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ACAM @Formnext 2019

ACAM booth crowded at Formnext 2019
ACAM @Formnext 2019

ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing brought the latest activities and know-how of the RWTH Aachen Campus and its research partners to Formnext 2019, the leading trade show in Additive Manufacturing.

ACAM booth conversations at Formnext 2019
ACAM’s exhibition focused on its holistic approach to AM implementation. Multinational visitors were able to see the R&D breakthroughs of the RWTH Aachen Campus, while learning more about possibilities to integrate Additive Manufacturing to their industrial activities. For this, in a single booth visitors could find concepts and innovative applications ranging from design to post-processing of AM components. Some of the applications brought by ACAM to the exposition covered technologies such as EHLA, LPBF, EBM, Material Jetting, Binder Jetting, as well as hybrid manufacturing and post-processing. AM software was also an important part of the exhibit, covering cost analysis based on process simulation as well as LPBF process monitoring solutions. At the booth, visitors could also experience the Knowledge Area in Additive Manufacturing, a platform with AM relevant information curated under the expertise of the campus’ AM professionals.
Details ACAM Showcase

Apart from its role as an exhibitor, ACAM carried out several other activities at the trade show.

ACAM at Discover3Dprinting

The Discover3Dprinting seminars were held every morning on all fair days at the AM4U Area. Participants were able to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and best practices related to Additive Manufacturing while also discussing specific questions with the ACAM specialists. This year the seminar series reached 1.086 participants since 2017, the year it started.

Details Discover3Dprinting

ACAM at the TCT conference

Our polymer specialist Gerret Lukas from RWTH Aachen Chair of Machine Tools and Production Engineering WZL presented the potentials of Direct Polymer Additive Tooling (DPAT) for the production of complex geometries.

Details Presentation
ACAM at formnext.tv

Reporter Guido Marschall took ACAM’s managing director Dr.-Ing. Kristian Arntz for the first show floor tour at the trade fair.

Details Showfloor Tour
5-year Formnext Family Award

Formnext honored us with its 5-year Family Award. It is our privilege to be a part of this family since it started. Formnext is for us more than a trade show. Even though it became even larger this year with 852 exhibitors and 34,532 visitors in 4 halls, it did not lose its friendly and cooperative environment, which enables productive technical discussions and knowledge sharing.

Thank you Formnext for trusting us as your content partner for Additive Manufacturing.

It was a pleasant journey and we are looking forward to continue innovating with you in the upcoming years.

News / Presse

ACAM Community Meeting: Annual Meeting 2019

ACAM members are standing at tables and networking during a break of the annual meeting
ACAM Community Meeting: Annual Meeting 2019

The 5th Annual Meeting of the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing took place on September 18th and 19th, 2019 at the RWTH Aachen Campus. The approximately 70 representatives of leading international industrial partners and research institutions informed themselves about the latest developments of the Aachen AM Community.

After the welcome of the participants by the ACAM managing directors Dr. Kristian Arntz and Prof. Dr. Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, the final workshops of the consortium projects of 2019 were on the agenda. Within this context, the research partners presented their respective industry consortia the latest findings and developments in areas such as multi-material, non-destructive testing of additively manufactured components and design guidelines for tapping the full potential of industrial 3D printing. The first day was rounded off with a joint evening event in the Kasteel Bloemendal in Vaals.

The following day focused on the selection of new projects for the coming year 2020 as well as intensive networking of all participants.

Selection of projects for 2020

From a large number of relevant projects, eight were selected from our industrial partners through the typical broker session.
The following projects will be implemented in the consortium phase 2020:

  • Benchmarking of Binder Jetting for Metals
  • Benchmarking of post-processing methods including automated post-processing (metals and plastics)
  • Automated powder removal from parts manufactured by LPBF
  • Increasing Productivity by LPBF with flexible beam diameter
  • Case study on tool steels with LPBF and EBM
  • Investigation on the feasibility of LMD based Additive Manufacturing of tool steels
  • High entropy alloys for high temperature applications, shape memory alloys and metallic glasses processed by LPBF
  • Trust in AM Machines: Development of a methodology for LPBF and DED machine certification

The Growth of the ACAM Community

This year’s annual meeting was also used as an opportunity to introduce the 36 existing members to TÜV Süd AG, Applied Materials and Daido Steel Co. as new basic members and 3yourmind as new cooperation member. Welcome to the ACAM community!

We thank our industry and research partners for their participation and the informative exchange during the annual meeting.

News / Presse

SRH Hochschule Hamm visits ACAM

SRH Hochschule Hamm visits ACAM

From Hamm to Aachen – Students of the learning unit “Modern Materials / Modern Application” of the SRH-Hochschule Hamm visited ACAM on the 29.04.2019 for a guided tour through the Additive Manufacturing facilities at the RWTH Aachen Campus.

ACAM would like to thank the SRH Hochschule Hamm and their students for their visit and interest.

 

To the German press release

If you are also interested in one of our guided tours, you can find further information here.

News / Presse

How does the post-processing of AM components work? Technology Study

How does the post-processing of AM components work? Technology Study

How does the post-processing of AM components work? An online survey by ACAM and Fraunhofer IPT will provide the answer.

The online survey was designed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT and aims to identify current challenges and opportunities that arise in many industries with regard to the post-processing of additively manufactured workpieces. The focus of the survey is on metalworking technologies.

The purpose of the study is to provide specific information on the following topics:

  • Identification of relevant factors, which characterize the procedure for planning and designing holistic AM processes
  • Identification of the current post-processing technologies and their importance
  • Predictions for the next 10 years
  • Classification of controllability of process target variables in different technologies
  • Process digitalization: Software applications along the whole process chain

 

By participating in this study, you can contribute to improving technology understanding at many levels and help align our R&D activities with industrial needs.

We are looking  forward to your participation!

To the survey

 

The ACAM Research Partner Fraunhofer IPT combines knowledge and experience from all areas of production technology. We offer our customers and partners applied research and development in Aachen for networked, adaptive production. We understand production not only in its individual steps but consider the entirety of the processes and the connections between the links in the process chain. Our range of services is geared to the current challenges of specific sectors, technologies and product areas such as tool and mould making, the optical industry, turbomachinery construction, life sciences engineering and lightweight construction production technology.

If you are interested, ACAM will show at the Rapid.Tech 2019 how further processing of AM components can work and will be on site with experts from several Aachen research Institutes.

News / Presse

DAP and Ford accelerate joint research

DAP and Ford accelerate joint research

Ford and the experts of  the ACAM research partner RWTH Aachen University Chair DAP accelerate joint research

Generating future-relevant research results in the shortest possible time is the aim of the joint seed funding initiative between Ford and RWTH Aachen University Chair DAP. In Aachen’s Photonics Cluster, eight DAP scientists introduced their project ideas from various Additive Manufacturing areas to Ford employees in a casual atmosphere.

Even for short-term projects, long lead times and countless iteration loops require a huge project planning effort. Ford now enables the DAP experts to conduct industry-relevant research quickly and straight by providing a budget for the RWTH Aachen Chair DAP within the so-called “seed funding”.
“This direct access to the expertise of the RWTH Aachen Chair DAP allows Ford to generate relevant research results and to follow up on innovative ideas at short notice. Resultantly, we can identify practicable research topics and pursue them in the longer term,” explains Dr. Maik Broda, Head of Advanced Materials & Processes at Ford.

The initiative is a further complement to the already existing close cooperation, which is currently crowned by the largest 3D printed metal component ever installed in a fully functional vehicle: an aluminum intake manifold in the Ford F-150 pick-up of American stunt driver Ken Block.
Prof. Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, Head of the RWTH Aachen Chair DAP, emphasizes the successful cooperation: “The research results we have already achieved together with Ford show that Additive Manufacturing is in its advanced stages of development in Aachen. With the help of the joint initiative, we are now able to realize the potential of this technology even faster and more efficiently.”

This innovative collaboration is also attracting interest outside the RWTH Aachen Chair DAP.
RWTH Innovation GmbH, a supportive link between industry and university, manages major projects within the framework of the Ford RWTH Research Alliance. They would like to introduce the seed funding concept into other research areas as a future research catalyst.

 

Press release from

RWTH Aachen University Chair DAP
Steinbachstr. 15, 52074 Aachen, Germany
http://www.dap.rwth-aachen.de

News / Presse

New knowledge in Additive Manufacturing for INDUS

New knowledge in Additive Manufacturing for INDUS

On December 5 and 6 2018, 16 designers, developers, and decision-makers from INDUS and its holdings attended an In-house seminar at the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing.

As the INDUS Group covers a broad spectrum of industries, from the automotive and mechanical engineering industries to medical and healthcare technology, Additive Manufacturing is of high relevance in the majority of the holdings.

During the two-day seminar, speakers from ACAM’s research partners explained the design guidelines for Additive Manufacturing of metallic components. Topology-optimization of a customer’s part, which was subsequently produced on a TruPrint3000 L-PBF system, was one of the most vivid examples. The system was recently commissioned at one of INDUS holdings and is available to all companies in the group for the production of individual, complex 3D metal components.

The seminar was specially designed for the employees of the INDUS Group and their level of knowledge. The format aims to convey the relevant topics as efficiently and application-oriented as possible.

If you are interested in one of our in-house seminars, you will find further information at https://acam.rwth-campus.com/de/acam-in-house/