Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM) refers to the application of 3D printing to create functional, industrial components including prototypes, tooling and end-use production parts. AM’s advantages include the freedom to produce small batches of intricate parts cost-effectively, as well as the freedom to realize part designs that would not be manufacturable in any other way, and in some cases to use materials that otherwise would be impractical to apply. The range of processes finding industrial applications includes direct metal deposition, electron beam melting, polymer processes such as fused filament fabritcation (FFF), and select laser sintering (SLS) or melting (SLM), among others. Some hybrid machine tools combine additive manufacturing with subtractive CNC machining. Modern Machine Shop has a sister magazine, Additive Manufacturing, that focuses on AM.
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Three Cool Uses for Directed Energy Deposition
Most machining professionals don’t like to admit that they ever make mistakes, but every now and then wouldn’t it be nice to have an “eraser” to go back and repair a gouge or fix a nicked edge? Or maybe you took off a bit too much material on that last machining pass and you’d like to add it back? Well, directed energy deposition (DED) enables you to do that and more.
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A Look at Additive Manufacturing in Minnesota
Increasing interest in 3D printing among machine shops was particularly conspicuous during a recent visit to multiple shops in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Software Checks Part Data for 3D Printing Feasibility
The updated AM Part Identifier (AMPI) from 3YourMind automatically checks large part databases to detect which parts may represent good business cases for 3D printing, and whether to switch from traditional to additive manufacturing (AM) for any given part.
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