Adaptive technologies in industry. Additive Manufacturing (AM). Additive technologies in education

Parts & Materials

Additive technologies in Russian industry

AF technologies are the effective link modern production

Additive technologies (AF - Additive Manufacturing), or technologies of layer-by-layer synthesis, are today one of the most dynamically developing areas of "digital" production. They allow an order of magnitude to speed up R&D and the solution of pre-production tasks, and in some cases are already actively used for the production of finished products.

In the recent past, 10-15 years ago, additive technologies were used mainly in the traditionally technologically advanced industries - the automobile, aviation and aerospace industries, as well as in instrument making and medicine, where the time-money tandem has always been of particular importance.

In the era of an innovative economy, the time spent on the production of a product is the most important factor the success or failure of the business. Even a high-quality product may be unclaimed if the market by the time a new product is released is already saturated with similar products from competing companies. Therefore, more and more areas of industry are actively mastering AF technologies. Increasingly, they are used by research organizations, architectural and design bureaus, design studios and just individuals for creativity or as a hobby. In many colleges and universities, additive machines, or as they are often called, 3D printers, are an integral part of the educational process for professional engineering training.

There are many technologies that can be called additive, they have one thing in common: the model is built by adding material (from the English add - "add"), unlike traditional technologies, where the creation of a part is done by removing "excess" material.

The classic and most accurate technology is SLA (from Stereolithography Apparatus), or stereolithography, a layer-by-layer curing of liquid photopolymer with a laser.

There are many types of photopolymer compositions, so the range of applications for prototypes obtained by SLA technology is very wide: mock-ups and scale models for aerodynamic and hydrodynamic tests, foundry and master models, design models and prototypes, functional models, etc.

Selective laser sintering - SLS-technology (Selective Laser Sintering), SelectiveLaserMelting) - another important direction additive technologies.

Here, the building (model) material is free-flowing, powdery materials, and the laser is not a light source, as in SLA machines, but a heat source, through which the powder particles are fused. A large number of both polymer and metal powders are used as model materials.

Powdered polyamide is mainly used for functional modeling, prototyping and production of control assemblies. Polystyrene is used for the production of die-cast molds.

A separate direction is layer-by-layer laser sintering (fusion) of metal-powder compositions. The development of this direction of AF-technologies stimulated the development of technologies for obtaining metal powders. Today, the nomenclature of metal compositions has a wide range of materials based on Ni and Co (CoCrMO, Inconel, NiCrMo), based on Fe (tool steels: 18Ni300, H13; stainless steel: 316L), based on Ti (Ti6-4, CpTigr1) , based on Al (AlSi10Mg, AlSi12). Powders of bronzes, special alloys, and also precious metals are produced - mainly for the needs of dental medicine.

Mold blanks, special tools, original parts of complex configuration that are difficult or impossible to obtain by casting or machining, implants and endoprostheses, and much more are "grown" from metal powders. Already now, with piece and small-scale production, it often becomes economically viable to "grow" a small batch of parts on an SLS machine, rather than to manufacture foundry or die tooling. In combination with HIP (Hot Isostatic Pressing) and appropriate heat treatment, such parts are not only as good as cast or forged products, but also surpass them in strength by 20–30%.

Very broad prospects are opening up for yet another additive technology - inkjet printing technology - InkJet or PolyJet technology. This technology involves the application of a model material or a binder composition using jet heads. InkJet technologies are of particular interest for foundry.

They make it possible to "grow" directly the casting molds, that is, the "negative" of the part, and to exclude the stages of manufacturing the molding equipment - the master model and the casting model. ExOne (and its subsidiary ProMetal GmbH) produces machines of the S-Max type, which are positioned not as "prototyping machines", but as quite "ordinary" technological industrial equipment installed in the general technological chain of production of not only experimental, but also serial products ... Almost all car companies in the world have acquired such cars. It is understandable - with their help it became possible, not by several times, but by an order of magnitude, to reduce the time spent on R&D on critical positions for car manufacturers - foundry parts: engine blocks and heads, axles and gearboxes, parts for the manufacture of which in a traditional pilot production spent months, and taking into account the experimental fine-tuning and preparation of production - many months. Now the designer can see his new engine on the test bench not six months later, but two weeks after the completion of the technical project.

Today in Russia there are many companies providing prototyping services, but mostly these are small businesses with one or two inexpensive 3D printers capable of growing simple parts. This is due to the fact that high-tech equipment capable of providing high quality products is expensive and requires qualified, specially trained personnel to operate and maintain. Not every company can afford it, because to buy it is necessary to clearly understand how and how efficiently this equipment will be used, whether it will be loaded with work. The weakness of such companies is the lack of complexity in solving problems. At best, the business is limited to providing a fairly simple service - making a prototype or model in one way or another. Whereas AF technologies are not only and not so much a 3D printer, but an important part of the 3D environment in which a new product is born - from the designer's idea to the materialization of his ideas in mass production. The environment in which New Product created, "lives", operated, repaired up to completion " life cycle"of this product.

Therefore, for the full use of AF technologies, you need to create this environment: master 3D design and modeling, CAE and CAM technologies, digitization and reengineering technologies, related technologies, including quite traditional ones, but reformatted for a 3D environment. Moreover, to master it not in a single university or a large plant - there are such industries in general at all levels - this is not even in a separate, for example, aviation or automotive industry. Then AF-technologies will not look like exotic delights, but a completely natural and effective link in the general 3D-environment of creation, production and product life cycle.

There are also large companies on the market that have high-level equipment, which, as a rule, solve rather complex production problems and provide a wider range of useful services accompanying prototyping, capable of carrying out R&D from start to finish and controlling the quality of work at every stage. These enterprises include FGUP "NAMI", AB "Universal", NPO "Salyut", OJSC "NIAT" (Moscow), UMPO (Ufa), Scientific Research Institute "Machine-building Technologies" (SPbSPU), OJSC "Tushinsky machine-building plant" and a number of others. However, not every enterprise is capable of such an integrated approach, especially in the conditions of an indifferent position on the part of the state.

In general, the situation with the introduction of AF-technologies in the Russian industry remains extremely unfavorable. Scientists, engineers and technologists did not find the right words to draw the attention of the state to a dangerous lag in the innovation sphere that is absolutely necessary for the domestic industry. They did not find arguments to convince the authorities of the need to develop a national program for the development of additive technologies, to create a domestic AF-machine industry. Russia practically does not participate in international organizations that have a significant impact on the development of AF technologies in the world.

The key problems in the implementation of AF technologies are, first of all, personnel, which, as you know, solve everything; 3D machines themselves, high-quality AF equipment that cannot be purchased and cannot be created without targeted support from the government in one form or another (which, by the way, is done abroad in the overwhelming majority of cases); materials are a separate and complex problem of an interdisciplinary nature, the solution of which, again, entirely depends on the quality of the process management by the state. These are overwhelming tasks for a particular industry. This is a problem that can only be solved if there is a purposeful interaction between higher education, academic and industrial science.

The ACTech foundry, built in Freiburg (near Dresden) at the end of the 90s during the renaissance of the Eastern Territories, is an excellent example of the "market intervention" of the state in solving complex technological problems. The plant is quite small by our standards - only 6,500 sq. meters of total area, built with a needle, in an open field and was equipped with the most advanced technological equipment, the main feature of which were AF machines for growing sand molds (from EOS, Munich). This was perhaps the first example integrated approach- the plant was equipped with modern equipment for real work in a 3D environment: AF machines, measuring equipment, CNC machines, melting, foundry and thermal equipment. Currently, about 230 people work there, 80% of whom are engineers and managers. Now it is one of the most famous factories with a worldwide reputation, the clients of which are almost all leading automobile companies in Germany, many European and American aviation companies. It is enough to send a 3D file of the future product to the factory and describe the task: material, quantity, desired production time and what you want to receive - a casting or a fully processed part, the lead time depends on this - from 7 days to 8 weeks. It is noteworthy that about 20% of orders are single parts, about 40% are orders for 2-5 parts. Almost half of the castings are cast iron; about a third is aluminum; the rest is steel and other alloys. The plant's specialists actively cooperate with manufacturers of AF-equipment, conduct joint research and development with universities, the plant is also successful commercial enterprise, and a testing ground for new technological processes.

Life cycle of a new product.
The work was carried out for ZAO NPO "Turbotekhnika"

The market for additive technologies in Russia is developing, but this is happening very slowly, since in order to bring these technologies to the proper level, state support is needed. With due attention to the implementation of AF technologies, they can significantly increase the speed of response to market needs and economic efficiency many industries.

Kirill Kazmirchuk, Deputy Director of the Research Institute "Engineering Technologies", SPbSPU
Vyacheslav Dovbysh, Head of the Laboratory for Vacuum Casting of Metals and Polymers, Research Institute "NAMI"

Photos and materials provided by the authors

As you know, there are several methods of 3D printing, but they are all derivatives of additive manufacturing technology. Regardless of which 3D printer you use, the construction of the workpiece is carried out by adding raw materials layer by layer. Despite the fact that the term Additive Manufacturing is used by domestic engineers very rarely, layer-by-layer synthesis technologies have actually occupied modern industry.

A Journey into the Past Additive Manufacturing

Digital production has found its application in medicine, astronautics, manufacturing finished products and prototyping. Although 3D printing is widely regarded as one of the main discoveries of the twenty-first century, in reality, additive technologies appeared several decades earlier.

The industry was pioneered by Charles Hull, founder of 3D Systems. In 1986, the engineer assembled the world's first stereolithographic 3D printer, making digital technology a huge leap forward. Around the same time, Scott Crump, who later founded Stratasys, launched the world's first FDM machine. Since then, the 3D printing market began to grow rapidly and replenish with new models of unique printing equipment.

At first, both SLA and FDM technologies developed side by side exclusively in the direction of industrial production However, in 1995 a turning point was ripe that made additive manufacturing methods generally available. Massachusetts Institute of Technology students Jim Bradt and Tim Anderson have incorporated layer-by-layer technology into the body of a conventional desktop printer. This is how the Z Corporation was founded, which has long been considered the leader in the field of household 3D printing.

Additive Manufacturing Technology - The Age of Innovation

AF technologies are ubiquitous these days: research organizations use them to create unique materials and fabrics, industrial giants use 3D printers to accelerate prototyping of new products, architectural and design bureaus have found endless building potential in 3D printing, while design -studios literally breathed in new life into the design business thanks to additive machines.

The most accurate additive technology is stereolithography - a method of step-by-step layer-by-layer laser curing of a liquid photopolymer. SLA printers are used primarily for prototyping, mock-ups and high-precision design components with a high level of detail.

Selective laser sintering originally emerged as an improved method for curing liquid photopolymer. SLS technology allows the use of powdered materials as ink. Modern SLS printers are capable of handling ceramic clay, metal powder, cement, and complex polymers.

The foundry industry has recently introduced PolyJet machines using classic AF technology. They are equipped with fast-setting inkjet printheads. Today, InkJet 3D printers are not widespread, but it is possible that in a few years, 3D inkjet printing will become as widespread as classic printing devices. ExOne pioneered this industry with its S-Max prototype machine.

The cheapest are still FDM printers - devices that create three-dimensional objects by layer-by-layer fused filament. The most common printers of this type are machines that print with molten filament. They can be equipped with one or more printheads with a heating element inside.

Most of the plastic-based additive printers are capable of producing only one-color shapes, but recently, machines that use several types of filament at the same time have appeared on the 3D printing market. This innovation allows you to create colored objects.

AF technology perspectives

At the moment, the 3D printing market is far from oversaturated. Industry analysts agree that there is a bright future for additive technologies. Already today, research centers that understate AF-developments receive huge financial injections from defense complex and medical state institutions, which does not give rise to doubts about the accuracy of expert forecasts!

Additive technology is a relatively young but very popular phenomenon. The name of this technology comes from the English term Additive Manufacturing, which literally means “production by addition”. Additive technology means a manufacturing method by layer-by-layer build-up of raw materials.

The most famous example of the application of additive technologies is the popular 3D printers. All types of these devices operate using layer-by-layer synthesis technology.

Additive manufacturing technologies have made a revolutionary breakthrough in many industries - medical, construction, engineering, engineering, design.

An excursion into history

3D printing technology is considered the main discovery of the 21st century, but the history of these innovative devices dates back to the 20th century. The inventor of the technology and the founder of a new industry was engineer Charles Hull, founder and owner of 3D-Systems.

In 1986, Charles built the first ever stereolithographic 3D printer. Around the same time, another engineer, Scott Trump, created the first-in-class FDM machine. These two landmark inventions marked the beginning of the explosive development of the 3D printing market.

New stage of development

The next step in the evolution of 3D printing was the introduction of layer-by-layer synthesis technology into the body of a conventional desktop 3D printer, which was carried out by MIT students Tim Anderson and Jimmy Bradt. They subsequently founded the Z Corporation, a long-standing industry leader.

Modern additive technologies

Nowadays, additive technologies are going through a period of powerful development and widespread popularization.

Historically, the very first and most accurate additive technology is stereolithography. This is a method of staged curing of a polymer using a laser. This technology is used in prototyping, in the manufacture of layouts and design elements with a high level of detail.

Selective laser sintering is an innovative method of solidifying liquid photopolymer. This technology allows you to work with cement, ceramic clay, complex polymers, metal powder.

The most popular in the everyday sense are FDM printers that recreate objects by layering plastic filament. Previously, printers were able to create objects in a single color scheme, but now there are devices on the market that use several types of colored plastic filaments.

Center for additive technologies

There is a young company on the Russian market that specializes in the use of additive technologies. JSC "Center for Additive Technologies" works at the intersection of design, engineering and calculation competencies, optimization of technical solutions and production.

The company has a large fleet of industrial-scale 3D printers from the world's leading manufacturers: MK Technology GmbH, EOS GmbH, 3D Systems, Stratasys, Envisiontec.

The main direction of the center's work is cooperation with enterprises in order to develop and sell new products and unique technologies. The center also specializes in the design and manufacture of desktop portable 3D printers and scanners. These 3D devices are capable of embodying prototyping technologies in a domestic environment and are ideal for a first acquaintance with additive technologies and the basics of 3D printing.

Additive technologies in mechanical engineering

Additive technologies are actively used in the automotive industry. The team of American engineer Jim Korr, founder of Kor Ecologic, has been working on the Urbee project, the first prototype of a 3D car, for over 15 years. It should be said that only the body and some details are printed on the printer - the car's frame is metal.

This car develops a low top speed of 112 kilometers, but has low drag due to the design of the body and is able to drive about 65 kilometers on an electric motor.

Additive technology is also used in the prototype of the American company Local Motors, which is preparing its electric cars for mass production. The company's prototypes have a modern design, a large power reserve and artificial intelligence.

Additive technologies: application

In the modern world, additive technologies are used in many industries and can potentially be used in each. World tabloids periodically shock the news about how a weapon, a human organ, clothes, a house, a car were printed on a 3D printer.

The potential for the development of these technologies is really high and is able to accelerate the development of scientific and technological progress by an order of magnitude - scientific laboratories create innovative materials and fabrics using 3D printers. The use of additive technologies in industry allows manufacturers to accelerate prototyping of new designs and shorten the path from idea to implementation. Architectural and construction industry trying to use the potential of additive technologies 100%. The design business is experiencing a new stage of development thanks to additive manufacturing.

The prospects for the development of the industry are extremely favorable. Financial analysts predict explosive growth for the 3D printing market. R&D centers that are engaged in additive development are funded by the defense complex and medical state institutions

Among the technologies that are constantly appearing in human life due to the achievements of scientific progress, there are those that are called "additive". This definition comes from the borrowed word "additivity", or, more precisely, from the English phrase "additive manufacturing" (abbreviated - AF), which literally translates as "added production". So what is it, and how can this type of technology be useful to society today?

The essence

Additive technologies are a branch of the digital industry and are a method of manufacturing products and various products, in which the layers of an object are built up through the use of computer devices for 3D printing. What kind of materials do they fill? Usually these are wax, metal and gypsum powders, polystyrene (a colorless and glassy polymer resembling plastic), polyamides (plastics), liquid photopolymers (workpieces that harden under the influence of light rays, most often ultraviolet rays), etc.

Emergence: how it was

The history of additive devices began in 1986, when an Ultraviolet Products representative named Charles Hull (now Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer) Technical Director own organization "3D Systems") designed the world's first stereolithographic printer for three-dimensional printing. The mechanism was produced primarily to ensure timely deliveries to the US defense complex. Hull drew attention to the fact that it takes a lot of time and effort to create individual parts and then assemble them. Therefore, he decided not only to resort to the help of ultraviolet radiation, but also to carry out his plans as rationally as possible. So, the man first put several thousand layers of plastic on top of each other, and only then fixed them with one ultraviolet treatment.

Later, Charles left the bankrupt company "UVP", but did not want to stop developing his own brainchild - he patented a technical invention in 1983 and personally founded the company, which then grew to the scale of a real corporation. Today "3D Systems" is one of the key players in the market of printers, products and software for creating volumetric products.

Subsequent development of additive technologies received thanks to fellow students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993, Jim Bradt and Tim Anderson decided to qualitatively complement the existing developments with their own ideas, and therefore took and modified a conventional 2D printer into a device for 3D printing. In the modernized device, not sheets of paper were used, but a special liquid composition similar to glue, which was sprayed over thin layers of the main filler (polymer, metal or gypsum powder) and hardened. Bradt and Anderson gave AF worldwide fame, because they made them more popular and versatile. In 1995, friends organized their own organization "Z Corporation", the success of which did not go unnoticed by "3D Systems" - in 2012 it acquired a smaller, but no less promising company, and their leading projects began to appear under a common logo.

Purpose and application

All this meant only one thing - the entry into a new era, a qualitative change in many production areas and simplification organizational processes! For example, in the automotive industry, the prototyping stage has significantly accelerated, because almost all components, be they powerful engines or ordinary buttons and levers, began to be created with full or partial use of 3D printing technology.

In addition, companies began to save significantly, because now production:

no longer required such a variety of tools as before;
could be carried out under the supervision of a smaller number of employees. In fact, 1-2 engineers are enough to create a part correctly. The main thing that is required of them is complete and comprehensive knowledge of engineering and design. technical structures, as well as an understanding of the peculiarities of working with AF settings.

Similar printers are actively used ... in medicine! It may seem impossible, but even today, three-dimensional products are used as replacement and reconstruction elements, for example, when it comes to maxillofacial surgery. In March 2018, a clinic was opened in Manchester specializing in the production of rods, prostheses and plates on 3D printers that are filled with plastic or metal mixtures. Although it cost the hospital $ 42,000 to install the PolyJet alone, management estimates that investing in its own 3D printing lab will pay off faster than constantly turning to middlemen. Clinic staff predict that in 5 years such centers will become mandatory in medical and rehabilitation institutions, especially if they deal with oncological, orthopedic, neurological and rheumatological diseases.

Interesting fact! AF is also used for the manufacture of artificial limbs.

The pilot program, which began in 2017 in the Jordanian capital, not only continues to gain momentum, but is showing positive results. In Amman, treatment is being carried out for people fleeing hostilities in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. So, already 5 volunteers got "printed" prostheses, which, firstly, cost them much cheaper than usual ones (about $ 20 versus hundreds of dollars), and, secondly, were made taking into account individual characteristics and body parameters.

Additive technologies are conquering other areas as well: architecture, aircraft construction, production of sports equipment and goods for children ... The range of their application is expanding, and labor force and salary increases.

More about some types of AT

It will not be superfluous to mention how the creation of a bulk product takes place in each specific case. The most popular methods in additive manufacturing are:

Fused deposition modeling, FDM - modeling by layer-by-layer deposition. The object is constructed according to the laid down in software mathematical digital model from a special plastic thread (fishing line), which melts to a certain temperature, and therefore becomes flexible enough to acquire the desired shape. Ancillary structures are removed manually or by dissolving in a special liquid, and the finished product is either left in printed form or post-processed (painting, polishing, grinding, gluing, etc.). The parts produced are always different good characteristics such as wear resistance and heat resistance.

ColorJetPrinting, CJP. The essence of this advanced technology lies in the use of a composite powder based on gypsum and plastic, which is not only subjected to layer-by-layer gluing, but also colored in the most different colours palette CMYK, including up to 390,000 shades! So far, only CJP provides color printing. In addition, this AT also makes it possible to reproduce various textures on the surface of products in high definition... Despite the average strength and slight roughness of the final products, ColorJetPrinting, characterized by a low cost, is actively used to create architectural models, miniature figures of people, presentation samples and other visual objects.

SelectiveLaserStering, SLS - selective laser sintering. Here powder materials (plastics and polyamides) are sintered with a laser beam. This method is simultaneously suitable for large industrial products, and for objects with complex geometry and detailed structure, and for batches that are produced in 1 printing session. SLS technology is often confused with SelectiveLaserMelting, or SLM. The difference between them is that in the first case, the fusion is partial and occurs only on the surface of the particles, while in the second, the result is the production of a solid monolith.

Conferences in Russia

The national AT market in Russia is still underdeveloped. The potential of the sphere is not revealed due to a shortage of personnel, a lack of material and equipment, and the lack of a proper program of state support.

Nevertheless, some institutions are trying on their own to promote the acquaintance of the Russian society with the advanced achievements of AF. One of these organizations is the All-Russian Research Institute of Aviation Materials (VIAM), whose representatives annually organize thematic conferences on additive technologies. Domestic and foreign scientists and industrial workers who are interested in replacing traditional forms of production with innovative methods make their reports. This year, the event, which took place on March 30, became the 4th in a row. Participants who submitted preliminary applications were able to take part in the conference, which was held under the slogan "Present and Future".

Additive technologies are actively used in power engineering, instrument making, the aviation industry, the space industry, where there is a high demand for products of complex geometry.Many companies in Russia have already become familiar with additive technologies. We bring to your attention material from the almanac Manufacturing Management, which describes several examples of effective implementation of 3D printing.

Additive technologies have opened up the possibility of manufacturing parts of any complexity and geometry without technological limitations. Part geometry can be changed at the design and testing stage.

Preparation of files for printing is carried out on computers with standard software; STL files are accepted for work. It is a widely used 3D object storage format for stereolithographic 3D printers today. Investments in the project amounted to about 60 million rubles.

Alexander Zdanevich, IT Director of NPK United Wagon Company: “Additive printing technologies are progressing, and, most likely, in the near future they will change the face of a number of industries. This mainly concerns enterprises that produce piece goods for a specific order. Mass production is more complicated, although different types of 3D printers are already being used in this area.

There are many bulk synthesis technologies. One of the most promising for industrial implementation is. The process can be divided into two stages. At the first, a construction layer is formed in the form of a liquid photopolymer evenly distributed over the surface of the working platform. Then, the sections of this layer are selectively cured in accordance with the current section of the 3D model built on the computer.

Applied to railway engineering this technology can be used at the stage of preparation of the foundry, in particular, in the production of a set of foundry equipment. The same set of tooling, unique for each casting, is used for thousands of production cycles of the corresponding casting molds.

The quality of the final product directly depends on the accuracy of all parameters provided by the designers during the manufacturing of the tooling set. The traditional method of making a set of tooling by mechanical processing of materials (metal, plastic, sometimes wood) is very laborious and time-consuming (sometimes it takes up to several months), and is sensitive to errors.

Other components and assemblies can be built into the "printed" models. 3D printing pays off in full high speed production of prototypes, as well as due to "refinement on the table" directly in WGC, which saves a lot of time and money, rather than making full-scale samples in "hardware" in production.

Significant work on the advancement of additive technologies is carried out by State Corporation "Rosatom"... The management is confident that soon the state corporation will have all the components of "digital production" - from the development of materials, equipment, technologies to the production of products. The industry is implementing a program on additive technologies, it consists of subsections: technology, raw materials, equipment, standardization. Three institutes are engaged in the development of technologies for the production of metal powders for 3D printing at Rosatom: Giredmet, VNIIKhT, VNIINM. At the same time, work is underway to create prototype 3D printer for 3D printing of metal and composite products. Rosatom plans to present a sample by the end of 2017.

Three-dimensional printing fully pays for itself due to the high speed of prototyping, as well as due to "rework on the table" right in the WGC, which saves a lot of time and money, rather than making full-scale samples in "hardware" in production.

“By the beginning of 2018, we must close the entire cycle of additive technologies within Rosatom. We need another year to launch our own pilot sample of the installation, and about the same - to come to an agreement with all parties that ensure the used regulatory component, ”said Alexey Dub.

In the structure of Rosatom, additive technologies are being developed at the TVEL fuel company, which actively cooperates with the regional engineering center created at UrFU, working on the creation of a Russian 3D printer. Powder metallurgy is not a novelty for the Ural Electrochemical Combine and its enterprises. For example, at the plant of electrochemical converters, powders were used in the production of filters for gas diffusion of uranium during isotope separation, as well as for solders and surface spraying.

In the scientific and educational center "Modern production technologies" of the Tomsk Polytechnic University

One of the pioneers in the field of laser printers is the scientific and educational center "Modern production technologies" Tomsk Polytechnic University... It is equipped with an electron beam fusion (electron beam) printer, laser printer, printers that print with reinforced composites, as well as an ultrasonic tomograph, which carries out here, "at the machine", unbrakable control finished products. The center's specialists make AM devices, develop software for them and intend to move beyond the "laboratory".

The entire production cycle is set up at the TPU Additive Technologies Center - from the idea to the implementation of the finished product. It is possible to produce and test parts for the skin of spacecraft, implants for craniofacial surgery, products of complex shape for and much more, as well as create new digital installations, for example, for printing instruments on the ISS. “With the help of our unique technologies, we can create import-substituting products, which are several times cheaper than imported counterparts, while the quality is not worse,” said the director of the center Vasily Fedorov.

The development of additive technologies also has constraints.

First, the high cost of technology (equipment and material), however, in the process of technology development, the price is gradually decreasing.
Secondly, there is a shortage of qualified personnel who know the technology.
Thirdly, insufficient development, lack of metrological support raises concerns in the production of parts of high importance.
AM-processes (Additive Manufacturing) are not yet integrated into the manufacturing technology of products.“It is clear that any responsible designer will not put a part into a responsible product without knowing how long it will last,” commented Alexey Dub.
An important task is the need to develop a system of certification and standardization of additive products, technological processes, powders and compositions. To address these issues, Rosstandart formed technical committee, which is working on the creation of regulatory documents in the field of additive technologies.

3D printing is starting to spread around the world, and Russia should not lag behind in this area. The use of these technologies allows you to reduce the cost of the product, accelerate its design and production.
- Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov

Conclusion

The popularity is growing steadily. Although the total volume of the world market is relatively small (about $ 6 billion), the annual growth rates cannot fail to impress - on average, 20-30%. However, there is still no unanimity in assessing the role of additive technologies in industry: some say that the introduction of 3D printing methods will lead to the decline of the industry in the traditional sense, others - that three-dimensional printers will become only one of the elements of production schemes. But despite all the existing disagreements, the great promise of additive technologies in the industry cannot be denied.

The direct growth of products with complex geometries and from specific materials turns out to be very profitable from an economic point of view. It saves material, time, and reduces the risk of errors. 3D printers have ceased to be an "expensive toy"; today they occupy a full-fledged place among the key technologies