Industrial Additive Manufacturing
Industrial additive manufacturing applications are primarily linked to prototyping in the automotive field and early adoption for production in the aerospace segment, which is by far the biggest user of polymer and especially metal 3D printing technologies.
As machine production throughput has increased in recent years, industrial adoption of AM is now beginning to extend to short and medium batch production for the automotive segment as well. Furthermore, as new metal and polymer technologies now enable the production of larger parts at reduced costs, the use of AM has begun to contaminate the energy segment (with applications in both traditional and sustainable energy production and transport) and the marine segment.
While the cost and time reduction benefits of AM technologies for weight and (topology) optimization, subassemblies and generative part design have been well documented, several hurdles still exist that are limiting the widespread adoption of these key technologies in full end-to-end digital and automated production cycles. Several of these hurdles are inherent to the AM technologies and related material availability, however, the biggest challenges remain linked to process standardization, part finishing and repeatability.
Today every major aerospace or automotive manufacturer has made some significant strides toward the adoption of AM both for internal R&D and production and by leveraging external 3D printing service bureaus as a key resource for outsourced supplies. Every AM-related industrial project is growing and the trend is clearly accelerating.
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VulcanForms, an MIT-born company that builds and operates advanced digital manufacturing infrastructure, has appointed David Kalinske as Vice President and General Manager of Aerospace and Defense. Kalinske is an industry…
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An increasing number of industries are embracing additive manufacturing to complement and replace traditional manufacturing technologies. The high-end, custom sports equipment industry – specifically the bicycle industry – is one…
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The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has joined a project led by NASA to leverage 3D printing processes with the aim of manufacturing rechargeable batteries using Lunar and…
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TAE is a technology platform company on a mission to deliver safe, abundant, aneutronic, and carbon-free commercial fusion energy with hydrogen-boron fuel. Since its founding in California in 1998, TAE…
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The world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator (LHC) is being upgraded, and AMCM, a company specializing in customizing EOS metal 3D printers, is part of it. In their quest…
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Applied Research Associates (ARA), a research and engineering firm headquartered in New Mexico, has awarded faculty in the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering nearly $3.5 million to study the…
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When it comes to non-destructive testing (NDT), there are plenty of options to choose from, but for 3D printed metal components, the inability of those existing options to provide accurate…
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Maintainers from the 60th Maintenance Squadron and 349th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron from the Travis Airforce Base, along with Engineering and Engineering Support contractors from the C-5 System Program Office out…
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The 82nd Airborne Division’s Innovation Lab conducted the first additive manufacturing course at Fort Bragg, on 21-24 February 2023. Ten students from across multiple commands attended the course designed to…
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Snowbird Technologies will launch its patented Snowbird Additive Mobile Manufacturing Technology system (SAMMTech) at The Navy League’s 2023 Sea-Air-Space Show, this April. SAMMTech is reported to be the first of…
