Few developments in manufacturing have made splashes the way 3D printing or additive manufacturing has done in the last year or two. Since additive manufacturing with metallic materials currently focuses on aerospace and biomedical applications, Connecticut has seen strong developments toward an industrial additive manufacturing, or 3D print base.
Three trends will shape additive manufacturing over the next year.
The rapid pace of machine improvements and novel machine features will continue into 2015. Higher throughput and larger build volumes will be available with the next generation of metal machines that will be revealed over the next months. The improvements will be achieved with higher-powered lasers and multi-laser setups. More commercial-build themes — the machine settings to use specific materials — will become available, which will enable a wider range of material choices. Additive manufacturing machines will have increasing in-process monitoring abilities to capture part temperatures or defects that might develop during the manufacturing process within parts.
Parallel to the development of additive manufacturing machines, the powder materials used for additive manufacturing have attracted the attention of material producers, including startups. There are research projects underway aimed at producing new technologies that would enable powder processing at reduced cost. While it is not clear if these new technologies will be able to compete with the existing ones, the competition on the powder market equals the competition on the machine manufacturer level.
Can Connecticut businesses take advantage of additive manufacturing? During 2015, we will see new service providers for additive manufacturing in Connecticut and an increasing number of companies adopting additive technologies. Throughout the country, companies are trying to fill a void for highly qualified additive manufacturing service providers. Connecticut is no exception and either new startup companies or existing manufacturers extending into additive manufacturing will establish themselves next year as capable service providers.
Some of the questions to consider over the next 12 months:
1. Can the market support the growing number of additive manufacturing service providers?
2. What level of progress will be made in mastering the many challenges that additive manufacturing poses?
3. Is there enough demand to specialize in niche applications or materials with additive manufacturing?
A common thread among additive manufacturing service providers is the hope to enter the supply chain for large corporations and for full-scale production of additively made parts. It is difficult to predict when the transition from prototype parts to a full-scale production might occur, but continuous improvements in the ability to understand processing details will be required to transition toward additive manufacturing of production parts.
Many challenges and opportunities in additive manufacturing are technical in nature, but equal challenges and opportunities exist for workforce development. Few engineers are currently trained in operating the rather complex additive manufacturing machines. Moreover, with additive manufacturing technology development still in its infancy, there is a need for a highly skilled workforce capable of not only operating equipment, but of understanding the underlying engineering issues.
Not surprisingly, many companies turn to universities searching for masters and Ph.D-level engineers for their additive manufacturing activities. Connecticut has invested and continues to invest substantially into additive manufacturing research at UConn to help speed the transition of this emerging field within the state. Engineering faculty will embark on additive manufacturing research projects that will yield graduates with additive manufacturing skills over the next years; educational programs are being created that will benefit engineers in the state and beyond who want to develop specialized skills in additive manufacturing.
After an initial phase of sometimes overly optimistic expectations for additive manufacturing, a far more realistic ground has been reached that bodes well for long-term success. Connecticut is well positioned to lead advanced manufacturing with its combination of large original equipment manufacturers, a small- and medium-sized supply base, and strong universities supporting the necessary research and workforce development needs for the industry.
Rainer Hebert is the director of the UConn-Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Innovation Center and an associate professor in the UConn Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
