Current 3D/AM news

AM atmosphere management, filtration technology

Laser powder bed fusion processes used in metal additive manufacturing (AM) must operate in an inert atmosphere because the materials risk inducing a thermal event should they encounter oxygen. Until now, when filters needed to be exchanged, equipment had to be shut down and moved to a safe area for the saturated filters to be replaced by operators wearing full PPE.

With BOFA’s AM 400 atmosphere management and filtration system, filters are contained within a separate housing with a robust seal, enabling the exchange to be completed quickly and safely without isolating the equipment.

The AM 400 extraction system was developed specifically with and for the metal AM market, offering high air flow potential up to a maximum flow of 190cfm and a maximum operating pressure of 250mBar, with low leakage at <30ml/min @ -10mBar.

Desktop Metal, Lumafield solution for supply chain resilience

Additive manufacturing (AM) offers the ability to cost-effectively in-source production and reduce supply chain risk, but often requires manufacturers to have CAD models of their parts. This has been a significant barrier because manufacturers often rely on thousands or millions of parts, many designed years ago without associated CAD files.

The Supply Chain Resilience package from Desktop Metal and Lumafield closes the gap by joining 3D printing with X-ray computed tomography (CT scanning). The combination of technologies allows manufacturers to scan old parts and reproduce them quickly in various materials using 3D printing.

Lumafield’s CT platform digitizes parts with a series of X-ray images that capture external and internal features in detail, using powerful cloud-based software to create a 3D model exported as a mesh representation for 3D printing.

Desktop Metal’s software and 3D printers then turn the mesh models back into high-quality metal or polymer parts, seamlessly replacing legacy manufacturing processes with in-house 3D printing.

Customers interested in pairing a Lumafield scanner with a Desktop Metal printer can customize the solution that best fits their needs.

IMTS 2022 Booth #432212

IMTS 2022 Booth #135828

End-to-end automated solution for AM

A partnership between Markforged and 3YOURMIND will integrate Markforged’s Eiger software platform with 3YOURMIND’s manufacturing execution software (Agile MES) and other lifecycle management tools via an application programming interface (API) for seamless connectivity – the next step toward Industry 4.0 adoption and digital transformation on the factory floor.

A primary barrier to Industry 4.0 is the disjointed nature of tools in the additive manufacturing (AM) workflow which blocks adoption of true digital transformation.

To address this gap, 3YOURMIND and Eiger now connect to deliver an end-to-end automated solution enabling users to create, order, and schedule prints on Markforged printers directly from their product lifecycle management systems.

The integration provides real-time visibility into the state and performance of a multi-vendor fleet of printers, allowing a single point of monitoring for a shop’s assets from various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This integration also includes Markforged’s Blacksmith software, enabling in-process part inspection and automatically appending a printed part’s quality assurance report to its digital record.

https://www.3yourmind.com

https://www.markforged.com
IMTS 2022 Booth #432305