For the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, 2020 is an anniversary year in three different ways. The RWTH Aachen University is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and is marking the occasion, by hosting the International Colloquium of Plastics Technology for the 30th time – with special feature on the previous day. A preview of the celebrations.

A Varied Menu

Extrusion

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Spritzgießen

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Temperiertechnik

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Extrusionswerkzeuge

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Additive Fertigung

Extrusionsanlagen

Reason to Celebrate 30th International Colloquium of Plastics Technology and  70 Years of the IKV

Maintaining competitiveness while producing in Germany requires not only cost-efficient production, but also high-quality products. Vorwerk Elektrowerke is accepting this challenge. In collaboration with the Institute of Product Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, the company is testing a 100 % inline quality monitoring system as well as a quality prediction using machine learning.

Successfully Managing Digital Transformation with Automation and Artificial Intelligence

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Kameras, intelligente

Fertigungsautomation

Bildverarbeitung

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Datenanalyse

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Inline Quality Monitoring and  Data-Based Quality Prediction

The Circular Economy is not only the theme topic at the K 2019. It is also the “green” thread running through the fair exhibit by Engel, the provider of injection molding machines and integrated system solutions. Industry 4.0 is turning out to be a driving force for recycling. This is a most timely insight, since the branch is in for several economically cool years.

Engel Supports Strong Involvement by the Plastics Industry in a Circular Economy

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Spritzgießmaschinen

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Ressourcenmanagement

Produktion

A Second Life for Plastics

Lightweight parts, energy-saving processing or the practice of combining several process steps into one can all be subsumed under one current buzzword: sustainability. A technology that is highly promising in this regard is thermoplastic foam injection molding.

New Developments in Thermoplastic Foam Injection Molding

Schaumspritzgießen

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

A Special Process that Is Becoming a Sustainable Normal Case

According to researchers of the University of Sydney recycling robots could help solve soft plastic waste crisis.

Abfallverwertung

Energieeffizienz

Prozess- und Umwelttechnik

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Artificial Intelligence against Soft Plastic Waste

The latest trend in digitization  is the Artificial Intelligence of Things. It amounts to “marrying” Artificial Intelligence with the Internet of Things. In the following interview, Martin Dimmler and Martin Rugfelt discuss how companies can profit from AIoT and what plastics manufacturers can learn from its pioneers in other industries.

Artificial Intelligence of Things: Trends and Models for the Plastics Industry

Vernetzung / Cloudlösung für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

IoT-Plattformen für die Qualitätssicherung

Fernwartung / Ferndiagnose

Instandhaltung

Produkt- / anbieterspezifische Automatisierung

Automatisierungstechnik

Automatisierungszellen

IoT-Plattformen für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

“Intelligent Automation Brings Systems Closer to their Optimum”

Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Biokunststoffe

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Spritzgießsimulation

Simulation

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Preventive maintenance, autonomous readjustment in ongoing processes, large-scale production in lots of just one item, human-machine collaboration – K2016 had a treasure trove of Industry 4.0 technologies in store for visitors. Injection molding machine makers and their partner companies from the fields of toolmaking, automation and sensor technology especially did not hold back on their sample applications. 

K 2016 Makes the Digitization of the Industry Tangible 

ERP-Systeme

Werkzeugwechselsysteme

Werkzeugwechselsysteme, Spritzgieß

Instandhaltungsmanagement (TPM)

A Treasure Trove of "Industry 4.0" Technologies 

With K 2016 in Düsseldorf, Germany, and formnext in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, professionals with an interest in additive manufacturing had two opportunities last year to gain a sense of the spirit of innovation in the industry. One issue was particularly prominent: the increase in production efficiency. This improves the economy of using the different 3D printing processes. 

A Diversity of Suppliers and Physical Cross-Linking Make Possible New Business Models and Application Scenarios for Additive Manufacturing  

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid Manufacturing

Selektives Laserschmelzen von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Faserverarbeitung

Industrieroboter

All Elements at a Glance 

When it comes to 3D printing hair or fur, the problem is not so much the printing itself, but rather the generation of the necessary three-dimensional model. The usual CAD software requires an extreme amount of time, frequently taking the computer hardware to its limits.  

MIT Software Cilllia for Generative Manufacturing of Delicate Structures 

3D Printing: A Hairy Issue  

Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC/USA, have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients. 

Ear, Bone and Muscle Structures from the Printer 

Thermoplaste

Medizintechnik

3D Printing of Replacement Tissue 

On the eve of the K 2016, and following the two most successful years in the company’s history, Arburg is cloaked in silence – as far as the planned product launches in Düsseldorf are concerned. Meanwhile, the newly opened factory in the Lossburg parent plant fuels speculations about an advance into the large machine sector. 

Arburg Enjoys Booming Business and Keeps its Plans for the K Show Secret 

Guessing Games 

Stratasys Ltd. offers world’s only 3D printer to produce full color, multi-material prototypes and parts in a single 3D print, eliminating time-consuming processes and accelerating product concepting, design, decisions, and delivery. The J750 enables customers for the first time to mix-and-match full color gradients alongside an unprecedented range of materials to achieve one-stop realism without post-processing. 

One-Stop Realism Drives near Instantaneous Decision-Making 

3D Printer J750 

Additive manufacturing processes with their great potential for automation and functional integration promise to revolutionize the production of plastic products. Besides the well-known strengths, the processes also have deficits such as the attainable tolerances and surface properties as well as the unresolved question of the integration of inserts. A new hybrid concept of additive and subtractive production provides an approach for the economical production of function-integrated parts. 

IKV Combines a Completely Automated Plant for Additive Production with Conventional Production Techniques 

Bohr- und Fräswerke

Fräswerkzeuge

Extruder

Inserttechnik

Hybridtechnik

Hybrid Manufacturing Strategy for Functionally Integrated Single Parts 

In addition to improved plant technology, new materials are being developed for additive manufacturing processes. These include elastomers which, by their irreversible cross-linking, have a different behavior than thermoplastics. An investigation shows that commercially available silicone rubbers can be processed via additive manufacturing – with high strength in relation to conventionally manufactured silicone rubbers. 

Silicones as a Material Group for Additive Manufacturing on the Test Bench 

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Silikone

Elastomers of the Third Dimension 

German Scientists want to develop an app for automatic monitoring of print quality in additive manufacturing at batch size 1.

Scientists from Hanover and Aachen are working on a solution to support small and medium-sized companies in particular in the approval of patient-specific medical devices from the 3D printer

3D printing enables a batch size 1 production, meaning no products are alike because each part is individually designed for the customer. Among others, this is interesting for the medical technology sector. Additively manufactured dental splints, hearing aids and even implants can be perfectly adapted to the body of an individual patient and still be produced cost-effectively. One challenge for companies, however, is quality assurance. Personalized medical devices are subject to strict safety requirements. Manufacturers must be able to guarantee that there are no invisible cracks or pores in the component and that the geometric requirements and desired material properties are achieved. Scientists from Hanover and Aachen are working on a solution to support small and medium-sized companies in particular in the approval of patient-specific medical devices from the 3D printer: they want to develop an app that helps with quality assurance.

The more individualized the production, the more difficult quality assurance becomes. In the case of goods manufactured in large series, it is often sufficient to carry out quality tests on a few randomly selected products in order to be able to draw conclusions about the entire batch. This is not possible with single-item products. Here, each component must be examined in detail to ensure quality.

Detecting possible defects in patient-specific 3D printed products during production is the goal of a new research project being conducted jointly by scientists at the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover (IPH) gGmbH and the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University.

Artificial Intelligence to Detect Production Errors

The researchers want to equip an industrial 3D printer with sensor technology to seamlessly monitor the printing process. The sensor data will be evaluated in an app using Artificial Intelligence via a quality model to reliably detect production errors. The scientists at the IPH and the WZL are focusing primarily on medical technology, because in this industry the degree of individualization of products and the associated quality requirements are particularly high, and proof of a quality assurance system must be provided as part of an approval process. In the research project, the IPH is responsible for sensor technology and data collection, while the WZL is responsible for creating the quality model and programming the app.

Quality in 3D printing is influenced by many factors: the type of material used, the ambient temperature, the temperature at which the filament is melted, the printing speed, the vibrations of the print head and quite a few other parameters. “Additive Manufacturing processes are very sensitive to external influences,” says project engineer Anne Rathje from IPH. “Our goal is to get more safety into the process and avoid errors.” Particularly treacherous, she says, is that many errors are no longer visible from the outside once the component has finished printing. “For example, if the print head clogs briefly in between and then continues to print normally, you won’t see it later,” Rathje says.

For the research project, IPH is using the X500PRO industrial printer from German RepRap GmbH. The printing material used is the plastic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which has a comparatively high strength but is very sensitive to temperature.

The scientists want to use various sensors to monitor the print quality. Conceivable options include sensors that measure the temperature of the build plate or build chamber, infrared sensors that can be used to determine the temperature directly at the print head, vibration sensors and optical measurement technology. Acoustic signals – in simple terms, sound recordings – are also useful for quality monitoring. These could be used, for example, to determine if the print head is clogged or if the filament breaks in the system. “You can hear that,” says Anne Rathje. “The challenge, however, is to process the signals in such a way that ambient noise is filtered out” – for example, the whirring of the motor in the 3D printer, the noise of the computer or a slammed door. To distinguish important from unimportant sounds, the researchers want to use Machine Learning, a form of Artificial Intelligence. By training the program with as many sound recordings as possible, it learns better and better how to reliably detect errors based on acoustic signals.

The App Provides Data – the Users Have to Interpret It

Ultimately, the goal is to develop an app that automatically evaluates all sensor data. “Our goal is to reduce the effort involved in quality assurance in 3D printing and also to enable laypersons to monitor the print via an intuitive app,” says Anna-Lena Knott from the WZL. Users do not have to interpret the sensor data – the app monitors the entire printing process, documents errors and provides feedback on print quality. In the event of serious errors that could render the component unusable, the app stops the printing process and informs the user. The print settings can then be adjusted and specialist personnel called in if necessary.

The IPH and the WZL are working closely with industry on the research project. The project advisory committee includes manufacturing companies from medical and dental technology and other industries, as well as manufacturers of 3D printers.

The IPH and WZL are working closely with industry on the research project. The project advisory committee includes manufacturing companies from medical and dental technology and other industries, as well as manufacturers of 3D printers. The research project, entitled “Sensor- and app-based validation of process and product quality for effort-reduced certification of personalized medical devices (SAViour),” will run until January 2023 and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Werkzeugmaschinenlabor WZL der RWTH Aachen University 

https://www.wzl.rwth-aachen.de

IPH - Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gemeinnützige GmbH 

https://www.iph-hannover.de

Quality monitoring: the scientists will attach sensors to the printer to detect faults such as a clogged print head

3D printed dental splints: thanks to additive manufacturing, medical products can be individually adapted to the patient’s body and still be produced cost-effectively

3D printers in the dental lab: Rainer Ulbricht Dental-Technik GmbH already uses additive manufacturing and participates in the SAViour research project

Professional 3D printing system: in the research project, IPH uses the X500PRO industrial printer from German RepRap GmbH and equips it with sensor technology

2021-05-10 TT WZL und Fraunhofer IPH

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