3D printing technology appeared in 1986, when 3D Systems developed the first special printer - a stereo lithography machine, which was used in the defense industry. The first devices were extremely expensive, and the choice of material for creating models was limited. The rapid development of three-dimensional printing began with the development of design technologies (CAD), calculations and modeling (CAE) and machining (CAM). And today it is difficult to find a production area where 3D printers are not used: with their help, aircraft parts, spacecraft, submarines, tools, prostheses and implants, jewelry, etc. are made. The prospect is obvious - additive technology will soon become a priority engineering technology .
Leading countries of the world are actively involved in the 3D race. So, in 2012, NAMII, the first Additive Technology Center out of fifteen in the United States, was launched in Youngstone, Ohio. The machine park of the institute already has 10 additive machines, three of which are the most modern machines for creating metal parts.
Terminology and classification
The essence of additive technologies is to combine materials to create objects from the data of a 3D model layer by layer. This is what distinguishes them from conventional subtractive production technologies, which involve mechanical processing — the removal of a substance from a workpiece.
Additive technologies classify:
- on the materials used (liquid, bulk, polymer, metal powder);
- by the presence of a laser;
- by the method of fixing the build layer (thermal exposure, irradiation with ultraviolet or visible light, a binder composition);
- according to the method of formation of the layer.
There are two ways to form a layer. The first is that first powder material is poured onto the platform, distributed with a roller or knife to create an even layer of material of a given thickness. Selective processing of the powder by a laser or other method of combining powder particles (by melting or gluing) takes place according to the current section of the CAD model. The plane of construction is unchanged, and part of the powder remains untouched. This method is called selective synthesis, as well as selective laser sintering, if the connecting tool is a laser. The second method consists in the direct deposition of the material at the point of energy supply.
ASTM, an industry standard development organization, divides 3D additive technology into 7 categories.
- Extrusion of material. A paste-like material, which is a mixture of a binder and a metal powder, is fed to the construction point by a heated extruder. The constructed crude model is placed in an oven in order to remove the binder and to bake the powder - just like in traditional technologies. This additive technology is implemented under the brands MJS (Multiphase Jet Solidification, Multiphase Curing), FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling, Fusion Modeling), FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication, Filament Fusion Production).
- Spraying material. For example, in Polyjet technology, wax or photopolymer is fed through a multi-jet head to the point of construction. This additive technology is also called Multi jetting Material.
- Spray binder. These include inkjet Ink-Jet technologies for injecting into the construction zone not a model material, but a binder reagent (ExOne additive manufacturing technology).
- Joining sheet materials. The building material is a polymer film, metal foil, sheets of paper, etc. It is used, for example, in Fabrisonic additive manufacturing technology. Thin metal plates are ultrasonically welded, after which excess metal is removed by milling. Additive technology is used in combination with subtractive.
- Photopolymerization in the bath. The technology uses liquid model materials - photopolymer resins. An example is the SLA technology of 3D Systems and the DLP technology of Envisiontec, Digital Light Procession.
- Melting the material in a preformed layer. Used in SLS technologies using a laser or thermal head (SHS from Blueprinter) as an energy source.
- Direct supply of energy to the construction site. Material and energy for its melting enter the point of construction at the same time. As a working body, a head is used, equipped with a system for supplying energy and material. Energy comes in the form of a concentrated electron beam (Sciaky) or a laser beam (POM, Optomec,). Sometimes the head is mounted on the "arm" of the robot.
This classification speaks much more about the intricacies of additive technologies than the previous ones.
Fields of application
The market of additive technologies in the dynamics of development is ahead of other industries. Its average annual growth is estimated at 27% and, according to IDC, by 2019 will amount to $ 26.7 billion, compared with 11 billion in 2015.
However, the AT market has yet to unleash the untapped potential in the production of consumer goods. Up to 10% of company funds from the cost of production of goods is spent on its prototyping. And many companies have already occupied this market segment. But the remaining 90% goes into production, so the creation of applications for the rapid manufacture of goods will become the main direction of development of this industry in the future.
In 2014, the share of rapid prototyping in the additive technology market, although it decreased, remained the largest - 35%, the share of rapid production grew and reached 31%, the share in the creation of tools remained at the level of 25%, the rest was in research and education.
The use of AT-technologies was distributed as follows:
- 21% - production of consumer goods and electronics;
- 20% - automotive industry;
- 15% - medicine, including dentistry;
- 12% - aircraft and space industry;
- 11% - production of capital goods;
- 8% - military equipment;
- 8% - education;
- 3% - construction.
Amateurs and professionals
The market of AT-technologies is divided into amateur and professional. The amateur market includes 3D printers and their service, which includes service, supplies, software, and is designed for individual enthusiasts, the field of education and visualization of ideas and facilitating communication at the initial stage of new business development.
Professional 3D printers are expensive and suitable for advanced reproduction. They have a large construction zone, productivity, accuracy, reliability, and an expanded range of model materials. These machines are much more complicated and require the development of special skills with the devices themselves, with model materials and software. As a rule, the operator of a professional machine becomes a specialist in additive technologies with a higher technical education.
Additive technology in 2015
According to the Wohlers Report 2015, from 1988 to 2014, 79,602 industrial 3D printers were installed in the world. At the same time, 38.1% of devices worth more than 5 thousand US dollars are in the USA, 9.3% in Japan, 9.2% in China, and 8.7% in Germany. The rest of the world is far from leaders. From 2007 to 2014, annual sales of desktop printers grew from 66 to 139,584 devices. In 2014, 91.6% of sales came from desktop 3D printers and 8.4% from industrial installations of additive production, the profit from which, however, amounted to 86.6% of the total, or 1.12 billion US dollars in absolute expression. Desktop machines were satisfied with 173.2 million US dollars and 13.4%. In 2016, sales are expected to increase to 7.3 billion US dollars, in 2018 - 12.7 billion, in 2020 the market will reach 21.2 billion dollars.
According to Wohlers, FDM technology prevails, numbering about 300 brands worldwide, daily replenished with new modifications. Some of them are sold only locally, so it is very difficult, if at all possible, to find information on the number of brands of 3D printers produced. We can say with confidence that their number in the market is increasing every day. There is a wide variety in size and technology used. For example, Berlin's BigRep company produces a huge FDM printer called BigRep ONE.2 at a price of 36 thousand euros, capable of printing objects up to 900 x 1055 x 1100 mm in size with a resolution of 100-1000 microns, two extruders and the ability to use different materials.
Industry for
The aviation industry is heavily investing in additive manufacturing. The use of additive technologies will reduce the consumption of materials spent on the manufacture of parts by 10 times. GE Aviation is expected to print 40,000 nozzles annually. And Airbus is planning to print up to 30 tons of parts every month by 2018. The company notes significant progress in the performance of parts manufactured in this way compared to the traditional. It turned out that the bracket, which was designed for 2.3 tons of load, can actually withstand a load of up to 14 tons while reducing its weight by half. In addition, the company prints aluminum sheet parts and fuel connectors. Airbus has 60,000 parts printed on Stratasys Fortus 3D printers. Other aerospace companies also use additive manufacturing technology. Among them: Bell Helicopter, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Boeing, Embraer, Honeywell Aerospace, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and SpaceX.
Digital additive technology is already being used in a wide variety of consumer products. Additive Manufacturing Materialize is partnered with Hoet Eyeware to produce vision correction glasses and sunglasses. 3D models are provided by many cloud services. 3D Warehouse and Sketchup alone offer 2.7 million designs. The fashion industry does not stand aside. RS Print uses a sole pressure measuring system to print individual insoles. Designers experiment with bikinis, shoes and dresses.
Rapid Prototyping
Rapid prototyping means creating a prototype of a product in the shortest possible time. It is one of the main applications of additive manufacturing technologies. A prototype is a prototype of a product necessary for optimizing the shape of a part, evaluating its ergonomics, checking the possibility of assembly and the correct layout decisions. This is why shortening the production time of a part can significantly reduce development time. Also, the prototype may be a model designed to conduct aerodynamic and hydrodynamic tests or verify the functionality of the housing parts of household and medical equipment. Many prototypes are created as search design models with nuances in the configuration, color scheme of coloring, etc. For quick prototyping, inexpensive 3D printers are used.
Fast production
Additive technologies in industry have great promise. Small-scale production of products with complex geometry and from specific materials is common in shipbuilding, power engineering, reconstructive surgery and dental medicine, and the aerospace industry. The direct cultivation of metal products here is motivated by economic feasibility, since this method of production was less costly. Using additive technologies, the working bodies of turbines and shafts, implants and endoprostheses, spare parts for cars and aircraft are produced.
The development of rapid production was also facilitated by a significant expansion in the number of available metal powder materials. If in 2000 there were 5-6 types of powders, now a wide range is offered, numbering dozens of compositions from structural steels to precious metals and heat-resistant alloys.
Promising and additive technologies in mechanical engineering, where they can be used in the manufacture of tools and devices for mass production - inserts for thermoplastic machines, molds, templates.
Ultimaker 2 - Best 3D Printer of 2016
According to CHIP magazine, which tested and compared the characteristics of household 3D printers, the best printers of 2016 are the Ultimaker 2 models from Ultimaker, Reniforce RF1000 from Conrad and Replicator Desktop 3D Printer from MakerBot.
Ultimaker 2+ uses advanced fusion technology in its advanced model. The 3D printer is characterized by the smallest layer thickness equal to 0.02 mm, short calculation time, low cost of printing (2600 rubles per 1 kg of material). Main characteristics:
- the size of the working chamber - 223 x 223 x 305 mm;
- weight - 12.3 kg;
- head size - 0.25 / 0.4 / 0.6 / 0.8 mm;
- head temperature - 180-260 ° C;
- layer resolution - 150-60 / 200-20 / 400-20 / 600-20 microns;
- print speed - 8-24 mm 3 / s;
- XYZ accuracy - 12.5-12.55 microns;
- material - PLA, ABS, CPE with a diameter of 2.85 mm;
- software - Cura;
- supported file types - STL, OBJ, AMF;
- power consumption - 221 W;
- price - 1 895 euros base model and 2 495 euros extended.
According to customer reviews, the printer is easy to install and use. They note high resolution, a self-regulating bed, a wide variety of material used, and the use of open source software. The disadvantages of the printer include the open design of the printer, which can lead to burns with hot material.
LulzBot Mini 3D Printer
In a review of PC Magazine Ultimaker 2 and Replicator Desktop 3D Printer, they were also among the top three, but here the LulzBot Mini 3D Printer came first. Its specifications are as follows:
- the size of the working chamber - 152 x 152 x 158 mm;
- weight - 8.55 kg;
- head temperature - 300 ° C;
- layer thickness - 0.05-0.5 mm;
- print speed - 275 mm / s with a layer height of 0.18 mm;
- material - PLA, ABS, HIPS, PVA, PETT, polyester, nylon, polycarbonate, PETG, PCTE, PC-ABS, etc. with a diameter of 3 mm;
- software - Cura, OctoPrint, BotQueue, Slic3r, Printrun, MatterControl, etc .;
- power consumption - 300 W;
- price - $ 1,250.
Sciaky EBAM 300
One of the best industrial additive manufacturing machines is Sciaky's EBAM 300. The electron beam gun applies layers of metal at a speed of up to 9 kg per hour.
- the size of the working chamber - 5791 x 1219 x 1219 mm;
- the pressure of the vacuum chamber - 1x10 -4 Torr;
- power consumption - up to 42 kW at a voltage of 60 kV;
- technology - extrusion;
- material - titanium and titanium alloys, tantalum, inconel, tungsten, niobium, stainless steel, aluminum, steel, an alloy of copper with nickel (70/30 and 30/70);
- maximum volume - 8605.2 l;
- price - 250 thousand US dollars.
Additive technologies in Russia
Industrial-class machines are not produced in Russia. So far, developments are underway at Rosatom, the laser center of MSTU. Bauman, Stankin University, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Ural Federal University. Voronezhselimmash, which produces Alpha educational and home 3D printers, is developing an industrial additive plant.
The same situation with consumables. The leader in the development of powders and powder compositions in Russia is VIAM. He produces powder for additive technologies used in the restoration of turbine blades, commissioned by Perm Aviadvigatel. The All-Russian Institute of Light Alloys (VILS) also has progress. Development is carried out by various engineering centers throughout the Russian Federation. Rostec, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, UrFU are developing their products. But all of them are not able to satisfy even a small demand of 20 tons of powder per year.
In this regard, the government instructed the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Communications, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the FANO, Roscosmos, Rosatom, Rosstandart, and development institutes to create an agreed program of research and development. To this end, it is proposed to allocate additional budgetary allocations, as well as to consider the possibility of co-financing at the expense of the National Welfare Fund and other sources. It was recommended to support new production technologies, including additive ones, RVC, Rusnano, the Skolkovo fund, the EXIAR export agency, and Vnesheconombank. Also, the government represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade will prepare a section of the state program for the development and competitiveness of industry.