Metal Printing: Rapid and On-Demand
Metal Printing: Rapid and On-Demand
WarpSpee3d, @SPEE3D, is the world's first large-format metal 3D printer using cold spray technology. The next wave of additive manufacturing doesn’t involve lasers to sinter or melt materials into shape, but high-pressure air—accelerated up to 3 or 4 times the speed of sound—to blast metal powder via an ultra-high phaser nozzle into a build plate or mold, where the kinetic energy binds the material into a completed object.
CSAM (Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing) allows metal parts to be created on-demand and on-site instead of maintaining a stock of spare parts for repairs and replacement. From raw materials, in a matter of hours or days, a cast-equivalent metal part can be produced and put into operation in the amount of time it takes to create it without any additional wait for shipping or storage space woes.
(To be clear, although it is called “Cold Spray,” the temperature still goes up to 600 degrees Celsius before the metal gets sprayed, although that is still significantly below the melting temperature of the various metals in use.)
The raw materials can be aluminum, copper, aluminum bronze, stainless steel, and nickel-aluminum bronze, covering a wide variety of manufacturing needs. This manufacturing technology's on-site and on-demand aspects reduce long lead times waiting for specialized parts, bypass supply chain issues, and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, creating components with a laser cuts away 50% to 60% of the raw materials, resulting in much more waste.
One of the promising goals of portable 3D printing machines like these is working in “austere environments”: For oil and gas and remote drilling platforms, where strong metal parts break constantly and there is a need for constant replenishment, it is difficult to have parts delivered to remote locations. Every hour that the machinery is not working properly can mean millions of dollars per hour of lost revenue.
Shot on location at Landing 360, home to the Collaborative Operationalized Engineering and Training (COMET) initiative in partnership with The United States Department of Defense team at Picatinny Arsenal.
CSAM (Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing) allows metal parts to be created on-demand and on-site instead of maintaining a stock of spare parts for repairs and replacement. From raw materials, in a matter of hours or days, a cast-equivalent metal part can be produced and put into operation in the amount of time it takes to create it without any additional wait for shipping or storage space woes.
(To be clear, although it is called “Cold Spray,” the temperature still goes up to 600 degrees Celsius before the metal gets sprayed, although that is still significantly below the melting temperature of the various metals in use.)
The raw materials can be aluminum, copper, aluminum bronze, stainless steel, and nickel-aluminum bronze, covering a wide variety of manufacturing needs. This manufacturing technology's on-site and on-demand aspects reduce long lead times waiting for specialized parts, bypass supply chain issues, and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, creating components with a laser cuts away 50% to 60% of the raw materials, resulting in much more waste.
One of the promising goals of portable 3D printing machines like these is working in “austere environments”: For oil and gas and remote drilling platforms, where strong metal parts break constantly and there is a need for constant replenishment, it is difficult to have parts delivered to remote locations. Every hour that the machinery is not working properly can mean millions of dollars per hour of lost revenue.
Shot on location at Landing 360, home to the Collaborative Operationalized Engineering and Training (COMET) initiative in partnership with The United States Department of Defense team at Picatinny Arsenal.
