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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | M A R C H 2 0 1 6
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3D PRINTSHOP
The Additive Manufacturing Us-
ers Group (AMUG) recently an-
nounced keynote speakers for
its 28th annual conference taking place
April 3-7 in St. Louis. Todd Grimm, Ja-
son Lopes, and Paul Litchfield will dis-
cuss additive manufacturing applica-
tions, trends, and technologies during
their lectures. Grimm’s presentation,
“The Age of Innovation,” will examine
current and future trends as well as re-
cent product introductions. Spanning
film and television, Lopes pushes the
limits of AM technology to create amaz-
ing physical effects. His lecture will
highlight the tools he uses to achieve
these results. Among others, his film
credits include “Avatar,” “Iron Man,”
“The Avengers,” and “RoboCop.”
Litchfield’s talk, “The Legacy of
Reebok Innovation in Partnership with
Additive Manufacturing,” will share in-
sights into Reebok Advanced Concepts’
operations. Litchfield served as vice
president of this Reebok division, which
develops innovations such as the Ree-
bok Pump, DMX Moving Air, and Check-
light. The conference will also feature
an innovators showcase, on-stage con-
versation with Stratasys co-founder
Scott Crump, and a panel discussion
with 10 leaders of top additive manu-
facturing companies. The balance of
the conference will include more than
200 presentations, workshops, and
hands-on training sessions.
NEW TOOL ENABLES
IN-PROCESS MONITORING
A new add-on to the EOS M 290
DMLS system—called EOSTATE Melt-
Pool Monitoring—may be of particular
interest to R&D and manufacturing
teams with demanding quality re-
quirements. This online tool offers part
traceability as well as automated sur-
veillance and analysis of the material
melt pool during the complex direct
metal laser sintering (DMLS) build pro-
cess—per spot, per layer, and per part.
According to company sources, the new
tool moves part quality assurance from
post- to in-process, supporting better
risk management, minimizing time and
costs for quality assurance, and reduc-
ing overall costs per part.
Here’s how it works: The tool ob-
serves light emitted by the melt pool.
Key elements include two photodiodes
located on- and off-axis, a camera
adapter and specialized signal ampli-
fier, and spectral filters that separate
process light from reflected laser light.
The software offers automatic data er-
ror correction and real-time process
visualization and evaluation. For data
analysis, the MeltPool Analysis Toolbox
visualizes data in 2D or 3D mappings
using three advanced algorithms, en-
abling evaluation of indication clusters.
Live monitoring during the build pro-
cess of actual parts helps to automati-
cally identify error indications based on
predefined parameters. .
From left to right, Jason Lopes, Paul Litchfield, and Todd Grimm.
EOS M 290 DMLS system.
AMUG ANNOUNCES KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
GE JOINS 3MF CONSORTIUM
The 3MF Consortium, Wakefield,
Mass., announces that GE Global Re-
search—the central technology devel-
opment hub of GE that is pioneering
uses for additive manufacturing—has
joined at the founding membership
level. The consortium is an industry
association launched in 2015 to devel-
op and promote a new full-fidelity file
format for 3D printing. It was formed
to close the gap between the capabili-
ties of modern 3D printers and outdat-
ed file formats. The 3MF specification
eliminates problems associated with
currently available file formats, thereby
resolving interoperability and function-
ality issues. The first version of the 3MF
specification is available for download
free of charge. .