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Why Grid Logic and Fugo Precision were turning heads at RAPID + TCT 2024.

3D printing seems like a novel technology to many people, but its already been around for more than 30 years. In that time, the industry has aligned on classifying various additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, as evidenced in the seven process categories laid out in ISO/ASTM 52900:2021:

Although these generally well-understood processes have been used in various industries, they arent the only ways to 3D print parts. Two exhibitors in particular at this years RAPID + TCT tradeshow showcased technologies that dont fit neatly into the above categories but could presage the future of additive manufacturing.

While hot isostatic processing (HIP) is a common post-processing step in many 3D printing applications, its a core part of the AM tech stack at Grid Logic. This is a dry powder print, explains Jim Holcomb, director of product development at the Lapeer, Mich.-based company. We can work with any metal or ceramic powder that will flow through our printer, and we havent found a lot that doesnt.

Unlike binder or material jetting, Grid Logics approach doesnt use any liquid component. Instead, all the powder layers are deposited into a sealed container (the can) and compressed slightly before the HIP cycle. Theres no shift in the material, Holcomb says, Were shipping cans four hours away and we dont get any shift after compaction. The parts are 100% dense with no layering or texturing.

The machine on display at RAPID prints with up to six different powders, one of which is a sacrificial support material. According to Holcomb, the company has been seeing a lot of interest in from clients researching bond diffusion in multi-material applications. We do a lot of hard-facing copper alloys, as well as Inconel and stainless steels, he says. The next phase is doing functional gradients: being able to shift from one material to another in a single layer.

Grid Logic uses a modified slicer software to create its own toolpaths. All the engineering, all the design, all the building and fabrication of the printer is all done in-house, Holcomb says. If you come to us with a part, well figure out the recipe and how to make it work, even vertically integrate a system for you.

The way I frame this is that its the difference between a propeller airplane and a jet airplane, says Drew Padnick, president of Fugo Precision. Were the jet airplane.

The jet airplane to which Padnick refers is the Fugo Model A, which his company claims to be the worlds first centrifugal 3D printer. Its a bold analogy, but Padnick contends its also an apt one.

[The Fugo A is] faster, its more precise, it has fewer mechanical parts that were moving, he says. Propeller engines were phased out when jet engines came in for very similar reasons.

Looking at the layout of the Model A, the concept of a centrifugal 3D printer quickly becomes clear. The build envelope is unusually oblong at 50 inches by 8 inches by 5 inches, but thats because its wrapped around the inside of the machine to form a hollow cylinder.

This thing spins between 1,500 and 3,000 RPM while the material enters the chamber from underneath, Padnick explains. Were using 20 lasers, which drop into the chamber from above to print the material. If you think of it like that carnival ride the Gravitron thats a good way to visualize whats happening to the material.

As a result, Fugo claims it can achieve layerless 3D prints with 30-micron accuracy at 10 times the speed of traditional stereolithography using a comparably diverse range of photopolymers. In addition, the Model A incorporates post-processing so that parts can be printed, washed, dried and post-cured in the same machine.

Since the advent of SLA and DLP technology, the single greatest problem with these printers has been the need for a mechanical means to spread the infinitely thin layers. With the Fugo Model A, we have solved this problem as our technology does not use any mechanical means to create layers during printing, said Sasha Shkolns, Fugo Precision CTO in a press release.

One last point worth noting about the Model A: We havent tested this, Padnick admits, but the science holds: we can print in outer space. Because were essentially creating our own gravity, we can print at low- and zero-G.

Although those arent first applications the company is targeting with the Model A, they suggest that more unconventional approaches may be the key to bringing additive manufacturing to a wider array of terrestrial environments and applications.

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Two new 3D printing technologies you should be watching - ENGINEERING.com