GE Additive to help injured gorilla
Eleven-year-old gorilla Gladys is recovering behind the scenes in Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s Gorilla World after undergoing surgery to repair a broken humerus. She sustained the injury during a scuffle with the younger two females in her troop.
GE Additive is working to create a custom 3D-printed cast for Gladys. The additive cast will be titanium, which is more durable than a traditional cast to prevent her from re-injuring her arm during the healing process.
“GE Additive is planning to deliver the cast tomorrow morning, which is less than a week turnaround time from our initial request,” said Dr. Mike Wenninger, Cincinnati Zoo’s director of animal health. “I’m amazed that the GE Additive team was able to take the requirements that we provided to model the design, print, and post-process the titanium cast in such a short time! We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with human medical and engineering experts to provide the best possible care for Gladys.”
New 3D Printers from UltiMaker and Formlabs
Two big announcements from UltiMaker and Formlabs, with both companies unveiling new 3D printers. The UltiMaker Factor 4 is designed for engineering applications, with a dedicated focus on industrial production. The build volume is 330 x 240 x 300 mm, with a heated bed and actively controlled airflow to manage build volume temperature up to 70° C. The print core can achieve printing temperatures up to 340°C, enabling engineers to 3D print parts using a broader range of materials.
Formlabs is also focusing on production applications with the new Form 4 and Form 4B, which was designed for dental and medical applications. According to Formlabs, both models can complete most prints within their 20.0 × 12.5 × 21.0 cm build chamber capacity in under two hours, with maximum vertical printing speeds of 100 mm per hour. In addition, Formlabs claims the new design reduces cost-per-part by 40%, thanks to longer-lasting resin tanks and light processing units (estimated at 75,000 and 1M+ layers, respectively), as well as lower resin prices, a 30% larger print volume and a 3.5x increase in throughput.
KVG Deployment of Nexa3D Printers
Nexa3D recently announced that the provider of mission support and logistics, KVG, has added 15 High-Speed Extrusion (HSE) series 3D printers to its portfolio of deployable manufacturing solutions. Having already positioned HSE units to allied nations like Ukraine in 2023, Nexa3D expects that KVG’s acquisition of HSE 180 and HSE 280i series printers will enable the production of high-requirement, precision components for military and defense applications at the point of need around the world.
"We are excited to add additional Nexa3D's HSE series 3D printers to our portfolio and integrate these systems into our operations,” said John Boyer, founder and CEO of KVG. “Collaboration and agile platforms are key to maintaining a strategic advantage. The speed, precision, and versatility of these printers will greatly enhance our capabilities and support our commitment to exceptional service in mission-critical situations."
Materialise and Renishaw software partnership
Materialise and Renishaw have announced a partnership with the aim of increasing efficiency and productivity for manufacturers using Renishaw’s additive manufacturing (AM) systems. Users will now have access to Materialise’ build processor software tailored to the RenAM 500 series of metal AM systems, as well as Magics, Materialise’s data and build preparation software.
“Working with Materialise enables us to support Renishaw users deploying 3D printing in a host of different manufacturing applications,” said Matt Parkes, AM Strategic Development Manager at Renishaw. “Their next-generation build processors, in combination with their software portfolio, complement our recent technology updates. We’re pleased to be collaborating on the tools needed to support the industry as metal 3D printing becomes an essential piece of the manufacturing puzzle.”