3D Printing News Briefs: December 10, 2019

We’re telling you about an award, a little business, and a new product in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. NCDMM has received the ManTech award for its additive manufacturing research project. Velo3D announced delivery of a 7th Sapphire 3D printer to its big aerospace customer, and Carpenter Technology celebrated the grand opening of its new AM facility in Alabama. Finally, Wematter launched a cabinet for easy SLS 3D print cleaning.

NCDMM Receives ManTech Achievement Award

L-R: Julie Locker, Office of the Deputy Assistant Director for Research and Technology; Brian Rice, UDRI; Tim Osborn, UDRI; Dave Siddle, NCDMM; Rob Gold, DASD(SE); Marvin Gale, AFRL; Marilyn Gaska, Lockheed Martin; Dennis Butcher, AFRL; John Wilczynski, NCDMM.

At the recent Defense Manufacturing Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) won the prestigious Defense Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Achievement Award for the second time. It was awarded in the Readiness Improvement category for its three-phase AM research project on the AFRL-funded Maturation of Advanced Manufacturing for Low-Cost Sustainment (MAMLS) program, led by America Makes. The program’s goal is to improve efficiency of USAF Air Logistics Complexes for rapid part replacement for legacy and other aircraft. The Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) selected the winners.

“I speak for all of us at NCDMM and America Makes when I say that we are incredibly honored to be awarded the Defense ManTech Achievement Award in the category of ‘Readiness Improvement’ for the AFRL MAMLS program. The MAMLS program has been an extensive multi-year, multi-phase ongoing effort that will yield results that will have a tremendous impact on the strategic readiness of the U.S. Air Force. There’s no question that the outcomes of the MAMLS projects will substantially increase the entire sustainment community’s understanding and use of additive manufacturing technologies. We thank the JDMTP for this great honor,” said Dean L. Bartles, Ph.D., FSME, FASME, NCDMM President and CEO.

Velo3D Delivers 7th Sapphire 3D Printer to Aerospace Customer

California-based metal 3D printing company VELO3D announced that it has shipped a seventh Sapphire 3D printer to an aerospace company that is its largest production customer. Over the past year, the company has ordered a total of 12 systems from VELO3D in order to make mission-critical parts for aerospace applications, and this combination of 3D printers and their resulting productivity makes it one of the world’s largest concentrations of metal additive manufacturing.

“Our mission is to enable OEMs in aerospace and other key verticals to gain trust in 3D metal printing as a dependable manufacturing technology. Our end-to-end solution enables users to adopt additive manufacturing without extensive redesign, increasing the viability of 3D metal printing of existing parts,” said VELO3D’s Founder and CEO Benny Buller.

Carpenter Technology Celebrates Grand Opening of Emerging Technology Center

The Carpenter Technology Corporation announced the grand opening of its Athens, Alabama-based Emerging Technology Center (ETC), a 500,000-square foot AM facility that was designed to maintain full traceability and provide analytical insights throughout the entire manufacturing process through a digital thread. To date, the company has invested about $40 million in the ETC, which is expected to create roughly 60 jobs over the next five years. Capabilities at the ETC include a quick cooling Hot Isostatic Press (HIP) system, vacuum heat treating, and the atomization of several specialty metal alloys into powder, which can then be used to 3D print finished parts that can be qualified for use in multiple applications, including aerospace, energy, oil and gas, and transportation.

“Our Emerging Technology Center is a critical component of Carpenter Technology’s future growth and development, and is aligned with our business strategy of evolving to an end-to-end solutions provider and influential leader in the AM area. We will also use it as a base to launch future investments as we expand our soft magnetics technology platform, scale up additional powder operations and demonstrate a number of next generation materials we have under development today,” said Carpenter Technology’s CEO Tony Thene.

“We have chosen to continue to invest in North Alabama because it offers three important advantages—a high-quality, tech-oriented workforce, a clear connection with the aerospace industry and a close working partnership with state and local government officials.”

Wematter Launches Cabinet for Easier SLS Post-Processing

Swedish manufacturer Wematter just launched its new BlasThing Cabinet, an advanced cleaning solution that makes it easier, and less expensive, to post-process prints made on its accessible Wematter Gravity 2020 SLS 3D printer. Two issues with powder bed systems, like SLS printers, are safe handling of powder, and an effective way to get rid of excess powder. The BlasThing cabinet uses a closed filtering system with re-circulating tap water for a safe, easy, and powder-free way to quickly clean up SLS prints. The water passes through accessible filters to bind the powder and keep it from spreading, and high pressure quickly cleans the parts, even getting powder out of cavities and narrow passages.

Robert Kniola, founder and CEO and Wematter, said, “There where two main driving factors that lead to the creation of BlasThing Cabinet was to reduce the risk of spreading powder and to find an effective solution for extracting powder from cavities.

“The main goal is to lower the barriers of entry for advanced printing technologies such as SLS which empower engineers and designers to accelerate and innovate directly at their office or laboratory.”

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