Metal 3D printing is growing rapidly thanks to advancements in additive manufacturing technology, an expansion of available materials and interest from manufacturers in shifting to the production of printed end-use parts in some applications. This is happening despite challenges around cost and quality management. While the market is still in the early phases of adoption in many industries, interest is clearly high. According to a Markets and Markets report, the 3D metal printing market could experience a compound annual growth rate of more than 28%, reaching $2 billion by 2023. That growth is coming from a variety of aerospace, automotive,…
Boosted by new, easier to use tools and more readily available compute resources, simulation technology is increasingly used more frequently and earlier in the design process, and by a wider array of professionals. On the CAASE The Conference on Advancing Analysis and Simulation (CAASE), presented by NAFEMS and Digital Engineering, is a great way to learn more about simulation. CAASE happens live and in-person every other year, with CAASE2020 scheduled for June 16-18 in Indianapolis. It offers hundreds of learning opportunities, including a track on the democratization of simulation. Can’t wait till 2020? DE and NAFEMS Americas are teaming up…
Airbus Defence and Space is using an embedded software solution from ANSYS to develop flight controls and artificial intelligence (AI) features for an advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Airbus and ANSYS have been working together for decades, with Airbus using ANSYS SCADE tool to develop embedded software across multiple programs. “That relationship has enabled us to gain knowledge about aerospace embedded software systems in general, and we have participated in the creation of software safety standards,” says Eric Bantegnie, vice president and general manager at ANSYS. “We also have a lot of customers in the drone industry.” The two companies…
Researchers at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center have leveraged 3D printing to literally create a new “hair raising” process. The group has used a 3D printer to create plastic molds that can function as a microenvironment for hair follicle growth. The process could be a way to facilitate the growth of human hair follicles in a laboratory to slow or prevent hair loss. According to team leader Angela Christiano, the Richard & Mildred Rhodebeck Professor of Dermatology at Columbia university Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, growing human hair from cell cultures has historically been difficult. While rat and mice…
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often challenged to deploy additive manufacturing (AM) technology because of the high cost of entry. A European Union (EU) program can help address this challenge. The EU-funded AdditiveManufacturABLE (AMable) program is helping SMEs develop their ideas into final products, as well as creating a digital framework to provide access to European AM knowledge. According to the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS), the EU’s primary source of results from funded projects, AMable plans to open a new call for proposals in July. The AMable project was launched “to speed up the adoption of…
As autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial drones are adopted for more applications, advanced control systems will be required to direct them safely, particularly in crowded urban environments. Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark are working on ways to develop these controllers, and to integrate artificial intelligence to improve their operation. The team is also designing and 3D printing is own drones and other equipment as part of the testing process. Aarhus University’s Department of Engineering operates the Artificial Intelligence in Robotics (AiR) Laboratory, which includes a 15x15x4.5m flight arena equipped with 12 Vantage tracking cameras from motion-capture specialist Vicon. The…
Robots are slowly working their way into a variety of applications, from moving goods in warehouses to delivering packages. An increasing shortage of healthcare workers is also prompting the use of caregiving robots. Right now, these robots are limited to activities like asking questions and monitoring patient safety. They aren’t designed to provide the type of hands-on care a nurse would. That may change, thanks to the development of 3D-printed “soft” robotics systems at Purdue. “Unfortunately, the external hard structure of current caregiving robots prevents them from a safe human-robot interaction, limiting their assistance to mere social interaction and not…
New international standards are on the way that could help aircraft parts manufacturers better meet safety and performance requirements in the aerospace sector. ASTM International’s additive manufacturing technologies committee (F42) is currently developing the four standards. “The industry uses standards to ensure that public safety, quality, and readiness levels are maintained,” said Shane Collins, general manager at Additive Industries North America and an ASTM member. “Once approved, these standards could be used to certify that parts are manufactured to the highest quality levels required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] through the part and process qualification procedures.” According to…
3D printing with glass is rife with challenges—some methods require very high heat, while others product opaque end products or print at very low resolutions. Canadian researchers have successfully 3D printed an optical glass that could enable the low-cost manufacture optical fibers and other components for sensors, telecommunications components and biomedical equipment. Researchers from the the Centre d’Optique, Photonique et Laser (COPL) at Université Laval in Canada were able to print the chalcogenide glass using a modified commercially available glass extrusion printer in a process similar to fused deposition modeling. “3D printing of optical materials will pave the way for…
A research team at Kansas State University 3D printed batteries using freeze casting and hybrid MoS2-graphene aerogels. The process uses inkjet printing and freeze casting to control the microstructure and macroporosity of the structures during printing. Ink droplets (consisting of a molecular MoS2 precursor missed with graphene oxide nanosheets) are frozen during the 3D print process using a cold substrate plate set at -30° Celsius. The ice crystals formed when the droplets frozen form a matrix. The frozen droplets were used to form the aerogel, and undergo additional refinements and processes to create anodes for sodium ion batteries. The resulting…
The market for 3D metal printing is expanding. IDTechEx predicts that the global market for 3D printing metals will reach $12 billion by 2028, as more companies turn to additive manufacturing to create production parts in the automotive, aerospace and other industries. Giants such as HP and GE have launched large-scale metal printing efforts, but other companies have focused on smaller units that can be used for design and prototyping, as well as low-volume runs of metal production parts, tooling and molds. “Metal printing has been one of the best growth stories in 3D printing, and I think that is…
Multi-material 3D printing can enable the creation of even more complex components and structures than single-material printing—by printing an object from several materials at once, manufacturers could further drive down complexity for a given assembly. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a 3D printer that uses visible and ultraviolet light to enable multi-material printing. The printer uses light patterns to determine which of two monomers in the system are polymerized to form a solid. The research appeared in the journal Nature Communications in February. “As amazing as 3D printing is, in many cases it only offers one color…