Three things the additive manufacturing crowd is talking about

There’s been a lot of buzz lately in the additive manufacturing realm about generative design, developing AM-friendly materials, and shifting printer processing speeds into overdrive.

Generative design is an iterative process whereby specialized software and cloud computing produce multiple, evolutionary stages of a design. The software evaluates and tests an iteration, learns from mistakes it identifies during analysis, then corrects them in the next stage of the design.

Generative design fits well with AM because additive has fewer build constraints than subtractive processes. If generative-design software creates a highly complex design, it’s likelier the part could be 3D-printed than machined.

Historically, the relatively low number of build materials has constrained AM’s acceptance and growth. That’s starting to change, though.

Experts I’ve spoken with say that manufacturers of polymers and metals are developing new materials for AM applications. The reason is that more companies are adopting additive technologies. And as their numbers grow, materials suppliers are more willing to invest in R&D. Look for an article on materials development in the February issue of “The Additive Report.”

In the same issue, you can read about Desktop Metal’s new Production System 3D printer. The first unit is scheduled for installation in Q1 2019. The company reports that the metal printer operates 100 times faster than quad-laser printers and four times faster than binder-jetting styles.

A speedy printer with a novel design has been built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It flashes hologram-like 3D images generated by three lasers into a vat of photosensitive resin. Where the beams intersect, the light is most intense. The light stays on long enough to cure the part—about 10 seconds.

The researchers claim the process, called “volumetric 3D printing,” can build complex 3D parts in a fraction of the time needed with traditional layer-by-layer printing.

“It’s a demonstration of what the next generation of additive manufacturing may be,” said one researcher. (Click here to read more.)

If it happens, volumetric 3D printing undoubtedly will be one of the most buzzworthy AM topics of 2019.