3D PRINTING FEATURE WHEN TO USE METAL 3D PRINTING Many people are confused by where and when to use Additive manufacture (AM) and selective laser melting (SLM). Firstly, the difference between subtractive manufacture and additive manufacture needs to be defined. It simply comes down to where you spend your time and money. If you spend your time and money removing material to create the part you want, that is subtractive manufacture. If you spend your time and money adding material to create the part from nothing, that is additive manufacture. For example, turning/milling/grinding are subtractive manufacture. Starting with a billet of material, you spend money making swarf. To save cost you often leave as much material on the part as possible resulting in a nonoptimised part. Casting/molding are additive manufacturing techniques as the material is placed onto the part, however, these techniques require a large tooling component, hence cost, and a lack of flexibility to change. Also, the parts must be relatively simple to make the tooling feasible. Selective laser melting (3D printing of metals) is purely additive manufacture and requires no tooling. Each change in design is easily handled in the programming. Highly complex and hollow parts are easily achievable allowing optimised design. At RAM3D, the parts seen on a daily basis generally fit into one of the following three categories… Prototype Usually a part more suited to a casting/ moulding type process but is still being developed. RAM3D can make your parts in metal to a fully functional state prior to any investment in tooling for production. The part will cost more than a cast part but there are no tooling costs and the part can be altered easily between revisions. Stand 139 If you are open to redesign, then SLM is a viable production method and is cost competitive for parts that have been optimised for the process. On many occasions, RAM3D has clients wanting a one-off prototype that is often a solid piece destined for casting or similar. The RAM3D designers can offer a design service or advise the customer how to alter the part’s design to make the part stronger, lighter, and therefore cost competitive using dedicated design for production, using additive manufacture. Part direct replacement This is often a tricky area where a customer just wants to try/test the technology by making a part that is currently made by another process. RAM3D can do this but the result will often be more expensive, since the part is not designed for the process. The best way forward in these situations is to give the RAM3D designers the existing part design, tell us what the part is used for and include geometric constraints, loading and material. They will suggest improvements to remove mass from the part without compromising strength. This will improve the part by reducing weight and will greatly decrease the cost; making it competitive with the current method of manufacture. Example of a connection lug of one of Bastion Cycles custom made parts for Carbon-Fibre bicycle. www. ram3d.co.nz info@ram3d.co.nz, ph: +64 7 557 0344 EN158 18 April 2017 www.facebook.com/ram3dprinting 50 Paerangi Place, Tauriko Business Park, Tauranga 3171
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