Hello to all our good readers, welcome to 2017th fifth weekly News-In-Review!
From our insider’s vantage point we’ve observed for some time how AM is getting geared up for the performance standards of industrial deployment. The steady process of refinement of the various technologies in the 3D printing world has been possible thanks to the ongoing host of collaborations and projects that helped tackle the issues AM still faces. We could not get a better example that this week’s numerous news on the topic:
Audi has announced a partnership with EOS to integrate AM in their business and, at the same time, McLaren sings a similar partnership with Stratasys to bring AM-enabled car components to the F1 track. The fruits of one such collaboration are already ripe for Airbus, which has been in the testing stage with Sciaky for quite some time and is now ready to implement the latter’s huge EBAM printer in their aircraft manufacturing process. To note there is also Lloyd’s Register Energy and TWI who launched two collaborative global projects which will help the international community identify the technological standards needed for AM to scale to the industrial setting.
If it looks like a lot to cover it’s because it is! So, without further ado, let’s dig in.
Audi announce partnership with German 3D printing company EOS
Automotive manufacturer Audi has announced a new partnership agreement with fellow German company, 3D printer manufacturers EOS. The use of additive manufacturing will be used for, “equipment and prototype building at Audi, as well as motor sports, where the technology is already in use today.” Güngör Kara, Director of Global Application and Consulting at EOS, explained how the agreement will move Audi forward: “The aim is to not only supply Audi with the right additive systems and processes but to also support them during applications development, when building up internal AM knowledge and training their engineers to become in-house AM experts.”
Read more about the partnership here.
Stratasys Signs Four-Year Partnership with McLaren Racing as Official Supplier of 3D Printing Solutions
[Stratasys] is going to the races: to bring additive manufacturing to the track, it has announced a new four-year partnership with McLaren Racing. Stratasys will work as the Official Supplier of 3D Printing Solutions to the McLaren Honda Formula 1 team, and provide the team with additive manufacturing and 3D printing solutions. The company will assist the Formula 1 team in elevating its capacity for rapid manufacturing at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking, UK. In a way, Stratasys will operate as a 3D printing pit crew for McLaren Racing.
Read the full article here.
Airbus To 3-D Print Airframe Structures
Airbus is installing a large additive manufacturing machine [Sciaky‘s EBAM 110] at a production site in France to 3D print titanium aircraft structural parts for its aircraft. [John O’Hara, director of global sales] says the qualification work completed so far shows EBAM can produce components that meet or exceed the properties of forged parts. Printing rather than forging these parts avoids the long lead times and the waste of expensive metal involved in machining finished parts from forgings. With its high deposition rates, the wire-fed EBAM can produce parts in hours or days, versus weeks or months, he says. “We provided thousands of pounds to Airbus before the deal was signed,” O’Hara reiterates. “They know where this is going.”
Read more about it here (registration needed).
Lloyd’s Register Energy Partners with TWI to Launch Two Collaborative Global Projects Focused on Industrial Additive Manufacturing Challenges
[Lloyd’s Register Energy (LR)] has teamed up with leading research and technology organization The Welding Institute (TWI) to launch two new collaborative projects that will help companies more fully integrate additive manufacturing. The first of LR and TWI’s new projects, “Achieving Regulatory and Code Compliance for Additive Manufacturing,” will “investigate the routes to regulatory compliance of parts selected by project sponsors, and will produce data and assessment criteria for the introduction and acceptance of parts through third-party inspection.”
Read more about the project at 3DPrint.
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