THE NEXT GENERATION OF 3D PRINTING

2015

THE NEXT GENERATION

OF 3D PRINTING

Leading companies worldwide have proven the power of

3D printing to reduce delivery time, lower production costs,

improve quality and support lean manufacturing.

Your Guide to

Additive

Manufacturing

Benefits

Cut prototype

development time

and costs with

PolyJet technology

Engineers discuss

design, development

and implementation

successes

p2-p6

p7-p8

p9-p12

Contents

Market Growth: Forecast

p1

A New Manufacturing Blueprint

? A Future Where Everything is Additively

Manufactured?

p2

? A Point-by-Point Guide to Benefits and

Impediments

p3

? Supply Chains Interrupted

p4

? Putting AM to Work

p5

? Challenges

p6

Prospects & Challenges:

Industrial Manufacturing

? PolyJet 3D Printing: Not Just for Industrial,

Medical Prototyping Anymore

p7,8

Success Stories

? NordicNeuroLab Case Study

p9,10

? Shimada Case Study

p11

? TE Connectivity Case Study

Products Guide

? PolyJet Printing Technology

p13

? Objet30: A Powerful Desktop 3D Printer

p14

? Objet260 Connex1 Fast Prototyping,

With Realism

p14

? Connex3 3D Production Systems:

Hundreds of Materials for Maximum Versatility

p15



Market Growth: Forecast

3D Printing Opportunities

The first 3D printing technology, stereolithography, was

introduced 30 years ago. Despite its advantages, high costs

of license fees, among other factors, limited its adoption.

This was also true for fused deposition modeling (FDM),

which was pioneered by S. Scott Crump and Stratasys,

who continue to innovate in the additive manufacturing AM

industry.

But now the obstacle of high licensing fees is ending,

largely because patents on FDM and related processes

began to expire in 2009. The result is an opportunity

for established manufacturers, startups, and individuals

(sometimes called makers) to move into the 3D printing

arena. FDM¡¯s increased popularity has made it the face of

3D printing as consumer-oriented FDM systems can now be

purchased for a few hundred dollars. Industrial systems are

now within reach for even small-volume manufacturers.

More patents have expired recently, or soon will. In 2014,

copyrights protecting selective laser sintering (SLS),

the premier metal 3D printing technique, and processes

involved with FDM and photopolymer inkjet printing expired.

IHS Technology reports that the patent on SLS of filledcomposite materials will lapse in 2015, and more copyrights

will expire in the near future.

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Market Growth: Forecast

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2015

At the same time, the capital investment needed to acquire

these technologies is falling, the result of increasing

competition. Currently SLS machines cost between

$200,000 and $1 million depending on build quality and

throughput. Estimates from IHS suggest that within a few

years comprehensive SLS systems could be available for

$30,000 to $150,000. This dramatic price fall will enable

more businesses to adopt this transformative technology.

Based on these factors, research from IHS suggests that

3D printing revenues will top $35 billion in 2020, up from

$5 billion in 2014 (a year-over-year growth of about 40%).

The biggest market shares for AM are in the industrial and

manufacturing sectors. Of the $35 billion in revenue, $13

billion will come from tooling fabrication and $12 billion

from industrial system and parts manufacturing. 3D printing

services will constitute $7 billion. The remaining $4 billion

is forecast to be split between consumer products and

materials sales.

These numbers translate into mammoth opportunities in the

AM marketplace for individual makers, niche manufacturers

and global corporations. And they all stand to become early

technology adopters, thereby helping to usher in a new era

of manufacturing.

A New Manufacturing Blueprint

A Future Where Everything is Additively Manufactured?

Additive manufacturing is on track to becoming a killer

application, combining high value with swift and widespread

adoption. Once AM gains traction for broad-based

manufacturing applications, there likely will be no way

to stop it. IHS Technology indicates that the majority of

manufacturing can and will transition to AM. The only

questions are how soon and how disruptive that transition

will be to traditional manufacturing.

Manufacturers are having success with hybrids of additive

and subtractive manufacturing techniques, says IHS

Technology. One example is a 3D printer mated with a CNC

machine, invented by Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies.

This system has been used to refurbish worn and degraded

parts, including for critical components such as jet turbine

blades. Another system, the LASERTEC 65 3D by Japanese

manufacturer DMG MORI, uses a diode laser that deposits

metal powders 10 times faster than powder bed laser

sintering. Subtractive machining then is completed with a

high-precision five-axis robotic table.

The U.S. space agency NASA also has considerable

interest in AM, both for its unique manufacturing processes

and for the potential for printing spare parts and even tools

in orbiting spacecraft. NASA engineers have developed a

3D printing technique that allows components to be made of

multiple metals or alloys. The printer transitions metals from

the inside out, as opposed to typical 3D printers that add

layers vertically. Managing the alloy ratio of a component

during the build can prevent coefficient of thermal expansion

(CTE) mismatches and defects that develop from welded

components exposed to stressful environments. Printer

operators control the alloy ratio during the build, yielding a

finished product with no welds or fasteners.

NASA¡¯s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with the California

Institute of Technology and Penn State University, used

precisely this technique to fabricate a mirror mount for

space-based optical applications. The mount transitions

from stainless steel at its foundation to Invar at its mirror

support. Invar has the same CTE as the mirror glass, while

the stainless steel base will be installed on a stainless steel

optical bench. Future astronauts could use this technology

to repair spacecraft during missions.

The technology could also replace welds, bonds, and other

joining methods in automotive and commercial aerospace

industries.

A New Manufacturing Blueprint

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2015

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