LaserCUSING, the AM process developed by Concept Laser, involves residual stresses throughout a metal part, which the company says become more difficult to handle with growing part size. Metal AM systems must cope with some different challenges. This heat generation urges us to slow down the building process, whilst the hardware could print significantly faster.” “Today,” he adds, “our main challenge relates to exothermal heat release while the photocuring is taking place. Materialise director Bart Van Der Schueren, says: “A second challenge relates to the machine calibration and the alignment of the three scan fields with each other. This is of utmost importance if you want to print parts that cover the full extent of the machine.”Ī third challenge Van Der Schueren points out was the increased time it was taking to generate supports for large, complicated parts, which is why the company developed its automated, e-stage support software. The part also has to be raised and lowered very precisely as each layer is printed given that a single part can weigh hundreds of pounds, doing so requires two elevators that also have to work in perfect sync.”ĭevelopers at Materialise found that a major challenge to making the company’s aptly-named Mammoth systems was development of a coating system capable of depositing a liquid-resin layer of 2000 x 700 mm in just a few seconds. The 3D Systems ProX 950 has two lasers that work simultaneously, and we developed a special calibration technology to make sure they’re always in perfect sync. per hour) limits the business case for the production of massive parts, and speed and throughput aren’t necessarily solved with larger build chambers.”Īt 3D Systems, Stacie Hoche, SLA product manager, explains: “Maintaining accuracy not just locally (over a few cubic inches of part) but globally (consistently accurate from one end of a meter-long part to the other) requires very precise movement of both UV-curing lasers and part elevators. You might ask, what took so long? With dozens of AM systems in commercial use more than twenty years ago, why didn’t “scaling up” the technology simply mean multiplying everything by ten?Ron Ellenbogen, product marketing director at Stratasys, says, “The challenge is maintaining print accuracy and quality on large parts with intricate detail.”Īnd Tim Caffrey, senior consultant at Wohlers Associates, adds: “The relatively slow consolidation speed of AM processes (i.e., cubic in. Why Big AM Systems Have Been a Big Challenge We’re leaving the bridges and buildings for another day. Also, with most equipment optimized for a single material family, the listings are grouped under plastics-plus, metals, and sand/ceramics applications. Interestingly, most systems met that criterion for X or Y, or both X and Y values however, a few systems qualify here based strictly on their extended Z-axis capacity. Thinking about scaling up your own designs? DE scoped out industrial-strength AM systems that can take on the big jobs, using build-volumes with a minimum of just about 1 meter (39 in.) dimension in one or more of the X/Y/Z build directions. Senvol also provides analytics of many aspects of the AM industry, helping clients quantify such business elements as cost-effectiveness, market size, supply chain information and potential growth. Launched in January 2015, the database lets you search by one or more of 30+ parameters, including X/Y/Z build dimensions, AM technology, material category and price. Senvol is a free, online database of industrial AM systems.
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