More and more manufacturers recognize the advantages of metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology compared to traditional design and manufacturing technologies, and the professional metal additive manufacturing service market is rapidly developing.
background
In Southeast Asia, with the rapid growth of market demand for high-precision 3D metal parts manufacturing, many additive manufacturing companies have emerged, and 3D Metalforge is one of them. 3DMetalforge is committed to providing customers with complete end-to-end metal 3D printing services to achieve mass production of complex and high-quality metal parts for industrial use. The market’s demand for metal 3D printing services has changed drastically, and it is shifting from focusing on short-term prototype manufacturing and one-time molding to mass production of industrial parts. In order to meet market demand, additive manufacturing companies need to invest in metal additive manufacturing systems to create a production process that specializes in metal 3D printing.
challenge
3D Metalforge has strict standards for purchasing metal additive manufacturing systems. Faced with many choices, 3D Metalforge must ensure that the machine it selects can provide services that meet customer needs now and in the future. 3D Metalforge also takes into account the upcoming Industry 4.0 trend.
solution
Renishaw’s compact AM 400 additive manufacturing system broke through and met 3D Metalforge’s selection criteria. The processing volume of AM 400 is 250 mm x 250 mm x 300 mm. It is equipped with a 400 W laser system with a laser beam diameter of only 70 μm. The man-machine interface is highly graphical and visualized.
AM 400 adheres to Renishaw’s “open parameters” concept, allowing 3D Metalforge to freely optimize machine parameter settings for the metal powder being processed and the geometry of specific prints. The system has a first-class inert gas environment, and the SafeChange™ filter element processing system is installed to minimize the possibility of contact with powder and smoke.
Mr. Matthew Waterhouse, CEO of 3D Metalforge said: “The super high-quality samples printed by the Renishaw AM 400 additive manufacturing system made us very satisfied as soon as it was unveiled. AM400 gave us a clear picture of how it can help simplify post-processing procedures. “Before printing the parts, 3D Metalforge first uses Solid Works software for initial 3D CAD design, and uses Autodesk software to review the printability of the parts when needed. Then, use Renishaw’s QuantAM processing file processing software to optimize the support structure, align the parts, and set the final print file. After that, most of the printing work was completed with the AM 400 solution.
3D Metalforge also uses Renishaw’s InfiniAM Central software, a specially designed remote process monitoring software for additive manufacturing systems.
result
AM 400 is the metal 3D printer with the highest utilization rate in the 3D Metalforge production plant within 18 months after the completion of installation and commissioning. Mr. Waterhouse gave an example of how 3D Metalforge provided a complete end-to-end metal 3D printing service to a technology equipment company: “The equipment company’s appeal is to optimize its metal pallet parts and improve the performance of the product itself. The use of traditional manufacturing technology cannot achieve expectations. The design goal is that the customer seeks a metal 3D printing solution from us.”
The mesh structure is adopted to reduce the weight, and the shape of the parts is adjusted to straighten the parts to facilitate printing. Up to now, 3D Metalforge has printed more than 100 such complex metal parts on the AM 400 system, with a quality control pass rate of 100%. The additive manufacturing design not only reduces the weight of the part, but also improves the performance of the part.
