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Engineering challenge: Which 3D-printed parts will fade?

How does prolonged exposure to intense UV light impact 3D-printed plastics? Will they fade? This is what Xometry's Director of Application Engineering, Greg Paulsen, set to find out. In this video, Paulsen performs comprehensive tests on samples manufactured using various additive processes, including FDM, SLS, SLA, PolyJet, DLS, and LSPc, to determine their UV resistance. Very informative. Some results may surprise you.
View the video.

Copper filament for 3D printing

Virtual Foundry, the company that brought us 3D-printable lunar regolith simulant, says its popular Copper Filamet™ (not a typo) is "back in stock and ready for your next project." This material is compatible with any open-architecture FDM/FFF 3D printer. After sintering, final parts are 100% pure copper. Also available as pellets. The company says this is one of the easiest materials to print and sinter. New Porcelain Filamet™ available too.
Learn more and get all the specs.

Copper foam -- so many advantages

Copper foam from Goodfellow combines the outstanding thermal conductivity of copper with the structural benefits of a metal foam. These features are of particular interest to design engineers working in the fields of medical products and devices, defense systems and manned flight, power generation, and the manufacture of semiconductor devices. This product has a true skeletal structure with no voids, inclusions, or entrapments. A perennial favorite of Designfax readers.
Learn more.

When glass or plastic can't cut it: Transparent ceramics solve critical design challenges

Complex designs are still possible when grinding and polishing Fused Silica or Sapphire. Ceramic properties such as wear, abrasion resistance, and strength of these optical materials can be a designer's dream solution when high temperatures or severe environments rule out standard optical glass or plastic. INSACO is a machine shop specializing in ultra-hard and extreme materials.
→ Contact Jackson Evans, Sales Engineer at INSACO jpe@insaco.com.
→ Learn more about INSACO materials and capabilities.

New aero and defense PEKK-based FDM polymers from Stratasys

Stratasys has partnered with top aerospace and defense companies to develop two newly qualified materials for 3D printing. Antero 800NA is a PEKK-based FDM polymer with excellent physical and mechanical properties for demanding applications. Antero 840CN03 is a high-performance PEKK-based FDM polymer with electrostatic dissipative (ESD) properties. These new advanced industrial solution materials were rigorously qualified in collaboration with Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Blue Origin, Raytheon, Naval Air Systems Command, the National Institute for Aviation Research, United States Air Force, BAE, and Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.
Learn more.

EOS expands its Nickel superalloys for 3D printing

EOS, a leading supplier of manufacturing solutions for industrial 3D printing, has added two new metal additive manufacturing materials: EOS NickelAlloy IN738 and EOS NickelAlloy K500, both delivering excellent performance, part properties, and value to a variety of industries that leverage EOS Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LBPF) 3D-printing technology. The IN738 superalloy is aimed at high-strength, high-stress energy and turbomachinery applications, while the K500 superalloy is a cost-effective, corrosion-resistant option for chemical, maritime, and space industries.
Learn more.

CNC machining: How to avoid high costs on thin walls

Parts that are light and strong are crucial to nearly every industry. To achieve better performance without risking part failure, parts must maintain a specific wall-height-to-thickness ratio and wall-height-to-length ratio. Additionally, some geometries and supports can support thin walls to achieve a lighter component weight. Dive deeper into the cost drivers behind CNC-machined thin walls in this Xometry design-for-manufacturing article.
Read the full article.

Eco-friendly thermoplastic: Light, rigid, strong, damping

Polyplastics has launched PLASTRON^® LFT (Long Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic) RA627P, an eco-friendly composite of polypropylene (PP) resin and long cellulose fiber that delivers low density, high specific rigidity, high impact strength, and excellent damping for a range of applications including audio components and housings of industrial components. LFT exhibits 10% lower density than 30% short glass fiber-reinforced PP resin, roughly the same flexural modulus, and a specific rigidity that is higher.
Learn more.

Sound-dampening foam with an eco edge

BASF has introduced Basotect^® EcoBalanced melamine foam, a material that helps to reduce the product carbon footprint (PCF) of many sound-absorption applications in the transportation, building, and construction industries. This easy, drop-in solution has an up to 50% lower PCF than the respective BASF standard grades but demonstrates the same material performance. Applications include engine covers, wall and ceiling sound absorbers, HVAC parts, and air cleaners.
Learn more.

Fastest large-format SLA 3D printer in the world

Built on Formlabs' next-generation Low Force Display print engine, the new Form 4L SLA 3D printer delivers unmatched reliability with a 99% print success rate compared to other SLA 3D printers. These benefits, combined with a build volume nearly 5x the size of Form 4, allow Form 4L users to solve big problems and print smaller parts at high volume. Large-scale prints finished in under six hours.
Learn more.

Keypad teardown and design insights with Autodesk and Xometry

Take a deep dive into the second revision of the macro keypad developed for Autodesk University's Factory Experience 2024 in this exclusive, on-demand webinar hosted by Xometry's Greg Paulsen and Autodesk Fusion's Jonathan Odom. This presentation features a live teardown of the keypad, showcasing how the design team addressed challenges and elevated the product. No registration required.
Watch this Xometry webinar at your convenience.

Tube cutting and bending design guide: Xometry

Xometry's no-cost tube design guide offers design tips and tricks for laser-cut tube parts, including: minimums, tolerances, and sizes. The guide also covers important rules for mandrel tube bending, such as tolerancing, distance between bends, bend center line radius, types of bends to avoid, and more. Incredibly handy. If you need parts, Xometry can help with that too. It's easy to get a quote.
Learn more.

SPEE3D develops ultra-corrosion-resistant alloy
-- a game-changer for maritime additive manufacturing

Australian manufacturer SPEE3D has developed two grades of an ultra-corrosion-resistant Nickel Aluminum Bronze alloy that are compatible with its Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing technology. The powder material is a game-changer for maritime OEMs and the U.S. Navy, as it will help with supply chain delays and keep critical maritime systems operational.
Read the full article.

New polymer bearings are PFAS- and PTFE-free

igus has developed a new polymer bearing material called iglide JPF that is free of both per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). This innovation marks an important step in the company's efforts to create sustainable alternatives to conventional plain bearings. JPF is a dry-running, wear-resistant polymer that offers comparable friction and wear performance to iglide J. It delivers high wear resistance and durability.
Learn more.

New high-speed PSLA 270 printer from 3D Systems

The all-new PSLA 270 projector-based polymer 3D-printing platform and associated new materials from 3D Systems enable faster production times for a wide range of applications. This machine's high throughput and accuracy make it ideal for industries like healthcare, aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing, where precise and durable components are critical. Complementary Wash and Cure systems streamline post-processing and ensure high-quality finished parts.
Learn more including materials and build sizes.

Diesel gets way cleaner with new injector technology

An engine innovation first conceived and tested by Sandia National Laboratories has attracted the attention of big business because of its potential to reduce emissions of soot and nitrogen oxides cost effectively, encourage the use of renewable fuels, and maintain or improve engine performance.

Ducted fuel injection, developed by Charles Mueller at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility, is able to fine-tune the fuel-air mixture in an engine to the point of eliminating between 50 to 100 percent of the soot depending on the engine's instantaneous speed and power level.

Mueller said engine manufacturers are "starting to show excitement" about ducted fuel injection. Not only does it work well with conventional diesel fuel, it is conceptually simple and can be constructed from low-cost materials.

Sandia National Lab researchers, from left, Nathan Harry, Christopher Nilsen, Drummond Biles, and Charles Mueller, show off the prototype ducted fuel injection module. [Photo by Randy Wong]

 

 

 

 

"Ducted fuel injection is also conceivably retrofittable onto existing engines," Mueller said. "This is especially important for large engines, like those in ships or locomotives, where the engines can cost a million dollars or more, and full electrification is cost prohibitive. A retrofit could be relatively inexpensive and could provide substantial emissions benefits right away."

Humble beginnings: Idea for ducted fuel injection came from Bunsen burner
Ducted fuel injection was first conceived by Mueller from -- of all things -- a Bunsen burner, which can be found in almost every high school science classroom in the nation.

"If you unscrew the tube on a Bunsen burner and you light the gas jet, you get a tall, sooty orange flame," Mueller said. "Turn off the gas, screw the tube back on and re-light the burner. Now you get a nice, short blue flame right at the end of the tube. The flame is blue because there isn't any soot."

Mueller thought that concept might be adaptable to combustion engines, so he and his team -- intern Christopher Nilsen, post-doctoral appointee Drummond Biles, and technologist Nathan Harry -- began experiments that have now resulted in an assembly of four to six small tubes -- or ducts -- directing fuel mixture from the injector to the points of ignition.

Mueller says that injectors in a traditional diesel engine create local igniting mixtures that contain two to 10 times more fuel than is needed for complete combustion.

"When you have that much excess fuel at high temperature, you tend to produce a lot of soot," he said. "Installing the ducts enables us to achieve diesel combustion that forms little to no soot, because the local igniting mixtures contain less excess fuel."

Limiting the formation of a universal engine pollutant
Generations of engine designs have failed to take soot out of emissions because there was a physical limit to the chemistry of fuel combustion.

"Soot is second only to carbon dioxide as a chemical that forces climate change, and it's toxic, so its emissions should be minimized," Mueller explained. "In the past, there's always been this problem called the soot-NOx tradeoff. That is: When you do something to lower soot, emissions of nitrogen oxides -- or NOx -- go up, and vice versa."

Nitrogen oxides are also atmospheric pollutants, and the tradeoff meant that truck, car, and equipment makers couldn't meet current legislated limits without adding exhaust-gas aftertreatment systems. These systems are analogous to catalytic converters on spark-ignition engines, though significantly larger and more expensive. But remove one of those pollutants almost entirely -- like ducted fuel injection does with soot -- and Mueller said you have changed the game.

"Now that we've got soot out of the way, there's no more soot-NOx tradeoff," he said. "So, we can add dilution -- taking some of the engine exhaust and routing it back to the intake -- to get rid of NOx without soot emissions becoming a problem. It's like a two-for-one deal on reducing pollutants."

Mueller said that in engine experiments, his team has observed simultaneous, orders-of-magnitude reductions in soot and nitrogen oxides.

"This gives us a path to much lower emissions for diesel engines, solving a long-standing problem for this highly efficient technology," he said.

Reducing trucking costs with ducted fuel injection, renewable fuels
The near elimination of soot and nitrogen oxides may also open up the market for renewable fuels.

"Ducted fuel injection works great with conventional diesel fuel, but it works even better with oxygenated fuels, which have one or more oxygen atoms bonded into some or all of their molecules. Many renewable, sustainable fuels are oxygenated," Mueller said.

"Using oxygenated fuels with ducted fuel injection lowers emissions, perhaps enough to enable a less expensive engine system because less exhaust aftertreatment would be required," he said. "On a modern on-highway truck, aftertreatment amounts to about $12,000 in initial and operating costs over the life of the vehicle. Reducing even a fraction of those costs is a big deal, given the large number of these vehicles and their importance to the economy."

Technology promises vehicle, alternative-fuel market opportunities
Paul Miles, manager of the engine research program, said the potential impact of ducted fuel injection cannot be overstated.

"Breaking the tradeoff between soot and nitrogen oxides is a research area of highest priority for diesel engine development," Miles said. "This is an example of the key role of government-supported research to identify and demonstrate the potential of innovative, high-risk technologies to reshape the landscape for an industry, our transportation infrastructure and our society, and then to work alongside commercial partners to get the technology into the marketplace."

Ford and a manufacturer of off-road equipment recently signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Sandia to help advance the technology.

Mueller is excited about collaborating with industry partners to move this breakthrough from the laboratory toward production engines.

"Ducted fuel injection shows promise for giving us clearly superior engines for the future," he said. "It should preserve all of the desirable attributes of a conventional diesel engine but also significantly lower the emissions, which lowers the cost of the engine system because you don't have to use as much aftertreatment. And, it works even better with current and emerging renewable fuels."

This research was conducted as part of the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, through the Vehicle Technologies and Bioenergy Technologies offices.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Source: Sandia

Published November 2019

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