Deutsche Welle, 6 Sep 2011
 |
3D printing takes flight for a new
era in manufacturing |
The
dominance of traditional methods of manufacturing plastic and metal products is
being challenged by a technique which enables objects to be printed from a
powder in a machine.
In the past
few years, 3D printing has become so cheap that many hobbyists have taken it up
as a means of making small objects, parts or even game pieces. But the
technology's massive potential truly came to light recently with the successful
test flight of the world's first printed aircraft.
The man
behind the design and construction of the Laser Sintered Airplane, otherwise
known as SULSA, is Jim Scanlon from Southampton University in southern England.
The aircraft is a white, sleek-looking drone made from nylon plastic, with a
wingspan of two meters.
At first
glance it doesn't appear to be anything special, but a closer look reveals that
there are no rivets or bonded sections. And that makes it very special indeed.
"If
you look inside the fuselage for example, you've got two helixes winding their
way through the internal structure to provide structural support for the
skin," Scanlon told Deutsche Welle.
He says
manufacturing "lots of complex little interconnecting shapes would
traditionally be a nightmare", but that it is made easy by laser
sintering. The manufacturing process is officially known as Additive Layer
Manufacturing (ALM), or more commonly, 3D printing. And it is changing the way
we make things.
Less
factory floor, more laboratory
 |
| The plane was printed layer by layer |
3Trpd in
southeast England is the UK's leading ALM company, and it's where the
Southampton plane was built. The main production area sounds and looks more
like a laboratory than a factory floor.
Tall,
box-like machines attached to computer monitors whirr away to themselves while
they do their thing. Inside each machine is a block of nylon powder, which as
Ian Halliday, CEO of 3Trpd explains, is heated to just below its melting point.
"The
platform then drops down, a new layer of powder goes down on the surface of
that, that's heated up, laser melts the next layer, and so on and so on,"
Halliday continued. "Each melted layer of powder bonds to the layer below,
so that you end up with a solid part, which is comprised of a load of layers, a
bit like a pack of cards that have been cut out in a series of templates."
The process
is similar to that of a desktop printer, where the head passes over each line
to print letters and words.
3D
printing, however, does not deal in letters and words, but in objects –
including those with moving parts.
Making
metal out of powder
The company
also has machines that use metal powder, a technique which has been much slower
to develop.
"The
metals process has only really come to prominence in the last two or three
years," Halliday said.
The
aerospace industry, which places great emphasis on high strength and low
weight, is particularly interested in using metal ALM parts. Claudio Dalle
Donne, head of research in metal ALM for European aerospace giant EADS, hopes
it won't be long before they can start using printed metal parts for their
aircraft.
"I
think that if in three years or so we are getting closer, in two to three
years, this would be something I would be happy with."
Looking
ahead
 |
ALM print technology is not quite ready
to replace traditional manufacturing |
So does
this revolutionary new technology sound the death knell for the traditional
manufacturer? Not quite yet. Not least because ALM parts can only be as big as
the machines they are made in, with maximum dimensions of around 70 centimeters
(27.56 inches) for plastic, and 32 centimeters for metal.
That said
Europe is well placed to take advantage of the business opportunities inherent
in additive manufacturing. The world's leading ALM machine maker is German, and
there is expertise in France and the UK. But for design professor Jim Scanlon,
the opportunity ALM really presents is the unleashing of his imagination.
"It's
the holy grail for product designers, because it allows you to have complete
and utter freedom."
Scanlon's
aircraft goes on display for the first time in September, and is guaranteed to
pull a large crowd. Making planes might not be something anyone can do, but
with plastic ALM machines already available to the public at a cost of just 500
euros ($700), there are certainly a multitude of design and invention
opportunities out there just waiting to be explored.
Reporter: Robin Powell / tkw
Editor: Zulfikar Abbany
Related Article:
