ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING


speed is important since 3D processes have traditionally been slow, similarly, older manufacturing techniques also had limited build volumes and poor material quality, making them unfeasible for mainstream use – this new method means the adoption of 3D-printing is more likely to become widespread since Rapid Liquid Printing can produce large-scale, airtight, non- rigid products in minutes.


DYNAMIC MOULDING Dynamic moulding is an emerging technology developed by US-based start-up 3Deus Dynamic, a company established in October 2020. This innovation is a hybrid between 3D-printing and injection moulding – and it allows for the process of all injectable materials available on the market without chemical reformulation or support structure. Additionally, there are no limits on the size or shape of the product produced. Materials that can be created using dynamic moulding techniques are widespread, from low to high viscosity, and including thermoplastic and elastomers.


VAM TECHNOLOGY Initially developed at the University of Colorado Boulder in a bid to solve a number of challenges involved in photopolymer 3D-printing, Volumetric Additive Manufacturing (VAM) technology is being taken to market by start-up Vitro3D and has seen


the company raise US$1.3 million in seed funding. Again, this technology removes the need for support structures and can make complex parts in high-viscous materials. VAM works a bit like a CAT scan,


so an object goes into a machine that has a circular structure and takes pictures from many different angles then uses a computational algorithm to combine the pictures and form a three-dimensional virtual image. The software then uses an algorithm that takes a three-dimensional virtual object, deconstructs it into different angles then projects a two-dimensional image onto photopolymerisable resin. As the intensities overlap where they are highest, they create the regions that will turn from liquid to solid.


NEW VERTICALS Dadhania also explained that the technology was last year taken up by several high-profile verticals, including Tesla’s Giga Casting technology which uses sand binder jetting of moulds for several of its electric vehicle parts; Apple’s metal binder jetting of steel chassis for the Apple Watch Ultra; and dental aligner manufacturer Align Technologies which acquired Cubicure to enable the development of dental aligners.


MARKET SNAPSHOT Despite this technological innovation and some high-profile adoption of


Vitro3D product


AM technology, there was actually a fall in investment and mergers and acquisitions activity in 2023 compared with 2022. With US$893 million in public investment in 3D-related companies in 2023 versus US$1.3 billion in 2022, AM could be viewed as a sector in trouble. But Dadhania argues that this is not the long term picture, instead she argues that it reflects a precarious economic climate following an injection of investment and economic activity in 2022 after the global pandemic. In 2023 there was some realignment


of business models as companies worked hard to make the technology economically viable, this included German-based market leader Oerlikon strategically realigning its AM business and consolidating in the US, due to “adverse market


conditions” in Germany. Similarly, 3devo, an extrusion 3D-printing company, shifted its business model away from equipment sales towards a ‘project partnership’ model.


THE FUTURE OF AM Despite a difficult 2023, IDTechEx argues that the future of AM is bright with new and innovative technologies, the growing services nature of the technology, and the fact there is increasing automation and digitisation through the supply chain. In fact, the company predicts that the technology will accrue US$44 billion in revenue by 2034. However, right now AM manufacturers should focus on withstanding fast-changing global economic conditions and perhaps reconsider how they might deliver their technology to end-users. ●


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