- Email: [email protected]
Research into AM metal powder degradation
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Metal Powder Report Volume 71, Number 6 November/December 2016
Bid for faster AM production
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
SIemens and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology have reportedly developed a faster production process based on selective laser melting (SLM). Currently, the long lead time of turbine blades and vanes presents a big challenge to the validation of new part designs in engine tests, and conventional vane production through casting is unsuited for the fast iteration cycles required in the development of hot path components, the companies suggest. Last year, Siemens commissioned its Clean Energy Center, a new combustion test center in Ludwigsfelde near Berlin. The center develops and refines gas turbines as a facility for conducting realistic tests on various turbine components with liquid or gaseous fuels. Improving the combustion processes involved is the key to achieving greater energy efficiency in the turbines. During the tests, individual turbine parts are exposed to temperatures of 15008C or more. Such components are usually manufactured from superalloys in a precision casting process, in which each iterative loop may last several months and incur significant costs. Thus far, this has severely curtailed the number of tests possible. Experts from the Siemens gas turbine manufacturing plant in Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, Germany, developed a
Individually manufactured segments of the guide vanes for the modular process chain made of Inconel 718.
laser-based technology that speeds up the manufacturing process for turbine vanes slated for the hot gas area of the engine. To withstand the high temperatures over long periods of time, the turbine vanes require complex internal cooling structures, which can be made using SLM. The scientists were able to develop special processes that made it possible to produce the relatively large parts (up to 250 mm) at
Siemens with improved dimensional accuracy and surface quality. According to the companies, it may now be possible to connect cast and SLM-made parts, leaving complex or variable parts to be produced using SLM. At the same time, it would also facilitate the production of parts with difficult geometries that are currently too large for the SLM process. Siemens; www.siemens.com
Research into AM metal powder degradation LPW Technology, a manufacturer of metal powder for additive manufacturing (AM), has built a new R&D facility within the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, UK. The new facility will be used to develop LPW’s products to address the issues of metal powder degradation and contamination during the AM process. The facility, which houses a number of metal printers, will be led by LPW’s technical director, Andy Florentine. ‘In addition to expanding our powder manufacturing capabilities, we see the future of metal AM in solving the problems associated with how the powder is reused within the AM machine,’ said Dr Phil Carroll, MD and founder of the business. ‘We call the solution PowderLife - a metal powder
472
The new R&D facility is located in the county of Cheshire, UK.
lifecycle management system that strictly controls risk and traceability for AM metal part manufacturers. It is an integrated suite of software, hardware, analysis,
applications support and, of course, metal powders.’ Daresbury Laboratory is a UK government facility dedicated to scientific research
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
in fields such as accelerator science, bio-medicine, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering and computational science. LPW Technology; www.lpwtechnology.com
GE to invest $1.4 billion in 3D printing GE has confirmed its plans to acquire two suppliers of additive manufacturing (AM) equipment, Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AG for US$1.4 billion. Both companies would report to David Joyce, president & CEO of GE Aviation, who will lead the growth of these businesses in the AM equipment and services industry. ‘Additive manufacturing is a key part of GE’s evolution into a digital industrial company,’ said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE. ‘We are creating a more productive world with our innovative world-class machines, materials and software. We are poised to not only benefit from this movement as a customer, but spearhead it as a leading supplier. Additive manufacturing will drive new levels of productivity for GE, our customers, including a wide array
of additive manufacturing customers, and for the industrial world.’ ¨ lndal, Sweden, Arcam AB, based in Mo invented the electron beam melting machine for metal-based additive manufacturing, and also produces advanced metal powders. Arcam generated $68 million in revenues in 2015 with approximately 285 employees. ¨ beck, SLM Solutions Group, based in Lu Germany, produces laser machines for metal-based additive manufacturing with customers in the aerospace, energy, healthcare, and automotive industries. SLM generated $74 million in revenues in 2015 with 260 employees.
Complementary technologies ‘We chose these two companies for a reason,’ said Joyce. ‘We love the technologies
and leadership of Arcam AB and SLM Solutions. They each bring two different, complementary additive technology modalities as individual anchors for a new GE additive equipment business to be plugged into GE’s resources and experience as leading practitioners of additive manufacturing. Over time, we plan to extend the line of additive manufacturing equipment and products.’ GE would maintain the headquarters locations and key operating locations of Arcam and SLM, as well as retain their management teams and employees. GE expects to grow the new additive business to US$1 billion by 2020 and also expects US$3–5 billion of product cost-out across the company over the next ten years. GE; www.ge.com
Concept Laser develops ‘modular’ 3D printing Concept Laser has developed what it calls a ‘smart factory’, a modular approach to additive manufacturing (AM) which makes it easier for production to be automated, digitized and interlinked. ‘The move away from ‘stand-alone’ solutions is making AM faster, more cost-effective and more industrial,’ the company said. The company’s new stand-alone process stations have a build envelope of 400 mm 400 mm >400 mm equipped with 1–4 laser systems using multilaser technology with variable focus diameters including 400 W to 1000 W laser sources. Also integrated in the machines is a 3D scanning system which helps enable realtime adjustment of the laser spot with diameters of from 50 to 500 mm. The new machine concept also has a twoaxis coating system, which allows the coater to return in parallel with the exposure. While the material storage facility, the process unit and the unit for collecting the excess material were previously connected together in a fixed manner, the new approach now envisages dividing these
Several handling stations may form a central metal powder preparation unit.
three sections into individual modules. These modules are independent of one another and can be controlled individually. The company has also designed a new software architecture for controlling and
monitoring machine components and the flow of data combining MDL (machine data logging) with ODL (operating data logging). Concept Laser; www.concept-laser.de
473
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Metal Powder Report Volume 71, Number 6 November/December 2016
Metal Powder Report Volume 71, Number 6 November/December 2016
Bid for faster AM production
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
SIemens and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology have reportedly developed a faster production process based on selective laser melting (SLM). Currently, the long lead time of turbine blades and vanes presents a big challenge to the validation of new part designs in engine tests, and conventional vane production through casting is unsuited for the fast iteration cycles required in the development of hot path components, the companies suggest. Last year, Siemens commissioned its Clean Energy Center, a new combustion test center in Ludwigsfelde near Berlin. The center develops and refines gas turbines as a facility for conducting realistic tests on various turbine components with liquid or gaseous fuels. Improving the combustion processes involved is the key to achieving greater energy efficiency in the turbines. During the tests, individual turbine parts are exposed to temperatures of 15008C or more. Such components are usually manufactured from superalloys in a precision casting process, in which each iterative loop may last several months and incur significant costs. Thus far, this has severely curtailed the number of tests possible. Experts from the Siemens gas turbine manufacturing plant in Berlin and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, Germany, developed a
Individually manufactured segments of the guide vanes for the modular process chain made of Inconel 718.
laser-based technology that speeds up the manufacturing process for turbine vanes slated for the hot gas area of the engine. To withstand the high temperatures over long periods of time, the turbine vanes require complex internal cooling structures, which can be made using SLM. The scientists were able to develop special processes that made it possible to produce the relatively large parts (up to 250 mm) at
Siemens with improved dimensional accuracy and surface quality. According to the companies, it may now be possible to connect cast and SLM-made parts, leaving complex or variable parts to be produced using SLM. At the same time, it would also facilitate the production of parts with difficult geometries that are currently too large for the SLM process. Siemens; www.siemens.com
Research into AM metal powder degradation LPW Technology, a manufacturer of metal powder for additive manufacturing (AM), has built a new R&D facility within the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, UK. The new facility will be used to develop LPW’s products to address the issues of metal powder degradation and contamination during the AM process. The facility, which houses a number of metal printers, will be led by LPW’s technical director, Andy Florentine. ‘In addition to expanding our powder manufacturing capabilities, we see the future of metal AM in solving the problems associated with how the powder is reused within the AM machine,’ said Dr Phil Carroll, MD and founder of the business. ‘We call the solution PowderLife - a metal powder
472
The new R&D facility is located in the county of Cheshire, UK.
lifecycle management system that strictly controls risk and traceability for AM metal part manufacturers. It is an integrated suite of software, hardware, analysis,
applications support and, of course, metal powders.’ Daresbury Laboratory is a UK government facility dedicated to scientific research
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
in fields such as accelerator science, bio-medicine, physics, chemistry, materials, engineering and computational science. LPW Technology; www.lpwtechnology.com
GE to invest $1.4 billion in 3D printing GE has confirmed its plans to acquire two suppliers of additive manufacturing (AM) equipment, Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AG for US$1.4 billion. Both companies would report to David Joyce, president & CEO of GE Aviation, who will lead the growth of these businesses in the AM equipment and services industry. ‘Additive manufacturing is a key part of GE’s evolution into a digital industrial company,’ said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE. ‘We are creating a more productive world with our innovative world-class machines, materials and software. We are poised to not only benefit from this movement as a customer, but spearhead it as a leading supplier. Additive manufacturing will drive new levels of productivity for GE, our customers, including a wide array
of additive manufacturing customers, and for the industrial world.’ ¨ lndal, Sweden, Arcam AB, based in Mo invented the electron beam melting machine for metal-based additive manufacturing, and also produces advanced metal powders. Arcam generated $68 million in revenues in 2015 with approximately 285 employees. ¨ beck, SLM Solutions Group, based in Lu Germany, produces laser machines for metal-based additive manufacturing with customers in the aerospace, energy, healthcare, and automotive industries. SLM generated $74 million in revenues in 2015 with 260 employees.
Complementary technologies ‘We chose these two companies for a reason,’ said Joyce. ‘We love the technologies
and leadership of Arcam AB and SLM Solutions. They each bring two different, complementary additive technology modalities as individual anchors for a new GE additive equipment business to be plugged into GE’s resources and experience as leading practitioners of additive manufacturing. Over time, we plan to extend the line of additive manufacturing equipment and products.’ GE would maintain the headquarters locations and key operating locations of Arcam and SLM, as well as retain their management teams and employees. GE expects to grow the new additive business to US$1 billion by 2020 and also expects US$3–5 billion of product cost-out across the company over the next ten years. GE; www.ge.com
Concept Laser develops ‘modular’ 3D printing Concept Laser has developed what it calls a ‘smart factory’, a modular approach to additive manufacturing (AM) which makes it easier for production to be automated, digitized and interlinked. ‘The move away from ‘stand-alone’ solutions is making AM faster, more cost-effective and more industrial,’ the company said. The company’s new stand-alone process stations have a build envelope of 400 mm 400 mm >400 mm equipped with 1–4 laser systems using multilaser technology with variable focus diameters including 400 W to 1000 W laser sources. Also integrated in the machines is a 3D scanning system which helps enable realtime adjustment of the laser spot with diameters of from 50 to 500 mm. The new machine concept also has a twoaxis coating system, which allows the coater to return in parallel with the exposure. While the material storage facility, the process unit and the unit for collecting the excess material were previously connected together in a fixed manner, the new approach now envisages dividing these
Several handling stations may form a central metal powder preparation unit.
three sections into individual modules. These modules are independent of one another and can be controlled individually. The company has also designed a new software architecture for controlling and
monitoring machine components and the flow of data combining MDL (machine data logging) with ODL (operating data logging). Concept Laser; www.concept-laser.de
473
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Metal Powder Report Volume 71, Number 6 November/December 2016