Cost reduction | Supercharg3d

3D printed concrete wastewater chamber marks success for ‘printfrastructure’

United Utilities and ChangeMaker3D have achieved a UK first by building a concrete wastewater chamber using 3D printing.

Over 12-months, ChangeMaker3D worked with United Utilities to design, 3D-print and install a wastewater chamber at one of the utility company’s test facilities in Cheshire. With testing complete, the partners said it proves the potential of so-called ‘printfrastructure’, where 3D printing is used in construction.

According to the partners, ‘printfrastructure’ can deliver a 25 per cent reduction in carbon, 20 per cent in cost savings and a 55 per cent reduction in labour versus traditional methods.

In a statement, Lisa Mansell, United Utilities’ chief engineer (Innovation), said: “We have a huge capital programme to deliver under tight deadlines. Digital technologies such as 3D construction printing can drive efficient construction and help us meet our Net Zero goals for carbon.”

To the Moon and Beyond with Additive Manufacturing

Beginning in 2022, NASA will place unmanned Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit, followed by crewed landings, construction of lunar habitats and supporting infrastructure, and ultimately, preparation for a visit to Mars.

Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is one of the technologies that enables such ambitious plans. “As with any complex endeavour, the more affordable you can make it, the greater the chance that you will ensure its completion, and the Moon is no different,” said James Horton, Aerospace Engineer and Mission Architect at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “Metal AM plays a key role in achieving these goals.”

NASA Uses 3D Printing to Bring the Cost of Space Exploration Down to Earth

Lunar landers could use 3D-printed rocket engine parts that bring down manufacturing costs and production times.

NASA recently hot-fire tested a pair of 3D-printed components designed for rocket engines, a combustion chamber and nozzle. They are 3D printed out of a high-strength, hydrogen-resistant alloy and should withstand the combustion environments that until now only traditionally manufactured metal structures were able to.

Hot-fire testing of a 3D-printed combustion chamber and a nozzle made of a high-strength, hydrogen-resistant alloy.

The high-strength iron-nickel superalloy nozzle was printed using a method called laser powder directed energy deposition, which deposits and melts the metal powder to create freeform structures. This method let NASA turn out small- and large-scale components.

3D printed composite tools save Wartsila €100,000 in 8 months

Markforged, provider of metal and carbon fiber 3D printers, announced Wärtsilä — a technology group servicing the marine and energy markets — has achieved a breakthrough with the development of a 3D printed composite lifting tool for its engines by using Markforged additive manufacturing technology. The tool has been designed, produced, and tested by Wärtsilä in its premises using the company’s Additive Manufacturing Network. The testing procedure was carried out in collaboration with international certification agency Bureau Veritas, which has granted the tool Type Approval certification. For more information see the IDTechEx report on 3D Printing Composites 2020-2030: Technology and Market Analysis.

In order to service engines found in the field or in the factories, Wärtsilä’s teams often rely on custom lifting tools to move immensely heavy engine parts such as pistons. Traditionally, those tools are forged out of solid steel and are expensive, time intensive to manufacture, and too heavy to easily use or transport. The team turned to Markforged 3D printers to find a solution.

The financial benefits of 3D printing

3D printing is no longer tomorrow’s promise; it is available for manufacture today. But with much competition in the investment sphere of technological innovations, from Artificial Intelligence to Augmented Reality, how do you make the business case for 3D?

Down the road, 3D printing will bring about a radical new era of total supply chain transformation, with local, print on demand solutions dramatically reducing both costs and time to market. But this will take time and, as Paul Croft, Director, Ultimaker GB explains; any business dealing with additive manufacture can explore 3D printing to achieve incremental gains today.

U.S. Marines 3D print F-35 part to save US$ 70,000

A team of U.S. Marines 3D printed a part for the F-35 stealth fighter saving $70,000 in costs for a whole new landing gear door.

The landing gear of F-35A Lightning II. Photo via the Eglin Air Force Base

The component is a small part mounted on the door pressing it into the latch. It was designed and 3D printed by Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 31 (CLB-31) in Carderock, Maryland.

Sam Pratt, a mechanical engineer at the Carderock’s Additive Manufacturing Project Office, provided further technical assistance to the team.

$10,000 Air Force toilet seat covers reduced to $300 thanks to 3D printing

Airmen wait to board a cargo aircraft. Photo via U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo. Following a letter from U.S. Senator, Chuck Grassley demanding justification for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) expenditure on $10,000 military aircraft toilet seat covers, Airforce officials have announced that it will now pay $300 to produce the part thanks to 3D printing.

“You’ll think: there’s no way it costs that,” said Dr. Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics in a recent interview with Defense One.

“It doesn’t, but you’re asking a company to produce it and they’re producing something else. And for them to produce this part for us, they have to quit what they’re making now. They’re losing revenue and profit.”

In recent years 3D printing has delivered several exciting developments, from organs to race cars. Now, it’s adding houses to its repertoire.

3D printing houses Dutch construction company Van Wijnen has partnered with the Eindhoven University of Technology to deliver five fully habitable, 3D-printed houses by 2019.

According Van Wijnen Manager Rudy van Gurp, Project Milestone (as it’s called) was in part a response to the shortage of people willing to take part in the laborious construction process.

“We need a technical revolution in the constructing area to respond to the shortage of skilled bricklayers in the Netherlands and all over the world,” he said.

3D printing 10 times cheaper than machining for Moog Aircraft Group

Moog's aircraft portfolio includes work on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet, pictured here successfully landing in a crosswind test. Photo by Tom Reynolds/Lockheed Martin FDM 3D printing proves better than traditional manufacturing in this latest case study from Moog Aircraft Group (NYSE:MOG.A) and leading Stratsys reseller SYS Systems.

As a solution for spare parts and tooling, fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the 3D printing technology of choice for cutting costs and lead times at factories around the world. In recent news, Ricoh opted to switch out metal for FDM 3D printed plasticsat an assembly factory in Japan. And Spain’s Indaero won a lucrative Airbus contract on the back of its FDM part production.

The Moog Aircraft Group is already a key part of the supply chain for many aerospace/defence companies including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus and Northrop Grumman. In collaboration with SYS Systems, Moog identified FDM 3D printing as the best solution for producing bespoke fixtures, used in the machines that qualify aerospace-grade parts.

Akili Labs makes medical field testing ten times cheaper using 3D printing

South African biotech startup Akili Labs has developed FieldLab, an accurate, affordable and portable 3D printed diagnostics lab that can cost as little as $1,500, or one-tenth of similar equipment.

The FieldLab was created by Akili Labs co-founders and Rhodes University Biotechnology Innovation Centre (RUBIC) graduate students Charles Faul and Lucas Lotter. Their aim is to give doctors and scientists a rapid and accurate means of identifying disease outbreaks on the spot.

The FieldLab in a box

FieldLab is a rapid field-testing “lab-in-a-box.” It allows medical professionals in remote areas and conflict zones to access equipment typically found in state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratories. By testing for certain viruses, bacteria, and fungi on site, they can quickly identify an outbreak of disease and take the necessary measures before it spreads and becomes an epidemic.

Tag: Cost reduction