Understanding the Science

The crystallization process of polymers, a fundamental aspect of 3D printing, is significantly influenced by temperature. When materials like PEEK, ULTEM, and PC are extruded, their molecular structure undergoes a phase transition. A heated chamber ensures a controlled thermal and cooling rate, allowing for proper molecular orientation and crystallization. This, in turn, directly impacts the mechanical properties of the final part.

Mechanical Strength and Part Integrity

Properly controlled cooling minimizes internal stresses and distortions, enhancing the mechanical strength and dimensional accuracy of printed parts. This is especially critical for applications demanding high performance, such as those found in the aerospace, automotive, and defense industries.

Temperature affects polymers’ mechanical properties by altering their molecular structure and chain mobility. For example:

• Tensile strength and Young’s modulus decrease with increasing temperature, due to increased molecular motion and reduced intermolecular forces
• Ductility and impact resistance may increase at higher temperatures, as molecular chains become more flexible and resistant to cracking
• Certain polymers may exhibit a glass transition temperature (Tg), below which they are more rigid and above which they become more flexible and prone to deformation

The Role of Uniform Temperature Distribution

Maintaining a consistent temperature throughout the whole build chamber is essential. Temperature gradients can lead to uneven cooling, resulting in warping, delamination, or other defects. Actively heated chambers with precise temperature control help mitigate these risks, ensuring consistent part quality.

Real-World Applications

The benefits of heated chambers extend to a wide range of applications, including:

• Aerospace: Producing complex components for aircraft, drones, and satellites.
• Automotive: Manufacturing prototypes, tooling, and end-use parts for vehicles.
• Defense: Creating high-performance components for military equipment and infrastructure.

Omni3D: Your Partner in Advanced 3D Printing

Omni3D is committed to providing cutting-edge solutions for demanding applications. Our industrial large-format 3D printers equipped with heated chambers offer the precision and control necessary for producing high-quality parts with advanced materials.

With 10+ years of experience, Omni3D helped hundreds of companies to understand the critical role of heated chambers in material extrusion 3D printing, how to optimize in-house production processes and achieve exceptional results.

Contact Omni3D today to explore how our technology can elevate your manufacturing capabilities.

Artykuł Chamber Temperature’s Impact on Strength in material extrusion pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

1. Nylon (PA):
   Strengths: High strength, good chemical resistance, and decent heat resistance.
   Applications: Suitable for a wide range of applications, including structural components, jigs and fixtures, and replacement parts for legacy equipment.
2. Polycarbonate (PC):
   Strengths: Excellent impact resistance, high heat resistance, and good chemical resistance.
   Applications: Ideal for applications requiring high durability and the ability to withstand harsh environments.
3. ABS:
   Strengths: Affordable, easy to print, and has good mechanical properties.
   Applications: Suitable for prototyping, tooling, and non-critical components.
4. PEEK (Polyetheretherketone):
   Strengths: High temperature resistance, excellent mechanical properties, and good chemical resistance.
   Applications: Suitable for high-performance applications such as aerospace components, automotive and tank parts, tooling.
5. ULTEM/PEI (Polyetherimide):
   Strengths: Excellent heat resistance, good chemical resistance, and high rigidity.
   Applications: Suitable for demanding applications requiring high performance and durability.
6. TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane):
   Strengths: Flexible, tough, and has good abrasion resistance.
   Applications: Suitable for applications requiring soft, flexible parts such as gaskets, seals, and protective covers.
7. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Filaments:
   Strengths: High strength-to-weight ratio, excellent stiffness, and good heat resistance.
   Applications: Ideal for applications requiring lightweight, high-performance parts such as drone components or structural elements.
8. PEEK (Polyetheretherketone):
   Strengths: Exceptional heat resistance, chemical resistance, and mechanical properties.
   Applications: Suitable for high-performance applications such as aerospace components, automotive parts, and tooling.
9. PPS (Polyphenylsulfone):
   Strengths: High heat resistance, good chemical resistance, and excellent dimensional stability.
   Applications: Suitable for applications requiring high-temperature performance and precision.
10. PC (Polycarbonate):
    Strengths: Excellent impact resistance, high heat resistance, and good chemical resistance.
    Applications: Suitable for applications requiring high durability and the ability to withstand harsh environments.

Choosing the Right Material

The best material for your defense application depends on a variety of factors, including:

• Part requirements: Consider the necessary mechanical properties, temperature resistance, and chemical resistance.
• Printing conditions: The chosen material must be compatible with your 3D printer’s settings and capabilities.
• Cost: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different materials and their impact on the overall production cost.

Omni3D’s Large-Format Solutions

Omni3D’s large-format industrial 3D printers are compatible with a wide range of materials, allowing you to select the best option for your specific application. Our open material system provides you with the flexibility to experiment with different filaments and find the perfect fit for your needs.

Omni3D: Your Trusted Partner for Defense Manufacturing

With a proven track record in delivering innovative 3D printing solutions, Omni3D has established itself as a leading provider for the defense sector. Our expertise extends beyond hardware to encompass a comprehensive range of engineering services, including:

• Customized Printing Solutions: Tailored to meet the specific needs of defense applications, ensuring optimal part performance and quality.
• Material Selection and Optimization: Leveraging our deep understanding of materials to select the most suitable options for your projects.
• Design Consultation: Providing expert guidance on optimizing designs for 3D printability and ensuring compliance with industry standards.
• Process Optimization: Identifying and implementing strategies to streamline your 3D printing workflows, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.
• Case Study: Empowering the Polish Army

Omni3D has successfully collaborated with the Polish Army, providing critical 3D printing solutions for a variety of applications.

Our expertise has enabled the Polish military to:

• Accelerate Spare Part Production: Reduce downtime and maintain operational readiness by producing replacement parts on-demand.
• Prototype New Designs: Rapidly iterate and test new concepts, leading to innovative and more effective solutions.
• Improve Supply Chain Resilience: Reduce reliance on external suppliers and mitigate risks associated with disrupted supply chains.

Ready to Explore the Possibilities?

Request a quote for our 3D printing services and discover how Omni3D can revolutionize your defense manufacturing operations.

Request a Quote

Download our White Paper: “Deploying LARGE-FORMAT3D Printing for Battlefield Advantage”

Gain valuable insights into the transformative power of 3D printing in the defense industry. Our white paper explores real-world applications, case studies, and the benefits of partnering with Omni3D.

Download White Paper

Let’s work together to elevate your defense manufacturing capabilities.

Artykuł Material Matters: Choosing the Right Filament for Defense Applications pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

Take, for example, the European norm EN 45545-2. This regulation sets stringent fire safety requirements for railway passenger transport. Here at Omni3D, our commitment to safety goes beyond simply acknowledging such norms. Our technology is specifically designed to align with these regulations, ensuring both compliance and the freedom to innovate within a safe framework.

This means that as trains travel at high speeds, passengers can be confident that vital components, potentially manufactured using our 3D printing technology, play a crucial role in their safety. Material extrusion, when paired with the right expertise and adherence to regulations, becomes a powerful tool for creating a safer transportation landscape.

Open Systems: Staying Ahead of the Curve

However, ensuring safety doesn’t equate to stagnation. At Omni3D, we believe in the power of open systems. Our printers are designed to be adaptable and integrate seamlessly with various filaments and materials. This openness allows us, and our users, to constantly evolve and adapt to the latest safety requirements and material advancements.

Imagine a future where new fire-retardant materials emerge, offering even greater passenger safety. With an open system, our 3D printers can readily integrate these advancements, ensuring our technology remains at the forefront of safety compliance within the ever-changing world of transportation regulations.

The Future of Safety and Innovation

By prioritizing safety regulations and embracing open systems, Omni3D paves the way for a future where industrial extrusion 3D printing serves as a reliable and innovative tool within heavily regulated markets like transportation. With every printed component, we contribute to a safer journey for passengers and a more dynamic landscape for responsible innovation.

Stay tuned for further insights into how Omni3D’s technology is shaping the future of regulated industries!

Artykuł Pioneering Industrial Extrusion 3D Printing for Regulated Markets: Safety First with Openness for Innovation pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

3D printers have enabled students to create three-dimensional objects and models in classrooms. Not only in art or technology classes, but also in science or humanities.

Thanks to Omni3D’s proprietary library of prints, teachers were able to easily find 3D models useful for teaching specific subjects. Very quickly, however, the ready-made models became an inspiration for students to create their own projects! Students became designers and creators of their own ideas, gaining the opportunity to put the knowledge they gained into practice. We received many photos testifying to the extraordinary creativity of the kids.

We systematically contacted users of Omni200 and OmniSTART printers supporting them with content, sending thematic and occasional print ideas, e.g. for Christmas, Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. In addition, we provided training, technical support, and different colored PLA filaments.

Thanks to such active cooperation with schools, we increasingly understand the needs of the education industry and the students and teachers themselves. We have already planned a series of webinars, meetings and products that we will implement in the next school year.

The introduction of 3D printers as part of the Future Laboratories program was a great success. Feedback coming directly from educators and students testify that the lessons have definitely become more interesting, engaging and modern! Creating three-dimensional models depicting abstract mathematical concepts or historical events stimulated the imagination of students, and thus made initially difficult to imagine issues become logical, interesting and easy to remember. By stimulating and influencing all the students’ senses, the prints strengthened the understanding and assimilation of material even in biology, chemistry or mathematics.

The most important advantage of such machines is that they incredibly develop creativity. Thanks to them, students can experiment, create unique projects and realize their ideas, and all this happens on school grounds. As a result, teamwork competencies, for example, are strengthened, becoming an attractive alternative to spending time alone in front of a phone screen. Creative expressions and passions are strengthened, and the development of skills in design and construction is greatly facilitated. Acquiring these practical skills will be extremely valuable on the job market in the future.

The 2022/2023 school year was undoubtedly a watershed in education. Teachers had the opportunity to introduce new teaching techniques and students to experience learning in a whole new way. We hope that this is just the beginning of an educational revolution. We look forward to the next phase of the Laboratories of the Future program, which will enable secondary schools to be equipped with similar equipment.

As a manufacturer of 3D printers and software, we want to provide more schools not only with 3D printers, filaments (printing materials), but also with all the content support to help them learn how to print and design. We want to have an impact on changing attitudes towards learning and knowledge acquisition.

By providing service support, we want to make sure that the Omni200 and OmniSTART printers will work flawlessly and serve the school community for a wide range of tasks, including restoring broken everyday items and equipment at school.

A 3D printer can also be used for just that. Below is just such an example:

Pic. Gears necessary for proper operation of paper towel containers in school bathrooms.

„We have very often faced the problem of buying sprockets due to frequent wear and tear, and here we are! We received a finished design (made by a parent of one student). We made minor adjustments, then printed it on an Omni200 printer – and we got it!” – says a teacher of the School and Kindergarten Complex in Leczyce

We look forward to the next school year and the challenges posed by increasingly knowledgeable teachers and students in the world of 3D printing.

See you in September 2023!

Artykuł What educational opportunities have 3D printers brought to elementary schools in the 2022/2023 school year? pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

Each new building or other architectural work requires a large amount of preliminary work. Designing usually begins on a piece of paper, going from drawing the first concepts to designing specific functionalities and solutions. More and more often, these works are accompanied by 3D printers that visualize the design in a way that was unavailable before. Modern printers with an accuracy of 50 microns can easily handle even the smallest details of a given concept. In addition, 3D printing allows at this stage the possibility of free manipulation of the designed elements of the structure and widely understood equipment. Models of future solutions more and more often become the final test of the concept, introduced into the process just before the final design. All this to see objects on a scale, check the sun exposure, positioning of elements, functionality and other parameters of the future solution.

3D printing – see your future interior in a different way

Interior design was and is one of the key elements determining the success of a given investment. Thanks to their functionalities, 3D printers can give you the opportunity to have fun with the arrangement of numerous elements. The final appearance of the interior can be expressed on a scale that will make the concept more credible or will allow you to refine each element to the requirements of a given user. The computer image does not always provide such a possibility and such a broad view of the whole. Printing interior furnishings (as individual movable elements), the possibility of introducing variables (e.g. a human model), along with the possibility of free movement of elements gives architects new possibilities, and at the same time defines a new level of cooperation between the contractor and the future user. 3D printing causes all ambiguities to be visualized and explained at the concept stage, minimizing the risk of possible errors.

A different dimension of interiors – personalized solutions thanks to additive technology

Until a few years ago, construction was based on simple rules. Developers were building conceptually similar buildings. Examples of this are large-panel blocks in Central and Eastern Europe and large-scale company buildings. Today, this is changing drastically, with housing development being lower and office buildings and hotels tall. In an increasingly personalized world, an individual approach to projects is a requirement. In this individual approach, 3D printing makes it possible to cross new boundaries. Even the most complicated in shape concepts of equipment are the way to go. This applies not only to movable equipment, but also to the arrangement of walls and ceilings. 3D printing makes it possible to personalize each element to suit the tastes of future users. Thanks to additive technology, everyone can have something unique in their own environment.

3d Whole-house printing – it’s already happening – and what will happen in the future

3D printing is entering the world of architecture and construction with great force. There are known situations in which whole houses are printed today. Moreover, with each printed building, we find more arguments for a wider use of this technology: the cost of printing of the building, its insulation advantages, the possibility of using local resources, an individual approach to shapes and sizes. Construction technology based on 3D printing is so promising and simple that it is considered to be used in the construction of bases on Mars, using local resources and robots that could start construction without human presence. It all shows the potential of 3D printing and shows the path to be used.

From space back to earth – 3D printing in everyday work now.

When considering the myriad concepts of the future possibilities of 3D printing, it is impossible to get back to the day-to-day issues where 3D printing can help us now. Printing models, scaling elements of equipment, individual concepts of furniture, devices, functional and architectural design, but also tools helpful during construction, spare parts for devices – all these elements can already be used and in many cases are used. It is safe to say that 3D printers have invaded the salons of the construction and architectural industries with an impetus that is incomparable to other aspects. Nobody expected such a wide use – and there is even more to be developed. The potential of additive technology is immeasurable and it is difficult to say at what pace and in which direction it will develop.

Do you want to know more: -> go to the sector card – architecture, design… or contact us.

Kontakt:

LinkedIn: Tomasz Garniec

m. +48 886 618 588

e-mail: tg@omni3d.com

Artykuł The use of 3D printing in architecture and modern construction pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

At Mecspe we will show Omni3D Factory 2.0 NET  our top printer – equipped with:

• Omni3D Cooling System – better control over the 3D printing process
• Omni3D Filament Flow Control – special algorithm that is calculating the volume of the extruder filament
• Omni3D Head Leveling Control and Omni3D Platform Autoleveling System – system that makes the printer user-friendly and give you a chance for a better accuracy and repeatability
• Omni3D Web Control – the system that gives not only a chance to control the process during but it gives a chance to make statistic and analyze it to make progress and become better every time the 3D printing starts. So come to see how easy is to make the CSV report with the OWC!

We will show you where to use the 3D printer by showing a useful cases from our customers that are :

• Prototyping
• Producing of final products
• Shortening supply chains
• Customization of production line
• Customization of products
• …building new earning process…
• And many more

Omni3D 3D Printers are able to meet your requirements.
Come to us and join the real Industrial 3D Printing world!
Stand 28A, PAD29

Artykuł First time in Italy! Omni3D lands at Mecspe in Bolognia: stand 28A, PAD29! Ready for Industry 4.0! pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

The PEEK and Ultem market is fantastic, huge and, at the same time, growing to the most stable degree. Each major manufacturer presents high-temperature printers. During many meetings, we were surprised that through this year the awareness of customers (railway, aviation, automotive) – who still in 2020 defined their needs as focused only on Peek and Ultem – are now looking for alternatives that will be more tailored to their needs. The awareness of the cost, machine prices and high technological requirements that must be met in order to be able to print with these materials is growing, and they know that there are alternatives on the market. A trend is visible in large industrial groups which, in cooperation with filament producers, certify selected filaments according to their specific needs. This is a fantastic opportunity for a much faster development of 3D printing. This was very strongly reflected in Omni3D, where in 2021 the portfolio of our clients expanded to include companies from the Aerospace, Heavy Industry, Railway Industry and many other sectors … which were previously focused only on PEEK and Ultem. Filament certification will be what will drive 3D printing in the coming years and will allow for its wider use and application.

FLEXIBLE materials for 3D Printing

In 2019, 2020 and 2021, the trend of printing from flex materials like TPU, was noticeable. During this period, many manufacturers adapted their devices to print from these materials. What happened at the end of 2021 was a surprise for us. Every second incoming query to Omni3D, each conversation touched on the subject of „rubber” printing. The questions were not whether – but how to do it. The Electric Sector, Aerospace as well as the automotive sector chose those devices that gave correct or good TPU prints. We have succeeded many times. This trend was also visible in conversations at fairs and conferences, where the attention of visitors was attracted by large prints made of Flex filaments. The interest and the content of the talks show how much the knowledge of 3D printing is changing, and how users experiment with devices and materials with the increase in technological knowledge. This trend also shows how important it is to look at a wide range of filaments and what challenges await manufacturers to use the largest possible range of printing materials on one device.

3D printing is part of the process

For many people, a process is a set of actions that are taken to achieve a specific result … this is also the case in the modern approach to 3D printing. In 2021, it was noticeable that users are starting to think of a 3D printer as part of certain activities. So far, this trend has not been so visible. It’s a bit of a willingness to experiment, more technological knowledge, and more courage… to do something new, some technological breakthroughs. If we will come back to 2019, the mixture of filament with stainless steel filings was rather considered a whim of a great filament producer and as a demonstration of its power. Customers who were interested in PEEK printing also touched it and the process trend slowly began to emerge on the wave of increased use of this filament. Because in the case of PEEK printing, we always talk about a process in which the print itself is only a small/big part. But what does the 3D printing process mean? It is a specific set of actions – in this case – preparation of the filament (drying), printing, drying the print, burning it in a furnace (sintering) – which ultimately made to give us a „steel” or „ceramic” or „other” element. This is another chance for 3D printing to appear on a larger scale, and the market pressure and the above-mentioned courage, which gives new thoughts, new ideas and new applications, will push filament producers to newer and crazier ideas. I am waiting impatiently for this, because it is a chance to show the real power of the industrial application of 3D Printing.

Shortening the supply chain and greater production security, but also education in 3D printing … a long-term trend.

The pandemic bounce back significantly on many companies that lost their production capacity overnight. Some of the problems were due to lockdowns, but most were due to delivery delays. Even at the beginning of 2021, many companies were waiting for what would happen. Subsidies for governments , tax breaks and other reliefs gave a sense of security. Throughout 2021, and with the advent of new Covid 19 varieties, companies have changed their thinking and this trend will continue in the years to come. It is no coincidence that in the coming years the Asian market will strongly develop in 3D printing (Wohlers report). Many companies from the United States and Europe have decided to move some of their production, R&D departments, or entire companies to these areas. The purpose of this is to significantly shorten supply chains and to be able to react faster to threats emerging in the world. At that time, many companies also started the process of implementing 3D printing. This trend will continue to develop and despite the many obstacles it faces and its relatively slow pace, it will grow faster and faster. You may ask, why doesn’t it develop faster? There are several reasons for this, but the most important is the lack of specialists who can work effectively with 3D printing. The world is finally slowly realizing that 3D printing is something that will determine the strength of the economy in the coming years, which is why programs aimed at the implementation of 3D printing in companies (as in France) are being created, but also programs for education are being created, which are to show printers at an early stage of education level. Looking also at where Omni3D printers landed in 2021, we can clearly say that building new laboratories at large universities around the world, equipped with the latest 3D printing solutions, is not a coincidence and such education will bring a huge increase in the importance of 3D Printers in the long run and in everyday life of everyone.

Want to know more about 3D printing?
Contact us and discover the possibilities of  3D printers

Kontakt:

LinkedIn: Tomasz Garniec

m. +48 886 618 588

e-mail: tg@omni3d.com

Artykuł What 2022 will bring to FDM / FFF 3D printing. New trends! pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

Until recently, a desktop printers had an open chamber and printed with PLA and several other undemanding filaments. Today on the market we can find „desktops” that offer more and more professional features. Currently, these printers have a closed chamber, higher and higher temperatures, and are made of good materials, thanks to which they can handle more materials than their predecessors from previous years.

Then, if desktop 3D printers offer more and more at a relatively low price, does it make sense to invest in a professional 3D printing machine that often costs several times more?

Of course! In fact, the two types of printers are very different from each other. And while desktop printers have made a huge technological progress, this progress was not less in the case of industrial printers. In fact, it is industrial printers that are primarily responsible for setting direction for the entire industry. In such printers, the latest mechanical, electronic and software solutions are used, which significantly increase the quality of printing, material possibilities and user experience.

How are desktop printers different from industrial printers?

• The main difference that distinguishes industrial printers from desktop printers is the design of the printers and the quality of the components used. Industrial printers have a very rigid structure that is entirely made of metal. This allows, above all, to achieve much higher printing speeds without losing print quality, but also such things as a screw drive and nuts with clearance compensation affect the life of the printer itself and the fact that after hundreds or thousands of reprinted hours, industrial printers print with the same quality.
• Another feature that distinguishes the two types of printers that meets the eye is the cubature of the printer. Desktop printers usually have +/- 200mm in each axis, which translates into a print volume of 8l, while industrial printers with +/- 500mm in each axis have a print volume of 125l, thanks to which we are able to print elements 15 times larger than on a desktop printer.
• 3D printing is associated mainly with complex geometries that are often inaccessible to other manufacturing technologies. However, not everyone knows that complex shapes and internal structures are exclusively reserved for industrial printers, because they are equipped with two print heads. What do they give? They give us the ability to print from two different materials, including support materials such as HIPS, which can be easily broken from our model, but most of all from water-soluble materials such as ODS-20. This material allows us to create countless channels and projections in our printout, because the supports can be rinsed by placing the printout in an ultrasonic cleaner.
• In addition, industrial printers are equipped with a closed and heated working chamber, which allows us to print from engineering materials. They have much better strength parameters than standard filaments, but also need much higher temperatures in the chamber during the printing process. That is why a heated chamber is so important to be able to control the printing environment and material shrinkage. In desktop printers, the temperature in the chamber is close to the ambient temperature, so the range of materials compatible with such a printer is more limited than in the case of printers dedicated to industry. For comparison, a desktop printer can usually print from 3 to 6 different materials, while an industrial printer can print up to 20 different materials.
• Another very important aspect is dimensional accuracy. Professional printers from good manufacturers achieve accuracy of 0.2%, and even higher with proper printer calibration, while desktop printers have an accuracy of 0.5% -1%. While for small details, it will not matter that much, when printing larger elements, e.g. 200x200x200m, the dimensional deviation will be about 2mm. The dimensional accuracy is influenced by many factors, the extruder design, the quality of the components used, stepper motor drivers, and these elements, usually in industrial printers, are of a much higher class.
• The last thing to decide on a decent industrial-class 3D printer is the support offered by the manufacturers of such printers. Often, manufacturers do not talk about their devices only as a 3D printer, but as printing systems. This is because manufacturers of industrial solutions offer, among others, auxiliary devices such as a filament dryer, ready-made settings for printing, but also implementation training in printer operation and setting the appropriate printing parameters and model editing.

Many people think that an industrial printer will be too difficult for them and prefer to start their adventure with 3D printing from something cheaper and more basic … nothing could be further from the truth!

A printer using an industrial printer has far fewer responsibilities than if he were using its „desktop” counterpart. This is because they have many great solutions, such as: automatic table leveling, mesh leveling, automatic lifting of the inactive head, or automatic nozzle cleaning. In fact, everything happens from the level of the control panel, be it on the printer or from a dedicated website, unlike a desktop printer, which often requires basic knowledge and intervention from the printer.

Summing up, the biggest disadvantage of professional printing systems is their relatively high price because the prices of such printers start from PLN 50,000 net and end at PLN 200,000 net. Nevertheless, this price is followed by specific advantages in the form of reliability, print quality, additional services and many others.

If anyone else is wondering whether it is worth choosing a more expensive solution, the answer is yes!

Contact:

LinkedIn: Michał Kowalczyk

m. +48 535 622 101

e-mail: mk@omni3d.com

Artykuł Is it worth to invest in a professional 3D printer? pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

One area of application in 3D printing that is becoming increasingly important is the printing of spare parts. Especially in the case of older machines, devices or cars (oldtimers and youngtimers), with very complex components or when there are no more „original spare parts” and with a very small number of copies of a given machine, where spare parts are often rare, very difficult or impossible to get. Industrial 3D printing allows you to meet these needs.

To make a 3D printed copy of a damaged or worn original part, the following two steps are necessary:

• Digitization of the element: In the case of 3D printing, it is necessary to provide a digital 3D model of the object. There are two ways to obtain a 3D model – designing a given spare part or a 3D scan. In particular, digitization is often underestimated as a cost factor. Scanning an object or creating a 3D model can result in costs ranging from three to four digits, depending on complexity. For small and medium-sized components, the cost of digitization often exceeds the cost of 3D printing. Especially in the case of objects with complex geometry, e.g. with numerous open spaces, it is advisable to use 3D scanning technology. However, this technology is reaching its limits when it comes to precise undercut scanning. This is usually only possible with computed tomography
• 3D printing: Filaments and metals are most commonly used for the production of spare parts. If the spare part is a functional element, thermoplastics (mainly nylon with carbon fiber) are particularly suitable. Technological development and low cost of printing put printing in FDM technology in a privileged position. A year ago, the durability and availability of filaments for printing left a lot to be desired. Currently, technological progress is so great that this technology allows us to meet the most sophisticated expectations. Metal 3D printing is not comparable to plastic printing, despite some technical similarities. Due to manufacturing and material requirements, trade-offs in surface quality and object dimensional tolerance must be made when 3D printing from metal. Moreover, the costs are much higher.

When is it worth 3D printing spare parts?

The answer is simple: when the value of the component is higher than the cost of digitization and subsequent 3D printing. What other advantages does spare parts printing offer you? The first is saving time. It is up to 80% compared to traditional solutions. The machine downtime is certainly less than when the part is printed than when we wait for the delivery of the part manufactured using the traditional method. The second is saving money. In the case of the turbine of the vacuum pump printed by Omni for Luk Plast, it was 90%. The third advantage is independence from an external supplier, which is a very important element these days. The fourth advantage is the ability to modify a given machine element in any way and the ability to adapt it to your own needs.

Contact:

LinkedIn: Jacek Krzyżanowski

m. +48 886 618 690

e-mail: jk@omni3d.com

Artykuł 3D printing of spare parts pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.

The pandemic situation forced many educational institutions to switch to distance learning. Paradoxically, it created an opportunity for us, the opportunity to conduct workshops related to 3D printing. At the beginning, we had a few concerns – will it be an interesting topic for them? Will the online presentation form appeal to their tastes? It turns out that we have collected very good references from teachers and students who had the opportunity to learn not only about the additive technology itself, but also specific solutions and applications of OmniSTART Printers. Together, we managed to go through a multimedia presentation and a virtual showroom, as well as to run the device for the first time.

Workshop participants had the opportunity to learn about the printer’s properties that translate into the final result, i.e. the printout. First of all, we are talking about a stable, steel structure, a working area of ​​200 x 200 x 150 mm or remote management. The greatest curiosity, however, aroused what we could potentially print. We presented models of handles, figurines, cups, connectors and the human heart. The competition we developed for the workshop was very positively received. Namely, the students were given a week of time to independently design or find projects on the Internet that aroused their interest. The models selected by us were printed for the winners.

As experience shows us, 3D printing in education has enormous potential. It is the basis for the development of creative thinking among pupils and students and develops technical skills. Supplying educational institutions with 3D printers contributes to increasing teaching resources and increasing their prestige.

Does your school also want to START with 3D printing? If so – please contact me!

Contact:

LinkedIn: Cezary Wilczyński

m. +48 577 622 102

e-mail: cw@omni3d.com

Artykuł START with 3D printing pochodzi z serwisu Omni3D.