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

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Kunststoff

Anlagen für die Stereolithografie, Kunststoff

Anlagen Selektives Lasersintern, Kunststoff

3D-Druck-Anlage, pulverbettbasiert, Metall

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Metall

SLA (Stereolithografie) Kunststoff

Flüssigmaterialverfahren

3D-Druck-Anlage, strahlbasiert, Metall

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Pulverbettverfahren

3D-Drucker (für FDM, FFF, etc.)

Additive Fertigung

Fused Deposition Modeling Kunststoff, Glas, Karbon, Metall

Freiraumverfahren

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Andere Werkstoffe

Finer, Bigger, Faster

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

Medizintechnik

Medical Applications of Additive Manufacturing

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

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

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.

16:9

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

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

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

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

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

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.

Farsoon Technologies Grows Revenue Despite Corona

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

Duroplaste

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

Polyacrylate

Oberflächenbeschichtung

Holz

Hybridwerkstoffe

Polyacetale

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Polyamide

Oberflächentechnik

Filamente für additive Verfahren

Oberflächenveredelung

Dienstleistungen

Lohnfertigung

Polycarbonat

Technology Made Easy

From aerospace and defense to digital dentistry and medical devices, 3D printed parts are used in a variety of industries. They are comprised of many thin layers of materials, plastics in this case, deposited on top of each other to form a desired shape. These layers are prone to fracturing, causing issues with the durability and reliability of the part when used in a real-world application, for example a custom printed medical device. That is why they are currently used only in the prototyping phase of materials or as a toy for display.Brandon Sweeney and his advisor Dr. Micah Green discovered a way to make 3-D printed parts stronger and immediately useful in real-world applications. Sweeney and Green applied the traditional welding concepts to bond the submillimeter layers in a 3-D printed part together, while in a microwave. 

Welding of 3D Printed Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composites 

Technik Trend

Stronger 3D Printed Parts 

Large Components Custom-Built  in One Week

Additive Manufacturing Process Revolutionizes Process Chain in Civil Engineering

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

Rehau is currently developing an additive manufacturing process that can turn out large polymer manholes in single-unit batches as if they were rolling off a production line. The process enables builders to place an order for a customized manhole specific to their construction project and to take delivery of it a week later. This remarkable development decisively shortens construction times and renders work processes more efficient.

Planners and contractors often come across unusual manhole geometries in the subsoil during renovations. Often very old, the manholes pose challenges for civil engineers: pipe connections made at different heights, of different sizes and characterized by angulations and different connection gradients. Before now, such manholes had to be reconstructed by hand off detailed production drawings. This entails a huge outlay, a great deal of manual labor and long delivery times. Unfortunately, construction jobs often have to be completed speedily, especially in inner-city sites, and with as little disruption as possible for traffic and residents. So, every day saved by the customer matters.

All construction sites are different, which is why sewer manholes cannot always be planned and executed smoothly. And if the sewer also happens to be complex and changes are made at short notice during the construction phase, particularly flexible and speedy solutions are called for. The need to rapidly deliver high-precision, one-off designs inspired Rehau to devise a new manufacturing process that the potential afforded by a combination of 3D laser scanners, automated CAD (computer-aided design) and additive manufacturing as well as post-processing methods (Fig. 1).

The first process step consists in producing a 3D-printed semi-finished article from automatically generated CAD data by means of fused granular fabrication (FGF). This involves an extruder being moved by a linear system that tracks the component contour, building up the component layer by layer without the need for tools. Once printing is complete, the semi-finished article is reworked in a subtractive finishing process to yield the finished part. Rehau has thereby created a smart, end-to-end process chain for its customers, spanning measurement and planning of the manhole through to 3D printing and delivery to the construction site.

The Process – from Measurement  to Delivery

Conventional measuring methods are not particularly accurate when it comes to mapping out complex manhole geometries, which is why Rehau uses scanning lasers – they are capable of capturing the 3D data with the required accuracy. Customers either measure the manholes themselves or commission a specialist engineering firm to do so. Rehau can also provide support with its in-house laser scanners and measuring teams on request. The 3D scanners return a point cloud from which all the requisite dimensions can be obtained. Rehau has developed an online app that allows customers to configure their specific manholes down to the last detail and with total freedom over planning aspects. Rehau then creates a digital twin for this one-off manhole (Fig. 2).

As soon as a customer gives the go-ahead, Rehau launches the “smart production” process. The company currently has the capability to produce components with a maximum diameter of 1.2 m and a maximum height of 85 cm. The big plus for customers: Rehau’s polymer manholes are obtainable in single-unit batch sizes and are a regulated construction product, meeting all the requirements imposed on leak tightness and durability specified in ISO 13598–1.

Smart also means fast: a large one-off manhole can be produced in just one week (Fig. 3). It is delivered to the construction site with the seals inserted and pipe connections fitted and, on request, with matching accessories, such as manhole covers. And it can be connected to all common materials.

The dimensions of the one-off design are exactly the same as those of a conventional polymer manhole and installation is equally as fast and easy. Here, too, the builder benefits from industrial-grade quality and precision. Added to which, the large polymer manholes outscore stoneware and concrete solutions by virtue of their much lower weight. This makes installation on the construction site much easier (Fig.  4) and simplifies site logistics. Not only is this advantageous for scheduling production and installation, it is also crucial for inner-city construction sites.

Rehau is a world leader in the additive manufacturing of large polymer components like those mentioned above. When setting up its production, the polymer specialist drew on existing system technologies, but adapted and further developed them to meet its needs. The area deriving the most benefit from Rehau’s extensive materials experience and polymers processing expertise is production.

New material compositions had to be developed and extrusion technology and post-processing adapted before it became possible for workpieces of this size to be produced economically and sustainably in this quality and with such speed. The economics and sustainability primarily stem from the additive manufacturing process: using a combination of lightweight structures and near-net-shape, tool-less, additive manufacturing makes for low material consumption and post-processing outlay.

Rehau’s smart solution shows the amount of potential which polymers offer in digital planning and execution processes. This is an area where they can exploit their advantages over conventional materials, such as vitrified clay and concrete. That manholes made from polymer are corrosion-resistant and durable is already a given.

REHAU Industries SE & Co. KG  

https://www.rehau.com

Rehau AG + Co  Gebäude XENON

Ausgabenartikel

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

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the production process – from digital component measurement by laser scanners to 3D printing and post-processing

Fig. 2. 3D scanning yields a point cloud from which all required dimensions and a digital twin can be obtained

Fig. 3. 3D-printed semi-finished article in production. A large one-off manhole can be produced in just a week

Fig. 4. Perfectly tailored to the installation environment, polymer manholes also outscore their stoneware and concrete counterparts by virtue of their lower weight

Name - Hauptartikel

Dr. Bernhard Häupler is Head of Technology Platform 3D Printing at Rehau Industries AG, Rehau; <a href="mailto:bernhard.haeupler@rehau.com">bernhard.haeupler@rehau.com</a>

Dipl.-Ing. Guido Kania is Executive Director, Technics Division, of Rehau Industries AG in Erlangen, Germany.

Jonas Wilfert, M.Sc., and Kevin Winter, M.Sc., are development engineers at Rehau.