3-D printing technology has existed for about 20 years, but additive manufacturing in its current form is only about five years old, said Brian Rice, head of UDRI’s Multi-Scale Composites and Polymers Division and program lead for the Third Frontier-funded Advanced Materials for Additive Manufacturing Maturation program. “The difference is that 3-D printing is known in the industry as being used for nonfunctional prototypes or models, while additive manufacturing is being used to create usable parts for industries such as aerospace, energy, medical and consumer products,” Rice said.
There are a number of advantages to additive manufacturing over traditional manufacturing, such as injection molding or machining, Rice said. “Cost savings is a major benefit, because there are no molds or tooling needed to fabricate parts. With traditional manufacturing, every time you want to make even a slight change to the design of what you are making, you have to retool or make an entirely new mold, and that gets very expensive. With additive manufacturing, you can change your design as often as you want simply by changing the design on your computer file.
“You can’t make complex parts with injection molding,” Rice added. “And because you can print an entire part in one piece with additive manufacturing, instead of welding or attaching separate components together as in traditional manufacturing, the finished part is stronger.” Attachment points are weak spots in a part, he said.
Additive manufacturing holds additional benefits, said Jeff DeGrange, vice president of Stratasys. “It’s better for the environment because it reduces waste,” DeGrange said. “With additive manufacturing, you only use as much material as you need for the part you’re printing. But with machining, you’re shaping objects by removing material from a larger block until you have the desired form, so there is a good bit of wasted material.”
DeGrange added. “Lighter parts mean greater fuel efficiency in vehicles and aircraft that use them. Another advantage is the cost savings that comes from a print-as-needed process, because you don’t need to ship parts or find a place to warehouse them.”
Rice said, “UDRI has developed a highly specialized nanomaterial that will reinforce the polymer feedstock, giving the finished product greater strength and stiffness than nonreinforced polymer. It will also make the polymer electrically conductive.”
PolyOne will scale-up the polymer feedstock needed for mass manufacturing, Stratasys will support the inclusion of new materials in their additive manufacturing systems, and RP+M will use its expertise in additive parts manufacturing to work with Stratasys to print and supply parts to end users, Rice said.
“We’ve created an entire supply chain designed to create Ohio jobs,” Rice said. “We expect this program to result in the creation of 30 high-tech jobs in Ohio during the first three years and 85 jobs after five years.”