BASF will invest in additional production capacity for its X3D technology, a new additive manufacturing technology for catalysts based on 3D printing. The plant will produce catalysts on an industrial scale and is expected to be operational in 2026. The X3D technology represents a transformative leap in catalyst design and... Read more →
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory have developed and 3D printed the lightest crack-free alloy capable of operating without melting at temperatures above 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit. This milestone could enable additively manufactured turbine blades to better handle extreme temperatures, reducing the carbon footprint of... Read more →
Researchers from Zhejiang University have developed 3D photo-printable resin chemistry that yields an elastomer with tensile strength of 94.6 MPa and toughness of 310.4 MJ m-3—both of which far exceed that of any 3D printed elastomer. A paper on their work is published in the journal Nature. Three-dimensional (3D) printing... Read more →
A new $2.6-million project led by the University of Michigan seeks to improve electric motor efficiency, reduce costs and ultimately make the motors without heavy rare-earth elements. The 3-year project is funded by the Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Office. The researchers will advance an emerging technique called “laser powder... Read more →
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used additive manufacturing to produce the first defect-free complex tungsten parts for use in extreme environments. The accomplishment could have positive implications for clean-energy technologies such as fusion energy. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal, making it ideal for fusion reactors... Read more →
At the Additive Manufacturing Campus in Oberschleißheim, the BMW Group is trialling wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), in which a wire made of aluminium or similar is melted using an arc. Then a software-controlled robot places a large number of welding seams on top of each other with precision, until... Read more →
Today’s electrical motors are generally made by cutting and moulding pieces from a metal sheet. 3D printing can radically increase efficiency and reduce material consumption. 3D printing larger motor parts has proven difficult, however, as the parts become too brittle and may easily break. Through an EU-funded project together with... Read more →
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully tested a novel, 3D-printed Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) (earlier post) for 251 seconds producing more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. The RDRE differs from a traditional rocket engine by generating thrust using a supersonic combustion phenomenon known as... Read more →
America Makes and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing, Version 3.0, developed by the America Makes and ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC). The roadmap describes the current and desired future standardization landscape for additive manufacturing (AM), and focuses on... Read more →
Equipmake, a UK developer and manufacturer of electrification products for battery-electric vehicle drivetrains, will be showcasing its Ampere-220 e-axle system—a compact, lightweight, high-power electric drive system for manufacturers of high-performance EVs—at Battery Show Europe this week. Combining 3D-printed electric motors with all power electronics, including the company’s own silicon carbide... Read more →
Sakuu Corporation launched its safer, high energy, high power density Li-Metal Cypress cell chemistry for licensing to battery manufacturers using roll-to-roll manufacturing technology. Sakuu said that Cypress delivers a combination of performance characteristics for battery manufacturers, notably: High power: 8C pulse discharge, 3C continuous discharge Energy density: 750+ Wh/l Industry-standard... Read more →
Constellium SE announced that its Aheadd CP1 aluminum additive manufacturing powder was approved for use in Formula 1 cars beginning in the 2024 season. Constellium has partnered with Velo3D and PWR Advanced Cooling Technology to start providing highly efficient, compact, and lightweight heat exchangers for Formula 1 vehicles along with... Read more →
America Makes and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) released a draft of the Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 3.0) for public review and comment. Developed by the America Makes and ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC), the roadmap was last published in June 2018. It identifies key issues,... Read more →
Sakuu Corporation, an additive manufacturing and solid-state battery technology company, announced promising results from its ongoing testing of a novel printable lithium formulation from Livent for use in Sakuu’s 3D printed batteries. Sakuu is collaborating with Livent Corporation under an existing joint development agreement (JDA) for the use of Livent’s... Read more →
Sakuu Corporation (earlier post) has successfully and consistently 3D-printed fully functional high-performance batteries in custom shapes and sizes since December 2022. These batteries were printed as patterned cells containing patterned openings for thermal management, in a fully dry process, at Sakuu’s Silicon Valley battery pilot line facility. This marks a... Read more →
Nebrija University (Spain) students undertook the redesign and technological improvement of a car of the Sodicars team that took part in the 2023 Dakar Rally in the top-class category (T1).The 3D printing technology used by ArcelorMittal at its R&D&I Center, combined with the smart design algorithms of Nebrija University, have... Read more →
Sakuú, the developer of 3D-printed Swift Print solid-state battery technology (earlier post), has selected Porsche Consulting, a subsidiary of the automotive manufacturer Porsche, to lead all aspects of design for its planned global gigafactories. The relationship will ensure that Sakuú has expertise secured for building gigafactories to meet its 2030... Read more →
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have identified a mechanism in a 3D-printed alloy—termed “load shuffling”—that could enable the design of better-performing lightweight materials for vehicles. A paper on their work is published in the journal Acta Materialia. One way to improve energy efficiency in vehicles is to make them lighter... Read more →
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with collaborators from Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are advancing the Exascale Additive Manufacturing project (ExaAM). ExaAM seeks to use exascale simulation to enable the design of... Read more →
Desktop Metal, a leader in mass production additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, received a $9-million order from a major German automaker for binder jet additive manufacturing systems used for mass production of powertrain components. This is the second order from the same automaker in less than 12 months, bringing the total... Read more →
6K Additive, a division of 6K, a leader in the sustainable production of engineered materials for additive manufacturing and lithium-ion batteries, and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT are collaborating to create a complete life cycle assessment (LCA) for additive manufacturing. The study will use sustainably manufactured Ni718 powder produced... Read more →
BASF has introduced the novel X3D technology, a new additive manufacturing technology for catalysts based on 3D printing. Catalysts produced with this technology feature an open structure, resulting in a reduction of the pressure drop across the reactor and a high surface area, significantly improving the catalysts’ performance. BASF has... Read more →
Sakuu, developer of the first 3D printed solid-state battery (earlier post), entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japan’s NGK Spark Plugs CO., LTD. (NGK), a global leader in electrochemical materials and a tier-one industrial automotive supplier. Under the MOU, NGK will co-develop and provide ceramic materials for Sakuu’s... Read more →
Sakuú, developer of the first 3D-printed solid-state battery (earlier post), has opened a multi-faceted engineering hub for its battery platform printing initiatives in Silicon Valley. This multi-million dollar buildout follows the recent opening of Sakuú’s battery pilot line facility currently producing batteries for clients and the company’s successful follow-on funding... Read more →
A project consortium funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and led by the BMW Group was launched three years ago, with small and mid-sized enterprises, large companies and research institutes. The common goal was to revolutionize metal 3D printing in standard automotive production. The 12... Read more →
Blackstone Technology GmbH may begin commercialization of 3D-printed solid-state sodium-ion batteries as early as 2025. Blackstone, together with a German industry and research consortium, will take the validated laboratory results of the 3D-printed solid-state batteries to the stage of demonstration in a real environment within the next three years. The... Read more →
At Ford’s Advanced Manufacturing Center, a mobile robot from KUKA operates the 3D printers completely on its own. Called Javier by Ford’s additive manufacturing operators, the robot is integral to the company’s development of an industry-first process to operate 3D Carbon printers with an autonomous mobile robot rather than a... Read more →
Sakuu, developer of the first 3D-printed solid-state battery (earlier post), reports achieving an energy-density of 800 Wh/L in its first-generation non-printed lithium-metal battery. The company said this marks a significant milestone on Sakuu’s roadmap to fully 3D printable solid-state batteries capable of greater than 1200 Wh/L by 2023. Until now,... Read more →
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have additively manufactured (3D-printed) a lightweight aluminum alloy and demonstrated its ability to resist creep or deformation at 300 ˚Celsius. Materials that can perform under high pressure, high temperature environments are needed for automotive, aerospace, defense and space applications. The alloy, which combines aluminum with... Read more →
The ExOne Company, a leading provider of industrial sand and metal 3D printers using binder jetting technology, is collaborating with startup Maxxwell Motors on development of a unique copper e-winding design for its innovative axial flux electric motors, which can be used in electric cars as well as a range... Read more →
Four first-of-a-kind 3D-printed fuel assembly brackets, produced at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have been installed and are now under routine operating conditions at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in Athens, Alabama. The components were developed in collaboration... Read more →
Sakuú Corporation (previously KeraCel Inc.), a developer of multi-process additive manufacturing (AM) technology, has produced a 3Ah lithium-metal solid-state battery (SSB) that equals or betters current lithium-ion batteries. (Earlier post.) Sakuú has been developing its first-generation SSB battery technology alongside its additive manufacturing platform, set for commercial launch by the... Read more →
Solid-state battery technology developer Sakuu Corporation (previously KeraCel Inc.) recently announced the approval of three patents: a hybrid solid-state cell with a sealed anode structure; an additive manufacturing system with the ability to create an active device such as a micro-reactor or solid-state battery; and an electrophotographic multi-material 3D printer.... Read more →
Volkswagen is pressing ahead with the use of 3D printers in car production. For the first time, binder jetting is being used to manufacture components at the company’s main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. (earlier post) Whereas conventional 3D printing uses a laser to build a component layer by layer from... Read more →
Desktop Metal, a provider of mass-production additive-manufacturing (AM) solutions, has qualified the use of 4140 low-alloy steel for the Production System platform, which leverages patent-pending Single Pass Jetting (SPJ) technology designed to achieve the fastest build speeds in the metal additive manufacturing industry. Desktop Metal is the first and only... Read more →
Rio Tinto has successfully developed and tested a steel powder designed for 3-D printing applications at its Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) metallurgical complex in Sorel-Tracy, Québec. The water-atomized steel powder delivers mechanical properties superior to conventional metal manufacturing techniques, paving the way for advances in the use of... Read more →
In a project co-funded by Ford Motor Company and the ExOne Company, a team of engineers, material scientists, and manufacturing experts has developed a patent-pending process for rapid and reliable binder jet 3D printing and sintering of aluminum 6061 that delivers properties comparable to die casting. Aluminum 6061 is one... Read more →
The US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded nearly $4 million in grants to help accelerate the adoption of new measurement methods and standards to advance US competitiveness in metals-based additive manufacturing (AM). Additive manufacturing typically creates parts and components by building them layer... Read more →
Porsche has produced its first complete housing for an electric drive using 3D printing. The engine-gearbox unit produced using the additive laser fusion process passed all the quality and stress tests without any problems. This proves that additive manufacturing with all its advantages is also suitable for larger and highly-stressed... Read more →
In Brazil, Gerdau and Braskem signed a partnership with the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and Alkimat Tecnologia to develop innovative solutions for the electromobility segment using additive manufacturing (3D printing). The project will target components for vehicle transmission systems, with the potential to leverage the expansion of Brazil’s electric... Read more →
Porsche already uses 3D printing technology in prototype construction, manufacturing spare parts for classic sports cars and in other areas. Now, in cooperation with its partners MAHLE and Trumpf, Porsche is now establishing a new milestone in the use of additive manufacturing processes for highly-stressed drive components. For the first... Read more →
The BMW Group has officially opened its new Additive Manufacturing Campus. The new center brings together production of prototype and series parts under one roof, along with research into new 3D printing technologies, and associate training for the global rollout of toolless production. The €15-million campus will allow the BMW... Read more →
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and collaborators have used an additive manufacturing technique, called cold-spray deposition, to create thermoelectric generators that can harvest waste heat—a huge untapped resource—from previously inaccessible sources, such as pipes with complex geometries. The generators display good performance over a wide temperature range. A... Read more →
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods to confirm the consistency and reliability of its printed components. The Transformational Challenge Reactor Demonstration Program’s approach... Read more →
Digital manufacturing innovator VELO3D announced the commercial release of a manufacturing process for additively manufactured parts in Aluminum F357 on the company’s Sapphire metal 3D-printing system. Aluminum F357 is a beryllium-free aluminum-silicon alloy, similar to A357. It has excellent weldability and corrosion resistance. The foundry-grade aluminum alloy, suitable for the... Read more →
Researchers from Texas A&M University, in collaboration with scientists in the Air Force Research Laboratory, have developed guidelines that allow 3D printing of martensitic steels into very sturdy, defect-free objects of nearly any shape. A paper on their work is published in the journal Acta Materialia. Steels are made of... Read more →
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego and their colleagues have designed 3D-printed, coral-inspired structures capable of growing dense populations of microscopic algae. The National Science Foundation-funded work, reported in an open-access paper in the journal Nature Communications,... Read more →
Ford Motor Company, joining forces with firms including 3M and GE Healthcare, is lending its manufacturing and engineering expertise to expand quickly production of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies for healthcare workers, first responders and patients fighting COVID-19. In addition, Ford plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields... Read more →
Stratasys Ltd. announced a global mobilization of the company’s 3D printing resources and expertise to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, spanning its Stratasys, GrabCAD, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing and partner network with donated printing capacity across all regions. The initial focus is on providing thousands of disposable face shields for use... Read more →
Porsche has presented an innovative alternative to conventional bucket seat upholstery with the concept study “3D-printed bodyform full-bucket seat”. Here, the central section of the seat—i.e., the seat and backrest cushions—is partly produced by a 3D-printer. Customers will be able to choose between three firmness levels (hard, medium, soft) for... Read more →