In the newly-launched Institute for Manufacturing Review*, Dr Simon Ford, from the Institute’s Centre for Technology Management, explains why we need to take a clear-eyed view of this much hyped technology if it is to realise its potential.
Additive manufacturing has generated a plethora of new business opportunities, ranging from home hobbyist machines to futuristic concepts such as printing buildings for use on other planets. Frédéric Vacher reports.
Although the main use of 3D printing is to manufacture prototypes in a wide variety of materials, there is another very important application – the manufacture of jigs and fixtures.
SUPSI researchers have developed high-performance thermal protectors for space vehicles, as well as complex templates for heat exchangers using 3D printing technology.
Titanium powder derived from rutile sand is used to 3D print automotive parts, representing a double world-first breakthrough in metal manufacturing for its developer, Metalysis.