While industrial users continue to enjoy the benefits of additive manufacturing processes around the world, many still continue to lean on conventional and subtractive techniques or employ a mixture of both in the manufacturer’s setting. Methods like directed energy deposition (DED) are a source of growing interest—and use—in many settings where critical parts are being produced.
Parts such as turbine blades, drill heads, and propellers are expected to be extremely high performance and durable, leading to the use of DED in applications like aerospace, hybrid processes geared toward automotive, mining, and power generation, and refinements in medical manufacturing of items like implants. DED is powerful due to the use of focused energy sources like a laser or electron beam, melting the materials being used. Control of grain structure makes DED attractive for use in creating or rebuilding large parts that may be much more expensive to produce traditionally.
Hybrid manufacturing is possible with DED also, as it can be integrated into CNC processes with a deposition nozzle mounted on a multi-axis machining system for faster production of metal parts that are also more flexible. As demand continues to grow industrially, companies like California-based DP Technology are working with well-known manufacturers for validation of new additive cycles in their processes. DP Technology has also just announced the release of ESPRIT, featuring DED cycles with 3-axis, 4-axis, and 5-axis DED support.
“ESPRIT’s additive capabilities are the product of the team’s more than 35 years of experience in toolpath generations, and they include the same intuitive user interface that users expect from the software,” states DP Technology in a recent press release sent to 3DPrint.com.
“Combined with the subtractive processes and embedded into a single software, DP Technology brings a full spectrum of support to hybrid manufacturing. ESPRIT’s additive DED cycles include additive simulation and verification, as well as global support from ESPRIT’s technical teams.”
DP Technology has been working with other industry machine manufacturers, as well as learning institutions, to validate the post processor. Users can look forward to a comprehensive solution, “from CAD file to the finished part.”
“For more than a decade, we’ve been working on additive manufacturing, including research on DED toolpath trajectories and AM thermal simulation. ESPRIT’s additive DED solution is the result of the close collaboration between DP Technology, the industry’s most trusted CAM solution provider, and Grenoble University, the world’s leading research institution on additive DED technology,” says Frederic Vignat, head of the additive department at Grenoble University in France.
What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.
[Source / Images: DP Technology]Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
You May Also Like
Italy’s Da Vinci Bridge Reinvented with 3D Printing and Stone Waste
Italy’s city of Bari has inaugurated a new 3D printed, self-supporting bridge that, for the first time, uses waste materials from stone processing. This structure, known as Da Vinci’s Bridge,...
3DPOD 233: Sustainable Manufacturing with Kate Black, Atomik AM
Kate Black is the Chief Executive Officer of Atomik AM, where she leads a team dedicated to fostering innovation and developing integrated advanced manufacturing solutions. The company specializes in electronics...
ESA Funds Horizon Microtechnologies’ Metallized 3D Printed Electronics Parts
German small-scale manufacturing expert Horizon Microtechnologies has received the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Spark funding to apply its specialty metallization technology to space applications. The firm believes its parts can...
3DPOD 228: Filament and Print Services with Trent Esser, Printerior
Trent Esser founded Printerior with his partners and has since pivoted and redefined the company’s focus multiple times. Printerior operates as a 3D printing service that both sells and recycles...