cloud-based solutions to improve workflow and improve AM efficiency. Materialize acquired Link3D in November 2021 for $33.5 million. Like Oqton, Link3D’s cloud platform tracks work and simplifies the AM workflow.
One of the latest acquisitions in 2021 is ASTM International’s acquisition of Wohlers Associates. Together they are working to leverage the Wohlers brand to support the wider adoption of AM worldwide. Through the ASTM AM Center of Excellence, Wohlers Associates will continue to produce Wohlers reports and other publications, as well as provide advisory services, market analysis and training.
The additive manufacturing industry has matured and many industries are using the technology for a wide range of applications. But 3D printing won’t replace most other forms of manufacturing. Instead, it is used to create new types of products and business models. Organizations use AM to reduce the weight of parts, reduce lead times and tool costs, and improve product personalization and performance. The additive manufacturing industry is expected to continue its growth trajectory with new companies, products, services, applications and use cases emerging, often at breakneck speed.