For this month’s first edition of 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ll be discussing a little business news, then moving to materials, and finishing with something fun to get your weekend started. Additive Manufacturing Technologies has announced a partnership with Midwest Prototyping, while the Dubai RTA is working with Siemens to produce 3D printed metro parts. Materialise brought its Metal AM Academy to India and Singapore, and both Sculpteo and i.materialise are introducing new materials. Finally, a cool new Sony smartphone app uses the phone’s camera to take 3D scans.
Additive Manufacturing Technologies Partners with Midwest Prototyping
“The deal with Midwest Prototyping is a major step in our growth story,” said Joseph Crabtree, the CEO of AMT. “The arrangement will provide a US presence for our PostPro3D machine with a company who is able to print parts on site then demonstrate and showcase our technology to wide range of potential customers. Having the support of Midwest provides a great springboard for future US sales. We are delighted to welcome Steve Grundahl to our board. Steve’s wealth of additive manufacturing and commercial experience will strengthen the board significantly.”
Dubai RTA Working with Siemens on 3D Printed Spare Metro Parts
Abdul Mohsin Ibrahim Younes, the CEO of the RTA’s Rail Agency, said, “This step would certainly consolidate RTA’s constant efforts to back up Dubai’s endeavours in becoming the world’s smartest city in three years, which would definitely contribute to make the residents of Dubai, its visitors and tourists happier and more satisfied.”
Materialise Brings Metal AM Academy to Singapore and India
Recently, Materialise brought its Metal AM Academy to Singapore and India, in large part because the latter has been looking to “bring forth” more metal AM experts. The training session, meant to provide further education to local metal users on the metal AM process, has a specific focus on laser melting technology. The participants had a busy first day and learned about different challenges and aspects related to the technology, powder properties and requirements, machine components, and metal AM design guidelines. On day two, they learned more practical information, including support generation requirements, positioning and orienting metal parts, melt pool generation and influencers, and part quality and post-processing techniques.
According to Kirsten Van Praet with Materialise, “The transfer of knowledge allowed the participants to use their machines better and grow their expertise.”
The next Metal AM Academy will be held later this month in Korea; you can also contact Materialise about the availability of the academy in your specific region.
Sculpteo Introducing New Metal 3D Printing Material and Finishes
It’s available in Raw and Polished finishing options, and parts printed with Stainless Steel 316 can be shipped worldwide in about 16 days, though the polishing option may add an extra 2-3 days on average. Make sure to respect the maximum building sizes when designing 3D objects in this new material: 6.4 x 6.4 x 6.4 mm minimum and 160 x 65 x 65 mm maximum, raw and unpolished. In addition, Sculpteo has also introduced its new Black Damascus finish for its strong Stainless Steel 420SS/BR material, which is a good choice for printing jewelry and decorative objects.
i.materialise Launches Polyamide (MJF) Trial Material
i.materialise has announced the launch of Polyamide (MJF), its latest trial material, for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology. Models made with this technology are constructed from fine, granular powder, and when you combine smooth polyamide with MJF, you get thinner walls, a more detailed surface, power porosity, and higher density than SLS 3D printing offers. It offers great design freedom, and comes in two finishes: natural, which offers a gray color and granular look, and dyed, which will add one day to a print job’s lead time, as models have to be submerged in a bath of black color pigment.
You can design the minimum wall thickness as low as 0.5 mm for living hinges, but most of the time that number will be 1 mm. The material makes it possible to print enclosed or interlocking parts, and the maximum 3D printed model size possible with i.materialise’s new polyamide (MJF) is 256 x 340 x 360 mm. Check out all of the design tips for the material in the design guide, or upload your model here to try it yourself. As this is a trial material, make sure to send any feedback or comments to community@i.materialise.com.
Sony Smartphone App Takes 3D Scans
The app’s 3D scanning algorithm needs a powerful processor to work, so it’s only available on the company’s latest phones, which Sony unveiled at the recent IFA Show in Berlin. Check out the video of the Sony smartphone 3D scanning app in action here.
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