AM Radio

Additive manufacturing (AM) has overcome many obstacles to become an accepted production method in spaces where it makes sense. But the work is not done yet. Manufacturers who are now applying 3D printing for ongoing production at scale are discovering how issues that seemed small at first are now growing into problems that need solutions. In this episode, hosts Stephanie Hendrixson and Peter Zelinski discuss six of these challenges. Want to tell us yours? Email [email protected] and we might feature your comment in a future episode.

This episode is brought to you by The Cool Parts Show.

Mentioned in this episode:

• How scaling into production revealed sustainability challenges at Sintavia
• More on the method for passivating condensate developed by Sintavia, KBM and AMGTA
• Inside the GKN Additive production facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan
• Additive Industries' Powder Load Tool
• Single build with over 2,000 parts on Nexa3D photopolymer machine
• AM WTF: Why the Failure? video series with Dr. Tim Simpson
• Growing pains Tangible Solutions has faced, including adapting an ERP system for production 3D printing of spine implants
• How RP+M's ERP choice differs from that of the injection molding business that launched it
• How Evco used email capability to automate a print cell with a cobot
• How Ford developed and deploys Javier, a mobile cobot
• 3D printing for production at Siemens Energy
• Stephanie's encounter with Solukon at Formnext 2021
• Eaton's investment in metal additive manufacturing including GE Additive equipment for both printing and depowdering
• The DMG MORI 3D printed machine tool adapter which required a special depowdering strategy

Additive manufacturing is changing the possibilities for working with ceramics. Julia Hider and Peter Zelinski take stock of this, discussing various 3D printing processes making use of ceramic material and various applications benefiting from this. This leads to a conversation about the cases where additive is providing an alternative to casting.

This episode brought to you by The Cool Parts Show.

Mentioned on this episode:

• Deka Research 3D printed component in Mar M 247
• Chaos Ultra-Car ceramic piston made with XJet material jetting
• Hyperion 3D printing of tungsten carbide via binder jetting
• GE Additive/Kennametal partnership around binder jetting of tungsten carbide
• Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation and silicon carbide 3D printing for micro reactors
• 3D printing in clay by MadeXBinary
• 3D printed ceramic implant able to substitute for bone
• Aristo Cast ceramic forms used to make complex metal castings
• Alloy Enterprises and sheet lamination of aluminum
• Eaton's conversation of cast parts to AM

Pete Zelinski, Stephanie Hendrixson and Julia Hider recap additive manufacturing technology on display and other discoveries at IMTS--The International Manufacturing Technology Show in a live taping of AM Radio recorded from the AM4U stage at the show. Then, our hosts share insights from this year's co-located Additive Manufacturing Conference, which next year will transform into the Formnext Forum.

This episode is brought to you by the The Cool Parts Show.

Mentioned in this episode:

• IMTS—The International Manufacturing Technology Show
• Additive Manufacturing Conference
• Reporting on medical manufacturer RMS
• Our previous conversation on Formnext USA and the Formnext Forum

In additive manufacturing, design and production must inform each other — but do they need to live under the same roof or the same ownership? In this episode, Stephanie Hendrixson and Julia Hider consider business models that separate design from production, and in some cases provide the consumer substantial agency in the manufacturing process. Then, they discuss Artemis I and the various ways 3D printing is enabling or will advance space exploration.

This episode is brought to you by the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Julia's 3D printed hippo phone stand
• Spokbee's platform which allows for designers to sell customizable products that are 3D printed on demand
• Angled, another sales platform for designers that also provides production services via Slant3D printer farms
• Gantri, a lighting-focused sales platform
• The Future of Jewelry, which allows consumers an even larger role in the design of custom signet rings
• Maxwell June, the company founded and run by Rob Glenn based on his invention of a razor and blade press
• Our previous episode on 3D printing and inventors
• Artemis the cat expressing her support of Artemis I
• 6 ways that additive manufacturing will aid space exploration
• Aerojet Rocketdyne's pogo components
• Masten Space Systems' Broadsword engine combustion chamber on The Cool Parts Show
• 3D printed ESD parts on the Orion spacecraft
• Wrench printed via Made In Space on the International Space Station in 2014
• Overview and habitat renderings from NASA's MMPACT project
• IMTS — The International Manufacturing Technology Show, September 12-17

Cohosts of the video series and AM Radio Pete Zelinski and Stephanie Hendrixson reflect on three years and 50 episodes of The Cool Parts Show and what it means. Then, Pete, Stephanie and videographer Austin Grogan share their favorite episodes.

This episode is brought to you by the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Cool Parts Show
• Our 50th episode on Lincoln Electric's mixer bearing housing
• Pete's favorite episode, on a vacuum accessory made by Dustless that was reshored thanks to 3D printing
• The Cool Pen Show bonus episode
• Stephanie's favorite episode, on a custom helmet for jiu-jitsu enthusiast Sarah Piersanti
• Austin's favorite episode, on the hull of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
• Stephanie's BAAM elevator ride

Manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs) seem to be adopting additive manufacturing (AM) more readily into production than the conventional automotive industry and other transportation segments have. This adoption is in part because of the functional and geometric possibilities that additive brings, but it is also because EVs are being made in lower quantities and represent new product platforms without existing supply chains, tooling and processes to contend with. In this episode of the AM Radio podcast, Julia Hider and I discuss various ways that AM is and could be used to advance the future of transportation based on electric vehicles.

Mentioned in this episode:

• AM for Electric Vehicles microsite (gbm.media/AM4EV)
• Ways additive is being used for EVs
• The GM seat bracket and what it says about the company's electric future
• Topology optimized components 3D printed for a car raced in the 2021 Dakar Rally
• Cobra Moto's first-ever electric motocross bike
• Digital edition of our July/August issue, highlighting the electric bike
• Sakuu's multimaterial 3D printing technique for manufacturing solid-state batteries
• Photocentric's digital light processing (DLP) technique for printing battery electrodes
• How Extol produces functional prototypes and bridge production plastic parts for the EV market and others
• How GKN Additive uses polymer and metal 3D printing to support EV and other customers
• Webinar featuring an expert from Pix, developer of the "ultra skateboard chassis" for EVs (available on demand)

Additional resources:

• Webinar on addressing accelerated timelines for EVs with 3D printing (available on demand)
• On Automotive, a weekly newsletter focused on the global auto industry with frequent EV and AM content

Headed to IMTS--The International Manufacturing Technology Show, and curious about the additive manufacturing value there? Peter Zelinski and Julia Hider share insights about the show including the difference between two major AM events, what to expect on the AM4U stage, and general tips for surviving and thriving at the tradeshow. IMTS takes place in Chicago, September 12-17.

This episode of AM Radio is brought to you by The Cool Parts Show.

• IMTS
• AMT—The Association for Manufacturing Technology
• Exhibitors at the IMTS Additive Manufacturing Pavilion
• Stratasys's Acquisition of Origin
• Nexa3D
• The Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS
• Tim Simpson's Column
• CIMP-3D
• The Additive Manufacturing for Job Shops Workshop
• Previous Episode of AM Radio with Discussion of Project DIAMOnD
• Previous Episode of AM Radio that Covers Formnext USA
• Five Tips to Prepare for IMTS
• IMTS MyShow Planner

Additive manufacturing contains more than 3D printing, but even this term carries multiple meanings. 3D printing might mean extruding plastic, or depositing binder into metal, or melting material with lasers, or any number of other things. In this episode, Stephanie Hendrixson and Peter Zelinski try to stump each other with some unusual 3D printing processes and consider whether the "Seven Families of Additive Manufacturing Technologies" are still relevant 10 years after they were created.

This episode is brought to you by the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 101
• Meld Manufacturing's solid-state process based on friction stir welding
• Grid Logic's multimaterial powder bed technology
• Fabrisonic's Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing and application examples
• More on Massivit's Gel Dispensing Printing and how it can be applied for Cast In Motion, a way of quickly producing tooling for composites

• Moldjet process, as described in a video from Tritone

• A downloadable and printable version of ASTM's 7 Families of Additive Manufacturing
• Cold spray 3D printing from Spee3D
• Vatless vat photopolymerization from BCN3D
• Metal FFF options from Rapidia, Markforged, Desktop Metal and BASF
• Want to weigh in? Find us on LinkedIn

Modern Machine Shop senior editor Matt Danford joins Julia Hider to discuss five trends in digital manufacturing that are playing out for both machining and 3D printing.

This episode is brought to you by the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Data Matters, Matt Danford's Modern Machine Shop column covering Industry 4.0 in machining
• Matt's column about Five 3D Printing Trends Mirrored in Machining
• HP's Digital Manufacturing Trends Report
• Article about micro mold shop Accumold's use of micro 3D printing for prototyping
• Advanced Precision Engineering, which uses a Markforged X7 desktop 3D printer to make custom robot grippers
• Podcast that discusses how Savage Automation uses 3D printing to make custom end of arm tooling for automation injection molding
• RAPID + TCT 2022 recap, with mention of the theme of collaboration, including Stratasys announcing the availability of third-party materials
• How machine monitoring platform MachineMetrics is gathering and using data from FANUC CNCs
• Hexagon's latest acquisition of ETS, a QMS platform
• A defense manufacturer implements Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
• RPG, a machine shop that uses its Mark Two composite desktop 3D printer from Markforged to make custom workholding
• 3D printed CMM fixtures
• Example of 3D printed mold tooling with conformal cooling channels
• Polymer material takeback programs
• 6K's process for turning metal scrap and chips into powders for 3D printing
• CoreLedger's platform for secure AM file exchange using blockchain
• VeriTX's platform that uses blockchain to validate AM defense parts and suppliers
• SyncFab's platform for sourcing machined parts using blockchain
• Platforms for sourcing parts online
• Formlabs' 3D printed nasopharyngeal swabs
• Protolabs' platform being used to produce ventilator parts and facemasks early in the pandemic

The conflict in Ukraine has intersections with the world of additive manufacturing. Hosts Stephanie Hendrixson, Peter Zelinski and Julia Hider discuss ways that 3D printing is bringing aid; realities of distributed manufacturing; and the effects of the war on one additive manufacturing business with operations in Ukraine.

This episode is brought to you by the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Project DIAMOnD
• Tucker Induction Systems, manufacturer and Project DIAMOnD node
• IQ Manufacturing, another Project DIAMOnD participant
• MarkForged
• Dinara Kasko on Instagram
• Ultimaker
• Extrusion in Motion
• ADAM Bioprinting and its entry in The Cool Parts Showcase: 3D printed bone
• Past episode on blockchain and AM
• Together We Are Strong
• Tech Against Tanks
• United 24
• Mint for Ukraine