2012年5月2日 星期三

Additive Manufacturing Will Change in the Next 5-10 Years

Manufacturers looking to shorten supply chains, eliminate shipping costs and reduce lead times can benefit from additive technologies. One of the top events is coming up this month: RAPID 2012 is an event that brings buyers, sellers and end-users of design,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, prototyping, tooling and direct manufacturing technologies together in an educational (and some sales) environment.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) RAPID 2012 Conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia this year on May 22 – 25. Everything from reverse engineering (via 3D Imaging) to medical/dental devices and implants, laser sintering (think 3D printing in metal), 3D printing with electronics embedded, and a lot more will be covered in this multi-day event.

Terry Wohlers (profiled here where he explains that AM/RP will be a $3.1 Billion industry) is the keynote speaker and is focused on sharing trends and future opportunities in additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing). “Additive manufacturing technologies create a world of possibilities that can take an organization in an entirely new direction and help launch new businesses and business models,” said Wohlers of Wohlers Associates. “3D printing and 3D imaging are causing design and manufacturing professional to rethink their approach to new product development.” His keynote presentation will reveal industry growth estimates and forecasts, emerging applications and new developments and business opportunities.

Despite a decade of financial hardships for many American-based manufacturers, additive manufacturing technologies offer a way for companies to get started on a shoestring (relatively speaking, depending on what you are making). If you have an existing company,The best rubbersheets products on sale, it doesn’t take much to add a rapid prototyping machine into the mix.

Several emerging trends,Welcome to projectorlamp. according to Wohlers, suggest where additive manufacturing is headed. Low-cost 3D printers have helped create visibility for the industry, making the technology more accessible to students, researchers, do-it-yourself enthusiasts, hobbyists, inventors and entrepreneurs. Designers and manufacturing engineers are extending their capabilities as additive manufacturing offers highly complex, geometric shapes and features. The development of high-performance polymers and metal-based systems offer unlimited possibilities for the production of end-use parts.

“Low-cost 3D printers are affecting both the professional and consumer markets. The increased sale of these machines over the past few years has taken additive manufacturing mainstream more than any other single development,” said Terry Wohlers. “As new additive manufacturing systems and materials become more widely adopted, I expect to see new designs that previously would have been very difficult or too expensive to manufacture.”

The RAPID event offers a tour of local manufacturers and companies that are using rapid prototyping technologies or concepts.

Tour participants will be guided through the rapid prototyping labs, prototype assembly rooms and the shop area of Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer and commercial products. In the lab they will see various Objet,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, Z Corp, Stratasys and EOS 3D printers in action. A visit to the prototype assembly rooms reveals engineers working on their prototype build as they work through their designs. A stop in the full metal and wood shop concludes the tour, where several CNC’s, mills, lathes, saws, sanders and drills are in use.

I would personally suggest laser cutters, CNC mills, and other DIY maker-type tools are also making it possible. See details on the Lasersaur (and open source laser cutter) and check out Epilog Laser (which I’m writing a few posts about over the next few months). While the higher-end commercial additive manufacturing equipment operates at a slightly better quality level, don’t rule out do-it-yourself options as the quality gap is shrinking. The $150 Multimachine is amazing and although it is technically “old” it is super accurate. Read this Make Projects post. Or look at what Inventables offered (pre-order option is sadly over) on its CNC Mill called Shapeoko.We offer the best ventilationsystem,

However, I’m fully aware of the trade-offs between home grown tooling and machinery and commercial products that come with tech support, maintenance agreements, and significant how-to manuals. As most readers here know, I’m a fan and advocate of the open source hardware and DIY movement, but there are solid reasons why companies choose commercial over DIY. RAPID 2012 will expose you to all that is commercially made, or at least the major providers of such machines.

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