opportunities in 3 d printing of metals 2016 2026

Copyright © 2015 IDTechEx | www.IDTechEx.com

Opportunities in 3D Printing of Metals 2016-2026

Rachel Gordon, Technology Analyst, IDTechEx


Rachel GordonTechnology Analyst

At IDTechEx, Rachel Gordon leads the research into 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, including writing research reports, interviewing key players, consulting, curating conferences, and speaking at events around the world.

She has a BA in Natural Sciences and first-class MSci in Materials Science and Metallurgy from Cambridge University. She has worked Cambridge University Engineering Department, University of Goettingen, and the University of Technology in Hamburg.

Email: [email protected] Twitter: @rachel_s_gordonTel: +44 (0) 1223 812300


Technology landscape Company profiles Market forecasts

Custom research Analyst access Advisory service

Conferences Exhibition Masterclasses


Helping you profit from Emerging Technologies


3D Printing Report Series

Master report

www.idtechex.com/research/[email protected]

http://www.idtechex.com/research/3d

mailto:[email protected]


History of 3D Metal Printing

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

3D Systems

Arcam BeAM

Bright Laser Technology

Concept Laser DMG Mori

EFESTO

EOS ExOne

Huake 3D

Matsuura Machinery

Optomec

Realizer

Renishaw

Sciaky

Sisma/TrumpfSLM Solutions

Wuhan Binhu

Voxeljet


Product Landscape


Total Installed Base of 3D Metal Printers

SLM88%

EBM8%

Blown Powder3%

Metal + Binder0%

Welding0%


Selective Laser Melting (SLM)A powder-bed fusion technique


Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

• Blown powder offers bigger build volumes and faster build speeds

• Industries like aerospace adopting 3D printing in metal for the manufacture of production parts

• Market for much cheaper and simpler SLM 3D printers

• Small build volumes (0.0002m3 up to only 0.13m3)

• Large machines• Slow build speeds• Limited to one material• Expensive machines from $100k • Fine powders are explosive

• Good accuracy down to 50 microns (width of a wool fibre)

• Free market metal powder consumables• Printed objects can be fully dense

Selective Laser Melting (SLM)A powder-bed fusion technique


3D Printable MetalsSteels Engineering

MetalsPrecious Metals Smart Materials

Stainless SteelsTool SteelsMaraging SteelLow alloy Steels

TitaniumAluminiumNickelCobaltIronNiobiumCobalt ChromeNickel ChromeInconelTungsten

GoldPlatinumPaladiumSilverCopperBronze

Nitinol


Fine powders allow good resolution, good surface finish and ease of melting.Very narrow size distribution for good consistency.Highly spherical powders for optimum spreading.Low surface area means only a small oxygen content is needed to passivate the surface, so the powder can be recycled more times and still be within the specification.High well-controlled purity.

Powder Requirements

EBM

Blown Powder

SLM

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Particle Size (microns)


Metal Powders – Key Players


GE Aviation

GE have said they will invest $3.5bn between 2013 and 2017 to reduce fuel consumption by 10%. The fuel nozzles for LEAP jet engines are 3D printed in a Cobalt-Chrome-Molybdenum alloy.They are using Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM) to melt 20-100 micron layers of a powdered alloy. Previously nozzles were manufactured by welding together 18 smaller pieces which was labour-intensive and wasteful. Design flexibility has allowed the nozzle to be 25% lighter.They use EOS M-280 printers, but also tested 3D printers from SLM Solutions, Concept Laser and 3D Systems.They hope the engines will be in service by 2016.They are opening a new facility in Alabama, which will print over 114,000 fuel nozzles for use in 6000 jet engines by 2020.


Airbus subsidiary, Premium AEROTEC, has just opened its first manufacturing facility for 3D printing titanium aircraft components, where it has begun serial production of metal 3D printed parts. The company will be 3D printing complex parts for the A400M military transport aircraft.Upon qualification for aviation standards, the firm will be able to supply to Airbus Defence and Space.The newly modernized facility houses three metal 3D printers from Concept Laser with a fourth on standby and a fifth to be added to the operation in May.

Premium Aerotec


Siemens have been using direct-write metal printing technologies to prototype turbine blades for gas turbines, with a view to eventually using the technology for production.

Oil and Gas Industry


EOS have sold around 100 machines for manufacturing of dental crowns and bridges. On an average, they are used to produce about 250 copings a day, but could do up to 450. This equates to about 6.5 million copings a year in total on all systems in the field. EOS believe 10 million copings are 3D printed each year, giving EOS a 2/3 market share compared to other players in the industry.

Dental bridges and copings


Just earlier this year, Stryker announced the development of a state-of-the-art 3D printing facility in late 2016.The FDA has just given clearance to a 3D printed Posterior Lumbar Cage made from a highly porous titanium material.The material has been specifically designed for accommodating bone in-growth and biologic fixation in the spine.3D printing means the cages can be widely adapted in terms of widths, lengths, heights, and angles, depending on a patient’s specific anatomy. The cages feature as much open architecture as possible, enabling doctors to clearly see progress through CT and X-ray scanning. The 3D printed spinal cage is expected to be commercially released in the second quarter of 2016.

Medical Implants


Electron Beam Melting (EBM)A powder-bed fusion technique




• Blown powder offers bigger build volumes and faster build speeds

• Industries like aerospace adopting 3D printing in metal for the manufacture of production parts

• Market for much cheaper and simpler metal 3D printers

• Small build volumes• Slow build speeds• Limited to one material• Expensive machines• Fine powders are explosive

• Good accuracy• Printed objects are fully dense• Higher build temperature than SLM • Requires fewer support parts than SLM

Electron Beam Melting (EBM)A powder-bed fusion technique


Adler Ortho is an Italian maker of hip and knee implants.In 2006 they launched their first product made with Arcam’s EBM technology.It’s possible to build more than 100 medical implants in an Arcam machine in a single build cycle, which lasts about two days. In April 2015, Arcam claimed their 3D printers had manufactured over 50,000 orthopaedic implants.

Orthopaedics


Metal powder is blown coaxially to the laser beam which melts the particles on a base metal to form a metallurgical bond when cooled.This is a directed energy deposition technique.Multi-axis robot allows material to be deposited from any direction so the technology can be used to repair high-value metal parts.It can produce fully-dense objects from titanium, aluminium, nickel, cobalt, stainless steels, tool steels, copper, precious metals and alloys.It is used in Aerospace, Military, and Oil and Gas sectors.

Blown Powder




• SLM offers higher precision and fully dense objects for lower machine prices

• Welding offers higher build speed and larger volume

• Different powders could be blended to print objects with graded materials

• Potential for much cheaper and simpler blown-powder 3D printers

• Agricultural industry, power generation, cutting implements, anti-corrosion coatings.

• Expensive machines from $560,000• Slow build speeds up to 31mm3/s• Powders are explosive and dangerous if

inhaled

• Large build volumes up to 4.7m3

• Can be used to repair objects• Use free market, coarser metal powders• Multi-material• High powder deposition rates • Mechanical properties equivalent or even

superior to wrought materials

Blown Powder SWOT Analysis


M-series printers from ExOneTwo-step processBinder inkjetted into metal powder.Resulting object buried in other powder and then fired in a furnace.The original metal is not fully dense but can be infiltrated with bronze.

Metal + Binder




• SLM is cheaper, faster, more precise and produces stronger metal objects directly.

• Jewelry might benefit from this process.

• Indirect process with extensive post-processing

• Infused metal objects are weak• Small build volumes up to 0.16m3.• Expensive machines

• Fast build speeds

Metal + Binder SWOT Analysis


ExOne have qualified an extensive number of materials including: 420 Stainless Steel infiltrated with Bronze; 316 Stainless Steel infiltrated with Bronze; Iron infiltrated with Bronze; Inconel Alloy 625; Bronze; Bonded Tungsten; and Glass.

ExOne, announced the addition of 6 new materials to their metals portfolio: Cobalt-Chrome, Inconel Alloy 718, Iron-Chrome-Aluminum, 17-4 Stainless Steel, 316 Stainless Steel, and Tungsten Carbide.

Iron-Chrome-Aluminum (FeCrAl): Iron-Chrome-Aluminum alloys are used to build electrical furnaces, electrical ovens, home appliances, electrical heaters, and infrared settings. They have even higher heat and corrosion resistance.

174 Stainless Steel and 316 Stainless Steel: In the automotive, medical, and general industry markets, these alloys are used to produce surgical tools, metallic filters, pumps, impellers, and structural automotive parts. These grades are known for being cost-effective, as well as having excellent mechanical and corrosion resistance properties.

Tungsten Carbide (WC): With a melting point of 2770°C, Tungsten Carbide is used mainly in the manufacturing of high wear-resistant abrasives, carbide cutting tools (knives, drills and circular saws), and milling and turning tools used by metalworkers, woodworkers, miners, as well as the petroleum and construction industries.

Powders for Metal + Binder


A cartesian robot holding a welding torch welds together welding wire into large metal objectsThis is another directed energy deposition technique.Large build volume, low precision parts from any metal which is available as weld wire, including titanium, stainless steels, tantalum, cobalt alloys, and nickel alloys.Many materials are available in standard sizes with well-understood microstructures and properties.Manufacturer and sale of welding wire is an established business and sales into additive manufacturing represent a very small proportion of the revenue.Automotive and aerospace industries to build very large prototypes and final production part.Large build volumes but poor precision, so require post-processing. High strength, due to low porosity. Concerns about fatigue strength.

Welding




• Blown powder offers better precision and comparable build volumes for a similar price

• Different wire feedstocks could be blended to print objects with graded materials

• Market for much cheaper and simpler welding-based 3D printers

• Oil & gas, automotive, shipping, construction and mining industries could also benefit from welding 3D printers

• Poor ~5mm accuracy• Expensive machines from $1.5M• Complexity, e.g. vacuum build environment• Poor precision makes post-processing

necessary

• Large 3.5m3 build volume• Fast build speeds up to 1,140mm3/s• Cheap welding wire consumables• Printed objects are fully dense

Welding SWOT Analysis


Sand + Binder

For Example Foundry Sand with furan, phenol, silicate or alkyd binder

Which printers use them? Ink-jetting

Which industries use them? What are they used to produce?

Automotive and aerospace industries build moulds and cores for sand casting, small market of artists.

Safety concerns Binders can be toxic

Properties Moulds and cores are incredibly fragile so cannot be transported long distances. Precision is poor.


Proto-pasta Stainless Steel PLA is a dense material that can be 3D printed using thermoplastic extrusion like standard PLA.It results in heavy prints that can be post-processed.In an unfinished form, prints look like cast metal. They can be left that way, or finished through a variety of methods to achieve different results.

Proto-pasta Magnetic Iron PLA responds to magnets and behaves similarly to pure iron, even to the point of rusting. Magnetism allows many practical applications.

It is marketed at home and education markets for jewelry, costumes, props, figurines, crafting and robots.Stainless Steel PLA is more abrasive than standard PLA, and can result in accelerated nozzle wear.

Proto-pasta Metallic PLA Filament


Japan’s Tanaka Precious Metals Group has succeeded in the development and formation of platinum-based metallic glass powder for use in Selective Laser Sintering machines.Heraeus are also developing a Zr metallic glass powder for SLM.Metallic glass is a type of amorphous metal that does not have a crystalline structure like ordinary metals. It is widely known for:

• high strength• hardness• low flexibility • ultra-high corrosion resistance• smooth surface finish

The most common method of manufacturing metallic glass at present is casting, which requires an expensive metal cast with high thermal conductivity due to the required rapid cooling.This could allow small scale production of products requiring corrosion resistance such as medical materials, and specialised components requiring heat resistance in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Platinum-based Metallic Glass


North Carolina State University is researching 3D printing with a gallium-indium alloy.

This is a mixture which remains liquid at room temperature. But when it comes into contact with air, it develops a thin skin that is strong enough to hold the liquid’s shape.

When printed, the shapes can be stretched and deformed. This technology could be used for micro-circuits and wearable electronics.

Liquid metals have advantages in terms of applications, but they are extremely challenging to work with.

Recent research addressed another important problem with liquid metals. The gallium and indium alloy mix is non-toxic.

However, this mixture will be about a hundred times as expensive as thermoplastic filament.

Gallium-Indium Alloy


Market Share by Installed Base

3D Systems

Arcam

Bright Laser Tech-nology

Concept Laser

DMG MoriEFESTO

EOS

ExOneMatsuura Machinery

Optomec

Realizer

RenishawSciakySisma/Trumpf

SLM Solutions

Wuhan Binhu


Forecast of Total Installed Base of 3D Metal Printers

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 20250

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000SLM EBM Blown Powder Metal + Binder Welding

Num

ber o

f ins

talle

d un

its


Future of 3D Printing Metals

TechnologyTrigger

Peak of InflatedExpectations

Trough ofDisillusionment Slope of Enlightenment Plateau of

Productivity

Expectations

Time

Jewelry

Construction

Prototyping

Orthopaedics

Non-critical aerospace

Critical aerospace

Electronics


ChallengesMachines Materials

• Larger build volumes• Increased build speed• Greater precision• Movement away from layered structures• Parameter monitoring and control loop• Reduced cost• Energy efficiency

• Wider variety of materials properties• Developing processing parameters for

each powder

Design Standards

• Simpler CAD software to make it accessible

• Declarative CAD to use design freedom to the full

• New design criteria• Integration of design and manufacture

• Develop and implement international standards

• Specified test programme• Cooperation between suppliers and

users• Many parameters are not yet understood

or controlled

Copyright © IDTechEx | www.IDTechEx.com

Supporting your strategic business decisions on emerging technologies

Offices: USA (East Coast): +1 617 577

7890 USA (West Coast): +1 408 217

0570

Germany: +49 3991 669 3591UK: +44 (0)1223 812 300

Japan: +81 90 5566 1533 Korea: +82 31 263 7890Taiwan: +886 935 553916

IDTechEx conducts detailed examinations of emerging technologies, which are delivered through our Market Research Reports and Subscription services.

ResearchOur expert analysts deliver custom projects which identify markets, appraise technologies, define growth opportunities and perform due diligence.

ConsultingIDTechEx conferences and tradeshows match end users with the latest innovations, providing networking, sales and knowledge sharing.

Events

Rachel Gordon – [email protected]