Fictron Industrial Supplies Sdn Bhd
No. 7 & 7A,
Jalan Tiara, Tiara Square,
Taman Perindustrian Sime UEP,
47600 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
No. 7 & 7A,
Jalan Tiara, Tiara Square,
Taman Perindustrian Sime UEP,
47600 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8023 9829
+603-8023 7089
Fictron Industrial
Automation Pte Ltd
140 Paya Lebar Road, #03-01,
AZ @ Paya Lebar 409015,
Singapore.
+65 31388976
sg.sales@fictron.com
Automation Pte Ltd
140 Paya Lebar Road, #03-01,
AZ @ Paya Lebar 409015,
Singapore.
+65 31388976
sg.sales@fictron.com
Making Additive Manufacturing a True Production Technology
15 May 2019
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(Cranfield, United Kingdom, 8th May 2019) The use of additive manufacturing as a fast prototyping technology has end up universally accepted across all key industrial sectors, letting design engineers and manufacturers the skill to assess the robustness of a layout before pushing the button on full production. A quick prototype can be held and evaluated by all departments involved in the design to manufacturing cycle, and design iterations can be made before expensive tooling and associated processes are pioneer.
However, to use additive manufacturing as a direct manufacturing process, there are several criteria that must be evaluated, not least the fact that accuracy must be constantly maintained and measured to ensure compliance with design intent in what could be safety critical end-use applications. It is in the area of dimensional accuracy and surface finish that the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (euspen) will be concentrating on its upcoming Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting 16-18 September 2019. The SIG will this year be held in the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France, and represents the 6th time that euspen has joined forces with the American Society of Precision Engineering (ASPE) looking at important issues surrounding precision in AM.
It has been noticed that additive manufactured parts and components can exhibit issues related to dimensional accuracy. For example, prismatic parts show two types of errors — variation in the linear dimension and variation in the hole diameter. These errors and others that characterise other additive manufactured parts have to become the focus of intensive research and analysis to overcome the limiting effect they can have on the use of the technology in end-use production applications. It is essential that designers and manufacturers have a thorough knowledge of additive manufacturing processes (of which there are many) to understand where they may expect differences between expected and actual dimensional accuracy.
In general terms, there are two key factors that affect dimensional clarity in additive manufacturing, the material out of which a part is to be made, and the design of the part — design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) becoming a critical area of focus, and one that is covered in depth at the euspen SIG. The link between accuracy and material used is obvious. In some instances, for example, part accuracy is compromised in the quest to enhance a specific material property, i.e. more flexibility may be needed than a standard AM material allows, and accuracy is reduced as flexibility increases. But design is potentially the key factor that affects clarity. Design engineers must be cognisant of the advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy of each individual AM process, exclusively the impact of variations in cooling and curing that result in internal stresses that can result to shrinkage and warpage, the effect of part size on dimensional precision, and the effect of supports used during build not just on dimensional accuracy but also surface finish. Euspen draws on experts from across all disciplines that need to be known when looking at precision-related issues in a manufacturing environment. The SIG looks at issues related to industry standards for AM that allow engineers to create to a known set of parameters and build a level of trust in the fulfillment and manufacturing process. They are part of the necessary evolution of the technology and are primary to discussions at the SIG as AM moves from a prototyping tool to a production tool.
Metrology is also of central importance. The goal with all metrology is to keep procedures under tight control, therefore improving quality, reducing scrap rates, and enhancing environmental sustainability. For AM platforms, new solutions are needed to ensure optimization of the technology as a truly integrated production alternative. The local hosts and organizing committee for the SIG are Prof. Alain Bernard from Ecole Centrale de Nantes; Dr David Bue Pedersen from Technical University of Denmark; Prof. Richard Leach from University of Nottingham; and Dr John Taylor from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The AM SIG meeting chair is Prof. Richard Leach from University of Nottingham, and Dr John Taylor from University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com
However, to use additive manufacturing as a direct manufacturing process, there are several criteria that must be evaluated, not least the fact that accuracy must be constantly maintained and measured to ensure compliance with design intent in what could be safety critical end-use applications. It is in the area of dimensional accuracy and surface finish that the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (euspen) will be concentrating on its upcoming Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting 16-18 September 2019. The SIG will this year be held in the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France, and represents the 6th time that euspen has joined forces with the American Society of Precision Engineering (ASPE) looking at important issues surrounding precision in AM.
It has been noticed that additive manufactured parts and components can exhibit issues related to dimensional accuracy. For example, prismatic parts show two types of errors — variation in the linear dimension and variation in the hole diameter. These errors and others that characterise other additive manufactured parts have to become the focus of intensive research and analysis to overcome the limiting effect they can have on the use of the technology in end-use production applications. It is essential that designers and manufacturers have a thorough knowledge of additive manufacturing processes (of which there are many) to understand where they may expect differences between expected and actual dimensional accuracy.
In general terms, there are two key factors that affect dimensional clarity in additive manufacturing, the material out of which a part is to be made, and the design of the part — design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) becoming a critical area of focus, and one that is covered in depth at the euspen SIG. The link between accuracy and material used is obvious. In some instances, for example, part accuracy is compromised in the quest to enhance a specific material property, i.e. more flexibility may be needed than a standard AM material allows, and accuracy is reduced as flexibility increases. But design is potentially the key factor that affects clarity. Design engineers must be cognisant of the advantages and disadvantages in terms of accuracy of each individual AM process, exclusively the impact of variations in cooling and curing that result in internal stresses that can result to shrinkage and warpage, the effect of part size on dimensional precision, and the effect of supports used during build not just on dimensional accuracy but also surface finish. Euspen draws on experts from across all disciplines that need to be known when looking at precision-related issues in a manufacturing environment. The SIG looks at issues related to industry standards for AM that allow engineers to create to a known set of parameters and build a level of trust in the fulfillment and manufacturing process. They are part of the necessary evolution of the technology and are primary to discussions at the SIG as AM moves from a prototyping tool to a production tool.
Metrology is also of central importance. The goal with all metrology is to keep procedures under tight control, therefore improving quality, reducing scrap rates, and enhancing environmental sustainability. For AM platforms, new solutions are needed to ensure optimization of the technology as a truly integrated production alternative. The local hosts and organizing committee for the SIG are Prof. Alain Bernard from Ecole Centrale de Nantes; Dr David Bue Pedersen from Technical University of Denmark; Prof. Richard Leach from University of Nottingham; and Dr John Taylor from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The AM SIG meeting chair is Prof. Richard Leach from University of Nottingham, and Dr John Taylor from University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com