3D Printing News Briefs: November 8, 2019

We’ve got plenty of business news for you in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, starting with 3devo’s upcoming expansion to the United States. Optomec just shipped its 500th 3D printing system, SelfCAD released a new software update, and Cubicure developed a flame retardant material for SLA 3D printing. A Nobel Laureate is joining XJet to lead its Scientific Advisory Board, and finally, Renishaw is discussing the optimization of overlaps in multi-laser additive manufacturing.

3devo Expanding Operations to the United States

Tech company 3devo was founded in the Netherlands as a new venture from Devoteq, offering a quality desktop extruder. Over the years it’s added other successful products, like its SHR3D IT system and AIRID polymer dryer. Now, the startup is taking the next step on its journey by setting up shop in the United States of America – specifically Claymont, Delaware. 3devo made the decision to expand to North America in order to ensure that its customers have easier access to the filament extrusion knowledge and high-quality service that the company offers. With a US location, the company will be able to offer an improved purchasing process, better customer service, and quicker deliveries across the continent.

“To put it simply, a U.S. presence will allow us to cater to our overseas customers better,” 3devo stated in a blog post. “We’ve already been serving North American customers from our Utrecht headquarters, and we’ve done okay. But with our own address in the U.S., we can ensure a much better experience not just for our American clients, but also the rest of our North American clients.”

Optomec Delivers 500th 3D Printer

Additive manufacturing equipment and software supplier Optomec has invested over $50 million over the years in developing its proprietary 3D printed metal and electronics solutions, building up a wide-ranging Intellectual Property portfolio that includes over 60 patents. It seems that the investment has more than paid off – the company announced that it has officially delivered its 500th industrial 3D printing system. One of its Aerosol Jet electronics 3D printers was installed at a division of General Electric, which now uses over 20 Optomec systems across its various business units.

“We are proud to have delivered our 500 th Industrial 3D printer, and appreciate the confidence that our customers have shown in our products as we have now surpassed more than $250 million in cumulative sales,” said Dave Ramahi, Optomec’s CEO. “We are seeing increased industrial adoption across target applications in both metals and electronics, which will lead to a continued acceleration in growth.”

SelfCAD Releases 2.9 Software Update

Around this time last year, online 3D modeling software SelfCAD launched an updated version of its professional, user-friendly software, featuring new tools and features. Since then, SelfCAD has been continuing to make improvements, and recently launched its 2.9 Software Update. The team behind SelfCAD software has improved several tools, including its 3D Print, 3D Sketching, Free Hand Drawing, and Loft Tools. For instance, the Sketching Tools now has a Minimum Angle Size in the Precision settings, to ensure that sketches are accurate, and the Loft Tool is able to handle all kinds of shapes now.

SelfCAD 2.9 also has some new features as well, such as its 3D Printing Animation feature, which allows users to easily animate colors and transformations to see exactly how your model will be 3D printed. Another newly added feature is the Snap Tool, which can remove more details in the vertices when paired with the Remove Duplicate Tool, and there are new hotkeys for 3D modeling as well. SelfCAD is working to add 3D Rendering Features, and better tutorials, to the next update, so stay tuned!

Cubicure Develops First Flame-Retardant Material for SLA 3D Printing

Austrian startup Cubicure, which is a spin-off company from TU Wien, has developed the first flame-retardant material for SLA 3D printing. Evolution FR is a halogen-free, UL94 V0-classified photopolymer that doesn’t form burning drops, and can be combined with Cubicure’s patented Hot Lithography technology. This makes it a good choice for applications in the electronics market, such as connectors and plugs, and the mobility sector.

The UL94 protocol tests the flammability of polymers, while the V0 classification requires a flame to self-extinguish within ten seconds from a vertically clamped sample. So far, AM technologies like powder bed fusion and material extrusion are the only ones that have successfully reached UL94 V0, but Cubicure’s Hot Lithography platform made it possible for its new Evolution FR. You can learn more about this new material at Cubicure’s booth D48, hall 11.1, at formnext in Frankfurt later this month.

XJet Appoints Nobel Laureate to Lead Scientific Advisory Board

Professor Dan Shechtman. Photo by Volker Steger

Israeli 3D printing company XJet has announced that Professor Dan Shechtman, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals, will lead its Scientific Advisory Board. Professor Shechtman says that he won the Nobel Prize due to his “cultivating an expertise in a particular field,” while at the same time remaining tenacious and holding on to “a broad knowledge of science,” and believes that applying these same skills to the AM field will help lead to new developments. He will use his knowledge to help guide applications for XJet’s material and application roadmap, and how materials are used for the company’s NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology.

“My vision for NanoParticle Jetting technology is to solve ‘impossible’ manufacturing challenges. We look at existing manufacturing methods and we are bringing additive manufacturing solutions that deliver time and cost efficiencies, but we do much more than that,” said XJet CEO Hanan Gothait. “We are enabling innovation and the creation of things that have, up to now, not been possible. This is fascinating and exactly why the appointment of Professor Shechtman to the XJet team is so momentous. His knowledge of materials and innovation is unrivalled, thus his unique perspective will be priceless to the business.”

Optimizing Overlaps in Multi-Laser AM Builds

Marc Saunders, the Director of Group Strategic Development at Renishaw, recently published a LinkedIn post focused on the optimal overlap between neighboring melting regions in multi-laser 3D printing systems. While multi-laser machines can help reduce part costs and build times, while also increasing productivity, it’s not the easiest thing to get several independent lasers to work in sync to fabricate parts.

“More lasers means more variables that must be controlled,” Saunders wrote. “Small laser-to-laser alignment errors could result in defects at the intersections between neighbouring melting regions, weakening our component. We therefore need to factor in an overlap to ensure that the various melting regions ‘stitch together’ into an integral whole.

“Too little overlap could leave gaps at the intersections, whereas an excessive overlap can also have adverse consequences, as we will see. We will consider the impact of stripe overlap on part density, tensile properties, microstructure and build time; and we will look at how this behaviour varies for different materials. It turns out that there is a happy medium that yields the best results and works for all materials.”

Saunders goes on to describe the modern multi-laser machine design, as well as explain some of the challenges in coordinating multiple lasers and how to get past them. To learn more, check out the post, which he wrote with help from fellow Renishaw colleague Ravi Aswathanarayanaswamy, Principal Materials Scientist for the company’s Additive Manufacturing Products division.

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