1. Day 1: Which materials? Which processes? Sorting Through the Choices
Materials Matter
Selecting the Right Materials for Your Manufacturing Process and Application
Day 1: Which materials? Which processes? Sorting Through the Choices

2. Which Manufacturing Process?
Relative Cost Comparisons
Business Factors
Complexity
Embedded systems 2

3. Cost per Unit 3

4. Cost per Complexity 4

5. High-level Considerations
Purpose of Object
Expectations
Life-cycle
Duty-cycle
Physical factors
Precision/tolerance
Surface finish
Color/transparency
Specific material properties 5

6. AM Processes: Ink Jetting
Very fine sprays of liquid polymers
Fewer, proprietary materials (but growing quickly) 6

7. Jetting: Direct Write Systems
Very fine sprays of liquid polymers
Very small scale
Few, proprietary liquid photopolymers
Biological materials 7

8. Viscosity Extrusion
“Print a building"
Bio-plotters 8

9. VAT Photopolymerization
a.k.a. stereolithography®
Light hardens plastic resin
Many materials, growing quickly 9

10. Binder Jetting Spray binders on powder material
Often involves secondary infiltration/sintering
Infiltrants to harden, strengthen parts
Continuous colors
Many powder materials
Multiple materials & binders
(e.g. HP Multi-jet Fusion)
Combine materials and binders
to make custom materials 10

11. Powder Bed Fusion a.k.a. SLS®, DMLS®
Energy fuses particles in a powder bed
Sintering/melting processes
Polymers
Metals
Ceramics
Composites 11

12. Directed Energy Deposition
Laser deposition of metal powder materials
Multiple, simultaneous materials
Very scalable - often involves robotics
Combine materials to make custom materials 12

13. Melt Extrusion Most common 3D printing process
Melts & extrudes plastic filament
Also known as “FDM”™ or “Rep-Rap”
Many Materials
Growing Every Day! 13

14. Sheet Lamination Paper (and sprayed glue)
Ultrasonic consolidation of thin metal sheets
Multiple metal materials
Combine materials
to make custom materials
Embedded electronics 14

15. Materials for CNC Machining
Nearly any material can be machined
Compared to 3D printing
Relative cost comparisons
CNC Machining: much lower material cost for same material
Many more materials for CNC
CNC Machining: better material properties and behavior
CNC Machining: easier to color parts
CNC Machining often faster, including post-processing
CNC Machining provides higher precision
CNC Machining is more labor intensive but not necessarily faster 15

16. Common Material Types Woods Plastics Metals Custom/Composites
Urethane Foams
Other
“Special” Materials 16

17. Most Common Material Classes
Common Plastics
Many!
Metals
Aluminum, Copper, Brass
Magnesium
Iron & steel alloys
Stainless steels 17

18. Materials for Injection Molding
Best for relatively high production volume
Provides lowest cost per unit
Many “common”-grade plastic resins
Many “engineering”-grade plastic resins
Fiber composites
Specialty/custom
plastics 18

19. Presentation by David Prawel Ph.D., June 28, 2016
Thank You.
Questions?
Presentation by David Prawel Ph.D., June 28, 2016
Founder & President, Longview Advisors Inc.
Director, “Idea-2-Product” 3D Printing Laboratory (
Associate Director, Biomaterials Research & Engineering Laboratory, Colorado State University 19