3D Printing News Briefs, September 25, 2021: Partnerships, Software, & More

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The first order of business in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs is 3D Systems, which has welcomed a Chief Scientist. In the rest of the business, Solukon is announcing a new partnership, Luxexcel and Optiswiss are cooperating for 3D printed smart eyewear, and DMG Mori has chosen Sigma Labs as an IPQA supplier. Finally, Teton Simulation has announced SmartSlice for the BCN3D Stratos, and Fabrisonic has launched its powerful SonicLayer X Seam Welder.

3D Systems Announces Dr. Brent Stucker as Chief Scientist

3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) recently announced a new member of its leadership team—Dr. Brent Stucker, who has a distinctive legacy of service in the AM industry, has joined the company in the newly created role of Chief Scientist. Most recently, Dr. Stucker served as Distinguished Engineer and the Director of Additive Manufacturing at engineer software solutions provider Ansys, Inc., joining that team after it acquired software simulation company 3DSIM, which he co-founded and led, in 2017. He has received numerous awards, published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, co-authored the leading textbook on “Additive Manufacturing Technologies,” and is involved with major government and private agencies working to industrialize and expand 3D printing.

“Brent is a rare individual whose intellect, experiences, and technology leadership skills offer a tremendous benefit to a company driven by innovation such as ours. Having focused his distinguished career on additive manufacturing, he will be a key leader for us, helping to not only introduce new technologies but to understand and address the full spectrum of needs that our customers have as they rapidly move AM into full-scale production environments,” said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, president and CEO of 3D Systems. “With Brent now joining Dr. David Leigh, our Chief Technology Officer for Additive Manufacturing, as key members of our leadership team, 3D Systems will continue to champion efforts that not only benefit 3D Systems but also advance the entire additive industry.”

Solukon Partners with HDC Co. for South Korean AM Market

Industrial AM powder removal systems provider Solukon, which uses its Smart Powder Recuperation (SPR) technology to more efficiently remove loose powder from metal laser melted parts within a sealed chamber, has been working on expansion this year. The company has already expanded its market reach with distribution partners in Canada, Ireland, the UK, and Turkey, and recently welcomed HDC Co. as its solutions distributor in the South Korean AM market. HDC is an experienced reseller, having been in the AM business as a distributor and consulting service since 1999, so Solukon’s solutions should be in good hands.

“Awareness of the need for safe and repeatable postprocessing is increasing around the world,” said Michael Sattler, Global Sales Director at Solukon, who’s responsible for the company’s reseller network. “We’re pleased to have HDC Co. as a trusted partner for the South Korean market who will meet the increased demand for automated depowdering there.”

Optiswiss & Luxexcel Partnering for 3D Printed Smart Eyewear

Swiss lens manufacturer Optiswiss and Luxexcel, technology provider for 3D printed ophthalmic lenses, have announced a cooperation to bring commercial 3D printed lenses to market in both regular eyeglasses and smart eyewear. To speed up the delivery of “Swiss-made” prescription lenses, Optiswiss will 3D print prescription lenses for the smart eyewear market, and implement Luxexcel’s new VisionPlatform 7 at its Basel, Switzerland industrial facility. Luxexcel developed the platform, which features patented hardware, materials, software, processes, and support, to fill a need in the smart eyewear sector for the mass-manufacturing of prescription smart lenses, and Optiswiss will use it to develop high-quality prescription ophthalmic lenses for its customers.

“We’re excited to join Luxexcel in their journey to deliver prescription lenses for smart eyewear. After several years of cooperation with Luxexcel, it was time for us to bring the new VisionPlatform 7 to our production plant. We now have a digital manufacturing platform to combine prescription lenses with smart technology today, including a clear path towards large volume manufacturing of prescription smart glasses,” said Optiswiss CEO Samuel Frei. “At Optiswiss we are innovators and always at the forefront of technology. Together with Luxexcel we will develop pioneering products and bring them to market quickly. By adopting innovative technologies such as VisionPlatform 7, we can provide our customers with solutions for prescription smart eyewear, giving them an edge over the competition.”

DMG Mori Picks Sigma Labs for Quality Assurance Support

DMG MORI (DMG MORI AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT), a leading manufacturer of machine tools, has chosen Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) as the official supplier for In-Process Quality Assurance (IPQA) monitoring systems for its DMG MORI Qualified Products (DMQP) program. Through this partnership, which is a continuation of Sigma Labs supplying the company with its melt pool monitoring system, DMG MORI can bundle Sigma Labs’ PrintRite3D solution with its own LASERTEC 12 SLM, LASERTEC 30 SLM, and LASERTEC 30 Dual SLM metal 3D printers, giving customers a single source for the high-quality integrated SLM and IPQA solution.

“It is an honor to be selected to participate in DMG MORI’s DMQP program, significantly expanding and deepening our partnership. Manufacturers around the world will now be able to source the integrated solution from DMG MORI directly and be assured that it meets the highest standards of quality and support,” said Mark Ruport, Sigma Labs’ President and CEO. “This relationship allows Sigma Labs to leverage the vast sales and support capabilities of DMG MORI and expand our global reach.”

Teton Simulation Announces SmartSlice for BCN3D Stratos

3D printing simulation software experts Teton Simulation has announced SmartSlice for BCN3D Stratos, so that BCN3D users can more easily validate and optimize AM designs and ensure the parts perform as expected. First, users select their material, baseline print settings, and part performance requirements, and then SmartSlice validates the design, so that users can either run tests for various materials and settings, or use the software’s optimization tool to reduce material use and print time. The materials database supports several BCN3D filaments, which makes it very quick for users to qualify a material before they purchase it. Users can also achieve a higher ROI on products by using SmartSlice for BCN3D Stratos to make smart decisions, use less material, and save a lot of time printing.

“Teton Simulation is continuously working with our partner network to provide added value in a multitude of workflows, directly to our partner’s customers within their current software. As such, Teton Simulation is proud to announce a new product offering of SmartSlice for BCN3D Stratos. In conjunction with our partner, BCN3D, Teton will now be extending its product line to include BCN3D Stratos,” stated Teton Simulation’s CEO Doug Kenik. “Now users can minimize print time, remove unnecessary print cycles, and reduce material usage – all while ensuring parts will perform as expected directly within BCN3D Stratos. What is better, is that SmartSlice will be pre-installed within BCN3D Stratos and will automatically grant a free trial to anyone with a BCN3D account!”

Fabrisonic Introduces SonicLayer X̅ Seam Welder

SonicLayer X Seam welder can produce battery tabs in a wide range of metals, including joining dissimilar metals.

Finally, ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) machine manufacturer Fabrisonic, LLC, has launched its powerful SonicLayer X̅ Seam Welder, based on multiple patents and more than ten years of experience in UAM technology. The 10,000-watt seam welder, which can be used in applications such as solar panels, connectors, continuous tube and seam, and battery anode/cathode tabbing, features longitudinal ultrasonics for producing fully bonded solid-state welds, and is also said to have more alloy combinations, wider welds, and the ability to join more layers in one pass than other seam welders currently on the market. It can be used to join multi-material combinations of many different metals and metal matrix components, and has been used to successfully manufacture several electrical-grade foils for batteries, flexible shunts, and interconnects, in addition to welding dissimilar metal combinations like Cu/Al, Al/Fe, and Cu/Ag.

“Increasing ultrasonic welding to 10,000 watts of power expands the scope of what is possible with a metal seam welder,” said Mark Norfolk, Fabrisonic’s CEO. “This includes increases in speed, increases in material width/thickness, and a new array of metal alloys including stainless, Inconel®, and even refractory metals.”

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