With metal 3D printing, all parts are worth redesigning

As more and more manufacturers recognize the advantages of metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes over traditional design and manufacturing technologies, the professional metal additive manufacturing services market is rapidly growing.



3D Metalforge is an emerging additive manufacturing company dedicated to providing customers with complete end-to-end metal 3D printing services, enabling the mass production of complex, high-quality metal parts for industrial applications. Selecting an excellent metal additive manufacturing system is the key to its success. 3D Metalforge's requirements for metal additive manufacturing systems include having global support, adapting to Industry 4.0, meeting quality, flexibility and reliability requirements, and more.
 

background

Metal additive manufacturing company 3D Metalforge was established in Singapore at the end of 2016 and is a sister company of 3D Matters. In Southeast Asia, as the market demand for high-precision three-dimensional metal parts manufacturing has grown rapidly, many additive manufacturing companies have emerged, and 3D Metalforge is one of them.


The market's demand for metal 3D printing services has changed dramatically and is shifting from a focus on short-term prototyping and one-shot molding to mass production of industrial-use parts.



To meet market demand, additive manufacturing companies must invest in metal additive manufacturing systems to create a production process that specializes in metal 3D printing.



Mr. Matthew Waterhouse, CEO of 3D Metalforge, explained: "Customers have never understood that some parts can be printed directly with metal powder. They have realized the advantages of metal additive manufacturing process over traditional manufacturing technology, and even metal additive manufacturing. The complexity and quality of the parts that the process can achieve, their growth rate is amazing. "



Currently, 3D Metalforge uses ISO-certified production equipment to serve customer groups from the marine, oil and gas, precision engineering, and general manufacturing industries. 3D printed parts include impellers, antenna mounts, hooks, and swivel joints.



As a highly professional additive manufacturing company, 3D Metalforge provides customers with complete end-to-end metal additive manufacturing services, including consulting and diagnostics, part design or redesign, high-quality part printing and post-processing processes (heat treatment, sawing, Sandblasting, polishing, and finishing).



challenge

3D Metalforge has extremely strict standards for purchasing metal additive manufacturing systems to meet the rapidly changing manufacturing industry. Facing numerous equipment choices, 3D Metalforge must ensure that the machines it chooses can provide services that meet customer needs now and in the future. The selection criteria of 3D Metalforge are as follows:



• Print samples to demonstrate the ability of the additive manufacturing system to produce a wide variety of high-quality, high-precision, high-complexity parts.


• Additive manufacturing system manufacturers must be able to provide local technical support, including pre-sales and post-sales.


• The system must be mature and reliable, as system reliability is critical for the production of parts for industrial use.


• The system must be simple and easy to use.



Manufacturers of additive manufacturing systems must also have extensive manufacturing process knowledge and a clear understanding of the typical 3D Metalforge operation.



3D Metalforge also takes into account the upcoming Industry 4.0 trend, requiring metal additive manufacturing systems to be able to comply with the core principles of "Industry 4.0", including data transparency, connectivity, and human-machine interfaces.



Mr. Waterhouse said, "We believe that metal additive manufacturing is an indispensable part of Industry 4.0 and a pioneer in the future of manufacturing change." In Singapore and other parts of Asia, forward-thinking companies are struggling to meet the trend of Industry 4.0. And our decisions need to reflect that. "

solution
Hardware and support

Renishaw's compact AM 400 additive manufacturing system is breaking through the envelope and meeting 3D Metalforge's selection criteria. The AM 400 has a processing volume of 250 mm x 250 mm x 300 mm and is equipped with a 400 W laser system with a laser beam diameter of only 70 μm. The human-machine interface is highly graphical and visual.

 

Building on Renishaw's "open parameters" concept, the AM 400 allows 3D Metalforge to freely optimize machine parameter settings for the metal powder being processed and the geometry of a particular print. The system has a first-class inert gas environment, and the SafeChange ™ filter handling system is installed to minimize the possibility of powder and soot exposure.

Mr. Waterhouse said: "We have long been known for Renishaw's precision measurement technology. The most important thing is that Renishaw knows the manufacturing process, knows material settings, machine calibration and our requirements for new production and operation methods."



"The ultra-high quality samples printed by the AM 400 additive manufacturing system made us very satisfied immediately. We believe that metal 3D printing technology and traditional processing technology are complementary, and AM 400 allows us to clearly see how it can help simplify Post-processing program. "

software

Before printing the part, 3D Metalforge first used Solid Works software for the initial 3D CAD design, and used Autodesk software to review the printability of the part when needed.

 

Then, Renishaw's QuantAM processing file processing software was used to optimize the support structure, straighten the parts, and set up the final print file. Then complete most of the printing work with the AM 400 solution.



3D Metalforge also uses Renishaw's InfiniAM Central software, a remote process monitoring software specifically designed for additive manufacturing systems. InfiniAM Central allows near real-time observation of on-site processing of additive manufacturing and viewing of historical processing data, and displays system information in a highly graphical manner for easy and intuitive analysis.

result

The AM 400 is the most efficient metal 3D printer in 3D Metalforge's production plant within 18 months of installation and commissioning. Mr. Waterhouse commented that the AM 400 had very good uptime, accuracy and reliability.



He gave an example of how 3D Metalforge provides a complete end-to-end metal 3D printing service to a technology equipment company: "The equipment company's appeal is to optimize its metal pallet parts and improve the performance of the product itself. Because traditional manufacturing techniques cannot meet expectations Design goals, so customers turned to us for metal 3D printing solutions. "


Since the original design of the part was not suitable for additive manufacturing, 3D Metalforge first redesigned the part. The mesh structure is adopted to reduce weight, and the shape of the part is adjusted to straighten the part for easy printing. They printed several product prototypes and assembled them to the final product for testing before finalizing the part design.



Up to now, 3D Metalforge has printed more than a hundred such complex metal parts on the AM 400 system, and the quality control pass rate is 100%. Additive manufacturing design not only reduces part weight, but also improves part performance.



3D Metalforge expects that the field of additive manufacturing standards and certification will be very promising, and the market demand for higher quality industrial parts will be the future development trend. As more and more industry fields adopt additive manufacturing technology, it is expected that there will be more and more types of metal powders for metal additive manufacturing.



3D Metalforge hopes to continue to purchase more additive manufacturing systems to produce more size parts and use more types of metal powder. It also plans to open more plants in the fast-growing Asian market. Currently, 3D Metalforge is exploring markets and enriching solutions in the United States, and considers the United States to be one of the largest markets for its specialty metal additive manufacturing service brands.

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