ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING/ 3D PRINTING FEATURE
WHY MATERIAL MATTERS in additive manufacturing
When 3D printing, it is imperative to make sure that
the material used is of the highest quality to ensure the integrity of the final product. Peter Morgan, technical product specialist at Elementar UK, explains how elemental analysis can help
I
n the last few years, additive manufacturing has made a rapid
transition from being a disruptive niche market to becoming a commonplace option for day-to-day product applications. As the technology evolves and the associated costs fall, more and more businesses are embracing the potential that 3D printing offers for their supply chains. A 2018 survey of more than 1,000
additive manufacturing professionals by Sculpteo indicated that companies are now spending more on 3D printing and seeing a greater return on their investment. This is thanks to the benefits the technology provides in terms of lead time reduction and cost-effectiveness, as well as the practical advantages it offers when working with complex geometries. However, design engineers will recognise that key quality assurance challenges need to be resolved before additive manufacturing can truly go mainstream.
QUALITY CONTROL Regardless of the raw material used – whether a common plastic such as polylactic acid (PLA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament, or a metallic composition – it is imperative to make sure that the material is of the highest quality. Failing to do so can significantly compromise the integrity of the final product, leading to 3D prints that break, or fail to bind and adhere properly. However, quality assessments can be
challenging due to the subtlety of the variables involved, especially when working without specialist equipment. In the case of plastics, minute nitrogen and sulphur impurities within the hydrocarbon can result in undesirable physical characteristics, while the alloy powders used in metal additive manufacturing require carbon, sulphur, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen content to be carefully balanced to ensure optimal tensile strength, impact resistance, heat tolerance and resistance to corrosion. Engineers who are unable to account for these variables will not be able to
production run. This process is usually performed within an inert gas atmosphere, but the extremely high surface area of the powders means that some oxidation usually takes place regardless. By carrying out an elemental analysis prior to reusing the powder, manufacturers will be able to ascertain whether it is still fit for purpose.
CONSISTENT RESULTS By making effective use of elemental analysis technology, design engineers can sidestep a wide variety of quality control challenges, allowing them to deliver the best and most consistent results from their additive manufacturing processes. Not only does this offer a crucial
competitive advantage, but it will also help to allay broader concerns about the production quality and reliability of 3D-printed goods – an important step towards true mainstream acceptance for the additive manufacturing sector. As such, it’s never been more
meet the quality standards that end users expect, and may experience higher production costs due to production failures. The importance of getting this right
is why elemental analysis tools are becoming key cornerstones of the quality control process in additive manufacturing.
ENHANCING MATERIAL QUALITY Using instruments such as Elementar’s inductar and vario EL elemental analysers, it is possible to identify impurities within raw materials on an industrial scale. As well as helping to ensure that low-quality materials are filtered out, this also gives engineers more control over the physical properties of the final product, and greater insight into how 3D-printed components will behave in various circumstances. Elemental analysers can also be used
to check the quality of the finished item after the manufacturing process is complete, facilitating comparisons between the compositions of high and low-quality products to identify which characteristics are causing the failure. Given that the elemental makeup of a 3D-printed item can often change during the additive manufacturing process, this kind of post-production evaluation is essential. Furthermore, those involved in metal
additive manufacturing can use elemental analysers to maintain quality even when recycling leftover powder for a subsequent
/ DESIGNSOLUTIONS
Elemental analysis tools are becoming key cornerstones of the quality control process in additive manufacturing
important for businesses involved in 3D printing to ensure they are getting their approach to quality control right, and to invest in the right technology to support this. Doing so could make a huge difference for their organisation, and for the industry as a whole.
Elementar UK
www.elementar.co.uk
3D PRINTING METAL COMPONENTS
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, metal components is possible thanks to Digital Metal. The company’s binder-jetting technology was introduced in 2013, and has already enabled production of more than 300,000 components. Several Digital Metal DM P2500 printers are already in serial production, producing series of up to 40,000 components. Now, however, the company has launched a fully automated ‘no-hand’ production concept. The majority of the process steps will be handled by
a robot. The robot will feed the printer with build boxes and then move the boxes for post-treatment in a CNC-operated de-powdering machine combined with a pick-and-place robot. There, the remaining metal powder will be removed and recycled, and the parts placed on sintering plates. The main robot will then move the plates to the sintering furnace for combined debinding and sintering, either in batches or for continuous production.
Digital Metal’s ‘no-hand’
production line Digital Metal
https://digitalmetal.tech
DESIGN SOLUTIONS | NOVEMBER 2018
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