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 From the Editor
RECIPE FOR AM SUCCESS
Velo3D’s founder discusses the Sapphire
metal printer and the state of additive.
Don Nelson,
Editor-in-Chief
dnelson@fmanet.org
By Don Nelson
T
he career of Velo3D founder and
CEO Benny Buller is as interesting
as his company’s new 3D printer
and his views on additive manufactur-
ing (AM).
He spent the first decade of his career
in the technology unit of Israel’s intelli-
gence agency. While there, Buller, who
holds advanced degrees in physics and
electrical engineering, developed a sys-
tem used in the country’s surveillance
equipment.
“We did the coolest things you can
imagine,” he said of his time with Israeli
intelligence. “Imagine something be-
tween the [National Security Agency]
and Q from the James Bond movies.”
Afterwards he worked in the inspec-
tion department at Applied Materials,
a California-based supplier of equip-
ment, services, and software for the
semiconductor industry. That was fol-
lowed by a stint in the solar industry at
First Solar in Ohio.
4 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_Editor.indd 4
Buller then returned to California to
join the $5 billion venture capital firm
Khosla Ventures. When asked during a
recent telephone interview what drew
him to the VC arena, he replied: “I’m a
scientist. A physicist. I worked all my life
with technology and product develop-
ment. I never was on the ‘business side’
of the business. And, basically, the two
years that I spent at Khosla was an ac-
celerated business school.”
One of Khosla’s portfolio companies
used AM to build rocket engines. A sin-
gle palm-sized part took from 13 to 20
weeks to produce, Buller said. “That was
shocking to me. When I saw that metal
printing was so embryonic, I said, ‘This
is a great opportunity.’ ”
He launched Velo3D in 2015 and
began asking customers about the
potential benefits of an AM machine
unconstrained by the limitations of ex-
isting printers. “What if we could make
a technology that would not need sup-
port structures?” Buller asked them. “All
of the customers said this would be
fantastic, but don’t think about this be-
cause it’s completely impossible.”
Benny Buller, Velo3D CEO
Buller said their attitude challenged
him to find a solution, and last year
Velo3D introduced Sapphire, a metal
laser powder bed fusion system. (See
our article on page 8.) It’s designed to
build unsupported overhangs having
angles less than 10 degrees. Generally,
3D-printed overhangs under 45
degrees require supports, which must
be removed during postprocessing.
During Sapphire’s development
phase, the company identified the fail-
ure modes of difficult-to-print geom-
etries, which it calls “primitives,” and
devised “recipes”—multilayer process
steps—to circumvent these failures. This
required the company to design its own
laser and scanner controller and a spe-
cialized noncontact powder recoater.
Underlying these developments is
Velo3D’s print-preparation software,
Buller noted. “Our software takes the
object, breaks it into primitive geome-
tries, applies a unique recipe for the ge-
ometry, and then puts it back together
in the printing center.”
Buller maintains that the inability to
3D-print features such as low-angle
overhangs hamstrings AM’s acceptance,
because it prohibits the building of leg-
acy parts not designed for additive. “No
one has the resources to redesign prod-
ucts for AM. That’s not how additive will
be absorbed into manufacturing.”
There are many, many legacy parts
produced by conventional manufac-
turing methods that could be 3D-
printed if they didn’t need to be re-
designed for AM, according to Buller. If
additive manufacturers could print ex-
act replicas of some of these parts as
is—without being redesigned—that
would be a “great breakthrough,” he
said. “And this is what Velo3D allows
people to do.”
9/19/19 8:41 AM
 Contents
Cover photo supplied by Mayo Clinic’s
Anatomic Modeling Lab, which 3D-printed
all the anatomical parts shown.

FALL 2019
Published by
FMA Communications

Connect with
The Additive Report®
The Additive Report

4 From the Editor 18 Cover Story @theadditivereport

RECIPE FOR AM SUCCESS MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
Velo3D’s founder discusses the Sapphire Medical experts from Yale, 3D Systems,
metal printer and the state of additive. and Mayo Clinic discuss how AM improves @AdditiveReport
surgeries. 

6 Tech Spotlight
SCAN, PRINT, REPEAT 22 3D Printing Molds The Additive Report
3D scanning and 3D printing speed MOLDS IN A MINUTE
production of reverse-engineered parts. Need a plastic injection mold pronto? Print it.

8 Tech Spotlight 24 Software 40 Product News

NEW ANGLES VIRTUAL PRINTING
A metal printer from Velo3D prints low-an-
gle overhangs without support structures.
The case for simulating additive
manufacturing processes. 41 Advertisers Index

10 Industry News 26 AM Equipment 42 The Final Layer

• 3D printing solar panels in space
• Changing perceptions about AM
• Database intended to be an additive
game-changer
• Getting corporate approval
for AM equipment
Coming in the Q1 2020 issue:
3D printer advancements
Materials
Integrating inspection into AM
Postprocessing
Adopting AM technology
INFORMED CHOICE
QUIET REVOLUTION
What you should know when choosing a
Despite the hype surrounding metal 3D
thermoplastic 3D printer for your shop.  
printers, plastic printers continue to quietly
evolve.
30 Talking With …
GREEN MACHINES?
MIT Professor Timothy Gutowski discusses
the energy and material savings AM provides.
32 FABTECH® Preview
North America’s largest
metal forming, fabricating,
welding, and finishing event
returns to Chicago
Information and what to see at the FABTECH
show, scheduled for Nov. 11-14 in Chicago.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 5

Fall19AR_TOC.indd 5 9/19/19 6:15 PM


Tech Spotlight
SCAN, PRINT, REPEAT
3D scanning and 3D printing join forces.
By Kip Hanson
3
D printing has forever altered the
world of prototyping and one-off
parts production. As proof, any-
body with access to CAD software and
a 3D printer—which, given the preva-
lence of cloud-enabled design tools
and online service bureaus, is almost
everyone—can dream up a new prod-
uct today and hold a physical version of
it in his or her hand tomorrow.
Often, though, the goal isn’t to cre-
ate anew but to replicate the old, miss-
ing, or broken. If you need an old part
and there is no CAD model or drawing
available, what then? An old-school
designer might look to a coordinate
measuring machine to handle this re-
verse-engineering task, followed by
days or weeks of CAD reconstruction.
No Print? No Problem
Les Baker, senior applications engineer
and scanning arm specialist at FARO
Technologies Inc., Lake Mary, Fla., ex-
plained that a far more efficient and ca-
pable technology exists—one that fits
neatly into today’s digital manufactur-
ing landscape and provides a smooth
6 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_TechSpotFARO.indd 6
path to 3D-printed parts. It’s called 3D
scanning, and, according to Baker, it of-
fers a fast and easy way to build a CAD
model of practically anything.
“A scanner is kind of like a camera in
that it gathers dimensional information
about whatever’s in its field of view,” he
said. “What’s different is that a scanner
captures a very dense point cloud in
three-dimensional space, which can be
used to measure or reverse-engineer a
variety of objects quickly and accurately.”
Retired talk show host Jay Leno uses
a FARO arm to laser-scan parts for his
antique and rare car collection, in-
cluding a 1922 Revere Model A and a
jet-powered EcoJet concept car.
And after visiting Leno’s garage,
ventriloquist Jeff Dunham began us-
ing the same scan-to-print process to
create functional plastic replicas of
hand-sculpted clay dummies, eliminat-
ing the need for expensive, long-lead-
time molds while giving the entertain-
er greater design flexibility.
Baker noted that several scanning
technologies are available. Choosing
which one to use depends on the work-
piece’s accuracy requirements; its size
and complexity; and whether it is shiny,
Using 3D scanning and 3D printing in combination
facilitates the reverse-engineering of parts. FARO
opaque, or transparent.
One of the most capable technolo-
gies is called structured light scanning.
In simplistic terms, structured light
scanning projects blue or white light
patterns onto an object—often placed
on an automated turntable for 360-de-
gree coverage—and employs a series
of cameras to measure and triangulate
the reflected light, building a point
cloud within seconds.
This point cloud can be used to build
“a polygon mesh, not unlike a child’s
dot-to-dot puzzle,” Baker said. “Special
software is needed to construct trian-
gles between the adjacent points or
generate more advanced NURBS mod-
els and other mathematically driven ge-
ometries. Whatever the case, it’s pretty
easy to create files for a 3D printer.”
Reversing Course
According to FARO, its Cobalt Design
3D scanning solution “offers the broad-
est 3D data capture capabilities for ac-
quiring complex shapes with detailed
textures and color” and is particularly
well-suited to reverse engineering.
The company’s director of marketing,
Gannon O’Reilly, said FARO customer
Emory Motorsports once required
“three man-weeks” to create CAD files
of vintage Porsche components, then
spent months manufacturing the part.
After acquiring 3D scanning and 3D
FARO scanning arm specialist Les Baker (left) ex-
plains some of the finer points of 3D scanning to
Additive Report Editor Don Nelson at the company’s
headquarters in Florida. FARO
9/20/19 9:26 AM
 printing capabilities, however, the
company has reduced the development
and manufacturing cycle for such parts
to a couple of days.
Mammoth Machine + Design, Hunt-
ersville, N.C., is another happy re-
verse-engineering customer. George
Brinzey, co-founder and director of
business development, said he and
company CEO Ali Bahar use a FARO
scanning arm and FORM 2 SLA 3D
printer to produce a host of parts and
assemblies that would otherwise re-
quire long lead times to manufacture.
When a manufacturer of plastic in-
jection molded parts for the food in-
dustry was facing months of downtime
after a critical machine component
caught fire, Mammoth laser-scanned
the burned component, 3D-printed a
replacement, and had the company up
and running the very next day.
Another customer asked Mammoth
to design replacement parts for an elec-
trical breaker on its production line, one
that routinely failed during monthly
maintenance. Here again, Brinzey and
Bahar were able to scan the breaker
housing and its failed components,
print a series of prototypes, use the
FARO arm to validate their placement
within the assembly, and then machine
the approved design from a block of
6061-T6 aluminum.
“Both of these are great examples of
our digital production thread,” Brinzey
said. “We start by laser-scanning a
workpiece or, more often, a complete
assembly, then send it over to the 3D
printer. If a polymer meets the end-use
criteria, we’ll then use the FARO to mea-
sure the finished workpiece; otherwise,
we’ll machine a metal part on one of
our Mazak machining centers or mill-
turn lathes and, again, measure it with
the FARO. Everything begins and ends
with the FARO.”
Kip Hanson has spent more than 35 years
working in and writing about manufacturing.
He can be reached at kip@kahmco.net.  diminish it.”
FARO Technologies Inc., www.faro.com
Mammoth Machine + Design,
www.mammothmachine.com
Fall19AR_TechSpotFARO.indd 7
FARO applications engineer discusses
some of the many uses for 3D scanning
By Don Nelson
F
rom sewage pumps to bomb
bays to a representation of an
infant’s face, FARO Technologies’
senior applications engineer, Les
Baker, has participated in a wide
range of 3D scanning projects during
his 20-plus-year career.
And, based on an interview Addi-
tive Report conducted with Baker this
summer at the company’s Florida
headquarters, he still marvels at the
capabilities of the technology. “You
can capture data for an entire midsize
car in about half a day,” he said. “It’s
that quick. Really, you could gather
enough information to cause a Cray
supercomputer to pause for breath.”
To lend perspective to how much
data a 3D scanner collects, he said the
company’s Laser Line Probes capture
information at the rate of 300,000
data points per second.
He also said companies apply 3D
scanners many ways. One FARO cus-
tomer produces parts for large sew-
age pumps that originally were made
by a manufacturer that went out of
business long ago.
“There are thousands and thou-
sands and thousands of those pumps
all over the world,” said Baker, noting
that the patents on the pumps have
all expired. When a pump part fails,
it’s sent to FARO’s customer. That
company 3D-scans the broken com-
ponent—including any dings, flaws,
and wear caused by years of use—
then machines it.
“Once they’ve scanned the part and
captured the geometry, they scale
the replacement part to fit the pump
as it exists today,” Baker said.
Early in his career, he 3D-scanned
the bomb bay of a B-52 bomber to
Les Baker worked on a project in England that
involved scanning and 3D-printing the face of a
blind mother’s infant son. 3D Scanners (UK) Ltd.
ensure that new weapons the aircraft
would be deploying fit into the bay.
More importantly, “they wanted to
make sure the bombs left the bay at
the appropriate time,” Baker noted
dryly.
Baker also tells a story set in the
early 2000s, when he worked at a
scanning service bureau in England.
A partially blind mother wanted a
photograph by which to remember
her infant son, but she needed some-
thing other than a regular 2D photo.
The engineering department at a
local university offered to  3D-print a
polymer model of the child’s face.
Baker scanned the baby’s face and
prepared the datasets used to addi-
tively manufacture it. “The mother
wanted a 3D ‘photograph’ in order to
remember the baby as he was,” said
Baker. “Of course, the mother could
touch the baby’s face at any time,
but a photograph captures a specif-
ic moment in time.” That was what
she wanted—“the opportunity to re-
member her baby’s face exactly as it
was without the filter of memory to
Editor-in-Chief Don Nelson can be reached at
dnelson@fmanet.org.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 7
9/20/19 9:26 AM
 Tech Spotlight

NEW ANGLES
During the printing of low-angle fea-
tures, parts tend to come in contact with
the recoater, which spreads powder
layers on the part surface. Greg Brown,
Powder bed AM system eliminates supports Velo3D’s vice president of process engi-
for low-angle features. neering, explained that this unwanted
contact can cause part defects.
So Velo3D equipped Sapphire with a
noncontact recoating system. It snow-
falls powder onto the print bed; then,
as with other recoaters, it planarizes
the powder with a blade. But unlike
conventional AM  printers  with recoat-
ers that operate like snowplows, Sap-
phire’s  blade does its work without
contacting the part. 
Though important, Sapphire’s non-
contact recoater alone isn’t enough to
allow printing of unsupported low-an-
The Sapphire metal 3D printer’s patented recoating system facilitates support-free printing. Velo3D gle features. Something also must be
done about the large amount of resid-
By William Leventon plane—to around 45 degrees. The sup- ual stress built into multilayer printed

S
ports required by lower-angle over- parts, which causes low-angle struc-
upport structures are a necessary hangs must be removed in an often tures to warp upward.
downside to additive manufac- laborious postprinting process. Sapphire tackles this problem with
turing (AM) processes because Sapphire, however, can print unsup- its preprint software, which breaks part
they increase both material costs and ported overhangs with angles of less layers into different regions.
postprocessing requirements. So a than 10 degrees, Velo3D claims. One “We apply one set of parameters to
technology that promises to reduce reason is the way Sapphire puts down regions growing at low angles and dif-
the need to support printed features powder layers. ferent parameters to regions growing at
should have, well, plenty of support.
Velo3D Inc. is hoping to capitalize
on additive manufacturers’ desire for
fewer support structures to remove
during postprocessing. Last year the
Campbell, Calif., company introduced
a support-reducing powder bed fusion
system called Sapphire. The dual-laser
system boasts 90 granted and pend-
ing patents and currently prints parts
made of INCONEL® 718 and Ti6Al4V

Keys to Low-angle Printing

Most metal printers limit the angle
of an unsupported overhanging fea-
ture—that is, the angle between the A 3D-printed overhang of less than 45 degrees generally needs support structures to prevent it from
feature’s surface and the horizontal crumbling. Protolabs

8 The Additive Report FALL 2019

Fall19AR_TechSpotVELO.indd 8 9/19/19 9:42 AM


Velo3D’s Flow software, which is specifically designed for Sapphire, includes tools that help with part
orientation, support generation, simulated print predictions, per-surface process application, slice com-
poser, and process review. Velo3D
higher angles,” Brown said. “This allows
us to utilize processing tricks to keep
residual stress down on low-angle sur-
faces—to prevent parts from warping
up—while maintaining high system
productivity for the rest of the surfaces.”
Part Examples
According to Brown, Sapphire’s capa-
bilities allow it to produce parts that
normally would be considered impos-
sible to additively manufacture.
One example is shrouded impellers,
which have low-angle fluid passages
that require a high-quality surface fin-
ish. Supports for these enclosed features
can be nearly impossible to remove.
“If you can’t access these surfaces
from the outside, you can’t machine
them after AM,” Brown noted. “But un-
like conventional additive systems, our
system can print these parts with very
high quality.”
Even if it is possible to print certain
parts using conventional AM systems,
Examples of parts made with Sapphire’s support-free
technology include cylinders and blisks. Velo3D
Fall19AR_TechSpotVELO.indd 9
This radial
heat exchanger
was 3D-printed
on a Sapphire
machine. The
high-aspect-
ratio walls prove
challenging for AM
systems to build.
Velo3D
the additional outlay for material, print-
ing time, and postprocessing to build
and remove the supports can exceed
the cost of printing the part, Brown
said. In such cases, 3D printing can be-
come cost-prohibitive.
Because Sapphire “can print these
parts with much fewer supports, it
brings the cost down while also bring-
ing the part quality up,” he said.
Other parts with normally problem-
atic overhangs include tubes. If a tube
is laid lengthwise on a horizontal sur-
face, there will be low-angle overhangs
near the top of the circular opening. To
use a conventional AM system to print
a tube larger than 6 millimeters in di-
ameter with that orientation would re-
quire the overhangs to be supported.
And even in cases where the diameter
is less than 6 mm, said Brown, the top
surface often is highly defective if there
are no support structures. That makes
conventional AM systems impractical
for fluid-flow channels unless a post-
process finishing step is used.
By contrast, Brown said, Sapphire
can print tubes with diameters up to
40 mm without supports on their inner
surfaces. Moreover, he added, “the sur-
face finish on those tubes is consistent
and of high quality all the way around,
so they can be used for fluid applica-
tions without any refinishing.”
Heat exchangers are another type of
device suited to Sapphire’s capabilities.
Unlike conventional AM systems, which
can only produce relatively thick heat
exchanger walls, Sapphire routinely
builds walls with thicknesses down to
200 microns, which helps maximize
heat exchanger efficiency, Brown said.
In addition, he said there are no re-
strictions on the wall aspect ratios that
Sapphire can handle. Conventional
printing systems struggle when aspect
ratios reach about 8-to-1.
Today Sapphire is helping aerospace
firms—particularly those involved in
what Brown called “the new space
race”—manufacture complex designs.
The system also is being used by the oil
and gas industry.
Though Brown thinks more supports
can eventually be removed from
printed structures than what Sapphire
currently allows, he doesn’t think the
number will ever reach zero.
“In some cases, supports are the cor-
rect answer to a technical problem,” he
said. “It’s just that in most cases, they
are not.”
Bill Leventon is a freelance writer who specializ-
es in topics about technology, manufacturing,
and the medical industry. He can be reached at
wleventon@gmail.com.
Velo3D, www.velo3d.com
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 9
9/19/19 9:42 AM
 Industry News
California company wins
contract to build 10-m
solar arrays in space
NASA has awarded a $73.7 million contract to Made In Space
Inc., Mountain View, Calif., to demonstrate the ability of a
small spacecraft, called Archinaut One, to manufacture and
assemble spacecraft components in low-Earth orbit. The in-
space robotic manufacturing and assembly technologies
could be important for America’s Moon to Mars exploration
efforts, according to NASA.
The objective is to construct two 10-m solar arrays, in or-
bit, to power an ESPA-class satellite. Once in orbit, Archinaut
One will employ its extended-structure-additive-manu-
facturing capabilities and advanced robotics to manufac-
ture and assemble the satellite’s power system. The Archi-
naut-created solar arrays will yield nearly five times the
power currently available to ESPA-class satellites.
“The Archinaut One mission is a critical proof point to
validate the use of robotic manufacturing and assembly
for space exploration and commercialization activities,”
said Michael Snyder, Made In Space’s chief engineer. “These
technologies allow us to circumvent the design constraints
imposed by the launch environment and create space-op-
timized structures and assemblies, thereby demonstrating This 3-m mockup represents a 10-m solar array Made In Space plans to build
unprecedented capabilities.” in low-Earth orbit. Made In Space

The contract is the start of the second phase of a partner-
ship established through NASA’s Tipping Point solicitation.
The public-private partnership combines NASA resources
with an industry contribution of at least 25 percent of the
program costs, shepherding the development of critical
space technologies while also saving the agency money.
Archinaut One is expected to launch on a Rocket Lab
Electron rocket from New Zealand no earlier than 2022.
Once it’s positioned in low-Earth orbit, the spacecraft will
3D-print two beams that extend 32 ft. out from each side
of the spacecraft. As manufacturing progresses, each beam
will unfurl two solar arrays.
“In-space robotic manufacturing and assembly are un-
questionable game-changers and fundamental capabilities
for future space exploration,” said Jim Reuter, associate ad-
ministrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
“By taking the lead in the development of this transforma-
tive technology, the U.S. will maintain its leadership in space
exploration as we push forward with astronauts to the moon
and then on to Mars.”
10 The Additive Report FALL 2019
These technologies have the potential to:
• Enable remote, in-space construction of communica-
tions antennae, large-scale space telescopes, and other
complex structures.
• Enable small satellites to deploy large-surface-area power
systems and reflectors that currently are reserved for larger
satellites.
• Eliminate spacecraft volume limits imposed by rockets.
• Avoid the inherent risk of spacewalks by performing
some tasks currently completed by astronauts.
Made In Space began working on Archinaut as a ground
demonstration in 2016 and, just a year later, successfully
3D-printed structural beams in a NASA facility that mimics
the conditions of space. In a thermal vacuum chamber at
the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Val-
ley, the company proved the printing equipment and print-
ed hardware can withstand the pressure, temperature, and
other rigors of space. The Archinaut team includes Made In
Space; Northrop Grumman of Falls Church, Va.; Ames; and
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 10 9/19/19 11:01 AM


Jabil survey identifies changing perceptions
of 3D printing among manufacturers
Supply-chain solutions provider Jabil
has released a survey that shows man-
ufacturers are more inclined to use 3D
printing today than they were about
a year ago and that the technology is
being used more often in production
applications.
The survey, “Current State of Additive
Materials and 3D Printing,” asked 308
individuals responsible for 3D printing
at manufacturing companies a series
of questions pertaining to their current
and anticipated use of additive manu-
facturing (AM). The responses, gathered
at the beginning of 2019, were then
compared to responses to the same
questions asked in the fall of 2017.
“Over the course of a year, 3D printing
utilization has skyrocketed,” says the re-
port. “Our most recent research clearly
demonstrates the upward trajectory of
the popularity and applications of addi-
tive manufacturing.”
Following are some key findings:
• The use of AM increased in all appli-
cations—including parts production,
R&D, and repair—except for prototyp-
ing, which decreased.
• Thirty-nine percent of survey re-
spondents expect their company’s use
of 3D printing to increase dramatically
over the next two to five years, and 47
Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 11
Industry News
Jabil
percent expect it to increase somewhat.
• Fifty-nine percent report that 3D
printing has changed the way they
think and operate.
• Currently, 61 percent use 3D print-
ing to produce at least 10 percent of
their functional or end-use parts; a year
ago, that percentage was 36.
Currently, 61 percent use
3D printing to produce at
least 10 percent of their
functional or end-use parts;
a year ago, that percentage
was 36.
• Seventy-nine percent expect their
use of AM for the production of parts
or goods to at least double in the next
three to five years.
• The No. 1 objection companies
have about adopting AM relates to the
high cost of materials and lack of mate-
rials (56 percent), followed by workforce
issues (44 percent) and process issues
such as designing for AM (39 percent).
The 30-page survey can be down-
loaded at the Jabil website (www.jabil.
com).
Nanoscribe opens
U.S. subsidiary
Nanoscribe GmbH, a Germany-based
manufacturer of 3D printers for micro-
fabrication, has opened a subsidiary in
the Boston area. In addition to serving
the science and research markets, the
company now intends to pursue the
industrial market.
The company has added a Quantum
X maskless lithography system to its
portfolio. The device uses patent-pend-
ing two-photon grayscale lithography
(2GL) to produce micro-optical compo-
nents. The 2GL additive manufacturing
process combines grayscale lithogra-
phy with the company’s two-photon
polymerization.
Morf3D secures
new Boeing funding
Morf3D Inc., El Segundo, Calif., a met-
als additive manufacturing provider
specializing in precision manufactur-
ing and engineering for the aerospace
industry, has secured a new round of
funding from Boeing HorizonX Ven-
tures. The additional funding follows
a significant increase in customer de-
mand, according to the company.
“Our latest strategic investment in
Morf3D extends our commitment to
our Industry 4.0 efforts—technologies
that can transform aerospace supply
chains for future growth and compet-
itiveness,” said Brian Schettler, senior
managing director, Boeing HorizonX
Ventures.
Morf3D has expanded its AM foot-
print; increased its investment in pre-
cision machining technology; and
doubled its workforce with additional
engineering, quality, and support staff.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 11
9/19/19 3:38 PM
 Industry News
3D printing database is designed to be a “game-changer”
Getty Images
Additively manufacturing industrial
end-use components could save man-
ufacturers time and money. But for a
variety of reasons, use of the technol-
ogy has been limited, according to an
article posted by EIT Digital, an organi-
zation formed to speed Europe’s digital
transformation.
A major barrier is that many engi-
neers and designers are unfamiliar with
3D printing, and therefore it’s not easy
for them to understand which combi-
nation of process, machine, and materi-
al to use to print a specific component.
The Automation Support for Additive
Manufacturing project is aimed at mak-
ing it easier and faster for businesses
to switch from traditional to additive
manufacturing. EIT describes the initia-
tive as a “game-changer.”
The project’s partners are Aalto Uni-
versity, Siemens, and DeskArtes.
12 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 12
Aalto University developed a data-
base with up-to-date, relevant data for
3D-printing end-use components. The
database contains comprehensive data
about machines, materials, mechani-
cal properties, and accuracy levels re-
quired to print a specific component,
as well as postprocessing steps and
other variables, explained Aalto’s activi-
ty leader, Niklas Kretzschmar.
“Consequently, this information and
their theoretical connections were for-
warded to Siemens to create knowl-
edge graphs, linking this data logically
with each other,” he said.
The result is an “ontology of additive
manufacturing,” taking the form of a
software add-on and a plug-in that will
be integrated and commercialized by
DeskArtes as an extension of its 3D data
software.
A designer specifies the size, materi-
al, and surface characteristics of a part
or uploads the CAD file for it, along
with additional information, and auto-
matically receives back all possible 3D
printing alternatives.
Kretzschmar cited a hypothetical
user who wants to investigate “printing
a complex industrial component out of
a specific metal alloy. The system will
tell you which metal additive manufac-
A major barrier is that many
engineers and designers are
unfamiliar with 3D printing,
and therefore it’s not easy
for them to understand which
combination of process,
machine, and material to use
to print a specific component.
turing process, machine, and material
type would ideally be used to address
the user’s demands. In this context, the
system additionally provides feedback
on certain mandatory postprocessing
steps, as well as optional measures that
could be beneficial.”
To attain the same results without
the database requires in-depth manual
research to access all the related data.
Because of the complexity of the pro-
cess, the result is often 3D-printed parts
that are too expensive or do not con-
form to specs.
The system, which will be sold to
manufacturing, systems development,
and service companies, is in the pilot
testing phase with three companies.
It is scheduled to be available for pur-
chase by the end of 2019.
9/19/19 6:10 PM

Getty Images
Selling postprocessing’s benefits
to corporate execs
By Diana Robbins
Calling all engineers. As you probably
know, in business the question gen-
erally isn’t what you should be doing,
but rather what you can get approval
to do. This often results in engineers
recommending new technologies that
are out of alignment with corporate ex-
pense objectives.
This is especially true with capital ex-
penditures for equipment purchases—
like in your additive manufacturing
(AM) operation.
Too often, forward-thinking engi-
neers eager to introduce technology
that achieves key business objectives
are stymied by their company’s capital
approval process. And the resistance
becomes even greater when they try to
introduce a progressive technology for
which there is no existing line item in
the budget.
Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 13
Industry News
This scenario often occurs when a
company first considers acquiring 3D
printing equipment—especially auto-
mated systems for postprinting. Many
companies settle comfortably into
manual postprocessing approaches
that, while familiar, are inefficient and
constraining.
Naturally, engineers want a postpro-
cessing solution that will deliver the
desired results for them in a way that
matches their advanced printer’s capa-
bilities and delivers consistent results.
But somehow those expectations
don’t always translate to the budget
held by the CFO.
What to do? Speak their language.
Don’t talk to your finance team
about your challenges (or even the
solution). Speak in terms of return on
investment (ROI) and investment pay-
back period (IPP).
Finance types prefer investments
that pay for themselves quickly, all
other things being equal. So the key
to a payback analysis is the measure
of time. The IPP is the time it takes for
the cumulative returns to equal the cu-
mulative costs—the break-even point.
Once you pass the break-even point, all
subsequent operations actually add to
the value of the company.
ROI is a measurement of the conse-
quence of the investment (in our exam-
ple, the investment in an automated
postprinting solution). It is a ratio, or
percentage, comparing net gains to net
costs. ROI provides a direct, easily un-
derstood measure of the investment’s
profitability and lets the finance team
quickly compare the magnitude and
timing of expected gains with the scale
and timing of costs.
Don’t talk to your finance
team about your challenges
(or even the solution). Speak in
terms of return on investment
(ROI) and investment payback
period (IPP).
As you enter the process of acquiring
technology that’s new to your compa-
ny, work with a supplier that can offer
advice about ROI and IPP. Willingness to
offer such advice indicates the supplier
will be a true partner in your additive
launch or expansion. And speaking fi-
nance people’s language when trying
to get their buy-in for capital equip-
ment will accelerate your additive en-
deavor from idea to implementation.
Diana Robbins is vice president of marketing,
PostProcess Technologies. She can be reached
at drobbins@postprocess.com.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 13
9/19/19 3:38 PM
 Industry News
University of Pittsburgh researchers
receive U.S. DOE grant for AM research
and Richard W. Neu, professor in the
Georgia Institute of Technology’s School
of Mechanical Engineering. The team
will use machine learning to develop a
cost-effective method for rapidly evalu-
ating, either in-process or offline, the hot
gas path turbine components (HGPTCs)
that are created with laser powder bed
Dr. Xiayun (Sharon) Zhao and Dr. Albert To.
fusion (LPBF) AM technology.
University of Pittsburgh
“LPBF AM is capable of making com-
The U.S. Department of Energy, through
plex metal components with reduced
its University Turbine Systems Research cost of material and time. There is a
program, has awarded researchers at desire to employ the appealing AM
the University of Pittsburgh’s Swan- technology to fabricate sophisticat-
son School of Engineering $802,400 ed HGPTCs that can withstand higher
to find an effective quality assurance working temperature for next-genera-
method for the additive manufacturing tion turbines. However, because there’s
of new-generation gas turbine com- a possibility that the components will
ponents. The three-year project has have porous defects and be prone to
received additional support from the detrimental thermomechanical fa-
University of Pittsburgh ($200,600), re- tigue, it’s critical to have a good quality
sulting in a total grant of $1.03 million. assurance method before putting them
Xiayun (Sharon) Zhao, PhD, assistant to use,” explained Zhao. “The quality as-
professor of mechanical engineering
surance framework we are developing
and materials science at Pitt, will lead will immensely reduce the cost of test-
the research, working with Albert To, ing and quality control and enhance
associate professor of mechanical en- confidence in adopting the LPBF pro-
gineering and materials science at Pitt, cess to fabricate demanding HGPTCs.”
3D Hubs names managing director
for North American market
3D Hubs, with U.S. headquarters in Chicago, has named
Robert Schouwenburg managing director. He is one
of the co-founders of Shapeways and recently was an
entrepreneur-in-residence at RGAx. He has experience
with 3D printing, manufacturing, high-tech communi-
cation equipment, product development, and deliver-
ing scalable internet services.
The company offers 3D printing services, as well as
CNC processes including machining, milling, turning,
3D Hubs surface finishing, and part marking.
14 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 14
Air Force installs first
3D-printed part on
C-130H Hercules aircraft
With advanced additive manufac-
turing (AAM), aircraft parts can be
3D-printed in the field and installed in
hours for a fraction of the cost of tra-
ditional manufacturing. But before a
part can be field-printed, someone has
to test it. That’s where the 910th Airlift
Wing comes in.
In August the first AAM part to be
fitted on a C-130H Hercules aircraft, a
utility hydraulic panel, was installed
on one of Youngstown Air Reserve Sta-
tion’s (YARS) C-130s. YARS participated
as a proof-of-concept testing base for
the  University of Dayton Research In-
stitute (UDRI), which was contracted by
the  Air Force Life Cycle Management
Center  (AFLCMC) at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base, Ohio.
The panel was printed through fused
deposition modeling at the  Air Force
Advanced Technology and Training
Center  in Middle, Ga. UDRI designed,
prepped, and delivered the panel, a
high-wear, low-risk, non-flight-essen-
tial part with a high replacement de-
mand within the Air Force’s C-130 fleets.
Chief Master Sgt. Darin Wesoloski,
the fabrication flight chief assigned
to the 910th Maintenance Squadron,
helped bring AAM to the 910th MXS’s
fabrication shop.
“The ability to print the parts we
need enables us to meet the demand
of the customer now, versus waiting for
the process of finding a manufacturer
capable of producing the part,” said We-
soloski. “The typical way of manufac-
turing is costly and time-consuming.”
The Air Force’s 3D capability is still
in its infancy, but with the 910th Airlift
Wing and other installations’ help, it’s
starting to take its first steps.
9/19/19 6:10 PM
Fall19AR_IndustryNews.indd 15 9/19/19 8:42 AM
 Technology Showcase

ABOUT PRAXAIR SURFACE TECHNOLOGIES

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Meet members of the • Decades of expertise in metallurgy, chemistry, manufacturing and quality control from
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• Capacity—Can they deliver the product and quantity you need
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16 The Additive Report FALL 2019

PraxairAdvertorial.indd 16 9/19/19 9:30 AM

 Technology Showcase

ABOUT SLM SOLUTIONS

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ment Partner. SLM Solutions takes a vested interest in your company’s long-
term success with metal AM. As part of our commitment to partner with
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A 90-liter tank eliminates the need to fill powder via individual
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FALL 2019 The Additive Report 17

SLMAdvertorial.indd 17 9/19/19 9:32 AM

 Cover Story
MEDICAL
ASSISTANCE
Additively manufactured
surgical tools and simulated
body parts dramatically
shorten surgeries.
By William Leventon
T
he 3D printer may soon be as es-
sential a tool to modern surgeons
as the scalpel. Doctors today are
using printed objects to plan and assist
in surgeries—a development that is
yielding major benefits for themselves
and their patients.
Printers also are faster than ever at
turning out a variety of implants that
are better at meeting the needs of par-
ticular surgical applications.
At Yale Medicine, Yale School of
Medicine’s practical clinic, orthopedic
surgeon Daniel Wiznia uses printed ob-
jects a couple of different ways. Before
performing a surgery, for example, Wiz-
nia builds a 3D-printed model of the
bone anatomy he’ll be working on. He
prints these hard plastic models him-
self using a Replicator+ machine from
MakerBot.
“I use the MakerBot when I’m planning
a complex surgery to understand the
anatomy better,” Wiznia said. “When I
print out the abnormal bone, I can trial
out the surgery with the instruments
outside of a sterile environment and
also try out implants to see how they
will fit before the surgery.”
During the actual surgery, Wiznia
uses 3D-printed cutting guides sup-
18 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_CoverStory_Medical.indd 18
This pre-operation mandible was printed on a
3D Systems’ ProX 800. 3D Systems
plied by a ven-
dor. “I don’t use
3D-printed objects With this assist from 3D printing, Wiz-
from the MakerBot nia claims he can shave 15 to 25 min-
in surgery because we utes off a 90-minute surgery, thereby
don’t have a system to sterilize them,” lowering the risk of infection. He also
he explained. makes fewer cuts in the bone, which
Before a total knee-replacement sur- lessens pain, loss of blood, and the
gery, for instance, he’ll start out by tak- number of transfusions needed.
ing an MRI of the patient’s knee. Then
he uses software to create a virtual
model that helps him decide what size
and type of implant to select and how
to orient it.
This information is turned over to
a vendor that prints a surgical instru-
ment from Nylon-12. The vendor cer-
tifies that the instrument is sterile and
can withstand the stresses that will be
placed on it during surgery.
The instrument itself, which Wiznia
calls a jig, is designed to conform to the
unique size and shape of the patient’s
bone and snaps on in a specific posi-
tion. The jig has slots where Wiznia will Yale Medicine orthopedic surgeon Daniel Wiznia
place his saw to create cuts in the exact holds additively manufactured cutting blocks
used for knee-replacement surgery. Smith &
locations he planned when modeling Nephew 3D-printed the patient-specific blocks
the surgery on his computer. from Nylon-12. Yale Medicine
9/19/19 10:00 AM
 Another major benefit of 3D printing
is more accurate implantation. As a re-
sult, implants function better and last
longer because they won’t be subject-
ed to stresses that they were not built
to handle.
“If an implant has the wrong orienta-
tion, it may only last 10 years instead of
20,” he noted.
On the downside, it takes about
three weeks for printed objects to be
made, sterilized, and delivered to the
hospital. “Patients tend to want their
surgeries immediately, but with 3D
printing there is going to be a little lag
time,” Wiznia said.

Additive for Others

One of the companies that prints prod-
ucts for surgeons like Wiznia is 3D Sys-
tems, a Rock Hill, S.C., manufacturer of Shown are 3D-printed components Yale uses for partial knee replacement surgeries. Yale Medicine
3D printers.

A major benefit of 3D printing is more

accurate implantation. As a result, implants
function better and last longer because they
won’t be subjected to stresses that they
were not built to handle.

Counterclockwise from top: 3D Systems’ metal DMP Flex 350 printer can produce
surgical instruments like interbody inserters and porous spinal cages. 3D Systems

FALL 2019 The Additive Report 19

Fall19AR_CoverStory_Medical.indd 19 9/19/19 3:41 PM


Amy Alexander, senior engineer in the Anatomic Modeling Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, works closely
with surgeons and physicians to develop patient-specific, life-size models. Mayo Clinic
In addition to anatomical models and
cutting guides, the company produces
metal implants, mainly with SLS (selec-
tive laser sintering) printers, according
to Jeph Ruppert, director of the compa-
ny’s Customer Innovation Center.
In the implant area, Ruppert said, ad-
vances in computing power and soft-
ware have improved the design of po-
rous structures, which allows printing
processes to mimic the actual proper-
ties of bone more closely.
“Today we can create an infinite [vari-
ety] of porous structures to meet a cus-
tomer’s clinical needs when it comes to
things like pore size, bone in-growth,
and bone on-growth,” he said. “And we
can do this very fast now with off-the-
shelf software.”
For a patient, the result might be less
sinking (subsidence) of a spinal implant
into bone, for example, because the
metal implant more closely matches
the bone modulus.
For those involved in additive man-
ufacturing of medical devices, Ruppert
said, benefits are coming from recent
20 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_CoverStory_Medical.indd 20
advances in process monitoring. Data
from in-process monitoring allows
manufacturers to assess the quality of
parts after the build phase rather than
testing them after completion of the
manufacturing process.
“With medical devices, there is always
some level of postprocessing,” Ruppert
said. “If you’re finding that you have
Nasal sinuses are among the 3D models printed at Mayo Clinic’s on-site lab. Mayo Clinic
produced a nonconforming part at
process 29 of 30 in final quality control,
you’ve added a tremendous amount of
time and value to a part you’re not able
to use.”
As for the printing of anatomical
models and surgical instruments, Rup-
pert sees these functions beginning to
move out of service centers. Take, for
example, the process of creating sin-
gle-use instruments for a surgery, which
begins with the surgeon and a biomed-
ical engineer planning cut locations.
Then a manufacturing group takes this
plan and prints the instruments.
Rather than processes like this always
taking place in facilities like 3D Systems’
surgical planning center, the idea is to
move some of them to the point of
care. This more distributed model al-
lows health-care providers to work fast-
er and be more agile, Ruppert said.
3D Systems, he added, is working to
enable this shift on a larger scale by
providing hospitals with the necessary
hardware and software know-how.
3DP at the POC
A point-of-care pioneer is the Mayo
Clinic, which has been printing ana-
tomical models for its own surgeons
since 2006.
9/19/19 3:41 PM
 According to Amy Alexander, a senior
biomedical engineer at the Anatomic
Modeling Laboratory in the clinic’s de-
partment of radiology, “CT and MRI im-
ages are basically black-and-white pix-
els on a page. If you’re trained, you can
use so-called mental gymnastics to ren-
der these black-and-white images into a
3D rendering in your mind. But 3D mod-
els take mental gymnastics out of it by
creating something tactile and to scale.”
For surgical planning, she added, “It’s
really meaningful to have a 3D mod-
el you can pass around a conference
room to members of the surgical team.
Surgeons can even take a Sharpie® and
draw a dotted line where they plan to
separate a tumor from healthy tissue.”
Alexander’s department uses seven
3D printers that employ different tech-
nologies, each of which has its pros and
cons and offers different material op-
tions. In addition to anatomical mod-
els, Alexander and her colleagues work
with surgeons to plan where they want
to make cuts and then turn these plans
into printed guides.
They also make models that accurate-
ly mimic tissue properties for training
purposes. “To teach new surgeons how
to stitch up a heart valve, the old meth-
od is to buy a bunch of cadaver hearts
and let each person have a go at stitch-
ing that valve,” Alexander said. “But we
can generate a multitude of models
with the same tissue properties and
have them practice on silicone or other
polymers instead of on human tissue.”
These models are much cheaper
than cadaver organs and also much
less stressful to practice on, she noted.
Why is 3D printing the best choice for
making medical structures at the clinic?
Most traditional manufacturing process-
es are “very industrial,” requiring factories
and staff to run them, she said. “Whereas
3D printing has become so commercial
that you can put printers in your office
and generate objects out of basic mate-
rials that you can order on Amazon.”
Although the clinic produces many
medical devices, it currently does not
make implants. However, Alexander
reports that the division of engineering
has purchased a titanium 3D printer
with the goal of designing and print-
ing patient-specific implants instead of
paying a third party to do the work.
This is made possible, she said, “be-
cause of the way the technology has
evolved and become more accessi-
ble—especially for larger centers like
the Mayo Clinic that have resources to
build their own point-of-care manufac-
turing centers that can follow FDA
quality-management guidelines.”
Bill Leventon is a freelance writer who specializes in the
topics of technology, manufacturing, and the medical
industry. He can be reached at wleventon@gmail.com.
3D Systems, www.3dsystems.com
Yale Medicine, www.yalemedicine.org
Mayo Clinic Anatomic Modeling Laboratory, www.
mayoclinic.org

OCTOBER 2018
A supplement to
The FABRICATOR®

How fabricators
approach additive with
an open mind
LAI Intl. adds additive
manufacturing to its toolbox

A new approach to
making heat exchangers

The Additive Report focuses on the next generation of

manufacturing, the culmination of advanced control
technology, design software, and material development.
With this process, manufacturers can create a simple or
complex geometric object layer-by-layer, fusing one layer
to the other. Subscribers to The Additive Report are using
this technology to create tools, fixtures, and prototypes
and to fulfill production orders. The publication delivers
The dawn of
information detailing what additive manufacturing
printed tooling
means to the modern manufacturing organization, A new way to
as well as the latest industry news and technology make custom press
brake tools—quickly
developments. To start your free subscription,
please visit www.thefabricator.com/publication/ar.

AdditiveReportSubscribeHHWinter19AR.indd 1 FALL 2019 The Additive

1/16/19Report
6:57 PM 21

Fall19AR_CoverStory_Medical.indd 21 9/19/19 10:00 AM

 3D Printing Molds
MOLDS IN A MINUTE
Need a plastic injection mold pronto? Print it.
By Kip Hanson  3D-printed molds are quick and relatively easy to
C
ontrary to this article’s title,
plastic injection molds can’t be
made in a minute, no matter
how advanced the technology. They
can, however, be 3D-printed in a day or
so, which is far faster than the weeks or
even months most in the industry have
come to expect.
That’s great, you’re thinking, but re-
ally? A plastic mold? Why not just print
the parts themselves and cut out the
middleman, so to speak?
Valid Reasons, Caveats
As it turns out, there are some very val-
id reasons to 3D-print a mold. There’s
the aforementioned need for speed, for
example. That might be all the justifica-
tion necessary for a person who needs
a hundred or so parts in a few days.
But before you run off to your com-
puter, gung-ho to upload your latest
product design, please remember the
“hundred parts or so” caveat. That’s a
reasonable quantity expectation for
most 3D-printed molds, and it might be
far less if you want parts molded from a
22 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_3DPrintingMolds.indd 22
produce. Promolding
high-temp polymer such as ULTEM or a
glass-filled nylon. Around the 100-part
threshold, your mold will be kaput and
you’ll heading back to the 3D-printer to
build a new one.
“As a rule, manufacturers have two
options for rapid injection mold tool-
ing: traditional metal molds, or very-
low-run, typically 3D-printed, plastic
molds,” said Alkaios  Bournias Varotsis,
technical marketing engineer for Am-
sterdam-based 3D Hubs. “With the lat-
ter, you’re generally limited to a basic,
two-piece mold with no side actions;
relatively simple part geometries; and,
because their cooling capabilities are
less robust than with metal molds,
much longer cycle times.
“That last part isn’t all that important
because of the lower production quan-
tities involved with 3D-printed molds,
but what is important is mold longev-
ity. With abrasive or less-moldable ma-
terials, you might only get 10 pieces be-
fore the mold chips or breaks or wears
to the point that part quality becomes
unacceptable,” said Varotsis.
The other caveat is part design. As
Varotsis noted, parts produced with
3D-printed, two-part molds are limited
to less complex geometries. Undercuts
and similar features, which are com-
mon with production mold tooling,
must be generated through the use of
hand-loaded inserts. The reason is that
the automatically sliding side-action
cores used in metal molds are not an
option because of their cost and de-
sign complexity. Again, no big deal un-
less you’re planning on making several
hundred parts, in which case the man-
ual labor might become burdensome.
The mold design itself, however, is
also different, requiring larger draft
angles and greater care with the place-
ment of ejector pins and gates. This
must be done to avoid undue stress on
the mold. None of this is meant to im-
ply that 3D-printed molds don’t have
their place—they do—only that they
need a little extra TLC during and after
the design process.
Varotsis said that 3D Hubs continually
works to expand its injection molding
offerings to accommodate “a whole
range of new possibilities that serve the
needs of its engineering customer base.”
3D Hubs, an online service provider,
works with a network of manufactur-
ing partners to determine the most
cost-effective and streamlined way to
bring product designs to fruition. As
such, it often recommends traditional
steel molds as the best solution for its
clients, especially for injection-molding
end-use parts.
In his experience, customers that can
wait three to five weeks for a steel mold
will see better results. A manufacturer
of sports equipment in Norway, for ex-
ample, recently turned to 3D Hubs to
machine a whopping 29 molds in just
17 weeks for a series of polyoxymeth-
ylene and glass-filled nylon compo-
nents. By waiting for steel molds, the
9/19/19 3:49 PM
 Norwegian company took delivery of
tools it could use for years instead of
weeks or even days.
Speed Is King
To someone needing molded parts
pronto, a week is an eternity. This is
one reason why 3D-printer manufac-
turer Formlabs Inc., Somerville, Mass.,
continues to see a strong call for molds
made using stereolithography (SL)
technology.
According to Andrew Edman, in-
dustry manager for product design,
engineering, and manufacturing at
Formlabs, SL produces the fine detail
and smooth surface finishes needed
for plastic injection molding. It’s also
known for its ability to produce pat-
terns for investment casting, one of the
first uses of the technology.
Edman agreed that speed is swell but
identified another, often more import-
ant reason to use 3D-printed molds.
“The majority of cases I see are for
manufacturing validation,” he said. “A
customer might have a part that’s quite
finicky to mold, for example, or looking
at pulling the trigger on an expensive
multicavity tool. Perhaps they’re mak-
ing a consumer product with a Class A
surface finish on all sides of the part, or
they want to do mechanical or chemical
testing. There are a lot of good reasons
for getting your hands on a few dozen
parts so you can make sure they’ll per-
form as planned before you commit to
hard tooling.”
In terms of customer-use cases, Ed-
man said most of his are hush-hush,
but he did discuss the Google Ad-
vanced Technology and Projects lab
wanting to validate a product’s design
before moving into large-scale produc-
tion of a wearable, over-molded elec-
tronics device.
The solution? Use one of Formlabs’ 3D
printers and a high-temp resin to build
a temporary mold, thus “bridging the
gap between prototype and produc-
tion, reducing turnaround time for a
crucial component by 85 percent while
saving over $100,000,” said Edman.
Fall19AR_3DPrintingMolds.indd 23
That’s a big wad of cash, for sure, but
few companies are the size of Google,
nor do they have to validate a mold that
might cost more than a yacht. In some
cases, Edman pointed out, it might be
simpler to just print the parts, as sug-
gested at the beginning of this article.
“It’s all a question of your reasons for
building a mold and what you’re will-
ing to put up with,” he said. “These are
pretty low-cost tools made of relative-
ly inexpensive material, so if you have
any sort of production quantities, you
could just plan on burning through a
handful of printed molds. That said, an
increasing number of companies are
choosing to go the direct-print route,
especially in light of increasingly faster
print speeds and the availability of ro-
bust, end-use materials.
Hold the Phone
Eric Utley, additive manufacturing ap-
plications engineer at Protolabs Inc.,
Maple Plain, Minn., would like to point
out that the choice of plastic injection
mold tooling isn’t an either/or choice
between steel and polymer. There’s also
aluminum.
“One of the biggest issues with plas-
tic tools is their higher coefficient of
thermal expansion,” he said. “This caus-
es them to grow and shrink during use,
leading to dimensional variations of
the finished part. We also find that plas-
tic molds are unpredictable. You might
get 20 or 30 shots out of one, but then
again, it might break on the first part.
So even though the mold itself might
be less expensive to produce than one
made of metal, it can end up costing far
more in the long run.”
Google’s ATAP lab used a Formlabs 3D printer to validate product design before moving into large-scale
production of this wearable, over-molded electronics device. Formlabs
This is why most of Protolabs’ molds
are made of aluminum, although, Utley
said, steel might be used when molding
high-temperature resins such as PEEK.
Depending on part complexity and
the number of shutoffs and side-ac-
tions, molds often can be turned around
in a few days, straddling the “gotta have
it tomorrow” crowd and those willing or
able to wait a month or so.
For your patience, you get a tool able
to mold perhaps 10,000 parts or more,
depending on the workpiece materi-
al, that has a price tag probably not a
whole lot higher than a 3D-printed tool.
“Here’s where I think it makes sense
to make a 3D-printed tool for injection
molding,” Utley said. “If you’re in a hurry,
and you already own an Objet or com-
parable high-end printer, and you have
access to an injection molding press,
and you have an injection molding tech-
nician on-site who knows how to set
that press up, and you have some expe-
rience in mold design, then by all means
go ahead and print your own molds.
“They’re fast and inexpensive to
make. Just remember that they’re lim-
ited. But if you need a reliable tool,
one that’s able to handle most engi-
neering-grade resins, and you don’t
have thousands and thousands of
parts to make, I’d go with aluminum,”
said Utley.
Kip Hanson has spent more than 35 years
working in and writing about manufacturing.
He can be reached at kip@kahmco.net. 
3D Hubs www.3dhubs.com
Formlabs www.formlabs.com
Protolabs www.protolabs.com
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 23
9/19/19 3:49 PM
 Software
By Gene Granata and
Kip Hanson
I
f you’ve invested in toolpath simula-
tion, verification, and optimization
software for your CNC lathes and ma-
chining centers, chances are good that
you’re a big fan. That’s because the abil-
ity to accurately simulate machining
processes prevents crashes, improves
part quality, increases machine uptime,
and provides opportunities for process
optimization that would otherwise
never exist.
But maybe you’ve made an even big-
ger investment in a 3D printer or hybrid
machine tool recently and are now
wondering: Do I really need to simulate
additive processes, too? After all, there
are no rotating cutting tools, no speed-
ing turrets or flying bits of metal, and
the progression of the build seemingly
moves at glacial speed.
Besides, the build preparation tools
that come with a printer have some
pretty nifty graphics, so why bother
with yet another software package?
Making the Case
It’s a fair question, one to which you
probably already know the answer: It
depends on your 3D printer and what
you’re printing.
If you own one of those relatively in-
expensive “toaster” printers—where a
CAD file goes in and a mostly finished
part pops out, there are minimal pro-
gramming options, and no way to alter
process parameters—feel free to skip
buying simulation software. For every-
thing else, though—especially a hybrid
machine loaded with cutting tools and
a printhead that must peacefully co-
exist—additive manufacturing simula-
tion is every bit as valuable a tool as its
subtractive counterpart.
24 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_SoftwareCGTech.indd 24
VIRTUAL PRINTING
The case for simulating
additive manufacturing processes.
Machine simulation, which some refer to as the digital twin, mimics actual machine behavior, including
setting AM parameters and controlling important additive functions. Shown is a simulation of 3D print-
ing on an Okuma MU-8000 Laser EX hybrid multitasking machine that pairs 5-axis CNC machining with
laser metal deposition.  Images: CGTech
Subtractive and additive simulation
software both detect collisions. Both
give programmers the ability to opti-
mize manufacturing processes. Both
identify differences between the fin-
ished part and its intended design.
Both display operating parameters—
laser power, gas flow, and material
deposition rates for additive, and feeds
and speeds for subtractive. Both pre-
vent costly mistakes.
Granted, additive simulation doesn’t
identify certain printing-specific failures,
such as layer delamination or the pres-
ence of material stuck to the recoater
blade that could topple the workpiece.
Nor does it help with part orientation or
the nesting of parts in the build cham-
ber, although it does display them.
But it does improve quality and
throughput by monitoring build pa-
rameters as they relate to part geome-
try, alerting the programmer to things
like improper focal distance and poten-
tial problems with droop or overhang.
Hybrid Hijinks
Simulation software also provides an
idea of where the build surface sits in
3D space at any given time, a feature
that’s particularly important with hy-
brids. With an additive/subtractive ma-
chine, the programmer will often stop
the printing process long enough to
allow a cleanup cut, in effect “zeroing
out” the workpiece’s top surface before
depositing more layers or machining
the surrounding features. Because sim-
ulation software can effectively predict
what’s going to happen during the
build, there are fewer guessing games
while the part is being manufactured.
Another thing that often occurs with
hybrid machines is programming soft-
ware is used that’s not designed for the
printing phase of the process. Some NC
programmers modify their coding for
subtractive toolpaths for additive. Mod-
ifying code works, but it’s a less effective
option than a CAM package designed
9/19/19 10:13 AM

Simulation software that checks for potential collisions between machine components and AM equip-
ment is especially important for expensive hybrid machines. The ability to verify laser on/off and power
settings, shielding gas, powder-material feed, and delivery gas flow helps ensure parts are made as ex-
pected on the machine tool. Shown is a simulation for a Lasertec 65, a 5-axis hybrid milling/laser depo-
sition welding machine from DMG MORI.
specifically for 3D printing. And in some
instances, operators might be forced to
hand-edit various parts of the machine
program, with unpredictable and occa-
sionally disastrous results.
There’s also the question of post-
processing. Most CAM systems offer a
form of toolpath simulation—enough
so that some in industry feel confident
that nothing more is needed. The prob-
lem with this assumption—reflected
by the old adage “what you see is what
you get”—is that it’s frequently false.
The postprocessor may produce un-
expected machine movements or ac-
tivate machine functions not visible in
the CAM simulation. Simply put, CNC
machines and controls have their own
rules governing how they respond to
NC program commands, completely in-
dependent of—and often very different
from—internal CAM system routines.
This, perhaps more than anything
else, is why adherents of stand-alone
toolpath simulation software feel so
strongly about their investment and
will tell you the only accurate simula-
tion is one that reads the same code as
the machine tool control.
Going Faster
Whether additive or subtractive or a
mix of both, machine tools are expen-
Fall19AR_SoftwareCGTech.indd 25
sive. So doesn’t it make sense to invest
a small fraction of the equipment price
in software that not only safeguards
the machine from damage but makes
it run more efficiently? This is the “op-
timization” piece of these multifaceted
software packages. Optimization turns
what would otherwise be a black box
into a high-definition color TV with tun-
ing knobs galore.
As mentioned, greater visibility to
printing parameters means the pro-
grammer can more easily identify what
works and what doesn’t, increasing
How thoroughly simulation software verifies additive NC code can be the difference between applying
corrective actions or calling in a costly repair order for an AM or hybrid additive/subtractive machine.
Shown in red is a representation of the deposition head on a BeAM Machines DED (directed energy
deposition) 5-axis additive system buried into the part by a rogue “Z0” command.
the possibility of “first part, good part.”
And where machining is involved, op-
erations can be easily resequenced and
cutting values adjusted to maximize
material removal.
Finally, because all 3D-printed metal
parts and many polymer ones are sent
to the machine shop after being print-
ed, simulation software also eases the
handoff between these sometimes dis-
parate departments. CNC programmers
know what to expect and can more
safely and efficiently perform the sec-
ondary machining operations needed
to complete what is by now an expen-
sive workpiece—a result of many hours,
or even days, being invested in its pro-
duction. There’s never any doubt about
what was printed and what needs to
be machined, what locating features
should be used, and whether the fin-
ished part meets the customer’s criteria.
Bottom line: Whether you’re printing
parts or cutting them or some combi-
nation of the two, simulation software
is the least expensive insurance policy
you’ll ever buy.
Gene Granata is a product manager at CGTech,
the Irvine, Calif., developer of VERICUT simula-
tion, verification, and optimization software.
He can be reached at gene.granata@cgtech.
com. Kip Hanson has spent more than 35 years
working in and writing about manufacturing.
He can be reached at kip@kahmco.net. 
 
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 25
9/19/19 10:13 AM
 AM Equipment
INFORMED CHOICE
What you should know when choosing
a thermoplastic 3D printer for your shop.
By Kuldeep Agarwal
S
o you’ve decided to buy your
shop a 3D printer for building
plastic prototypes, jigs, fixtures,
and other common tools of the trade.
Or maybe you want to perform short-
run production jobs.
Whatever your reason for getting into
3D printing, the first thing you need to
decide is which kind of printer to buy.
If you have attended additive man-
ufacturing (AM)-focused trade shows,
read trade magazines, and launched in-
ternet searches about the subject, you
know you have a quite a few printers
from which to choose.
Today there are more than 100 com-
panies selling 200 to 300 styles of 3D
printers—and this is only plastic-type
26 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_3DPrinter.indd 26
Getty Images
models. According to estimates, plastic
accounts for 65 to 70 percent of the 3D
printing market in the U.S.
Price Points
Prices for resin 3D printers range from
$400 to more than $200,000. (Metal
printers, a topic for another day, cost
anywhere from $100,000 to $2 million.)
Resin-based 3D printers can be sub-
divided into the following grades and
price ranges:
• Hobbyist ($400 to $2,000)
• Prototyping and low-volume
production ($2,000 to $5,000)
• Semiprofessional ($5,000 to
$15,000)
• Professional ($15,000 and higher)
Shops generally should avoid the
hobbyist grade. Although these print-
ers have advanced greatly in the last
few years and can produce parts from
a variety of materials, they require a lot
of oversight, and the number of accept-
able parts they produce remains low.
Many small to medium-size shops
benefit from a prototyping-grade 3D
printer. If you want to dip your toe in
the AM pond and experiment with 3D
printing, this is the way to go.
Consider a $2,000 to $5,000 printer
that accommodates a variety of mate-
rials and provides good surface finishes
and good day-to-day reliability. When
you’ve set up your new printer, experi-
ment with multiple materials, including
composites such as glass-filled nylon,
fiberglass, and PEEK, to see how they
perform in real-world applications. The
relatively low cost of this type of printer
will allow machinists, pattern makers,
and other shop employees to experi-
ment without breaking the bank.
Also, most of these printers are open
source, allowing the use of cheaper ma-
terials. FFF (fused filament fabrication)
printers—the generic name for Fused
Deposition Modeling printers—are the
most common type of prototyping ma-
chine. Another popular style is the SLA
(stereolithography) printer, which im-
parts an excellent surface finish.
Semiprofessional-grade printers
are an extension of the prototyping
category and typically cost $5,000 to
$15,000. If you have already qualified
your parts with 3D printing through a
service bureau or with an entry-level
printer and are ready for short-run pro-
duction jobs, you should invest in of
these printers. They are reliable printers
and typically can run unattended.
However, they also tend to be closed-
source, can only build parts from a few
materials, and are difficult to experi-
ment with.
9/19/19 10:23 AM
 If you intend to 3D-print high vol-
umes of parts and require them to
perform like injection-molded or ma-
chined parts, buy a professional-grade
printer. But be aware that the technolo-
gy is moving quickly in this space, and
the printer you buy today might be a
dinosaur in a few years.

Understand Your Needs

Which is the right plastic 3D printer for
your shop? Answering the following
questions will be a big step in helping
you decide.
1. Are you planning to use your 3D
printer for prototyping or short-run
production? If you want to experiment
with 3D printing for prototyping, you
One hundred or so companies sell 200 to 300 different styles of thermoplastic printers. ProtoLabs
will need to consider surface finish and
resolution. SLA printers provide very
fine resolution, good details, and excel-
lent surface finish.
The Formlabs Form 2, for example,
puts down layers 0.001 to 0.012 inch
thick and is equipped with a laser hav-
ing a spot size of 0.0055 in. It can build
parts from 20 different resins, allowing
you to select a material that closely
matches your prototyping needs.
For prototypes that only need to be
verified just for form and fit, Ultimaker
and MakerBot offer FFF printers that
will suffice.
If you want a printer for short produc-
tion runs, consider a semiprofessional
printer. The Ultimaker S5, Stratasys U-
Ultimaker Print and F120, and Markforged Mark 2
models are reliable, yield good surface
Formlabs
finishes, and accommodate a range of
materials for short-run production.
An additional advantage of the Mark
2 is that it can print parts from com-
posite materials, which improve part
strength.
2. Will you be printing with tradi-
tional plastic materials such as ABS,
Formlabs
nylon, or HIPS, or do you plan to try
experimental materials like PLA?
Clockwise from top: Ultimaker 3, Formlabs 3, and
Markforged 3D printers. Sometimes you may want to print a
part just to have a feel for its design,

FALL 2019 The Additive Report 27

Fall19AR_3DPrinter.indd 27 9/19/19 10:23 AM


Printers that make parts from filaments are the most common prototyping machines. Getty Images
iterate your design, and check basic
features and fit.
FFF printers that print with traditional
materials would not be the best choice.
An FFF printer that runs PLA, a ma-
terial made from renewable sources,
is suitable for such design iterations
because it yields excellent surface fin-
ishes and geometries. It is much faster
to print parts from PLA than from some
other materials, and it costs 50 percent
less. If you opt for a prototyping print-
er that prints PLA, you might consider
something like the Ultimaker 3 or Air-
Wolf EVO22.
3. What kind of strength is required
for the parts you plan to 3D-print?
Will they need to perform at a high
level, like injection-molded parts? Will
they be exposed to high temperatures?
Will you be printing composites? If you
Many machine shops test the additive manufac-
turing waters by using it to build gauges, jigs, fix-
tures, and other shop tools. K. Agarwal
28 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_3DPrinter.indd 28
need to print parts that will replace
machined, injection-molded, compos-
ite-layup, or other traditionally manu-
factured parts, you will need to invest
in a semiprofessional or professional
3D printer.
Stratasys’ F123 printers can print a
vast array of materials, including ABS,
PC, and TPU, and the company’s Fortus
printers can print carbon-filled nylon.
Markforged printers can build parts
from glass and carbon-filled plastics.
4. How stringent will the surface-
finish requirements of the parts be?
How much time, money, and effort can
you put toward final-finishing print-
ed parts? Postprocessing is one of the
most overlooked aspects of 3D print-
ing. To obtain a surface finish suitable
for display parts or a mirror-like finish,
you might consider a high-end printer
like an HP PolyJet. For prototyping or
low-volume jobs where you can spend
a few hours polishing parts, an FFF
printer would be a good option.
SLA printers offer the best compro-
mise between surface finish and part
strength.
5. How long will your printer run?
Four hours a day? Eight? 24? Choose
a prototyping printer like the Form 2,
Ultimaker 3, or MakerBot if you want
to print four to eight hours daily. For
lights-out production, select a semipro-
fessional- or professional-grade printer
like a Stratasys UPrint, F120, or F240.
Related to run time is run speed. Gen-
erally speaking, the faster a 3D printer
is, the more it costs. Speed also helps in
creating parts with higher infill density,
because the part will have less time to
warp while being printed.
6. What kind of printer oversight
are you OK with? Do you need the
printer to run unattended? Proto-
typing printers typically require some
oversight. SLA printers can run without
a lot of supervision. But if you have a
mid-level prototyping printer, such as
an Ultimaker or MakerBot, you will to
need to monitor it constantly. Semipro-
fessional and professional printers can
run without a lot of supervision.
7. What size part will you 3D-print
most frequently? Choose a printer
with a work envelope that accommo-
dates the middle 50 percent of your
part-size range.
Very rarely will you print parts out-
side this range.
A typical printer has a work envelope
of 6 by 6 by 6 in., and a semiprofession-
al printer often can accommodate parts
up to 10 by 10 by 8 in. Most people will
not need anything bigger than this.
Asking yourself questions about the
types of plastic parts you expect to
3D-print is a good first step in the pro-
cess of choosing the best machine for
your shop. But, as with buying a car,
you should “test-drive” various printers
to see which one best meets your build,
resolution, and finish requirements
while fitting your budget.
Kuldeep Agarwal is an associate professor in
the Department of Automotive and Manufac-
turing Engineering Technology at Minnesota
State University, Mankato, and co-director
of the Minnesota Center for Additive Manufac-
turing, kuldeep.agarwal@msnu.edu, 507-389-
6157.
9/19/19 10:23 AM
Fall19AR_3DPrinter.indd 29 9/19/19 8:43 AM
 Talking With …
GREEN MACHINES?
MIT Professor Timothy Gutowski discusses
the energy and material savings AM provides.
By Holly B. Martin
W
ith additive manufacturing
(AM), novel parts can be de-
signed and built with opti-
mized topologies, eliminating the need
for machining individual pieces and
then assembling them. Many are hope-
ful that this technology will benefit the
environment through a decrease in the
amounts of energy and raw materials
required to make components in all
sorts of industries.
The Additive Report  discussed 3D
printing and its place in sustainable
manufacturing with MIT Professor Tim-
othy Gutowski, head of the university’s
Environmentally Benign Manufactur-
30 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_Gutowski.indd 30
Getty Images
ing (EBM) research group. EBM focus-
es on examining the environmental
effects associated with manufacturing
products.
Additive Report: Can you provide an
overview of the benefits of 3D printing
in terms of sustainability?
Timothy Gutowski: Any benefits de-
pend a lot on the details. For lifecycle
analysis claims, you’re setting up some
version of additive manufacturing ver-
sus some version of a conventional
manufacturing process. And one prob-
lem is that we have a better idea of the
waste numbers for conventional manu-
facturing processes than we do for ad-
ditive, because the latter is still a work
in progress.
A textbook I use for my classes—Man-
ufacturing Engineering & Technology,
7th Edition—lists certain waste values
for conventional manufacturing pro-
cesses. Many of those processes have
a very low scrap rate and are not all
that wasteful, such as powdered met-
al and some sheet metal operations.
Machining, in general, can be efficient
with relatively low waste. So it depends
on what you’re setting the example up
against.
AR: How do you make a fair comparison
between technologies?
Gutowski: One way to compare two
processes is using a “buy-to-fly ratio,”
where you divide the total material
consumed by the amount of material
that ends up in the product. In the case
of an airplane, the buy-to-fly compares
the raw material you buy with the ma-
terial that ends up in a part that flies on
the plane. (Editor’s note: The lower the
ratio, the lower the waste; a ratio of 1 is
the ideal because it means zero waste.)
I do think there are some clear ex-
amples where waste reduction with 3D
printing is a legitimate claim. Compa-
nies like Siemens and GE are now using
Professor Timothy Gutowski, MIT
9/19/19 10:32 AM
 additive to make optimized fuel nozzles
and other engine parts with complex
internal passages that in the past had to
be cut from very hard materials, which
meant you couldn’t easily machine
them, so they had to be made in many
separate pieces and then assembled.
The buy-to-fly ratios for machining
those type of parts can be enormous—
up to 8 or 10—so that’s an easy target
for making a claim about waste reduc-
tion with 3D printing. But for other ap-
plications, the buy-to-fly ratio is smaller.
AR: Because 3D printing is an additive
technology, shouldn’t there be zero ma-
terial waste?
Gutowski: Even with additive, there is
some loss and some waste. There’s the
issue of separating the part from the
support plate, plus the need to obtain
a good surface finish, which usually
means some machining and waste.
Then there’s the material for support
structures and overhangs, all of which
increase the amount of waste.
AR: Can metal powder recycling mini-
mize waste production?
Gutowski: The people who make pow-
dered metal systems all claim that they
re-use the powder at very high rates
for certification, and I think they’re do-
ing that.
At the same time, there’s another
interesting dynamic going on: These
powders are extremely expensive, so
there’s every incentive to recycle them.
But in a future world where people are
pushing for commodity powders and
they become cheaper, a different dy-
namic may occur.
AR: What have you found in your re-
search on energy use for additive ver-
sus conventional manufacturing?
Gutowski: Additive processes tend to
be more energy intensive, measured in
joules of energy per kilogram of mate-
rial processed, because they’re slower.
They use a lot of energy to produce the
same amount of product.
Fall19AR_Gutowski.indd 31
In fact, most 3D printing process-
es are something like seven orders of
magnitude more energy intensive than
high-volume conventional manufac-
turing processes such as machining,
casting, and injection molding.
AR: Are there any bright spots in the en-
ergy-use data for additive?
Gutowski: One exception was the
Big-Area Additive Manufacturing
(BAAM) machine, which had very high
production rates, with an energy-inten-
sity level comparable to other conven-
tional processes. I would consider that
a bit of a breakthrough. (Editor’s note:
BAAM is 3D printer from Cincinnati In-
corporated that builds durable tooling,
prototypes, and production parts from
fiber-reinforced plastic. It can print
parts the size of a car at rates up to 80
pounds per hour.)
I certainly would not make
a general claim that additive
is less wasteful of energy and
materials than other processes.
It depends on the details and
what other process you’re
comparing it with.
But the BAAM creates a product with
a crude surface finish. After printing
an entire car body, they have to either
hand-finish it or put it on a big 5-axis
machine tool to get a smooth, glassy
finish—so we’re back to machining.
That’s the fundamental trade-off in
additive manufacturing: If you want to
go fast, you’re going to lay down a lot of
material at once, but if you lay down a
lot of material at once, it’s going to have
a coarse finish.
To determine whether 3D printing
is more energy efficient in a particular
case, you’d have to also look at the ma-
terial itself and how much is wasted,
because there’s a lot of energy embod-
ied in sourcing the materials.
AR: Do you have any conclusions about
the sustainability of 3D printing?
Gutowski: The sustainability discussion
requires much wider boundaries for
investigation than a constructed sce-
nario where you substitute a certain
manufacturing process for a different
process.
In the big picture, we’re not sure to
what extent additive manufacturing is
a substitute and to what extent it’s a
complement to conventional process-
es. Together, they enable you to do
more things.
For dramatically optimized engine
parts that cannot be made easily by
conventional processes, 3D printing
would be a substitute process. But I cer-
tainly would not make a general claim
that additive is less wasteful of energy
and materials than other processes. It
depends on the details and what other
process you’re comparing it with.
We know that if people want to do
something and you make it easier for
them, they’re going to do a lot more of
it—and the ultimate effect might be to
use more material, not less. To monitor
this at a large scale, you could ask the
question, “As the fraction of products
manufactured by additive manufac-
turing increases, do we see an overall
reduction in the raw materials we use?”
I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm,
and people would like to do the right
thing. But I think you have to be a little
bit humble about what sort of benefits
it’s going to bring to society.
Ultimately, additive manufacturing is
a tool, like a wrench or a screwdriver,
though it’s much more sophisticated.
This tool could be used in constructive
ways, toward sustainability, or it could
be used in destructive ways to make life
less sustainable.
Holly B. Martin is a freelance writer specializing
in science and manufacturing topics. She can
be reached at holly.marting@inbox.com.
MIT’s Environmentally Benign Manufacturing
research group, http://web.mit.edu/ebm/www/.
Professor Timothy Gutowski can be reached at
gutowski@mit.edu.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 31
9/19/19 10:26 AM
 Show Preview
FABTECH 2019
TO INSPIRE, INFORM YOUR METAL
FAB BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating,
welding, and finishing event returns to Chicago.
By Kate Bachman
T
his year’s theme for FABTECH®
2019, Technology and Innovation
to Transform Your Business, is rath-
er fitting. Manufacturers in the metal
fabrication, stamping, welding, tube
fab, finishing, and 3D printing indus-
tries have experienced their share of
turnaround and transition stories. Cir-
cumstances have required them to re-
invent their businesses, and sometimes
their own roles, to continue success.
Tuesday’s keynote speaker, Frank
Abagnale Jr., has a transformation story
if there ever were one. At the age of 16,
Abagnale left home and began forging
a living by transforming himself into a
Pan Am pilot to get free flights, a doctor
to live in a pricey apartment complex
and write bad checks unquestioned,
and a lawyer—for real, passing the bar
exam without a formal education. He
lived a lavish lifestyle for years until his
past caught up with him.
32 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_FabtechPreview.indd 32
After fleeing to France and continuing
his fraudulent lifestyle there, he was ar-
rested and transformed into an inmate
in a harsh French prison, then a Swed-
ish prison, then a U.S. prison. After four
years in the U.S. prison, he was offered
an opportunity to transform once again,
this time as a legitimate consultant to
the FBI on countering fraud, forgery,
embezzlement, and cybersecurity.
He continued to consult for the FBI
for decades after his obligation ended.
He received no financial compensa-
tion from it, nor from the film (“Catch
Me if You Can”), book, TV series, and
Broadway musical that were produced
about his life story. He turned down
three presidential pardons. Abagnale
will keynote on cybersecurity and how
to keep your manufacturing plant safe
from fraud on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The FABTECH tradeshow, education-
al conference, presentation forum, and
event will be held at McCormick Place
in Chicago, Nov. 11 to 14.
Evolving Expo
The ever-growing and always evolving
expo is transforming as well.
New pavilions include the 3D/Addi-
tive Manufacturing Pavilion and a Ro-
botics & Industrial Automation Pavilion.
The expo expands onto three halls of
the McCormick Place this year. Exhibits
will fill the Lakeside Building as well as
the North and South buildings of previ-
ous years.
Emerging and disruptive technolo-
gies such as 5G, IoT, AI, robotics, and au-
tomation join long-standing technolo-
gies in stamping, fabrication, tube and
pipe fabrication, welding, and finishing.
More than 48,000 attendees and
1,700 exhibiting companies are ex-
pected to converge once again to
explore, learn, and share the latest
trends and technology in the metal
forming, fabricating, welding, and
finishing industries in preparation for
their own continued transformations.
Keynote Presentations
Presentations on manufacturing
trends and topics include workforce
development, women in the industry,
and veterans filling critical industry
roles.
9/19/19 8:47 AM
 The popular FABx Tech Talk series re-
turns with keynote presentations, ex-
pert panel discussions, and interactive
networking events. They are scheduled
to fill the hours before and after the
tradeshow hours.
Monday Nov. 11 »
Manufacturers sometimes use military
terms and tactics as a platform for
organizing processes, managing per-
sonnel, and tracking work-in-process.
The opening FABx Tech Talks keynote
will pay special tribute to veterans in
the manufacturing industry. Five vets
will describe how they have drawn on
their unique experiences in the military
and applied them to achieve excellence
in the frontlines of business. Speakers
include Jason T. Ray, CEO of Paperless
Parts; Shelly C. Rood, educational con-
sultant; and Michael Walton, industry
solution executive of Microsoft, as well
as Chad Hennings, NFL Super Bowl
champion;  and Hernán Luis y Prado,
president of Workshops for Warriors.
Tuesday, Nov. 13 »
Frank Abagnale Jr. will keynote on cy-
bersecurity and how to keep your man-
ufacturing plant safe from fraud.
Wednesday, Nov. 12 »
Grant Imahara, former host on Dis-
covery’s “Mythbusters” and an anima-
tronics engineering expert, provides a
behind-the-scenes look at his work on
various sets and productions. He has
worked on films such as the “Matrix”
sequels, “A.I.”, “Galaxy Quest,” “Termi-
nator 3,” “Van Helsing,” and “Star Wars”
episodes 1-3.
Imahara will address the impor-
tance of advancing the engineering/
manufacturing industry. He shares his
experiences in science, which include
a current consulting role for Walt Dis-
ney Imagineering, where he works on
next-generation robots to go into Dis-
ney’s theme parks.
Educational Sessions
Manufacturing professionals will have
the option to attend more than 175
Fall19AR_FabtechPreview.indd 33
educational sessions with targeted
technical, operational, economic, and
managerial topics.
The technical sessions focus on cut-
ting, lasers, finishing, stamping, form-
ing, fabricating, automation, and 3D/
additive manufacturing. Management
sessions will highlight strategies for
marketing, sales, lean, smart manufac-
turing, and workforce development.
The 90-minute sessions offer prac-
tical knowledge intended to be im-
mediately applicable. Some sessions
combine classroom instruction with
expert-led guided Tech Tours on the
show floor.
Chicago Venue
Chicago is an apropos site for a trans-
formational event. It has been recon-
structed, reinvented, reinvigorated,
and transformed many times over its
nearly 200-year history. Its many scaf-
folded renovations are a living example
of continuous improvement.
Chicago’s exciting vibe is buoyed
by its multicultural ambience, sights
and sounds of a city on the move. If
you’re planning to add some days to
your FABTECH itinerary, you may con-
sider embarking on any of the boat-
ing or walking tours or attending one
of the many spectator sports. After
expo hours, you may enjoy sampling
the nightlife at numerous bars and
nightclubs, theaters,  live music ven-
ues, and comedy clubs.
Standout attractions include
Skydeck at Willis Tower; “Cloud Gate”
at Millennium Park; lake cruises from
Navy Pier; a multitude of world-class
museums, aquariums, zoos, planetar-
iums, conservatories, parks, and gar-
dens; and of course, a cornucopia of
five-star and just really good restau-
rants and eateries.
Chicago is one of the few cities that
offers miles of public space along
its waterfront. You can access the
18.5-mile-long Chicago Lakefront Trail,
a shared-use path, from McCormick
Place. The trail passes through and con-
nects Chicago’s four major lakefront
parks and several beaches. 
Commuting to and from
McCormick Place
FABTECH organizers provide free shut-
tle service from most hotels. Attend-
ees need only to wear the badges they
receive at registration. For those who
want to commute like a local, the Metra
Electric commuter railroad can trans-
port attendees directly to McCormick
Place from downtown. The McCormick
Place Metra Electric Station, located on
Level 2.5 of the Grand Concourse in the
McCormick Place South building, pro-
vides direct service within seven min-
utes to and from downtown Chicago’s
Randolph Street Metra Station, right
next to Millennium Park. It was reno-
vated in 2017.
The L Green Line directly services
McCormick Place and McCormick
Square via the Cermak-McCormick
Place Green Line Station. The station is
a 2½-block walk from the McCormick
Place West building.
Plus, there’s the usual smattering of
taxis, ride-hailing and ride-sharing
transport, bikes, and ample vehicle
parking—and for those staying at adja-
cent hotels, walkways.
REGISTER NOW!
Avoid lines onsite and
a $50 admission fee
by registering today at
fabtechexpo.com.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 33
9/19/19 8:47 AM
 Compact fiber laser
FABTECH Product News cuts variety of metals
Along with the
Made-to-order bending tools, support parts OptiFlex CO2
created in hours rather than weeks laser system,
Kern will fea-
Additive manufacturing from Wilson Tool In- ture the Fiber-
ternational can create made-to-order bending CELL laser cutting system, a compact
tools and fabrication support parts in hours, sheet metal fabricating system that can
instead of weeks, reducing lead times for tool- cut a variety of metals. A Class 1 safe-
ing and support items like prototypes, fixtures, ty enclosure allows the system to be
or molds. placed in high-traffic areas such as busy
The company reports its AM equipment factories and university classrooms.
exceeds the capability of consumer machines, and it offers a wide variety of Advanced CAD software can create
on-hand materials. The engineering staff can help find solutions to challenging automatic lead-ins, part nesting, chain
applications or simply provide an online quote with a modeled part. According cutting, and cost modeling reports. The
to Wilson, if there is a tool or item a shop needs, there is a good chance the com- laser cutting system blends production
pany can make it. and safety for users looking to modern-
Wilson Tool International ize their shop’s equipment.
www.wilsontool.com
Kern Lasers
www.kernlasers.com
Laser wire direct energy deposition head introduced
Laser Mechanisms offers the new FiberWELD® DH, a
high-power laser wire direct energy deposition head for Online marketplace offers
processing macroscale industrial and aerospace compo- plastic, metal 3D-printed
nents and tooling. Engineered for high-duty-cycle pro- parts on-demand
duction applications, the unit features direct-cooled re-
flective optics, back reflection protection, and wire feed.
The head’s optical design permits filler wire to be fed
directly into the beam path and into the center of the
melt pool. This allows the deposition process to have
total directional independence. Also, the accessible pro-
tective cover glass helps extend the life of internal optics. Primary applications
include additive manufacturing, cladding, and HLAW. Xometry is an online marketplace
Laser Mechanisms for custom manufacturing, connect-
www.lasermech.com
ing companies with manufacturing
services through proprietary AI algo-
Sustainable cleaning products to be presented rithms. It provides instant quotes and
MicroCare Corp. will exhibit sustainable cleaning and finishing on-demand manufacturing services to
products, highlighting its new Tergo™ metal cleaning fluid. This a diverse customer base, from startups
vapor degreasing fluid works as a metal degreaser and parts to Fortune 100 companies.
debinder. Working on highly advanced processes like metal Plastic and metal 3D-printed parts
injection molding and additive manufacturing, the fluid selec- are produced on-demand via process-
tively removes the correct amount of the binder so as not to es including carbon DLS, DMLS, FDM,
cause any damage, but enough for the final sintering process. HP Multi Jet Fusion, Polyjet, SLA, and
The product is formulated to replace traditional solvents like nPB, TCE, methy- SLS. Sheet metal fabrication, CNC ma-
lene chloride, and PERC. It has a low global warming potential and is compliant chining, and injection molding also
with REACH/ROHS. are offered.
MicroCare Corp. Xometry
www.microcare.com www.xometry.com

34 The Additive Report FALL 2019

Fall19AR_ProductNews.indd 34 9/19/19 8:49 AM

Fall19AR_ProductNews.indd 35 9/19/19 12:37 PM
 FABTECH Product News
Magnetic end-of-arm tooling holds parts
during unexpected shop air loss
Industrial Magnetics Inc. (IMI) will dis-
play its patented family of Transporter®
magnetic end-of-arm tooling. The tool-
ing magnetically transfers metal blanks,
stampings, and parts in automated
station-to-station and press-to-press
transfer and robotic pick-and-place ap-
plications. Engineered with rare-earth
magnets that positively hold the part during transfer, even
during unexpected loss of shop air, the tooling helps reduce
chances for slipping and shifting of parts due to mill oil coat-
ings, dust, dirt, rust, or weld splatter.
The tooling provides options for pickup points on stamped,
perforated, and odd-shaped parts. It also provides more ac-
curate placement on the die and quicker cycle times for in-
creased production, according to the company.
Industrial Magnetics Inc.
www.magnetics.com
36 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Fall19AR_ProductNews.indd 36
Lightweight, industrial-grade aluminum
sawhorse holds up to 7,000 lbs.
The StrongHorse product line was re-
cently acquired and updated by DCW
Mfg. These industrial-grade sawhorses
are suitable for use in fabrication and
manufacturing facilities to get projects
and materials off the floor to a safe and
comfortable working height.
Three models are currently available—the 5000S, 7000S,
and 7000SC—holding a maximum recommended load of
5,000 and 7,000 lbs. per unit, respectively.
DCW Mfg.
www.stronghorseusa.com
CNC plasma cutting machine
offers high accuracy
The KANO™ HD CNC plasma
cutting machine from Park
Industries® is designed to last
through years of high-production
volumes. It offers high accuracy,
so that no shims or jack screws are ever used to adjust the
components straight.
Available in six machine sizes, the system is configured
with a Hypertherm EDGE® Connect CNC, a Hypertherm
high-definition plasma system, an optional oxyfuel cutting
torch, and a choice of cutting table style.
Park Industries
www.parkindustries.com/kano
3D printing system allows printing
of complex metal parts in-house
The Studio System is a three-part
system that automates metal
3D printing. Tightly integrated
through Desktop Metal’s cloud-
based software, it delivers a seam-
less workflow for printing complex metal parts in-house—
from digital file to sintered part.
The system eliminates lasers and loose powders often as-
sociated with metal 3D printing, making it safe to use in any
facility. It offers simplified model prep and hand-removable
supports, and it is sized to fit through an office door.
Desktop Metal
www.desktopmetal.com
9/19/19 9:09 AM

NSL Analytical Services, Inc.
4550 Cranwood Pkwy.
Cleveland, OH 44128
Phone: 800-497-6752
NSLanalytical.com
PRODUCT SOLUTIONS
NSLAdvertorial.indd 37
TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE
NSL ANALYTICAL SERVICES INC.
Since 1945, NSL Analytical Services, Inc. has built a reputation as a leader in
independent material testing. Customers rely on NSL data for making critical
decisions on the acceptance/rejection of materials, components and products.
We continue making investments in additional chemical, mechanical and
metallurgical testing capabilities based on our customers’ input and needs –
recently for powder characterization.
As one of the first Nadcap approved material testing laboratories, NSL
understands the importance of being held to the highest standards. We maintain
a long list of outside quality accreditations, approvals and compliance including
ISO/IEC 17025, NQA-1,GE-S400, Boeing, SANFRAN, P&W, RR, Medtronic, and
Lockheed Martin.
Operating from one place (Cleveland, OH) allows NSL to maintain solid
communication on testing requirements and timely delivery of results. Our
customers recognize and appreciate the actions we take to support our tagline:
TRUST, TECHNOLOGY AND TURNAROUND. Talk to one of our experts today and
learn how we can partner to service your material testing needs.
POWDER360
NSL is proud to offer Powder360. It is the complete,
all-in-one package for every additive manufacturer’s
powder characterization needs and provides confi-
dence in powder characterization through alloy and
process development, powder qualification, and recy-
cle for reuse. Powder360 can be used to test material
properties, including chemical composition and com-
bustion analysis; particle properties, including particle
morphology and surface area; and bulk properties,
including skeletal density and static flow and dynamic
flow. Learn more at NSLpowder360.com.
FALL 2019 The Additive Report 37
9/19/19 9:11 AM
 TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

ABOUT WILSON TOOL ADDITIVE™

For over 50 years, Wilson Tool International has been a trusted tooling
partner. Wilson Tool provides the most comprehensive line of tooling systems
and accessories for the Additive, Tableting, Stamping, Bending and Punching
Wilson Tool Additive™
industries. As the world’s largest and only tooling provider to manufacture
12912 Farnham Avenue
tooling solutions for all five industries, Wilson Tool is uniquely positioned to offer
White Bear Lake, MN 55110 complete and customizable tooling solutions to help customers resolve their
Phone: 833-345-0087 most challenging metal forming issues.
Wilson Tool Additive™ offers 3D printed solutions for fabricators. From
wilsontool.com/additive streamlining current operations to prototyping new projects, our expert team
of engineers can put Wilson Tool’s arsenal of 3D printing machines to work for
SEE US AT you. With additive manufacturing, you can select a material that serves your
BOOTH #A3114 application, while measuring lead times in days, not weeks.

PRODUCT SOLUTIONS

BEND3D™
Additively manufactured press brake tools work well as
forming tools, air-bending tools and mark-free bend-
ing solutions. Tooling is available with a lead-time mea-
sured in days, typically at a lower cost.
• Nested-Part Bending: Bend multiple parts at once.
Additive manufacturing results in lightweight tooling
that can be easily moved in and out of the press brake.
SOLV3D™
Solv3D™ is Wilson Tool’s additively manufactured solutions for
fabricators and manufactures. 3D printed parts can replace
end-use parts that have traditionally been manufactured out
of molded or machined steel. Each solution is customized to a
specific application, leaving the troubleshooting to us. Our 3D
process provides the ability to make complex parts with the
flexibility to facilitate modifications quickly.

• Prototype Tooling: 3D inserts can be made to test
a job or start production. When larger runs are need-
ed, steel inserts could be purchased for full production,
costing less than traditional full steel sets.
38 The Additive Report FALL 2019
• Prototypes: Our expert engineers can advise every step of
the way, from design and prototyping, to finalizing a production
ready design from a wide variety of materials and processes.
• Low Run Production: Whether you need to make two or two
thousand parts, Solv3D can produce your parts in a timely man-
ner, at a price that’s competitive to traditional methods.
• Jigs & Fixtures, Post Processing, and the Latest Technology:
Wilson Tool International has the hardware and experience to
take on your toughest applications.

WilsonAdvertorial.indd 38 9/19/19 9:12 AM

 TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE

ABOUT BIG REP AMERICA INC.

BigRep’s Large-Format 3D Printers

Big Rep America Inc.
for Engineering-Grade Industrial Applications
400 West Cummings Park
Built upon the success of the award-winning STUDIO, the BigRep STUDIO G2 provides
Suite 1675 speed and quality in a reliable German-engineered large-format 3D printer with
Woburn, MA 01801 engineering-grade material capabilities.

Phone: 781-281-0569 Founded in 2014, BigRep has transformed the industrial manufacturing industry by
introducing high-quality, reliable large-format additive manufacturing solutions at
accessible prices. The BigRep ONE, the first serially manufactured 3D printer with a
https://bigrep.com 1m3 build volume, and PRO, which introduces Metering Extruder Technology (MXT®)
to the world, have opened a new dimension of additive manufacturing. Meanwhile,
SEE US AT the BigRep STUDIO G2 provides an accessible entry-point to coveted engineering-
BOOTH #A3754 grade material compatibility and large-format 3D printing.

PRODUCT SOLUTIONS

STUDIO G2
At FABTECH in Chicago (November
11-14, 2019), BigRep will show-
case the STUDIO G2 large-format
3D printer. Designed for engineer-
ing-grade material compatibility
without compromising the advan-
tages that have established the
original, award-winning STUDIO as
the reliable, workhorse 3D printer
for premium large-format parts.
The German- engineered and
manufactured STUDIO G2 is spe-
cially designed for industrial ap-
plications. Thanks to its new, fully
enclosed and insulated build enve-
lope of 500 mm x 1000 mm x 500 mm, fast-heating print bed heights as little as 0.1 mm. The STUDIO G2 comes equipped
reaching 100°C, and temperature-controlled filament chamber, with BigRep’s brand-new custom BLADE slicer software, provid-
the STUDIO G2 has been propelled to a class of its own. ing improved large-format functionality and accurate printing
With its dual extruder equipped with two 0.6 mm ruby noz- time and material use calculations for optimized productivity.
zles, the printer is capable of producing detailed results with Visit BigRep booth A3754 at FABTECH to see the STUDIO G2
abrasive engineering-grade materials, such as PA6/66, at layer in action. The STUDIO G2 is available to order now.

FALL 2019 The Additive Report 39

BigRepAdvertorial.indd 39 9/19/19 9:13 AM

 The Additive Report focuses on the next generation of
manufacturing, the culmination of advanced control technology,
design software, and material development. With this process,
manufacturers can create a simple or complex geometric object
layer-by-layer, fusing one layer to the other. Subscribers to
The Additive Report are using this technology to create tools,
fixtures, and prototypes and to fulfill production orders.
The publication delivers information detailing what additive
manufacturing means to the modern manufacturing
organization, as well as the latest industry news and
technology developments. To start your free subscription,
please visit www.thefabricator.com/publication/ar.

Start your free

subscription today!
Oct19AR_FinalLayer.indd 40 9/19/19 8:25 PM
ARSubscribeST.indd 1 7/16/19 3:30 PM
 (continued from page 42)
New innovations in thermoplastic
3D printing are producing solutions
that are well-qualified for end-use
Published by:
FMA Communications Inc. parts production. Additionally, new
2135 Point Blvd., Elgin, IL 60123 thermoplastic materials with strength
815-399-8700
www.thefabricator.com comparable to common metals are in-
creasingly available for fused filament
Publication Staff fabrication (FFF) technologies. Viable
President & CEO, FMA Communications Inc. engineering-grade materials like poly-
Edward Youdell
amide, ABS, carbon- and glass-filled
Publisher
Andy Flando, andyf@fmanet.org materials, and others have increasingly
815-227-8246
entered the FFF market for use with ad- BigRep President Frank Marangell says despite
Editor-in-Chief the fact plastic 3D printing doesn’t receive the
Don Nelson, dnelson@fmanet.org ditive systems like BigRep’s. amount of media coverage metal does, it contin-
Senior Editor Many of these specialty plastics ues to transform mechanical designs, tooling, and
Tim Heston, timh@thefabricator.com dental and orthodontic processes.
Contributing Editor are being steadily adopted by in-
Amy Nickel, amyn@thefabricator.com dustrial manufacturers for a variety such as driving down costs and improv-
Digital Editor of strength-dependent applications ing quality, all while reducing stock lev-
Gareth Sleger, gsleger@thefabricator.com
that were previously dominated by els and other logistics.
Senior Copy Editor
Teresa Chartos metal parts. And they often provide It’s exciting for the entire industry to
Graphic Designer strength-to-weight ratios that far sur- watch as the use of additive process-
Mary Mincemoyer
pass aluminum. es grows. And as thermoplastic AM
Director of Circulation
Kim Bottomley continues to establish its long-sought
Circulation Manager AM Opportunities dominance in industrial and end-use
Brenda Wilson
It’s clear that the largest growth oppor- applications, metal will reach the hype
Data Processing Specialist/
Publication Coordinator tunities in AM still lay with thermoplas- cycle’s “trough of disillusionment.”
Kelly Palmer
tic—and not just because of the ongo- In the meantime, industry would do
Sales Media Coordinator
Rose Merlino ing advancements in FFF technologies’ well to mind ongoing cutting-edge ad-
Data Verification Specialist materials and applications. It’s also due ditive advancements in plastic!
Rhonda Fletcher
to plastic’s many indirect benefits. Frank Marangell is president of BigRep America
Senior Fulfillment Specialist
For example, as filament-shredding Inc., a Woburn, Mass., manufacturer of large-
Anna Peacock
scale printers for producing plastic parts and
Senior Web Developer technology and biodegradable ma- end-use products. He can be reached at frank.
Mike Kunzelman
terials become increasingly attractive marangell@bigrep.com

Advertising Sales
to industrial manufacturers working
Account Representatives
Melissa King
to create a sustainable, closed-loop
manufacturing process that would see
Advertisers Index
mking@rkmediaadv.com Ace Iron & Metal Co. Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
312-350-8807 material costs drastically reduced, FFF
www.aceironrecycling.com
Ryan King technology becomes the only solution. BigRep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,39
rking@rkmediaadv.com Metal 3D printing will find its “slope www.bigrep.com
773-414-9292
of enlightenment” [instances during FABTECH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Statement of Policy www.fabtechexpo.com
a hype cycle when the advantages
The publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed NSL Analytical Services . . . . . . . . . . 35,37
inappropriate for publication in The Additive Report, including of a new technology start to be un- www.nslanalytical.com
ads for classes of products and services not considered
of significant interest to the readership. Publications of derstood]. Concurrently, the additive Praxair Surface Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,29
FMA Communications Inc. maintain a policy of keeping www.praxair.com
editorial and advertising separate to ensure editorial integrity revolution will continue to be led by
that most benefits our readership. Editorial content, including SLM Solutions NA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,43
feature articles and press releases, is determined solely by the a growing number of everyday manu- www.slm-solutions.us
publisher. Editorial content cannot be purchased, nor can it
be used as a benefit of advertising dollars spent. Editorial is
facturing companies investing in and TRUMPF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
info@us.trumpf.com
free-of-charge, subject to space availability, and open to all implementing thermoplastic AM pro-
interested parties that submit items meeting our editorial style Wilson Tool International . . . . . . . . . . 2,38
and format as determined by the publisher. cesses that unlock additive’s benefits, www.wilsontool.com

FALL 2019 The Additive Report 41

Oct19AR_FinalLayer.indd 41 9/19/19 3:54 PM

 The Final Layer
By Frank Marangell
M
etal 3D printing has been the
QUIET most talked-about technolo-
gy in the additive manufac-
REVOLUTION turing (AM) space the past few years.
It offers the exciting, complex end-
Compared to their metal use capabilities that plastic 3D print-
ing promised during its rise to media
counterparts, plastic 3D
prominence 10 years ago.
printers generate little buzz. Unlike plastic, though, metal deliv-
ered on its promise early on. During
metal’s rise in popularity, it should be
noted that thermoplastic AM has been
undergoing a quiet revolution. It has
methodically evolved, offering creative
new applications for end-use parts and
continual innovations for low-volume
manufacturing.
The AM world has undeniably been
changed by the growth of metal 3D
printing. Every Fortune 500 company
and start-up now wants a piece of the
technology.
But in my view, two things have be-
come clear: Metal AM is in the midst of
a “hype cycle”—something that ther-
moplastic 3D printing is intimately fa-
miliar with—and given plastic’s consis-
Innovations in thermoplastic 3D printing include materials with strength comparable to common metals.
Shown is a biopolymer rim for a 3D-printed motorcycle built on a BigRep machine. BigRep
42 The Additive Report FALL 2019
Oct19AR_FinalLayer.indd 42
tent upward trend, it’s due to re-enter
the limelight.
Parallel Development
Metal began to gain attention when
GE Aerospace 3D-printed metal end-
use parts for its LEAP engine fuel noz-
zle, legitimizing the technology for
demanding engineering applications.
The success became a catalyst for
growth, causing other manufacturers
to consider the technology and suppli-
ers and research teams to pour fund-
ing into metal additive’s development.
The hype surrounding the technology
quickly grew as it was excitingly de-
clared a true end-use additive solution.
The excitement surrounding metal
3D printing has overshadowed ther-
moplastic AM and the consistent inno-
vations that have taken place during
its 30-plus-year existence. Plastic 3D
printing has continued to transform
mechanical designs, manufacturing
tooling, and dental and orthodontic
processes, to name a few.
Innovations in thermoplastic end-
use parts have developed in parallel
with metal, but without the same fan-
fare. And industry has made an incor-
rect correlation between metal and
plastic: Just because more new suppli-
ers are entering the metal market does
not mean that there is more innovation
in metal than in thermoplastics.
The reality is that the plastic 3D print-
ing market is much larger than the
metal market. Plastics are used more
than metal in almost every manufac-
turing process, and so the potential
to affect society is much greater with
thermoplastic additive. You can’t get
through your day without using hun-
dreds of items that have been positive-
ly affected by plastic 3D printers in the
design cycle.
(continued on page 41)
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