The Future of Parts Manufacture ?

[Slavs]

What do some of you engineering minds think of this ?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdiwBiw5dyo

 

 

[TobyB]

That's some fantsy kinda welder you gots there...

 

My take on it, from having dabbled with the plastic version,

is that it's neat for prototyping. but right now, it's still a prototype itself.

 

I didn't listen all the way through- does he ever talk about tensile strength of his 

base material?  Because it's going to take some serious development to match

what 400 years of steel development and 150 years of aluminium development

have achieved with castings, forgings, alloys and subtractive machining.

 

Fantastic potential- lots and lots of practical details that take real time and real science

to work out.

 

I'd love to see him spin that turbine wheel up tp 150,000 rpm on that

set they've built there, and see how it holds up....

 

Right now, 3d prints make fantastic molds for conventional processes....

...but sintered metal has very real limits in real uses.

 

t

nanobotic room- temperature superconducting information superhighways.

Edited January 23, 2020 by TobyB

[wegweiser]

+1 on Toby's thoughts. I've worked alongside folks that have scanned and manufactured 3-D printed parts (primarily decorative emblems, ignition keys, etc) and there are still some limits to what can be done, with regard to high stress parts and (of course) the costs of manufacturing. 

Great for mold making... not so amazing for finished products that have to withstand real stress. 

 

 

[Shawn Piper]

I work at HP and we're building 3D printers for metal (Metal Jet 3D).  Its being developed primarily for future "lights out" manufacturing purposes and could enable the future creation of specialized/limited run parts for specialized industries. 

 

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/printers/3d-printers/products/metal-jet.html

 

One of the big challenges we've had is part deformation/shrinking when the part is heated/baked to make sure the metal powder forms a strong, solid part.  Another issue is the finishing of the parts, as they don't look machined.  We are overcoming these issues and I would expect to see this on the market in the coming years. 

[Tsingtao_1903]

I've been following metal 3D printing with great interest (there are multiple approaches and processes) for quite some time now;  I believe this is the future of manufacturing.  As mentioned by previous posters, parts shrinkage (in 3 dimensions) must be taken into accounts.  The metal types/selections available for 3D printing is improving, but, still limited.  Lastly, the finished part structural strength is approaching, but, not quite as strong as die cast parts. 

 

For the right applications (honeycomb metal structure for example), metal 3D printing can produce parts that are strong, light weight that can not be made any other way.  No doubt the metal 3D printing technology will increase significantly as the technology is improving by leaps and bounds.  

[jhenard]

Brake calipers can be 3d printed - not cheaply but can be

https://www.bugatti.com/media/news/2018/world-premiere-brake-caliper-from-3-d-printer/

 

Not mine, don't own a Bugatti

[Son of Marty]

41 minutes ago, jhenard said:

 

 

Not mine, don't own a Bugatti, Yet.

Jeff I fixed that for you?. Back to the original question yes it most likely to be the future of manufacturing but it's not ready for prime time yet. 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Son of Marty

[uai]

I like the hybrid additive & mill from DMG - they make dies that do last (really).

 

[roadhog0]

I've seen a few and have played with parts from them. I work with some material scientists and one who has a lot of metals exposure says the 3d printed aluminum is still no good for structural stuff. It can't be made consistent. Rather interesting technology though!

[dlacey]

I wonder what will happen to the world when a 3D printer can print a 3D printer... Once they can reproduce they'll start evolving...