After a three-year journey to effectively scale polymer 3D printed half manufacturing, the POLYLINE mission has concluded. This endeavor, headquartered at BMW’s Additive Manufacturing Campus, pooled the experience of EOS, DyeMansion, BMW, and automation entity Grenzebach, alongside contributions from filtration specialist Krumm, software program agency 3YOURMIND, chemical cleansing professional Olschner, infrared digital camera producer Optris, traceability and marking agency Additive Marking, provide chain companies supplier WAZP, service agency PROTIQ, Oechsler, and intriguingly, chainsaw firm STIHL. Tutorial collaboration additionally enriched the mission, with the colleges of Paderborn, Duisburg-Essen, Augsburg, and Dortmund, in addition to Fraunhofer IML and IGCV, lending their insights.
As we initially reported at its inception in 2020, 3DPrint.com Senior Editor Sarah Saunders highlighted the necessity for a radical documentation of high quality standards and core attribute values from CAD mannequin to ultimate print, alongside the automation of key sub-processes like selective laser sintering, cooling, and post-processing. The ambition was to seamlessly intertwine all technological aspects of the laser powder mattress fusion (LPBF) manufacturing chain. Evidently now the mission has fulfilled these objectives.
The consortium employed the EOS P500 printer, whereas Grenzebach’s Change P500/4 product effectively dealt with empire construct removals and cooling, enhancing printer optimization. The mixing of automated guided autos (AGVs) for construct conveyance, coupled with an automatic sorting and choosing system, streamlined the operational movement. A software program layer was additionally employed to orchestrate these processes. DyeMansion’s equipment performed a key function in surfacing and dyeing, with its PowerShot DUAL Efficiency managing cleansing and resurfacing duties.
“ The profitable POLYLINE mission exhibits that an end- to- finish automated manufacturing unit is doable with 3D printing – and that is just the start,” mentioned DyeMansion CTO Philipp Kramer.
“The POLYLINE automated course of chain suits into the subsequent era printers and our normal manufacturing necessities, is a system- agnostic answer attributable to their standardized interfaces. Which is essential for scaling- up Additive Manufacturing,” mentioned Dr. Blanka Szost-Ouk, Head of Additive Manufacturing, Predevelopment & Planning at BMW Group.
“ We now have developed this at BMW for the automotive trade and we are able to now undertake and modify it to different industries,” Fabian Krauß, Head of Polymer Techniques at EOS, contributed.
“The principle benefits of automation are to extend the productiveness of the tools, to cut back the downtime of the tools, and to create a secure work setting for the workers,” Oliver Elbert, Head of Additive Manufacturing at Grenzebach instructed.
Investing round $11 million, the German consortium has certainly made important strides. The mission stands as a testomony to the ability of integration, meticulous monitoring, collaborative effort, and cohesive software program tying. Whereas laden with numerous conferences, espresso breaks, and chart analyses, the endeavor showcased a doable workload that has now edged nearer to actualizing a possible polymer powder mattress fusion line. This promising trajectory implies that subsequent iterations can be fine-tunable, opening doorways for different entities to collaborate and concoct comparable options. The potential dip in labor prices, paired with enhanced repeatability and reliability, presents a pivotal alternative and problem for our trade.
This is only one a part of a BMW’s multifaceted strategy to automate 3D printing, which sits alongside key tasks, together with one to automate metallic 3D printing and one other devoted to sand core printing. The IDAM mission, spearheaded by BMW Group, has efficiently carried out two totally automated 3D printed automotive manufacturing strains for metallic LPBF platforms, AI, and robotics to considerably improve large-scale 3D printing in automobile manufacturing. With Loramendi and voxeljet, BMW has additionally automated the 3D printing of large-scale sand cores for casting cylinder heads in high-efficiency engines.
The hope for POLYLINE now rests on the consortium’s continuity, aiming to unveil totally automated strains to a broader market spectrum. Such key integration is believed to be the catalyst for cost-effective, intensive components manufacturing, marking a big leap in direction of making extra objects affordably manufacturable.
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