Additive technology: description, definition, features of application and feedback. Additive technologies in industry

3D-printing technology appeared in 1986, when 3D Systems Company developed the first special printer - a machine for stereolithography, which was used in the defense industry. The first devices were extremely expensive, and the choice of material for creating models was limited. Rapid development of 3D printing began with the development of CAD (design, calculation and modeling (CAE) and mechanical processing (CAM) technologies. And today it is difficult to find a production area where 3D printers are not used: with their help, parts of aircraft, space vehicles, submarines, tools, prostheses and implants, jewelry, etc. are made. The prospect is obvious - additive technology will soon become a priority technology of engineering .

Leading countries of the world are actively included in the 3D race. So, in 2012 in Youngstown, Ohio, the National innovation institute of additive production NAMII - the first center of additive technologies from fifteen created in the USA was opened. The machine park of the Institute already has 10 additive machines, three of which are the most modern machines for creating metal parts.

Terminology and classification

The essence of additive technologies is to connect materials to create objects from the 3D model data layer by layer. In this way they differ from conventional subtractive manufacturing technologies, implying mechanical processing - removal of matter from the billet.

Additive technologies are classified:

• On the materials used (liquid, bulk, polymer, metal powder);
• By the presence of a laser;
• By the method of fixing the layer of construction (thermal exposure, irradiation with ultraviolet or visible light, a binder);
• By the method of forming the layer.

There are two ways of forming a layer. The first is that the powder material is first poured onto the platform, distributed by a roller or knife to create an even layer of material of a given thickness. There is a selective treatment of the powder with a laser or other method of joining powder particles (by fusing or gluing) according to the current cross-section of the CAD model. The plane of construction is unchanged, and some of the powder remains untouched. This method is called selective synthesis, as well as selective laser sintering, if the junction tool is a laser. The second method consists in directly depositing the material at the point of energy supply.

ASTM, which develops industry standards, divides 3D additive technologies into 7 categories.

1. Extrude the material. A paste-like material is fed to the construction point through a heated extruder, which is a mixture of a binder and a metal powder. The constructed crude model is placed in the oven in order to remove the binder and powder the powder - just as it does in traditional technologies. This additive technology is implemented under the brands MJS (Multiphase Jet Solidification, multi-phase jet curing), FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication, production by fusing filaments).
2. Spraying of the material. For example, in Polyjet technology, wax or photopolymer on a multi-jet head is fed to the construction site. This additive technology is also called Multi Jetting Material.
3. Spraying the binder. These include inkjet Ink-Jet injection technologies in the construction zone of a non-model material, and a binder reagent (add-on technology of ExOne).
4. Jointing of sheet materials. The building material is a polymer film, metal foil, sheets of paper, etc. Used, for example, in the technology of ultrasonic additive production Fabrisonic. Thin plates of metal are ultrasonically welded, after which excess metal is removed by milling. Additive technology is used in conjunction with the substrate.
5. Photopolymerization in the bath. The technology uses liquid model materials - photopolymer resins. An example is SLA technology from 3D Systems and DLP technology from Envisiontec, Digital Light Procession.
6. Melting the material in a pre-formed layer. Used in SLS-technologies, using as a source of energy laser or thermal head (SHS company Blueprinter).
7. Direct supply of energy to the construction site. The material and energy for its melting enter the point of construction simultaneously. As a working body, a head is used, equipped with a system for supplying energy and material. Energy comes in the form of a concentrated electron beam (Sciaky) or a laser beam (POM, Optomec,). Sometimes the head is installed on the "arm" of the robot.

This classification shows much more about the subtleties of additive technologies than the previous ones.

Applications

The market of additive technologies in the dynamics of development is ahead of other industries. Its average annual growth is estimated at 27% and, according to IDC, by 2019 will be 26.7 billion US dollars, compared with 11 billion in 2015.

However, the AT-market has yet to reveal untapped potential in the sphere of production of consumer goods. Up to 10% of companies' funds from the cost of production of goods are spent on its prototyping. And many companies have already occupied this market segment. But the remaining 90% go into production, so the creation of applications for the rapid production of goods will be the main direction of development of this industry in the future.

In 2014, the share of rapid prototyping in the market of additive technologies, although it decreased, remained the largest - 35%, the share of rapid production grew and reached 31%, the share in the creation of tools remained at 25%, the rest was research and education.

By branches of the economy the application of AT-technologies was distributed as follows:

• 21% - production of consumer goods and electronics;
• 20% - car manufacturing;
• 15% - medicine, including dentistry;
• 12% - aircraft construction and space industry;
• 11% - production of means of production;
• 8% - military equipment;
• 8% - education;
• 3% - construction.

Lovers and Professionals

The market of AT-technologies is divided into amateur and professional. The amateur market includes 3D printers and their service, which includes services, supplies, software, and is designed for individual enthusiasts, education and visualization of ideas and facilitating communication at the initial stage of the development of a new business.

Professional 3D printers are expensive and suitable for extended reproduction. They have a large construction area, productivity, accuracy, reliability, expanded range of model materials. These machines are an order of magnitude more complicated and require the mastering of special skills of working with the devices themselves, with model materials and software. As a rule, the specialist in additive technologies with higher technical education becomes the operator of a professional machine.

Additive technologies in 2015

According to the Wohlers Report 2015, from 1988 to 2014, 79,602 industrial 3D printers were installed worldwide. At the same time, 38.1% of devices costing more than 5 thousand US dollars accounted for the USA, 9.3% - for Japan, 9.2% - for China, and 8.7% - for Germany. The rest of the world is in a significant distance from the leaders. From 2007 to 2014, the annual sales of desktop printers grew from 66 to 139,584 devices. In 2014, 91.6% of sales accounted for desktop 3D printers and 8.4% - for industrial additive production facilities, the profit of which, however, was 86.6% of the total, or $ 1.12 billion in Absolute expression. Table machines were satisfied with $ 173.2 million and 13.4%. In 2016, sales are expected to increase to 7.3 billion US dollars, in 2018 - 12.7 billion, in 2020 the market will reach 21.2 billion dollars.

According to Wohlers, FDM-technology prevails, numbering about 300 brands around the world, replenishing daily with new modifications. Some of them are sold only locally, so it is very difficult, if at all possible, to find information on the number of brands produced by 3D printers. With confidence, we can say that their number on the market is increasing every day. There is a wide variety in sizes and technologies used. For example, the Berlin company BigRep produces a huge FDM printer called BigRep ONE.2 at a price of 36 thousand euros, capable of printing objects up to 900 x 1055 x 1100 mm with a resolution of 100-1000 microns, two extruders and the ability to use different materials.

Industry - for

The aviation industry is investing heavily in additive production. The use of additive technologies will reduce the consumption of materials used to manufacture parts by a factor of 10. It is expected that the company GE Aviation will annually print 40 thousand injectors. And by 2018 Airbus is going to print up to 30 tons of parts every month. The company notes significant progress in the characteristics of the parts produced in this way in comparison with the traditional ones. It turned out that the bracket, which was designed for 2.3 tons of load, in fact can withstand loads of up to 14 tons while reducing its weight by half. In addition, the company prints parts from aluminum sheet and fuel connectors. In Airbus there are 60 thousand parts printed on Fortus 3D printers from Stratasys. Other aerospace companies also use additive production technologies. Among them: Bell Helicopter, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Boeing, Embraer, Honeywell Aerospace, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and SpaceX.

Digital additive technologies are already used in the production of a variety of consumer products. Materialize, an additive manufacturing service, cooperates with Hoet Eyeware in the manufacture of spectacles for vision and sunglasses. 3D-models are provided by a variety of cloud services. Only 3D Warehouse and Sketchup offer 2.7 million samples. The fashion industry is also on the sidelines. RS Print uses a system that measures the pressure of the sole to print individual insoles. Designers experiment with bikinis, shoes and dresses.

Rapid prototyping

By rapid prototyping means the creation of a prototype product in the shortest possible time. It is one of the main applications of additive production technologies. The prototype is the prototype of the product necessary to optimize the shape of the part, evaluate its ergonomics, check the feasibility of assembly and the correctness of the layout solutions. That is why reducing the time of manufacturing the part allows you to significantly reduce development time. Also, the prototype can be a model designed for carrying out aerodynamic and hydrodynamic tests or checking the functionality of housing parts of household and medical equipment. Many prototypes are created as search design models with nuances in the configuration, colors of coloring, etc. For fast prototyping inexpensive 3D printers are used.

Fast production

Additive technologies in the industry have great prospects. Small-scale production of products with complex geometry and of specific materials is common in shipbuilding, power engineering, reconstructive surgery and dental medicine, and the aerospace industry. The direct cultivation of metal products here is motivated by economic expediency, since this method of production was less costly. With the use of additive technologies, the working bodies of turbines and shafts, implants and endoprostheses, spare parts for cars and airplanes are produced.

The development of fast production was also facilitated by a significant expansion of the number of available metal-powder materials. If in 2000 there were 5-6 kinds of powders, now a wide nomenclature is offered, calculated in dozens of compositions from structural steels to precious metals and heat-resistant alloys.

Advanced and additive technologies in mechanical engineering, where they can be used in the manufacture of tools and Devices for serial production - inserts for thermoplastic automata, molds, templates.

Ultimaker 2 - the best 3D-printer in 2016

According to the magazine CHIP, which tested and compared the characteristics of household 3D printers, the best printers of 2016 are Ultimaker 2 models from Ultimaker 2, Conrad's Reniforce RF1000 and MakerBot's Replicator Desktop 3D Printer.

Ultimaker 2+ in its improved model uses the technology of modeling by fusing. The 3D printer has the smallest layer thickness of 0.02 mm, a short calculation time, a low printing cost (2600 rubles per 1 kg of material). Main characteristics:

• The size of the working chamber is 223 x 223 x 305 mm;
• Weight - 12.3 kg;
• Head size - 0,25 / 0,4 / 0,6 / 0,8 mm;
• Head temperature - 180-260 ° C;
• The resolution of the layer is 150-60 / 200-20 / 400-20 / 600-20 microns;
• Printing speed - 8-24 mm ³ / s;
• Accuracy XYZ - 12,5-12,55 microns;
• Material - PLA, ABS, CPE with a diameter of 2.85 mm;
• Software - Cura;
• Supported file types - STL, OBJ, AMF;
• Power consumption - 221 W;
• Price - 1 895 euros basic model and 2 495 euros advanced.

According to customers, the printer is easy to install and use. They note high resolution, self-regulating bed, a wide variety of used materials, the use of open source software. The disadvantages of the printer include an open design of the printer, which can lead to a burn with hot material.

LulzBot Mini 3D Printer

In the review of the magazine PC Magazine Ultimaker 2 and Replicator Desktop 3D Printer are also among the top three, but here in the first place was the printer LulzBot Mini 3D Printer. Its specifications are as follows:

• The size of the working chamber is 152 x 152 x 158 mm;
• Weight - 8,55 kg;
• Head temperature - 300 ° C;
• The thickness of the layer is 0.05-0.5 mm;
• Print speed - 275 mm / s at a layer height of 0.18 mm;
• Material - PLA, ABS, HIPS, PVA, PETT, polyester, nylon, polycarbonate, PETG, PCTE, PC-ABS, etc. with a diameter of 3 mm;
• Software - Cura, OctoPrint, BotQueue, Slic3r, Printrun, MatterControl, etc .;
• Power consumption - 300 W;
• Price - 1 250 US dollars.

Sciaky EBAM 300

One of the best industrial machines of additive production is the EBAM 300 company Sciaky. Electron-beam guns apply layers of metal at a speed of up to 9 kg per hour.

• The size of the working chamber is 5791 x 1219 x 1219 mm;
• The pressure of the vacuum chamber is 1x10 ^-4 Torr;
• Power consumption - up to 42 kW at a voltage of 60 kV;
• Technology - extrusion;
• Material - titanium and titanium alloys, tantalum, inconel, tungsten, niobium, stainless steel, aluminum, steel, copper-nickel alloy (70/30 and 30/70);
• The maximum volume is 8605.2 liters;
• Price - 250 thousand US dollars.

Additive technologies in Russia

Machines of industrial class in Russia are not produced. So far, only developments in the "Rosatom", the laser center of the MSTU. Bauman, Stankin University, Polytechnic University of Petersburg, Ural Federal University. "Voronezhselimmash", which produces educational and household 3D printers "Alpha", is developing an industrial additive installation.

The same situation with consumables. The leader in the development of powders and powder compositions in Russia is VIAM. They produce powder for additive technologies, used in the repair of turbine blades, commissioned by the Perm Aviadvigatel. Progress is also in the All-Russian Institute of Light Alloys (VILS). Developments are carried out by various engineering centers throughout the Russian Federation. Rostekh, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, UrFU are developing their own designs. But they are not able to satisfy even a small demand of 20 tons of powder per year.

In this regard, the government instructed the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Communications, RAS, FAO, Roskosmos, Rosatom, Rosstandart, development institutions to create a coordinated program of research and development. To this end, it is proposed to allocate additional budgetary allocations, as well as to consider the possibility of co-financing from the funds of the NWF and other sources. It is recommended to support new production technologies, including additive ones, RVC, Rosnano, Skolkovo fund, export agency Exar, Vnesheconombank. Also, the government, represented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will prepare a section of the state program for developing and enhancing the competitiveness of industry.