Farsoon Technologies is pleased to share news of doubled revenue growth in the Chinese market during Q1-Q3 of 2020 compared to the same period of time in the previous year.

Falcontech Super AM Factory with currently 20 Farsoon metal 3D printing system.

16:9

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Kunststoff

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

3D-Druck-Anlage, strahlbasiert, Metall

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Metall

Farsoon Technologies Grows Revenue Despite Corona

What AM technology is considered capable of today and how it can be applied in many areas of application is shown (representative) by this expert’s view of medical technology.

To enhance the mobility of the spine, the upper and lower shell of this disc prosthesis are connected with an elastic double spring made of titanium. The core also contains a cushioning silicone filling. The prosthesis can be manufactured according to the patient’s anatomy using the LaserCusing process 

Status and Perspectives for Human Medicine

Additive Fertigung

Medizintechnik

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Andere Werkstoffe

Medical Applications of Additive Manufacturing

Evonik has acquired a minority stake in Chinese company UnionTech through its Venture Capital unit. The Shanghai-based company is active in the field of stereolithography 3D printing.

With the minority stack Evonik strengthens its position in the growth market of additive manufacturing

Photopolymere

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Duroplaste

SLA (Stereolithografie) Kunststoff

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Flüssigmaterialverfahren

Kunststoff-Erzeugung

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Evonik Acquires Stake in Chinese 3D Printing Specialist

New developments by the raw material producers are responding to current application trends. Requirements are changing due to the advent of networked and semi-automated electric vehicles and the different mobility infrastructure. Products for digitalization and energy and resource efficiency are also moving center stage.

New Mobility Forms and Digitalization Are Shaping the Development of Engineering and High-Performance Plastics

Polyetherketon

Thermoplaste

Polyacrylate

Oberflächenbeschichtung

Holz

Hybridwerkstoffe

Polyacetale

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Polyamide

Oberflächentechnik

Filamente für additive Verfahren

Oberflächenveredelung

Dienstleistungen

Lohnfertigung

Polycarbonat

Technology Made Easy

On October 16, 2019, on the first evening of the K fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, Carl Hanser Verlag awarded the Dr. Richard Escales prize for the eighth time in memory of the founder of the journal Kunststoffe. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Gebhardt achieved the award for “outstanding achievements in the advancement of technical knowledge”, as the citation on the certificate states.

Fig. 3. From artwork to replica: the data were read with a hand scanner in about an hour (left); Antonius Köster discusses the result at a 3D fair (center); Stratasys Manager, Michael Eichmann, with a print in virtually the original size (right), which at first glance cannot be distinguished from  the original

Award for Technical Author on Additive Manufacturing

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Bildverarbeitungs-Software

Fertigungsautomation

Bildverarbeitung

Klotz, Karlhorst, Dr.

Outstanding 3D Achievements

Fiber-reinforced plastic components, including those for load-bearing areas, are established alternatives to metals in vehicle construction. It is not just their low specific weight that makes them interesting, but also their acoustic properties, which reduce noise transmission.

Fig. 1. Internal combustion engine and its connection to the vehicle structure via engine support and support (colored black)

3D Printing Shortens Development Times for Load-Bearing Parts under the Hood

Spritzgießsimulation

Software

Simulation

Functional Prototypes for  Car Components

In a joint project, the Fraunhofer Plastics Technology Center Oberlausitz, the University of Zittau/Görlitz, KraussMaffei and Elbe Flugzeugwerke, have enhanced an extruder-based method for additive manufacturing of large-format plastic parts using a flexible melt pipe.

Thermal analysis of the deposited plastic strand in the large-format, extruder-based 3D printing process

An Alternative Approach to Large-Format 3D Printing with Plastic

Granulate

Extruder

Extrusionsanlagen

Large but still Economical

Würth Additive Group is now a partner for the distribution of the Freeformer in the USA and Canada.

“The Freeformer and APF process allow us to open up completely new possibilities in the field of industrial additive manufacturing,” said AJ Strandquist, chief executive officer for Würth Additive Group.

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Machines for the USA and Canada

Both companies aim to open up market access to new large-scale industrial applications in the higher temperature range.

Component made from Evonik’s Infinam PA 6005 P material and produced on a Farsoon system

Evonik and Farsoon Strengthen Collaboration

Production is becoming ever more flexible, diversified and decentralized. Without doubt, additive manufacturing processes make a crucial contribution to this, also initiating the transformation from production-based design to design-driven production. In this article, the 3D printing service provider FIT outlines a best-practice panorama of current technologies.

The biggest ever 3D-printed lattice structure was assembled along over 2000 precisely fitting joints into an 8 m-high retable

What Additive Plastic Manufacturing Can Do. The View of a Full-Service Provider

Anlagen für die Stereolithografie, Kunststoff

Anlagen Selektives Lasersintern, Kunststoff

3D-Druck-Anlage, pulverbettbasiert, Metall

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Pulverbettverfahren

3D-Drucker (für FDM, FFF, etc.)

Fused Deposition Modeling Kunststoff, Glas, Karbon, Metall

Freiraumverfahren

Finer, Bigger, Faster

Italian manufacturer Roboze has equipped its Argo 500 3D printer with automation technology from B&R. The printer offers repeatable high precision and full process control. This reduces lead times and lowers the cost of creating custom metal-replacement components

Roboze uses B&R technology to integrate its 3D printer into industrial production. Customized high-performance plastics can now be processed faster and easier

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Automatisierungstechnik

High-Precision 3D Printing

Rehau is developing an additive manufacturing process that can turn out large polymer manholes in single-unit batches.

Kevin Winter (left) and Jonas Wilfert from Rehau in their 3D printing production environment. Components can have a maximum diameter of 1.2 m and height of 85 cm

Additive Manufacturing Process Revolutionizes Process Chain in Civil Engineering

Hoch- und Tiefbau

Bauwesen

Baubetrieb / Bauwirtschaft

Large Components Custom-Built  in One Week

Over the four trade-show days in November, Formnext 2021 transformed the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, into an international innovation center of global additive manufacturing and modern industrial production. At the plastics side, some of the focuses were on the manufacture of voluminous parts, the use of injection molding pellets as a material basis, and the processing of high-performance plastics.

A high-strength carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide is printed on a plasma-treated stainless steel sheet.

Formnext 2021: Successful Relaunch as a Face-to-Face Show

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Hochleistungskunststoffe

High-Performance 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing has the potential to manufacture tablets individualized for the particular patient, and thereby further digitalize the pharmaceutical industry. In medication development, the properties of a tablet, such as its shape, dosage or release of the active substance, can be individually tailored – by making just a few changes to the digital 3D print file. Merck scientists have used a Freeformer for their lab tests.

Merck researcher Dr. Thomas Kipping (right) and Nabil Lamrabet value the advantages that the Freeformer offers as an open system.

The Freeformer Allows a Tailor-Made Combination of Several Active Ingredients

Arburg Kunststoff Freiformen

Patient-Specific Tablets

3D Systems has developed the SLA 750 stereolithography solution for additive manufacturing of large products or high quantities. It comprises the 3D printers SLA 750 and SLA 750 Dual, as well as the new material Accura AMX Durable Natural and the Post Cure 1050 secondary finishing system.

Resistant material: Accura AMX Durable Natural is suitable for applications with high elasticity and high impact strength. © 3D Systems

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Harzwerkstoffe

SLA Platform for Large Parts

A multi-material 3D printer from AIM3D is integrated into the digital CAx process chain of Siemens NX.

A multi-material 3D printer from AIM3D is integrated into the digital CAx process chain of Siemens NX .

Mapping a 3D printing process as a continuous digital process chain from the component design to the production and post-processing is the logical consequence of a digital additive manufacturing strategy. This objective that AIM3D has set itself has been taken up by the Naddcon research and development center in Lichtenfels, Germany, which specializes in additive manufacturing. The main task of the cooperation with AIM3D was to embed a classic, industrial design tool into the process chain: in this case, the Siemens NX package. The NX tool contains extensive CAD, CAM and CAE solutions, as already used for the conventional manufacturing of components in the machining industry. Naddcon integrated an ExAM 255 from AIM3D into the NX environment to make the 3D CEM system accessible as a digital 3D machining system (CEM = Composite Extrusion Modeling). This integration of NX is just one of many options though in the open machine concept of <a href="https://en.kunststoffe.de/a/interview/when-we-break-through-material-boundarie-3044169" target="_blank">AIM3D‘s multi-material 3D printers</a>. As the example of the NX tool shows, users can now make use of an alternative approach to operate 3D printers and to generate G-code. In light of this, Sebastian Kallenberg, project engineer at Naddcon, provided insights into the continuous digital process chain of a 3D printing process with an ExAM 255 from AIM3D.

The bridge between the machine firmware of AIM3D and the CAD/CAM environment of Siemens NX integrates the 3D printer as a CAM processing machine. With CAD, CAM and CAE approaches, NX offers the user a comprehensive tool for the design and iterative optimization of additive components. Based on a desired requirement profile, the 3D components can be optimized in terms of bionics, free-form surfaces, selective densities (variable filling strategies) and weight reductions (for example, grid structures). The fibres can also be laid down in an optimized manner with respect to the force flow, which defines the stiffness or elasticity and the mechanical load capacity. In addition, a database system and powerful simulation models are available. This means that the entire 3D printing process from the design to the production can be better controlled, components can be optimally designed and at the same time a very high reproducibility can be achieved. In general, it can be said that NX enables an exact machine simulation. More precisely, this means that traversing speeds, extruder performance and temperatures can be controlled with pinpoint accuracy depending on the component geometry.

Free-form Surface Machining in 3D CEM Printing

A keyword in free-form surface machining is Multi-Axis Deposition. Originally developed for laser beam build-up welding by DMG Mori, the tool has since been extended to FDM/FFF. In fused deposition modelling, strands of material are deposited onto a surface. These strands are obtained by melting a polymer and continuously extruding it through a nozzle, followed by the material hardening due to cooling at the desired position of the working plane. The build-up of a component is usually done by repeatedly creating one working plane at a time, line by line, and then moving the working plane upwards in a ‚stacking‘ manner so that a shape is created layer by layer. NX allows for the generation of toolpaths along curved surfaces. This way, true 3D paths, that create planes independently, can be generated. Using this technology in process development can eliminate the staircase effect typical of AM processes. The result is a true 3D contour of a solid body.

Integration of the ExAM 255 from AIM3D into the NX Environment

Sebastian Kallenberg from Naddcon designed the required steps for the integration based on a standardized component made of PA6 GF30 (demonstrator), the design of which was to be optimized using NX. The first step was to build a kinematic model of the 3D printer by integrating the CAD model of the ExAM 255 into NX, as well as defining the kinematic axes and determining the machine zero point. The kinematic model enables a machine simulation of the tool paths before the actual production process takes place. The next step was the generation of the tool path for the extruder of the AM system. This involves generating trajectories based on machining operations and the component geometry. The third step was the machine simulation of the ExAM 255, that is, the simulation of the tool path with the associated axis movements of the machine model. The application of the material as well as potential machine collisions can also be simulated. The main aspect here is the programming of a post-processor to translate the NX tool paths into a numerical G-code that the 3D printer can interpret. A G-code consists of path conditions (G-word) and additional functions (M-word), each of which is assigned either a movement or an action. The combination of these commands allows the 3D printer to understand the pattern it must follow to produce the part. A G-code is a programming language used to program numerically controlled machine tools. In 3D printing, it is usually generated automatically by the slicer software when the design is converted to an STL file. Post-processor programming allows for machine-specific adjustments for an improved process control. When using NX, however, an STL format is no longer necessary, as the process makes use of solids that are either directly generated within NX or can be imported from a different CAD system.

The programming was tested on a sample component made of PA6 GF30, the demonstrator, on the ExAM 255. First, the tool path was generated. Then tests were carried out on the machine to identify the optimal process parameters, but also possible errors in the post-processor. It was possible to apply numerous optimizations to the demonstrator with NX. The user can vary densities, integrate lattice structures to reduce weight, control shrinkage, apply stiffeners, move „drill holes“ to optimally design the entire component and print it with the 3D printer in a qualified manner. Sebastian Kallenberg: „Our digital NX approach is intended to better exploit the CEM machine technology from a design and production preparation point of view. There is considerable potential here for free-form surfaces, that is, real 3D contours, but also bionic design strategies.”

AIM3D GmbH  

https://www.aim3d.de

Sebastian Kallenberg, project engineer at Naddcon, while operating the CEM system.

Digital process chain with the NX software for a 3D printing process (design, pre-processing, processing and post-processing).

Component made of PA6 30GF: Original design (top) and NX-optimised design (bottom).

The optimized component made of PA6 GF30 in the representation of the NX program with a weight-optimised lattice structure.