Thursday, May 31, 2012

Additive Manufacturing of DMLS Parts

Why would we want to use Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) to additively manufacture metal components? 

I have several reasons and below I will explain them to you. 

  1. Reduce waste: Because DMLS builds parts directly from CAD data and doesn't cut the part with a mill from a block of material this allows you to reduce your waste costs giving your component the idea of being "green". The advantage to being a "green" process means that with little waste there is little cost. 
  2. No tooling costs: This is significant cost savings, in the past you would be limited to your design to build a tool and metal injection mold your part. Imagine you only have a few hundred parts to make and pay $20,000 dollars for your tool and be limited in your design, heck no, I don't want to imagine that....Thats because I love DMLS. 
  3. Freedom of design: Whats amazing about the process is the fact you can create channels within the part, this is great for conformal cooling for injection molding and or cooling of turbine blades in aerospace applications (considering most of those blades can get as hot as 1000 degrees c.). Also, depending on the component you may be able to put in undercuts that typically would be difficult to machine, this is great for the process because you can put several parts on one build tray and just walk away as they build (its not that simple as you need to remove supports etc.).
  4. Little to no inventory: We call this direct digital printing, this can save you thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars on inventory. Now you can print as needed, in the past it was pay for tooling then making thousands of parts. It is so much easier now, send a PO to the service provider and then wait a few days for your part to arrive (in some cases your service provider can send your parts direct to your customer). 
  5. Speed: Now with additive manufacturing of DMLS components you can receive a completed job in most cases within a week. I think we can all agree how speed is a huge advantage in today's market. 

Why are the 5 points above so great in the manufacturing industry? Its simple, you reduce cost, help automate processes and allow for design of manufacturability for direct metal laser sintering.

There have been several advocates of additive manufacturing of DMLS components as well as several companies who have already adopted this technology as their new manufacturing process. For instance; Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Stryker, BMW, GM, Bugati and GE, just to name a few. You can read about additive manufacturing in Industry Week magazine, Economist Magazine, People Magazine and many more. Additive manufacturing is going mainstream, will you jump on board or be left behind?


Tim Ruffner
V.P. NBD / Marketing Manager
GPI Prototype & Manufacturing Services, Inc.
Phone: 847.615.8900
Email: Timr@GPIprototype.com

Check out our YouTube Channel for Videos on DMLS and GPI
http://www.YouTube.com/GPIprototype

13 comments:

  1. Its important to point out that this is a complex and in the 1000's of euro price range project. Your largely self producing printer is possible in the commercial setting with either laser or electron beam printing parts (as the commercial machines indicate), but due to the power transfer inefficiency from wall socket to most common metals via lasers being 50 times worse than in electron beams, available home lasers would print too slowly (an exception to this is laser to steel:80%)( typically a CO2 laser in copper 1.6% energy transfer efficiency, So a 400W energy to metal therefore requires a 25000 W laser, current home build lasers are considered large at 30W), therefore lasers would limit achievable part size to 10's of cm3( e.g. 3cm x3cmx3cm) with a 2 day print duration, which makes it impracticably slow for self replicating printers. (For further proof try our Laser 808 Build Speed Calculator get from bottom of this page link here. http://reprap.org/wiki/Discussion_of_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_different_Tool_head_processes.) good luck with it MetalicaRap team! , http://reprap.org/wiki/MetalicaRap

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simply marvelous!!! Your article provides a fresh new insight to this topic which was yet undiscovered. I must say your research skills are sharp and your narration is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice information about additively manufacture Metal Components.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for sharing this great information which is important for us. Keep me more updates.

    metal prototyping-Best Rapid Prototyping

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for providing the fresh insight to sintered components. Sintering the products especially bearings and bushes are really useful in long terms.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Metal Components are the best when it comes vehicles since these metal components are created with high quality so that they give vehicles a longer life.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post! Been reading about this process a lot recently. Thanks for all the info!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This paragraph is truly a pleasant one it assists new the web people, who are wishing in favor of blogging.
    SEO Company

    ReplyDelete
  9. Among the top choices for wood materials are oaks, pines and even Birch trees. These materials are durable and can easily blend with any home design or interiors. These materials are also ideal as floor materials for office and residential properties.

    Best Abrasive Products

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is one of the nice article i had read it usefull article,thanks for giving such a great article.keep it go.


    Mitsubishi laser parts

    ReplyDelete
  11. I will recommend anyone looking for Business loan to Le_Meridian they helped me with Four Million USD loan to startup my Quilting business and it's was fast When obtaining a loan from them it was surprising at how easy they were to work with. They can finance up to the amount of $500,000.000.00 (Five Hundred Million Dollars) in any region of the world as long as there 1.9% ROI can be guaranteed on the projects.The process was fast and secure. It was definitely a positive experience.Avoid scammers on here and contact Le_Meridian Funding Service On. lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com / lfdsloans@outlook.com. WhatsApp...+ 19893943740. if you looking for business loan.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I'm using the same blog platform as yours and I'm having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!Lens Protection Glass Amada south africa

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, what an insightful read! Your ability to articulate complex concepts in such a clear and engaging manner is truly impressive. I appreciate the depth of research evident in your writing, which not only educates but also stimulates critical thinking. Looking forward to more thought-provoking content from you! Also Don't Forget To Visit my Blog Also:

    Cool-Facts-About-Air-Cooler-Manufacturers-You-Didnt-Know-That

    Commercial-Air-Coolers-Affordable-Cooling

    ReplyDelete