A new brick in the Great Wall
ALTHOUGH it is the weekend, a small factory in the Haidian district of Beijing is hard at work. Eight machines, the biggest the size of a delivery van, are busy making things. Yet the factory, owned by Beijing Longyuan Automated Fabrication System (known as AFS), appears almost deserted. This is because it is using additive-manufacturing machines, popularly known as three-dimensional (3D) printers, which run unattended day and night, seven days a week.
The printers require an occasional visit from a supervisor to top them up with the powdered materials they use as their “inks”, or to remove a completed item, but apart from that they can be left on their own. They build up the objects they are making one layer at a time, as the ink is sintered into place with a laser in a way that creates little waste and can make shapes impossible to achieve using the traditional “subtractive” technology of lathes, milling machines and cutting tools.
Though it is not yet ready for use in mass production (building things up is slower than trimming them down), 3D printing is excellent for making prototypes, customised jobs and short production runs, for there is no need to retool each time the specification changes. All that need be done is to alter the software that controls the print heads.
Western countries led the development of 3D printing, and the technique has been praised by Barack Obama as a way to revive America’s manufacturing industries. It may yet do so. But the extent to which that revival will be brought about by the return to America of production which has migrated to countries like China is harder to predict—for China has plans of its own.
Keep your powder dry
At the moment AFS is in the prototyping business. Its customers are mainly aerospace firms and vehicle-makers that need experimental designs turned into metal quickly. The powders in its machines’ hoppers are plastics, waxes and foundry sand. The results are sent off to foundries, where they are used to make moulds for the sand-casting of metal objects.
According to William Zeng, AFS’s deputy general manager, all the parts needed to make a prototype car engine can be printed and cast in this way in under two weeks. A conventional machine shop would need several months to do that—not least because many of the components would have to be made by hand.
AFS also has a second line of business. It sells the laser-sintering printers it makes to others, for this is a rapidly growing industry. And some of its machines, which cost up to 1.5m yuan (about $250,000), can do more than just sinter plastics, wax and sand; they can sinter metals directly.
Indeed, one of the country’s largest 3D printers (though it was not made by AFS) does just this. It is 12 metres long and it belongs to the National Laboratory for Aeronautics and Astronautics at Beihang University. Wang Huaming, the laboratory’s chief scientist, told a digital-manufacturing seminar organised recently by the Laboratory of High Performance Computing, a government research institute, that this behemoth is being employed to make large and complex parts for China’s commercial-aircraft programme, which plans to build planes to rival those turned out by Airbus and Boeing.
These parts include titanium fuselage frames and high-strength steel landing-gear—objects that require the metal they are made from to be free of flaws which might cause them to fail. Printing such things, rather than making them from precast metal, will be a technical tour de force, and Dr Wang’s team is therefore working on the tricky problem of controlling the recrystallisation of metals after they have been melted by the laser.
The Latest Bing News on:
Additive manufacturing
- From Boeing Starliner to Goodyear Tesla tire, 3-D printing is becoming manufacturing realityon August 1, 2022 at 9:51 am
Goodyear is making airless tires through 3-D printing, one example of additive manufacturing's rise among industrials from Boeing to Cummins.
- Global Additive Manufacturing in Fashion & Jewellery Marketon August 1, 2022 at 6:25 am
EOS GmBH, Primva Additive, Ganokin, Imaginarium, 3D Systems, DWS Systems, 3D Printing Media Network, Heraeus, EnvisionTEC, and Cooksandgold Additive Manufacturing, among others, are key players in the ...
- Six trends to consider about the future of additive manufacturingon July 29, 2022 at 11:00 am
The past year has shown that additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is becoming a serious and mature manufacturing technology—one suitable for making small to medium-sized series of parts and ...
- Six trends to consider about additive manufacturingon July 29, 2022 at 11:00 am
The past year has shown that additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is becoming a serious and mature manufacturing technology—one suitable for making small to medium-sized series of parts and ...
- Global Additive Manufacturing Market Report 2022-2030: Adoption of 3D Printing Technology in Various Industries Presents Opportunitieson July 29, 2022 at 6:15 am
The "Additive Manufacturing Market Size, Share, Trends, By Technology, By Material Type, By Application, and By Region Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
- Global Additive Manufacturing Market Report 2022-2030: Technological Advancements and Increasing Applications Fueling Growth - ResearchAndMarkets.comon July 28, 2022 at 5:15 am
The global additive manufacturing market size is expected to reach USD 70.08 Billion in 2030 and register a revenue CAGR of 21.1% over the forecast period, according to latest report. The report ...
- NIST Issues Additive Manufacturing Research Grants; Laurie Locascio Quotedon July 27, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Looking for the latest Government Contracting News? Read about NIST Issues Additive Manufacturing Research Grants; Laurie Locascio Quoted.
- Advanced Manufacturing 2022: The value of trial and error in additive manufacturingon July 27, 2022 at 6:40 am
Manufacturers do not always ask the right question when they start to consider additive manufacturing (AM) for particular parts, said Claudia Galdini from HP during Advanced Manufacturing last week.
- Hartech and Velo3D partner to distribute additive manufacturing technology to U.S. Government agencieson July 21, 2022 at 8:39 am
Hartech Group, an advanced technology equipment supplier to the U.S. federal government, and Velo3D have announced a partnership to distribute Velo3D’s technology to government agencies, including the ...
- 3DEO adds early-stage Design for Additive Manufacturing as core serviceon July 20, 2022 at 3:33 am
DEO is including early-stage Design for Additive Manufacturing in its 3D printing technology service, allowing the company to uniquely solve its customers needs at any stage of the production ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Additive manufacturing
The Latest Bing News on:
3D printing
- New 3D printing process is faster and more precise than conventional methodson August 1, 2022 at 8:42 am
Rutgers engineers have created a way to 3D print large and complex parts at a fraction of the cost of current methods.
- 10 Best 3D Printing Stocks To Buy Nowon August 1, 2022 at 7:41 am
In this article, we will discuss the 10 best 3D printing stocks to buy now. If you want to skip our discussion on the 3D printing industry’s growth prospects, go directly to the 5 Best 3D ...
- 3D Printing Process Created by Rutgers Researchers Is Faster and More Precise Than Conventional Methodson August 1, 2022 at 7:14 am
Known as Multiplexed Fused Filament Fabrication, the technique “could be a game changer for the 3D-printing industry,” says lead author of study Rutgers engineers have created a way to 3D print large ...
- 3D Printing Material Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 23% from 2022-2029 | Exclusive Report By Exactitude Consultancyon August 1, 2022 at 5:15 am
Top Companies covered in 3D Printing Material market are 3D Systems Corp., Arcam AB, Arkema S.A., Royal DSM N.V., Exone GmbH, Stratasys Ltd., CRP Group, Envisiontec GmbH, EOS GmbH Electro Optical ...
- Global 3D Printing Construction Market Size Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of Approx. 89% From 2022 To 2032on July 29, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Evolve Business Intelligence published a new market research report on Global 3D Printing Construction Market by Construction Method (Extrusion, Powder Bonding), by Material Type (Concrete ...
- The Best 3D Printer Resinon July 28, 2022 at 1:31 pm
Some of the best 3D printers available right now use UV resin rather than filament to produce models. These printers tend to produce smaller, more detailed models than the larger FDM printers and can ...
- See the huge 3D-printer that built the walls of a 400-square-foot concrete tiny home in 22 hourson July 28, 2022 at 4:30 am
Danish startup 3DCP Group's first project was built using COBOD's popular BOD2 printer. The team only had five weeks to complete the tiny home.
- 3D Printing in Medical Applications Market Size Is Expected To CAGR of 14.28% from 2021 To 2027 | 109 Pages Reporton July 28, 2022 at 3:29 am
D Printing in Medical Applications Market Size Trend 2022, Analysis, growth, share, Status and Forecast 2027 | 109 Pages ...
- The startups 3D printing new smileson July 27, 2022 at 6:02 pm
When 3D printing technology started to become more ubiquitous around the world, many claimed that there would come a day when ...
- RI man convicted of 3D printing ghost gunson July 27, 2022 at 4:18 pm
A North Kingstown, R.I. man was convicted in Washington County Superior Court of using a 3D printer to manufacture ghost guns.