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

The Formnext 2022 shows that AM can help to decentralize processes and production and make supply chains more resilient, conserve resources and produce with less energy consumption.

Formnext 2022 took place from November 15 to 18 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

16:9

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Filamente für additive Verfahren

The Future of Industrial Manufacturing

Evonik has introduced a PEEK for FFF and FDM printers. The material was developed specifically for medical technology applications such as prostheses, surgical instruments and hearing aids.

The 3D-printable filament can be used, for example, for implants or hearing aids

Polyetherketon

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Biocompatible and Easy to Process PEEK

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.

High-Performance 3D Printing

The temperature management of formative manufacturing processes has a significant effect on the mechanical material properties of some semi-crystalline thermoplastics.

Increasing the degree of crystallization and improving the mechanical properties of 3D-printed PEEK tensile specimens (right) by post-heat treatment in a high-temperature furnace (left).

Bei im FFF-Druck hergestellten Bauteilen ist der Kristallisationsgrad relativ niedrig. Durch Wärmenachbehandlung lassen sich die Bauteile jedoch optimieren.

Annealing of 3D-Printed High-Performance Polymers

Higher Crystallinity through  Post Heat Treatment

High-performance plastics such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK) offer many interesting opportunities for improving gears. However, precise statements about the relevant characteristic values are crucial for their effective use.

The mass balancer gear made of Vestakeep 5000 G is the first plastic gear used  in Mercedes-Benz transmissions. It replaces the metal gears previously used there. 

Designing Quieter, More Energy-Efficient Gears with PEEK

Zahnräder

Maschinenelemente

Lager

Getting to the Heart of Wheels

The pathways to plastics can be many – even metalworking in the case of AIM3D. That is what first got this start-up up and running. Fast forward to now and the young Rostock company can cover both bases.

Versatile: the 3D printer developed by this young company can process virtually all fusible materials.

Start up

Wirtschaft

Unternehmen und Unternehmer

When We Break through  Material Boundaries

The trade fair will take place in autumn 2023 at the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center.

Formnext + PM South China to Be Postponed

Worldwide demand for PAEK continues to increase at an annual rate of approx. 15%. In addition to Victrex, the world’s largest producer of PAEK, two new suppliers, Degussa and Solvay, have appeared on the scene to develop additional applications. 

Increasing Demand (Trade Fair Report K 2007): Polyaryletherketones (PAEK) 

New developments and enhancements in engineering plastics trigger advances in classical customers and help a wide variety of application industries to achieve their ambitious goals or legal requirements. High-performance plastics, on the other hand, score in areas with extreme requirements. 

Engineering and High-Performance Plastics Are Becoming Ever More Specialized 

Polyacrylate

Polyamide

Polycarbonat

Styrol-Copolymerisate

Verbände, Institutionen, Messen

The Fast Track to Customer’s Needs 

Advanced PAEK materials, production processes or integrated offerings are opening the door to increased efficiency and new potential uses. Translated to application level, this means greater productivity, performance and reliability with cost efficiency for applications in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, energy and medical industries, typically replacing traditionally used metals.  

New Materials and Technologies Get Polyaryletherketones Moving  

Polyaryletherketones (PAEK) 

Due to its high-performing properties polyetheretherketone thermoplastic polymer is being used more and more frequently in many products.

PEEK can replace fluoropolymers in cryogenic applications. Advanced Engineering Valves uses PEEK from Victrex for sealings in ball valves

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)

Elektronik-Fertigung

Elektronik

Mikroelektronik

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Delivering Efficiency Even in  Harsh Environments

PEEK was invented a little over 40 years ago, and so is a relatively young high-performing thermoplastic polymer. Nevertheless, continuous development of products and processing technologies enables a range of advanced applications in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, energy, and food-and-beverage sectors, as well as the medical industry.

Additive manufactured PAEK demo bracket – produced by filament fusion (left) and by laser sintering (right)

The High-Performance Polymer Opens up New Possibilities for Processing Methods  and Applications

Ultra high performance polymers such as polyaryletherketones (PAEK) are typically not thermoformable for thick gauge applications because of their semi-crystalline nature.

Fig. 1. PEKK copolymers contain both terephthalic (T) and isophthalic (I) monomers. The ratio and distribution of the monomers significantly determines the properties of the plastics

Special Polymers Enable Thermoforming of PEKK Parts

Warmformen / Thermoformen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Semi-Crystalline, and yet Thermoformable

The rising voltages in electric vehicles are creating higher requirements on insulation materials. This is why PEEK is increasingly used for this purpose. A problem with this high-performance polymer used to be its adhesion to the secondary insulation material. An epoxy resin now promises to solve the issue.

Due to higher voltages, manufacturers are increasingly using PEEK as insulation material for electric motors.

Partner for PEEK

Elektromotoren

Antriebe

Kfz-Elektronik

Elektromobilität

Mobilität

PEEK and Epoxy Provide Efficient Insulation for High Voltage E-Motor

To an increasing extent, additive manufacturing is finding its way into series production. Particularly so, if the application benefits from the special strengths of additive manufacturing. This was clearly shown at last year’s Formnext. Also various developments in the materials sector show that the processes are suitable for mass production.

To an increasing extent, additive manufacturing is finding its way into series production. This was clearly shown at last year’s Formnext.

3D printing has come of age. This was impressively demonstrated last year at the Formnext in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. More than 800 exhibitors showed what additive manufacturing is capable of. Correctly applied, it can contribute towards the decentralization of processes and production, make supply chains more resilient, and promote resource-conserving production. And something else became clear: it is no longer limited to prototyping. Meanwhile, industry is busily working on the transition to mass production.

Some 30,000 exhibition visitors were able to see this at the Formlabs booth. Based on various customer applications, the company – whose portfolio includes materials as well as 3D printers – demonstrated what is possible by means of additive production methods, and also in what quantities. Since its founding in 2011, the company’s 3D printers have produced more than 100 million parts. The case studies ranged from Vital Auto’s vehicle components up to high-performance prototypes for sporting goods from Black Diamond Equipment. Also present at the booth: the developers of XSpecter’s camera accessories, who use Formlabs’ SLA and SLS technology for the production of their end-user components (Title figure).

Also the Deutsche Bahn relies on the competence of the Berlin-based company Formlabs. Already in 2015, the railway corporation had used 3D printing for the first time to manufacture spare parts for its trains. Up to the end of 2017, about 2000 spare parts were produced in this way. It all started with a simple 3D-printed coat hook. But from this very straightforward spare part, things developed towards more complex items. Meanwhile, and in addition to the coat hook, the range of 3D-printed parts includes ventilation grids, headrests, junction boxes, transverse damper brackets, and many others.

Also Wibu-Systems succeeded with such a major coup. For a long time, the company has belonged to the pioneers of the Industry 4.0 vision, and has refined its CodeMeter protection and licensing technology into a business enabler with intelligent licensing models. For example, it enables pay-per-use or subscriber licenses to be visualized (Fig. 1). At the Formnext, Wibu presented two success stories, in which CodeMeter contributed in the establishment of new business models in the field of additive manufacturing.

Omniplus is a service provided by Daimler Buses for commercial bus operators, and is also service partner for the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands. In order to offer spare parts to customers quickly and flexibly, Daimler Buses has opted for digitalization, and offers an increasing number of spare parts and components in the form of 3D-printable files in its new print shop.

Daimler Buses, Farsoon Technologies, and Wibu Systems worked jointly on the online shop, in which the offered objects are encrypted via CodeMeter. During purchase, two licenses are created: customers receive a preparatory license to prepare printing, and a printing license for the number of objects to be printed. CodeMeter was integrated directly into Omniplus, where it will ensure fast and reliable order handling, delivery, and invoicing.

“The spare parts are immediately available worldwide, and cost-intensive stockpiling is superfluous, thereby ensuring faster parts availability, the elimination of complex supply chains, plus cost savings”, are advantages explained by Stefan Bamberg, Senior Key Account & Partner Manager at Wibu. This is not only of interest for bus operators. “Our business model can be implemented for any other industrial sector – not only for spare parts”, says Bamberg. Rapidly increasing digitalization causes increasing amounts of know-how to be transported in the form of data. “This data must be protected, and the possibility of monetizing the data utilized”, he adds.

“As the leading international event, the Formnext is definitely one of the most important trade fairs for us and our markets”, explains Dr. Victor Roman, company manager of Arburgadditive. Particular focus was placed on the new Freeformer 750–3X, whose large build chamber is ideally suited for fast series production of large components or several items per build job (Fig. 2).

Among the numerous technical novelties compared with the predecessor version is a new plasticizing unit: now, more compact and slimmer melt pressure generators for dosing and injecting are used, fitted with servomotors from AMKmotion, a company of the Arburg family. The entire system, i.e. material preparation and discharge units, was pressure-optimized and matched to the AKF additive manufacturing process. Hereby, focus is on precision and repeatability of the melt output, which in turn serves to ensure the creation of uniform, constant drops. Moreover, the three discharge units are positioned more closely to each other and in a more compact way. Compared with the Freeformer 300–3X, their design is 100 mm “slimmer”.

The trend in industrial additive manufacturing is clearly moving towards high efficiency in daily production, both in the manufacture of larger single components as well as the manufacture of several articles in clearly moving in the direction of high cost-effectiveness in day-to-day production, both in the manufacture of larger individual parts in a single work cycle. And precisely these demands are met by the Freeformer 750–3X. The system also closes the gap between pure prototyping and the production of functional small series. Because not only has the part size grown, but also the building speed. The granulate hopper volumes were doubled, and accessibility in the area of the maintenance flap was improved. All this provides even more individuality, functionality, improved user-friendliness, lower costs, and freedom in part design, as well as effective acceleration of output.

The increased use of additive manufacturing for series components also has an effect on the materials used – for example, the demands on their mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and long-term behavior are increasing. After all, the components are no longer scrapped after a few tests, but must remain in service for longer periods.

Apart from higher demands, certifications are required in many areas. Moreover, component designers and processors need reliable data about important characteristics. Therefore, during the past years, material producers have had their 3D printing materials certified to an increasing extent for different industries e.g. in the automotive and railway sectors. Meanwhile, the companies also provide data sheets with material properties.

For example, Henkel offers photopolymers that are certified for railway applications or medical technology (Fig. 3). According to the company, comprehensive material tests have also been conducted during the past years, in order to provide customers with the requested material data. Similarly, analyses of the long-term behavior of the polymers were carried out. With photopolymers for instance, statements about light stability are very important. Also traceability is an increasingly important topic. Essentium for example not only ensures traceability for its printers and materials, but recently also for its filament spools (Fig. 4).

Interesting advances were also shown with printing materials in the polyetheretherketone (PEEK) range. This high-performance thermoplastic is extremely popular for applications in fields such as aerospace and medical technology, with very high demands on the material. However, 3D printing with PEEK represents a large challenge for processors. Because the polymer has a very high melt temperature – usually above 340 °C – a correspondingly high printing temperature is required.

PAEK: Lower Melt Temperature and Slower Crystallization

Improvements in this respect are promised by a polyaryletherketone (PAEK) introduced at the Formnext by Solvay. According to the company, its melt temperature is considerably lower than for PEEK. Consequently, it can be processed more easily and at lower temperatures. At present, the material is still in development (Fig. 5). It is to be introduced to the market in the course of the year, and will serve in the performance range between PA12 and PEEK.

Also plastics producer Victrex showcased a PAEK with lower melt temperature (Fig. 6). It lies at 305 °C instead of 343 °C, as is the case for the company’s standard PEEK for 3D printing. Furthermore, the material is claimed to address a processing problem of PEEK: excessively fast crystallization.

This represents a problem for the layer build-up normally used by most additive processes. The reason is that the printed layer has crystallized before the next layer is printed. This leads to a weaker bond between layers, with an increased risk of delamination. Therefore, 3D-printed PEEK achieves a considerably lower tensile strength along the z-axis than is usually the case with the polymer. Named Victrex AM 200, the new PAEK crystallizes slower than conventional PEEK. Consequently, the bond between the printed layers is improved and therefore also tensile strength along the z-axis. This is claimed to result in values around 70 MPa for the material.

Henkel AG & Co.KGaA  

https://www.henkel.de

Victrex Europa GmbH  

https://www.victrex.com

SOLVAY SA  

https://www.solvay.com

Essentium Headquarters  

Ausgabenartikel

Fig. 5. In future, the PAEK introduced by Solvay is said to permit components made of the high-performance thermoplastic to be printed at lower temperatures.

Fig. 6. The material presented by Victrex solves a 3D printing problem with PEEK: low tensile strength along the z-axis. This is enabled by the material’s lower crystallization speed.

T-Crow night vision camera: except for the electronic components, the entire stand is produced additively. 

Fig. 1. Without in-betweens: by means of 3D printing, customers can produce licensed spare parts themselves.

Fig. 2. The three discharge units of the Freeformer 750–3X have a more compact design than the 300–3X version, and can therefore be arranged more closely together.

Fig. 3. Henkel has developed special 3D-printable acrylic resins for medical technology applications. They are certified as bio-compatible.

Fig. 4. This large ventilation duct was printed for the US Air Force using materials from Essentium. The duct is the replacement for a metal component.

KUint1-23_Addi_Formnext - Hauptartikel

Review of Formnext 2022

Read the German version of the article in our magazine Kunststoffe or at <a href="https://www.kunststoffe.de/a/fachartikel/druckreif-fuer-die-serienfertigung-3282430" target="_blank">www.kunststoffe.de</a>