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Additive advances- The 16th China£¨Guangzhou£©Int¡¯l Sheet metal machinery,Forging, Stamping and Setting Equipment Exhibition
3/24/2015 sheet metal expo |
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Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, often referred to in the media as 3D Printing, forms a manufacturing approach that many think has the potential to transform industry.[[{"fid":"15300","view_mode":"default","type":"media","attributes":{"height":"497","width":"620","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]The term describes a collection of manufacturing processes which join materials in a layer-by-layer fashion and employ raw materials in powder, liquid, sheet or filament form.From the development of the first operational systems in the 1980s, the goal of AM has always been to allow the creation of physical objects in a single manufacturing step. However the reality of AM in the near future is to integrate into existing supply chains.In principle, the absence of dedicated tooling lends AM a number of advantages over other, more conventional, manufacturing techniques such as injection moulding, investment casting or CNC machining.AM processes are generally seen as useful for the creation of highly complex, freeform geometries. In end-use application, such freedoms are used to create optimised product designs, internal structures for added strength, or to incorporate additional design features.The technology has also proven to be an excellent route for the manufacture of customised products in very small numbers, down to a single unit. This has enabled many business models focussing on the provision of highly tailored products such as surgical implants, dental products or hearing aids. Complement not replaceHowever, AM technology does currently have a number of limitations (mainly relating to process economics, build materials, repeatability and process accuracy) which mean that in industrial reality it would be unwise to view it as a manufacturing panacea.Instead, it appears that professional AM will work in concert with other manufacturing processes, at least in the near future, forming hybrid manufacturing cells that capitalise on AM strengths in the creation of complex geometries while compensating for its weaknesses by integrating conventional manufacturing processes.Therefore, a guiding theme of successful industrial deployment of AM technology is to seek complementarity to conventional manufacturing processes, rather than replacing them.Research activities at the 3D Printing research Group (3DPRG) at the University of Nottingham build on this idea to develop novel scalable AM systems fit for deployment in the high value manufacturing industry.[[{"fid":"15301","view_mode":"default","type":"media","attributes":{"height":"496","width":"620","alt":"Professor Richard Hague","title":"Professor Richard Hague","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Prof Richard Hague is director of the EPSRC Centre for Addititive Manufacturing at the University of NottinghamThe research group places a particular emphasis on systems capable of depositing multiple materials simultaneously. This yields additional and complementary design possibilities that are simply not available from conventional manufacturing processes alone.To be able to serve as a manufacturing process in concert with existing conventional manufacturing processes, however, a key aspect is process throughput and scalability. Recent research at the 3DPRG has therefore concentrated on the development of new multi-material AM processes and materials making use of advanced ink jetting technology, effectively building products up though the controlled deposition of material droplets. As this approach combines raw material handling and deposition in ink-jetting heads, it is also more continuous than other AM technology variants and can more easily be incorporated into larger systems. A brave new world of multifunctional productsAM enabled supply chains currently span a significant application domain. At the high value end, the technology is used for end-use products and functional prototypes in the aerospace, automotive and medical industries, but also for luxury consumer goods.[[{"fid":"15302","view_mode":"default","type":"media","attributes":{"height":"563","width":"647","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Dr Martin Baumers is a research fellow at the University of NottinghamThe technology developed at the 3DPRG aims to expand this application domain even further: by creating scalable multi-material systems, researchers envision that AM will begin to form a key stepping stone toward products incorporating printed intelligence, such as electronic or electric functionality, within everyday consumer products and also components for specialist industrial applications. Work is also being undertaken in the bio-pharmaceutical areas also.Integration of such functional structures will allow the inclusion of, for example, sensors, control logic, in©\part health monitoring, electronic interfaces, and internal energy distribution or communication devices.Combined with the relatively unconstrained and potentially optimised creation of structural part geometry, such integration enables aspects of the embedded functionality to be tailored specifically for highly defined niche applications or individual user requirements.Thus, researchers at the 3DPRG expect that the availability of multimaterial AM systems integrated into industrial supply chains will result in a new wave of extremely capable and high value products for many different applications as well as entirely new design possibilities and user experiences for products that surround us every day.Prof Richard Hague is Director of the EPSRC Centre for Additive Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham. -
The 16th China£¨Guangzhou£©Int¡¯l Sheet metal machinery,Forging, Stamping and Setting Equipment Exhibition
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