3d printing - material capabilities

3D printing has broken free of its novelty nature and is becoming the tool of choice to replace many traditionally complex and labour intensive tasks, thanks in no small part to the capabilities of the various materials now being commonly used.

 

Koenigsegg are currently using 3D printing technology to produce a variable speed turbo charger in stainless steel and currently use these in their production super-cars. These turbos proved difficult to cast using traditional methods, but by utilising an additive manufacturing process, these units are now printed with the internal parts completed within the unit at time of print.

 

NASA have successfully test fired a new 3D printed rocket-engine fuel injector. The injector replaced an earlier unit comprised of 115 different parts. The replacement 3D printed unit has 2 parts and is had only two parts and represents a simplified design which was not available using traditional manufacturing techniques.

 

Anecdotally these examples show how leaders in their respective fields are benefiting from the adoption of additive manufacturing techniques. Laser based 3D printing systems are now capable of working with various metals at commercial levels, including titanium, nickel, stainless steel, and aluminium to name but a few. Many of these metals suffer little in the way of tensile or yield strengths in comparison to the annealed counterparts.

 

When added to the high accuracy nylon available from laser based systems, and the plethora or materials available for use in FDM printing, some customers can find themselves facing a wider choice of materials than they may have expected. Highlights of FDM materials include compositions using carbon-fibre, titanium, cobalt, bronze and wood, as well as more traditional materials such as flexible rubber, low cost PLA and even some fully recycled filaments.

 

 

 

form 3d services ltd was formed in June 2014. we are specialists in additive manufacturing and 3d print solutions.

our goal is to provide high-end, high value outcomes to suit the project requirements of our customers

based in north east scotland, form 3d have nearly 40 years combined experience in the engineering and oil and gas

sectors. combined with our extensive experience in additive manufacturing, we believe this puts us in a strong

position to partner with all industries and educational establishments

through collaboration with our clients we aim to enhance the customer experience and subsequent deliveries by

understanding their business and products, and offering advice on how projects can be best served by the additive

manufacturing industry

options to further augment certain products may include lighting and simulation effects, local web servers via

embedded wi-fi hotspots, or intelligent assessment to allow models to react to changes in their environment

all products are offered a range of plastics and metals and in a variety of finish qualities. parts are protected by

suitable lacquer products where applicable. colours are customer defined and may be chosen to suit model context

or custom mixed to match company branding, as required

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