Get answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about testing additive products.

ExOne will install a metal 3D-printing system in the Schunk Sinter Metals location in Thale, Germany, to provide serial production of sintered metal parts to automotive, aerospace, medical and other customers throughout Europe – starting with 316L stainless steel and later expanding to other materials. Schunk plans to integrate ExOne’s metal binder-jetting technology into its industrial ecosystem, which already includes other methods of 3D-printing producing parts with different materials such as copper, stainless steel and low-alloyed steel.

Bodycote is expanding its hot isostatic pressing (HIP) capability in Greenville, S.C., by adding two vessels. The new HIP capacity, which will be online in the first half of 2022, will focus on developments in additive manufacturing (AM) and advanced materials. Bodycote’s Greenville site is a Nadcap-accredited and holds several core OEM approvals. The facility includes numerous vacuum furnaces and other capabilities well suited to support AM customers.

Desktop Metal opened a new in-house manufacturing facility in Massachusetts that will more than triple the final assembly space currently dedicated to the Production System metal 3D-printing platform. The facility is part of a strategic plan to accelerate the production ramp of Desktop Metal’s flagship Production System P-50 printer, for which the company is engaged in component procurement and assembly of initial builds targeted for shipment in the fourth quarter of 2021.

SSI Sintered Specialties (SSI) and ExOne Company jointly announced that SSI purchased two metal binder-jetting systems featuring ExOne's patented triple advanced compaction technology (ACT). The metal 3D printers are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2022 and will be located at SSI’s headquarters in Janesville, Wis. The company’s 250,000-square-foot facility also houses what it says is the world’s largest installed capacity of high-temperature sintering furnaces and post-processing technology to support volume production in metal binder jetting.

Forward AM, the brand of BASF 3D Printing Solutions, opened an additive-manufacturing (AM) Applications Technology Center (ATC) in Detroit, Mich., in cooperation with Michigan State University (MSU). The new facility will serve as the hub of expertise for solutions in the North American AM market. This joint commitment will allow education and industry to combine their strengths to offer fully integrated 3D printing solutions. Forward AM contributes with a wide range of high-performance 3D-printing materials and engineering expertise, while MSU brings years of technical expertise and the drive to support the next generations of 3D-printing services and design solutions.

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research & Development (OMIC R&D) selected a hot isostatic press (HIP) from Quintus Technologies to be a flagship piece of equipment when the research facility opens. The HIP will allow new research into 3D-printing technology and optimized material properties. The press model is equipped with uniform rapid cooling (URC), the proprietary Quintus technology that combines HIP and heat treatment in a single process. Accelerated cooling under pressure minimizes thermal distortion and improves material properties.

The Höganäs high-alloy facility in North America expanded operations with the completed construction of its fine powder atomization building in Johnstown, Pa. The 24,000-square-foot facility extends production capabilities to produce cost-effective solutions within the additive-manufacturing (AM), metal injection molding (MIM) and surface-coating markets, which is part of the company’s long-term strategy to further grow its high-alloy business.

Desktop Metal Inc. and ExOne Company entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Desktop Metal will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of ExOne common stock. The transaction is valued at approximately $575 million. A pioneer in binder-jet 3D-printing technology, ExOne manufactures metal 3D-printing systems. The North Huntingdon, Pa.-based company also provides specialized 3D-printing services, including on-demand production of mission-critical parts, engineering and design consulting. Based in Burlington, Mass., Desktop Metal designs and manufactures a range of metal 3D-printing systems. The company offers an expansive portfolio of 3D-printing solutions, from rapid prototyping to mass production.

Many components and assemblies have internal features that are difficult to inspect, none more so than additively manufactured (AM) parts. Conventional quality control requires samples to be sectioned and subsequently scrapped. However, the advent in the 1980s of X-ray computed tomography (CT) for industrial material analysis and nondestructive testing heralded a new era for inspection of such parts, both internally and externally.