Premium AEROTEC, a subsidiary of multinational aerospace organization Airbus Group, is collaborating with industrial 3D printing solutions providerEOSand automotive manufacturerDaimlerto develop a 3D printing powered smart factory. Together the companies, each based in Germany, are working on the “next generation of additive manufacturing (AM)” in a project titled NextGenAM.
该项目的目的是自动化工业3D打印过程，为大批连续生产做准备。
Advancing to the next level
As Dr. Thomas Ehm CEO of Premium AEROTEC comments in his statement on NextGenAM, this movement towards serial production is essential to continued innovation in the field. He says,
We are currently the leader for metal 3D printing in the aerospace industry. Now, we need to continue developing this technology extensively in order to expand its application spectrum significantly. Together with our partners, we can thus ensure state-of-the-art technology for our industry.
The concept fits with the manufacturing movement towards Industry 4.0, where machines operate almost autonomously, and processes are monitored through a sophisticated system of digital data collection.
Software, like the“Go Beyond 4.0” concept for mass customisation of batch productsfrom Fraunhofer, andplatforms such as Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCEfrom have been quick to follow suit and cater for the trend in better connected hardware. As previously reported on 3D Printing Industry,manufacturers have also united to develop guidelines for the adoption of augmented reality in factories too.
Smart Factory Blueprint
In NextGenAM the partners will examine each stage of the metal 3D printing process from transportation of materials between machines, to cleaning after printing. They will then provide automated solutions where possible. This will cut down on the time and cost of the current system, and create a more reliable model for serial production. Post-processing is likely to be an area of significant focus, as the current cost of this constitutes around 70 percent of the overall expenditure for additive manufacturing.
当前草案NextGenAM项目的工厂can be seen below. In it, machines are arranged in banks suited to each stage of the process: additive manufacturing, CNC milling, heat treatment, die sinking, laser texturing and robotic arm assembly and inspection. Each section is serviced by a fleet of moving machines, located in banks central to the factory, that collect and transport parts or materials to the required stage of the process.
除了开发这种智能工厂概念外，该项目还旨在获得工业级印刷铝的资格。
Stefan Kienzle博士, Head of Advance Development at Daimler AG, adds,
我们为这项合作带来的要素是我们在汽车材料和这些材料的资格方面的丰富经验，以及我们对高效且大规模的容量制造过程的专业知识，以及拓扑优化和最新的组件设计的结合。计算方法。
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Featured image shows the Next Generation Additive Manufacturing project logo from EOS, Premium AEROTEC and Daimler.
