Steve Pollack had just about reached early retirement age when longtime friend and colleague Joe DeSimone asked him to join Carbon, his startup 3D printing company. The move was risky for the materials scientist, since he would have to leave his comfortable position as a regulator at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and he and his wife would have to move cross-country Read More
3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing
This is a channel about 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing (AM) for manufacturing professionals. AM is a fast-moving area of manufacturing technology and there are a wide variety of technologies use to 3D print or build objects, such as stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM), digital light processing (DLP), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) and more. At Advanced Manufacturing Media, we partner with RAPID - the leading conference and exposition for 3D printing -- and cover all AM methods, including emerging ones, such as Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM).
Proto Labs Launches On-Demand Manufacturing for Molded Production Parts
Proto Labs, well known for its rapid injection molding prototyping services, has added a suite of capabilities designed specifically to address the on-demand manufacturing needs of low-volume, high-mix manufacturers. For years, there has been a gap in manufacturing services for low-volume, custom-molded components. Companies have had to purchase in large Read More
Northrop using AM to efficiently make coldplates, cable clamps, for starters
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO--How do manufacturers love additive manufacturing (AM)? Bianca Lankford, a mechanical engineer at Northrop Grumman, can count the ways: antennas, brackets, clamps, coldplates, ducts, plenums and test fixtures. And today she relayed to dozens of people attending an SME Smart Manufacturing Seminar here a couple of compelling case studies. Cutting Read More
Five signs companies aren’t fully maximizing AM’s potential
With additive manufacturing (AM) as an established part of many companies’ product development and manufacturing processes, there has been a greater understanding of the technology’s technical and business advantages. With that, more users are benefitting from lighter and more durable parts, increased design freedom and on-demand part production. But that’s just Read More
New 3D Printer Makes Fully Isotropic Parts, Virtually Eliminates Post-Processing
One of the “dirty secrets” of 3D printing is the universal need to take additional steps to render the output usable, including removing the part from its support, curing the part, or improving the surface. Aside from additional cycle time and cost, these steps often require or emit toxic chemicals, necessitating special ventilation and making them unsuitable for a standard Read More
Advanced In-Process Control Boosts Hybrid Machine Accuracy
Meeting tight part tolerances with any machine tool often requires some form of in-process control, but that’s especially true in a hybrid additive/subtractive machine. And, as Mitsui Seiki USA CEO Robb Hudson said, “Additive is not a perfectly predictable process, particularly in hybrid machines that use blown powder as opposed to a powder bed. Atmospheric conditions affect Read More