It all began with a show-stopping demonstration that wowed audiences in the manufacturing world. It was at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in 2014 when the three-dimensional printing of a car was showcased by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other firms on the trade show floor. It was here that engineer Austin Schmidt was present not only as one watching a demonstration in awe but also one who was considering this possibility from the point of view of a businessman. “I like to say, ‘Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s MDF will print one part for anyone, but two parts for no one,’” Schmidt stated.
This marked the start of something that would evolve to become Additive Engineering Solutions, which would later become renowned as a large-format polymer extrusion printer, founded in the state of Ohio. Schmidt partnered with Andrew Bader, whose contacts in the sector of metalwork turned out to be very helpful in the world of makers, as the duo acquired a BAAM printer that had been jointly developed by ORNL. Its ginormous size was so large that a dinner party could have been held inside, according to Schmidt.
A transition of such a magnitude, moving from a laser cutting process to a polymer extrusion process, called for an immensely complex transition process. AES had to adapt the slicing software of ORNL, which was the critical link between the CAD model of the component and the machine tool path. According to Alex Roschli, lead software engineer at ORNL, “The Slicer software program takes an object, ‘slices’ it into layers, then fits toolpaths to each layer.” AES found the transition to the Slicer 2 environment at the facility to be very helpful, enabling over 500 controllable parameters, connectivity to the printer, and use of temperature, stress, or deposition path sensors in the production of large parts from aerospace to mold tooling for the manufacture of composite parts.
The challenge with the bigger prints was that AES was facing the “Goldilocks” challenge, where extrusion that is too hot results in a ‘sagging print, with loss of dimensional accuracy, while extrusions that are too cool simply result in ‘a bond between layers that is too weak, meaning that you end up scrapping jobs. “The printing can’t be too hot or cold, or we end up scrapping the whole job,” Schmidt underlined. Software guidelines would also have to be adjusted.
It was anything but a problem specific to AES. The discovery regarding high-speed FDM indicated that the geometry variables of the nozzle, specifically the outlet diameter, convergence angle, and length of the rectifier portion, are an indication of melt pressure, velocity stability, and viscosity. The orthogonal test conducted by the COMSOL software has indicated that a value of the outlet diameter of 0.2mm is common in the high-precision printing of polymers to be an indicator that the flow becomes stable and enjoys a high-velocity outlet as well as low viscosity to achieve precise printing without any influence on the flow rate in different models of LAAM technology to deal with the requirements of industries.
Well beyond the realm of making finished parts lies the impact that the large-format additive manufacturing possesses. AES has utilized the LFAM systems like the CEAD Flexbot to make the near-net composite trimming fixtures. These parts integrated all the requirements like the vacuum channels, cutting lines, and the handling surfaces into a single additive part that needed only the only CNC machining on the critical surface. The end results showed that the lead times shrunk from weeks to days, and the tools became lighter and easier to handle. AES’s very first composite cutting jig was additive-printed in just 15 hours and finished in just six using the glass fiber-poor PET-G.
To this very day, this example and others like it have shown that large-format additive manufacturing retains the ability to optimize highly complex processes. For AES, the key to unlocking the full potential of additive technology has simply involved the marriage of process control knowledge and a deep understanding of materials. Although extrusion equipment is being constantly improved, what it actually does is make highly capable thermoplastic materials like PEEK, PEI, PPSU, and thermoplastic matrix composite reinforced large format additive manufacturing highly feasible.
Pellet-fed systems that possess abrasion resistance characteristics with their processing barrels, such as that found on the BAAM machine and the Flexbot lines, make it possible for large format additive systems to extrude high volume thermoplastic short fiber composites at rates that are rapid. The niche market that AES has carved for large format additive printing has made highly accurate printing possible. After they developed this innovative software solution for this discipline, they were able to provide highly reliable large format additive printing. Beginning with optimized nozzle designs developed for simulations involving fluid-solid couplings, right up to the importance of meaningfully integrated hybrid processes, the experience that AES has acquired has mirrored this new reality for innovators within the 3D printing market for use within industrial applications.
Namely, it has demonstrated scale-up without impairing quality performance. AES’s company experience happens to excel for mechanical engineers innovators as well as for innovators within the overarching challenge for successfully practicing the use of 3D printing for this discipline. For their experience within this discipline, AES has currently pointed towards one imperative for all innovators whose processes involve large scale additive printing. Namely, innovation within this discipline occurs within different truthfully equally complex layers within all processes for large scale additive printing.
The challenge for innovators within the realm responsible for large scale additive printing is one that contains within it their own truthfully imperative quests for innovation. For AES’s experience within this discipline has pointed precisely within this direction. Namely, they have discovered that innovation within this discipline requires understanding different truthfully equally complex layers within all processes for large scale additive printing. Such are the layers for AES’s experience that there truly isn’t any one resolution especially within innovators for large scale additive printing regarding what’s left within their quests for innovation. For this discipline unique within this realm for innovators AES’s experience