Which Tech Will Dominate 3D Printing?
As 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is increasingly becoming a key component of advanced manufacturing, it is important to further optimize the process. This is because 3D printing parts and components are usually used in very demanding applications, like automotive engines, rockets, military equipment, etc. So in these circumstances, any failure of one component can trigger a catastrophic domino effect.
This is something that is going to be crucial in allowing the industry to move from the current consolidation to become the dominant manufacturing process over older methods melting metal in casts and machining.
One 3D printing technique in particular is used for precision manufacturing: laser powder bed fusion.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Argonne National Laboratory have recently analyzed the process with advanced X-ray imaging and think they can dramatically reduce the defects occurring during manufacturing. They published their findings in the International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, under the title “Revealing mechanisms of processing defect mitigation in laser powder bed fusion via shaped beams using high-speed X-ray imaging”.
Laser Powder Bed Fusion
The way powder bed 3D printing works is that a layer of powder containing the material used for the additive manufacturing is deposited in a container. A laser then melts/fuses the powder in the zone that will form the 3D-printed item.
A new layer of powder is then deposited on top, and the parts that need to be melted and added to the item are again targeted by the laser. Done over enough time, and very complex shapes can be produced, as well as relatively large items.
Source: ResearchGate
You can see laser powder bed fusion in action in this video, as well as some examples of what can be made using this technique.
Laser powder bed fusion can be used to produce items in plastics, but more importantly, metals as well, including titanium, steel, cobalt-chromium, aluminum, etc.
The advantage of this method is that it creates very precise geometry, with tolerances of +/- 0.2mm, similar to metal injection moulding. It also wastes very little materials, as the unused powder can be collected back and reused.
Larger parts can be printed quickly enough by using multiple lasers at once, usually in more advanced 3D printer designs.
It should be noted that laser powder bed fusion is an umbrella term covering several different sub-techniques:
- Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), both trademarked processes that use a laser system to fully melt metal powder.
- Electron Beam Melting (EBM), similar to SLM but using an electron beam in an inert atmosphere or vacuum chamber.
- Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), using powdered polymer materials as the laser only sinters the particles together and does not fully melt the material.
Preventing 3D Printing Failures
In theory, additive manufacturing of metal parts is equivalent to the traditional casted parts. In practice, issues can occur, such as pores, or “voids,” rough surfaces, and large spatters.
Such structural issues can lead to the parts breaking, something not acceptable in critical applications.
“Because we understood the underlying mechanisms, we could more quickly identify the right processing conditions to produce high-quality parts using the ring-shaped beam.”
Lianyi Chen – Associate professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison
Ring-Shaped Laser Beam
The first change the researchers made to their 3D printing design was to replace the usual laser beam with a ring-shaped laser beam, provided by a laser company called nLight, creating semiconductor lasers.
Source: International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
This different shape creates a better circulation of the melted metal in the melt pool overall and smaller waves on the surface of the freshly created item. The splatters are also less large and travel less far.
Source: International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
Matching Model And Observations
The researchers confirmed these observations by using the Argonne National Laboratory’s high-energy synchrotron X-ray facility. They used it to create high-speed snapshots of the 3D printing process, allowing the researchers to check if their mathematical model simulated reality properly.
Source: International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
3D Printing Quicker
The researchers also managed to get the ring-shaped beam to drill deeper into the powder without creating more instability. This resulted in thicker layers without weakening the finished product.
As the production ultimately requires fewer layers, this speeds up manufacturing and increases the overall productivity of the machine.
Powder Bed Fusion Example
This type of work is far from just an academic demonstration. It could improve the powder bed fusion machinery already used in the industry. A good example would be in aeronautics, with the fuel nozzle on General Electric’s GE9X engine, which is used on Boeing 777 aircraft.
The GE9X is the largest turbo-fan engine produced, and the additively manufactured nozzle is five times more durable than previous versions.
It should be noted that such developments are still very recent, with the GE9X design approved by the FAA only in 2020.
Even a higher quality powder bed fusion process, as well as a quicker one, could improve the design further while at the same time reducing its costs.
The Future of 3D Printing?
Toward Advanced Manufacturing Domination
We have previously discussed how 3D Printing is consolidating into the future of manufacturing.
This is true in advanced manufacturing like biomedical implants or aeronautics. As the quality of additive manufactured parts keeps improving, this will probably become the dominant method of manufacturing in such demanding industries.
This is likely to apply as well to robotics, in-orbit manufacturing, or even holographic 3D printing directly inside our bodies.
Toward More Applications
Another change will occur when 3D printing gets cheaper.
This will be due in part to simply more utilization, as more 3D printers being produced will create economies of scale and decrease the costs of the machine and their feedstock.
Another factor will be improvements of the technology. It can optimize the utilization of feedstock (reducing operating costs) or produce parts quicker (reducing capex costs).
This could include thicker layers with ring-shaped lasers like in this study. Or maybe using 2 lasers at once. And even 3D-printed electronics to add to the 3D-printed materials and parts.
Investing in 3D Printing
3D printing is now reaching technological maturity, as well as market consolidation. This gives investors a little more visibility than in the past and confirms that this technology is far from a fad but is here to stay.
You can invest in 3D-printing-related companies through many brokers, and you can find on this website our recommendations for the best brokers in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, as well as many other countries.
If you are not interested in picking specific 3D printing companies, you can also look into ETFs like ARK Invest 3D Printing ETF (PRNT) to capitalize on the growth of the additive manufacturing sector as a whole.
Or consult our articles “Top 10 Additive Manufacturing And 3D Printing Stock to Watch“, and “Top 10 Nanotechnology Stocks“.
Ring-Shape Laser Company
nLight Inc
nLIGHT, Inc. (LASR -1.61%)
So far, the winners in the 3D-printing technology have mostly been the 3D printer manufacturers and end users. The makers of individual parts of the 3D printers are more difficult to invest in, as most are relying on relatively commodified components like standardized lasers.
This is not the case with the innovation discussed here, with ring-shaped lasers a new development that might just have found a killer application.
The researchers used a laser produced by nLight, more precisely the continuous-wave (CW) AFX1000 fiber laser.
The versatile palette of beam settings enables the processing of all metals without compromise. In cutting, these fiber lasers provide CO2-like edge quality for thick metal and the speed advantages of fiber lasers for thin metal—all with the reliability and low cost of ownership of fiber lasers.
This laser is able to modify the shape of the ring in order to do more or less fine 3D printing and complex geometries.
Source: Trokut Solutions
The company had seen its revenues grow steadily from 2016-2021, to then suffer from a decline largely driven by shrinking sales in China. This was likely in connection to the growing trade tensions between China and the West, and competition from Chinese domestic laser producers.
With currently 95% of customers out of China, this is not likely to keep impacting the company moving forward.
Source: nLight
The mixed results are a reflection of this shift, with industrial sales declining steeply in 2024, while the microfabrication and aerospace segments boomed.
Source: Trokut Solutions
The recent decline in sales has caused cash flow from operations to drop back into negative territory in 2024. However, if the growth trend of aerospace and microfabrication/3D printing persists, carried by the general growth of these sectors and nLight’s unique technological advantage, nLight should get back into profitability.