ADDere, founded and developed by Midwest Engineered Systems (MWES) in 2017, is dedicated to bringing additive manufacturing processes to large companies around the world. In a recent press release sent to 3DPrint.com, the Waukesha, Wisconsin-headquartered company is now announcing the ability to 3D print in metal on the large scale for applications like trucking and aerospace; for example, instead of casting material, the team at ADDere is able to fabricate truck transmission cases or aircraft landing gear. ADDere uses a diode-powered wire feedstock technology capable of depositing 12 kilograms of material per hour. While these types of technologies have been available for a number of years, access to them has been limited.
“Currently, the AM focus has been on powder-based metal systems. That focus had a lot of potential markets stuck on the outside looking in,” says Scott Woida, ADDere President, “but those industries now see a legitimate 3D printing roadmap for their parts through what we’ve been doing with ADDere.”
As evidence of their expanding potential, they have 3D printed a series of blocks, fabricated in both steel and titanium. Each are made from solid metal and took around seven hours to print.
“To put these blocks in perspective, they each are as big as or larger than the average powder bed system’s build area,” states the ADDere team in their latest press release.
The titanium blocks measure 15cm x 15cm x 20cm and weigh 32kg, while the 17-4 blocks (known as SAE type 630 or UNS 17400) vary only in their weight of 55kg. They are made of solid metal and offer improved metallurgy over parts fabricated with typical casting methods. Printing required slightly more than six hours of time, exemplifying the benefits of laser wire additive manufacturing.
steel block with machined section
test block
“We’ve already proven we can build things at large scales, these blocks show we can 3D print parts with substantial mass in a relatively competitive timeframe with casting,” says Pete Gratschmayr, VP of Sales & Marketing, “Now real conversations can be had about printing large, high mass components like transmission cases, truck frames and turbine engine mounts without adding ‘in the future’ to the sentence. We can do it today.”
Although 3D printing has been touted as the next industrial revolution in recent years, many of its actual users—as well as manufacturers still heavily engaged in conventional practices—are filled with hope regarding the incredible potential, but also still very doubtful. This may lead them to dip their toes into the water very gingerly, reluctant to invest heavily in equipment and materials, and also convinces others who may be progressive but conservative to try hybrid 3D printing and additive manufacturing—allowing them to keep one foot somewhat in the past and one more in the future.
AM processes and concepts from companies like ADDere should advance such technology even further, featuring systems standard from ADDere with build areas of 2M x 1M x 1M and 2,000kg (79” by 39” by 39” and 2 tons) capacity. Using this laser wire additive manufacturing system, ADDere specializes in fabrication of large and net-shape parts in metal and super alloys. They also offer printing services for parts.
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block corner
titanium block machined