With the evolution of 3D printers, people are wondering if the printing
will ever go into mass production.
While much cannot be said about plastics, with
metals it is an entirely different story. Metal 3D printing is developing and
growing at a rapid pace. One of the most important, but not the only reason
here, is strict competition.
Here are a few reasons why metal 3D printing is
going to top them all:
Evolving Printing Technologies
One of the most critical factors behind metal
3D printing is the growing number of technologies. Take the example of the
binder jetting technology. Although it needs some form of post processing, it
is capable of doing things that powder bed fusion can’t. ExOne, the leading provider of industrial
3D printing solutions can 3D print larger metal parts at highly affordable
rates. At the same time, evolving technologies in Israel are now able to inkjet
print nano metal particles. This will open up a stream of a variety of new
possibilities.
Larger Industries
All the advancements in 3D printing wouldn’t really matter if it wasn’t
for industry demand.
Currently, the demand is largely from the
aerospace sector where 3D printed metal parts are ready to be implemented. The
case is similar with the automotive sector.
Generative designs and topological optimization
of parts is becoming necessary to meet the environmental needs of today and
tomorrow. Therefore, there are good things in store for metal 3D printing
across larger industries.
Larger Companies
Another technology that is booming under the
same domain is laser cladding, also referred to as Directed Energy Deposition.
Since it is a deposition method there are some types of geometric limitations. At
the same time, it can deposit larger amounts of material in a shorter period of
time, which means it is significantly faster.
Directed Energy Deposition technology can also
be integrated into multi tool robotic systems, which brings us to Trumpf and
DMG Mori, industrial robot giants that have yearly revenues equal to that of
the entire 3D printing sector altogether. They are making use of this
technology to integrate it with robot assembly lines and unlock new
possibilities.
Smaller companies like Sciaky are also making
use of other similar technologies like EBAM which melts metal filaments instead
of using a powder- already being used in the US defense industry.
Things look good for 3D metal printing in the
long run. For the latest tech news, stay updated with Cool Tech Review.
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