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TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCT LIFECYCLE

MARCH 2014 | 6 | 7 | $10 | DEVELOP3D.COM


MOBILE WORKSTATIONS FENDER GUITARS BAE SYSTEMS DEVELOP3D LIVE
From model prep to manufacturing, machines
to materials, everything you ever wanted to
know about professional 3D printing
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DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3
F
or the last month or two, Ive been buried in this issues 40
page report on 3D Printing for the Professional. We do hope you
nd it interesting, that it teaches you a thing or two and that it
resets the record in terms of countering the inevitable hype that
surrounds the industry at present. During the process of putting
it together, weve spoken to some of the leading exponents of
3D printing in an industrial context. They arent the names that
grab the headlines and end up on the cover of glossy magazines,
rather theyre the professionals that are working with these
machines and materials on a day-to-day basis.
These are the folks that know what works and what doesnt. They know the tips
and tricks (which theyve been more than happy to share) and they know what cant
be done at present. And my thanks go out to them for sharing their knowledge,
expertise and good humour as we harassed them for input.
It became clear that the only way to learn more about 3D printing is to dive in
and experience it for yourself, to talk to those at the forefront of running these
machines and learn from the masters. Without wanting to sound like a discarded
extraction of a Karate Kid script, you really dont understand something till youve
seen a master at work.
So, enjoy our 3D printing special issue. Theres plenty to go at. And dont forget,
if you want to see these machines in action, and learn from some of the most
interesting folks in the business, were all heading to Warwick on 15th April for
DEVELOP3DLIVE. Hope to see you there!

WELCOME

EDITORIAL
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MARCH_D3DLive.indd 25 4/3/14 15:25:29
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 7
NEWS
Sportscar brand Lotus builds its rst motorcycle, the
current down low on SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual
and Ultimaker aims to bring 3D printing to UK schools
COMMENT
This issue Tanya Weaver is pondering great inventors and
the signicance of past vs modern day inventions
YOUR DEVELOP3D
Tell us what you think. This month: Technology for
technologys sake, sustainable Lego and 3D printing
FEATURES
Visual design guide: Empire MX6-R mountain bike
BAE Systems 3D printing metal parts for aircraft
Fender is shaping its future through 3D design tools
How TAI is benetting from Nvidias GRID technology
Schools benet from LEGO Mindstorms Education EV3
What you have to look forward to at Develop3D Live 2014
Using Ansys to help create passenger boarding bridges
REVIEWS
Mobile workstation buyers guide: eight pages, nine
machine reviews and everything you ever wanted to
know about buying your next CAD laptop
DEVELOP3D SERVICES
DEVELOP3D JOBS
THE LAST WORD
Al Dean thinks 3D tool vendors should pay more attention
when it comes to 3D printing
MARCH 2014 ISSUE NO. 56
8
15
16
18
20
26
30
32
34
37
39
52
53
58
The wood used to produce this magazine
comes from Forest Stewardship Council
certied well-managed forests, controlled
sources and/or recycled material

CONTENTS

p07_D3D_MARCH14_contents.indd 7 4/3/14 20:51:08
8 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

NEWS

NEWS

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Iconic sportscar manufacturer Lotus has built its rst ever motorcycle in a joint
project with Kodewa, the Holzer Group and vehicle concept designer Daniel Simon
T
wo years ago Dr Collin Kolles
of German auto racing team
Kodewa, which recently built
the sports car Lotus T128
LMP (Le Mans Prototype),
had a vision to create a Lotus superbike
with integrated racing technology. We
set out to create a bike that isnt just
great to ride but also represents a piece
of art in motion, he explains.
Having been granted a license to
produce the Lotus C-01 motorcycle by
Group Lotus plc, Kodewa collaborated with
the Holzer Group, a German motorsport
and engineering company to help with
development and production, as well as
renowned German vehicle concept designer
Daniel Simon to help create the jaw
dropping aesthetic they were after.
Simon is a former designer of Bugatti
Automobiles who now resides in Hollywood
creating concept vehicles for the flm
industry including the Lightcycle in the flm
Tron:Legacy and Bubbleship in the sci-f
hit Oblivion. He is known for his clean and
holistic concepts.
With the Lotus C-01, we had only one
ambition: to create a unique state-of-the-art
machine that carries its brutal forces with
elegance and style, high tech monster in a
tailored suit, describes Simon.
The design process of the C-01 was a
labour of love. There were many challenges
ensuring that the bike not only touches
your visual senses with its timeless blend
of classic appeal and modern execution,
but that is safe and ergonomically sound
was critical to me. We have worked hard to
create a motorcycle with very distinctive
features such as a clean main body, an
extremely low side profle, a bold stance, a
unique air intake, logical partline solutions
and clean graphics.
The C-01 with its 200 hp and V-twin engine
will be available in a range of liveries,
including the iconic black and gold, with an
option for further customisation. However,
super bike collectors and fans of the Lotus
PROTOTYPE OF LOTUS C-01 BIKE IS ROAD
REGISTERED AND READY FOR ACTION
Daniel Simon with his
Bubbleship design,
which was fown by
Tom Cruise in the
2013 flm Oblivion
brand better be quick as there will only be
an exclusive production run of 100 units.
lotus-motorcycles.com
danielsimon.com
For a chance to hear about this project
and other vehicle concept design
projects, come along to DEVELOP3D Live
at the Warwick Arts Centre on 15 April
where Daniel Simon will be giving a
keynote presentation.
REGISTER NOW FREE
15 APRIL 2014
WARWICK ARTS CENTRE,
UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
DEVELOP3DLIVE.COM
p08_D3D_MARCH14_news.indd 8 4/3/14 20:51:31
Epson Ad.indd 1 04/03/2014 07:14
10 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

NEWS

Materialise has acquired
e-Prototypy, a Polish rapid
prototyping provider
with a specialisation in
the production of laser
sintered components.
This acquisition gives
Materialise a strong
foothold in Poland and
further expands its
presence in Eastern Europe
materialise.com
CGTechs new VERICUT
Reviewer iPad App, now
available through the App
store, enables stakeholders
to view 3D animations of
CNC machining processes at
the machine tool wherever
they are. Rotate, pan and
zoom to view machining
operations from any
perspective
cgtech.com/ipad
SpaceClaim has released
its 2014 Service Pack 1 that
includes two new tools for
SpaceClaim Engineer 2014:
LiveReview, a cloud-enabled
live 3D collaboration system
enabling users to work on
models in real time; and
a STL Prep for 3D Printing
module that prepares
models for 3D printing
spaceclaim.com
solidThinking has
announced the latest
version of its solidThinking
Evolve software for both
Windows and Mac OSX.
New key features include
live linking to Keyshot,
enhanced user interface,
new construction aids and
scene management, and
improved modelling tools
solidThinking.com/Evolve
Nominations are now open
for the Queen Elizabeth
Prize for Engineering
(QEPrize) 2014. This global
1 million engineering prize
rewards and celebrates the
engineers responsible for
ground-breaking innovation
in engineering. Visit the
website to nominate an
engineering project
qeprize.org
ROUND
UP
Olympic line-up at Shape to Fabrication
S
hape to Fabrication is back in
2014 with a two-day conference
on 910 April, uncovering the
architecture and engineering
behind the London 2012
Olympic Games.
Now in its ffth iteration, Shape To
Fabrication aims to give a behind the
scenes look at the London Games design
process; which utilised CAD and digital
fabrication tools more than any previous
Games to create iconic buildings and
innovative products.
Event speakers include Aquatics Centre
Architects, Zaha Hadid; Olympic Torch
Designers, Barber Osgerby and Team GBs
track cycle designers Metron, all discussing
the fabrication of complex geometries using
CAD software.
The conference will also showcase the
latest developments from Rhinos 3D CAD
software, and provide an open forum for
knowledge sharing and future applications.
DEVELOP3D is Media Partner for the
event, so will be bringing you more news
and features from the event.
shapetofabrication.com
Olympic Torch
Designers, Barber
Osgerby, will be
speaking at the
event
D
uring its annual user
conference in January,
SolidWorks World,
Dassault Systmes
launched the long
awaited, and much discussed,
SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual.
First shown four years ago, the system
has been the cause of much controversy
in the intervening years.
The aim of SolidWorks Mechanical
Conceptual (SWMC), according to Dassault
Systmes, is that by providing users with
an interactive collaborative environment,
they are easily able to share ideas, facilitate
innovation, and capture and manage
requirements, feedback and comments
from everyone involved in the project.
The tool is based on Dassault Systmes
3DExperience Platform, which aims to aid
collaboration via the cloud.
Further details emerged from SolidWorks
World, but many are unconfrmed or the
company simply isn't ready to discuss
matters until the offcial launch in April.
What we do know is that the system isn't
intended as a replacement for the existing
SolidWorks product line, rather an adjunct
to it. The goal is to bring a new set of tools
that leverage Dassault's V6 platform within
the SolidWorks community.
Many have questioned the shift that the
company seems to be making in terms of
how the system is sold. Base level prices are
quoted in terms of over $249/user/month,
which means $2,998 per user per year, on
an on-going basis.
It also emerged that Dassault has further
plans to build out this line of products/
services, including the next release for an
industrial design and conceptualisation
package. Priced separately (but with hints
made that a bundle pricing is inevitable).
It also demonstrated how SWMC will
interact with other 'cloud-enabled' tools,
such as a simulation package from the
Simulia group.
SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual will be
generally available in April 2014.
solidworks.com
SolidWorks
Mechanical
Conceptual allows
users to collaborate
with customers in
real time from one
interface
SOLIDWORKS GOES SOCIAL
WITH CONCEPTUAL TOOL
p10_12_D3D_MARCH14_news.indd 10 4/3/14 20:52:28
For Print.indd 1 27/02/2014 16:10:15
12 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
Eight awards for
UK reseller
S
olid Solutions, a UK SolidWorks
reseller, received eight awards
at SolidWorks World in January,
gaining recognition for Education,
Multi Year Subscription, Simulation and
Overall Performance, amongst others.
Solid Solutions also received a further fve
Elite Application engineer trophies, raising
its total Elite Application quota to 20.
solidsolutions.co.uk
H
ot on the heels of
MakerBots mission
statment of getting a 3D
printer in every school in
the US, Ultimaker GB has
launched the CREATE initiative in a bid
to do similar in the UK.
Ultimakers open source technology
enables a collaborative approach between
users and offers every student
the opportunity to engage in the
learning and development process
of this disruptive technology.
Ultimaker has already been
working with schools in the UK and
has received worthwhile
feedback from teachers
and pupils who have
been surprised
about how easy
the 3D printers
are to use and the
opportunities they
present.
Marie McDonagh, curriculum leader at
Cleethorpes Academy in Lincolnshire, said:
We ordered fve Ultimaker 2 printers
after an impressive workshop run by the
Ultimaker team where students were able
to produce their own 3D designs in under
two hours. We have incorporated 3D
printing into both Key Stage
3 and 4 curriculums
to give students
experience of
this exciting new
technology.
Ultimaker will
provide a free no
obligation loan of an
original Ultimaker to schools and is seeking
50 schools across the UK to be appointed
as 3D Hubs to help make 3D printing
accessible to everyone.
For information about how to take part in
the CREATE initiative and become a 3D Hub,
visit the website below.
ultimaker.com | createeducation.co.uk
Above: Two
children
mesmerised by an
Ultimaker in action
Left: The CREATE
Ultimaker
Education Project is
part of Ultimaker's
aim of making 3D
printing accessible
to everyone
Nvidia helps Ansys deliver GPU-accelerated CFD Fluent solver
U
sers of Ansys Fluent 15.0
can now use Nvidia graphics
processing units (GPUs)
alongside CPUs to speed up
uid dynamics simulation.
The jointly developed computational
fuid dynamics (CFD) solver joins Ansys
Mechanical in the simulation specialists
growing family of GPU-accelerated
applications.
One customer taking advantage of
this new solver is engineering company
Parametric Solutions Inc. By adding Nvidia
GPU accelerators, our engineers cut the
time for typical Ansys Mechanical models
in half, doubled the performance of maxed
out CPU systems and often saved an entire
days worth of work, said David Cusano, the
company's CTO and vice president.
The price of an Nvidia Tesla K40 is over
4,500. But in addition to the performance
benefts, users can also save on software
costs. With Ansys software, for example,
each GPU socket is treated the same as
a single CPU core with respect to license
requirements.
In the coming months we will be testing
the Nvidia Tesla K40 with Ansys simulation
software, so keep an eye out for the review.
nvidia.com | ansys.com
Large solid and
colour support
M
achineWorks, provider of
CNC simulation and polygonal
solid modelling software, has
released Polygonica Version 1.1, which
can handle very large solids enabling
Polygonica's algorithms to be performed
on arbitrarily sized meshes.
Additionally, the new release also has
support for arbitrary data defned on the
mesh which can be used to represent colour
as well as other data. This means that
colour and other data is preserved during
complex healing operations, such as closing
the model, removing self-intersections,
non-manifold edges, and noise shells.
As well as healing, meshes can be sliced
at any resolution into both vector and
image based slice formats.
polygonica.com
ULTIMAKER AIMS TO BRING
3D PRINTING TO UK SCHOOLS

NEWS

p10_12_D3D_MARCH14_news.indd 12 4/3/14 20:52:44
IDEAS SHOULD RACE FROM
DESIGN TO TESTING.
NOT FROM ONE MACHINE TO ANOTHER.
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for any editorial, photographic or typographic errors. All images are for illustration purposes only. For full Lenovo product, service and warranty specications visit www.lenovo. com The
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DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 15

COMMENT

Admittedly, most of these patents are led
by companies and organisations as opposed
to lone inventors. So, does this suggest that
the era of the great inventor is over - that
somewhat romantic notion of a genius
concocting and experimenting in a lab or
shed before unleashing their invention on
the world? Possibly, yes. Invention doesnt
happen in a vacuum and is more likely a
team eort.
Even in the past, although one person was
credited for an invention, they seldom worked
in isolation. Edison, as an example, had set
up an industrial research lab (he can even
be credited for inventing R&D labs because
apparently that was the rst one) called
Menlo Park in New Jersey where he and his
team worked on several inventions together.
This surely proves that invention is a
collaborative process involving many
dierent people. And although Elon Musk
and Jonathan Ive could be attributed the title
of modern day inventors, their inventions
are absolutely a team eort. There is no way
that, considering the complexity of products
today, they could invent in isolation.
But then its the question: are todays
inventions less signicant? Some economists
think they are and even argue that the rate
of progress seems slow compared to that
golden era of invention. But couldnt it be
the case that instead of ground-breaking
inventions, todays inventions instead oer
incremental change and enhancements to
existing products. So, evolution rather than
revolution.
As James Bessen, a researcher and lecturer
at the Boston University School of Law,
states in his paper Where have the Great
Inventors gone?: Modern inventions may
be more incremental as with, for example,
the many minor improvements made in
frequent software upgrades. Each of these
improvements is less signicant individually
but this does not necessarily mean modern
innovation is less signicant when taken as
a whole.
One invention, which has been
incrementally developed over the years to the
point that it is now being lauded as ushering
I
f you had to ask someone to
name ve of the worlds greatest
inventors, I bet that most would
rattle off the names of inventors
long gone like Thomas Edison,
James Watt, Alexander Graham
Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Karl
Benz This got me thinking - who
are todays great inventors? Or, because
we cant readily name any, are we less
inventive?
One possible reason why we know
the names of these inventors from past
centuries is because their inventions were
so signicant in how fundamentally they
changed peoples lives.
For instance, Scotsman James Watt
created the rst viable steam engine in the
second half of the 18th century. This piece
of machinery was central to the Industrial
Revolution as it spearheaded quicker means
of transportation in the form of steam
locomotives and steamships (an interesting
fact: Watt coined the term horsepower as a
way to help explain how much work his steam
engines could do for a potential buyer).
Similarly, the American Thomas Edison
invented the rst commercially practical
incandescent light bulb in 1880. Thereafter
he founded the Edison Electric Light
Company (now General Electric) to oversee
the layout of the rst electric distribution
grid in Manhattan, New York. Pretty
signicant compared to what was used to
light up homes and businesses before.
Edison led 1,093 patents in his life, quite
a number for one person. But if the ling of
patents is a measure of how quickly we are
inventing, statistics suggest that today we
are more inventive than ever.
The United Nations World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO), reported that
intellectual property patent lings worldwide
grew at their fastest pace in almost two
decades in 2012, reaching an estimated
2.35 million applications led. Whilst the
European Patent O ce recently reported
a new all-time high of patents led with
265 000 received last year, a 2.8 per cent
increase over 2012.
Most of us can reel o past inventions.
Does that mean modern day ones
are less signicant? Tanya Weaver
ponders this, the myth of the lone
inventor and possibly the greatest
invention of our time 3D printing
Tanya Weaver is the special projects editor
at Develop3D. The Beehaus has weathered our
wet, stormy winter and Tanya is about to don
her beekeeing gear and say hi to the bees
tanya@x3dmedia.com

If we are
to believe
the hype
that if you
dream it,
you can
build it,
3D printing
in theory
can make
inventors
out of all
of us

in the second industrial revolution with the


potential to transform every aspect of our
lives, is 3D printing. Although its getting an
inordinate amount of press coverage, to the
point where even Joe Bloggs is taking note at
the potential of having a mini factory in his
living room, its not a new invention, unless
you can call a 30 year old invention new.
But what has changed since the founder of
3D Systems Charles Chuck Hall invented
stereolithography in 1983 is that today the
machines are faster, cheaper, smaller and the
technology more sophisticated.
So, although originally used by
manufacturers and designers to prototype
and test designs, 3D printing technology has
now developed to the point where it can be
used by far more users. On the one end of the
scale there are scientists who are using the
technology to print human tissue and on the
other there is the aforementioned Mr Bloggs
who can now aord one of the umpteen
consumer 3D printers on the market, making
that living room factory viable.
So, if we are to believe the hype that if
you dream it, you can build it, 3D printing
in theory can make inventors out of all of
us. And if we do come to print o our own
products, for personal use or even to sell,
where do we stand in terms of intellectual
property (IP)? Is the invention ours if we
designed it or are we merely printing
someone elses IP?
Interesting fodder for another comment
piece but in the meantime Ill leave you with
some inspiring and thought provoking quotes
from that great inventor Thomas Edison:
Genius is one per cent inspiration and
ninety nine per cent perspiration.
Inspiration can be found in a pile of junk.
Sometimes, you can put it together with a
good imagination and invent something.
If we all did the things we are really
capable of doing, we would literally astound
ourselves.
p15_D3D_MARCH14_tanya.indd 15 4/3/14 20:53:05
16 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
Your DEVELOP3D
TANYA WEAVER COMMENT ON
TECH FOR TECH'S SAKE
FEBRUARY 2014
Consumers have a choice, they decide
what they "need" whether they actually
do or not. Most "stuff" they buy ends up
in landfll six months later and they move
onto the next thing. Having worked in
product design for some years now, the
"drip feed of new technology" to the public
every 4-6 months is common marketing
policy and supports one of the biggest and
mostly unrecognised addictions of the 21st
century. The ability to make people believe
they need a regular fx of tech products to
feel alive is one of the great commercial
marvels of a technological age.
Chris Hill
What is happening in the modern world
(I think) is that our "Want" response has
been focused on ever more trivial stuff.
Do I need a smartphone in my pocket that
Your views on technology for technology's sake, sustainable Lego and 3D printing
can tell me my heart rate, what time the
tide is in anywhere in the world or lets me
browse the internet for a bargain (or beat
my cousin in Canada at Scrabble) any time
of day or night? Of course not.
So what has happened to make all this
frippery so vital to our lives? Well, we have
generally managed to achieve all the basic
needs in our modern lives and moved on to
a society that depends on a highly complex
infrastructure that is dependent on
technology. Personally I wish the "latest"
gadget was built to last a bit longer, or was
upgradable/repairable so I didn't feel quite
so compelled to upgrade but I will admit to
having bought-in to the package as offered
- a hopeless addict if you will.
Mike Harvey
SIMULATION WORKSHOP #3:
RUBBER
DEC / JAN 2014
Really great article! It's a breath of fresh
air to read an article on CAE that does not
have even a single equation thrown in your
face but instead, puts in a serious effort to
actually EXPLAIN the concepts.
Kevin De Smet
DEVELOP3D.COM: LEGO TO
REPLACE ABS FOR SUSTAINABLE
ALTERNATIVE
They also have the beneft of their products
having a relatively long life for a toy. My
boy's Lego collection is comprised primarily
of my own bricks from my childhood.
Jeff Bare
I wonder how much Lego is in the oceans?!
Mark Young
DEVELOP3D.COM: CES
2014 3D PRINTING FOR
PROFESSIONALS
Al, I'm still very conficted about this. My
home desk is covered with my partially
disassembled 3D printer .... important (if
anecdotal) support for what you are saying.
On the other hand, the actually useful
stuff I print comes mostly from my wife and
daughter. There is a market for a device
that reliably prints simple non-junk.
And then my son (who is well beyond me
in 3D printing) made it into CES and did
some checking on the things that make 3D
printing such a pain. I'm not talking new
cases and fner resolution but all the small
things that make these machines more
reliable and easier to use. He saw some
nice new component designs suggesting
the vector we are on for the last few years
could result in some tangible disruption in
a few years.
At least your story pipeline looks strong
for the next few years.
Mark Burhop
ON TWITTER
@develop3d magazine landed on my desk.
Great article by @swearstoomuch & good
info about #STEM ambassador. Need to
sign up & play my part.
@alasdair_mercer
Someone just bought Workbench after
reading @alistardean's article on
@develop3d!
@bcourter
Really bummed I can't make
@DEVELOP3DLive this year due to a major
confict :-( GREAT EVENT last year. Sign me
up for 2015 though!
@jhirschtick
So pleased that @artem_sfx is involved in
@DEVELOP3DLive: Our New Tech Exhibition
Space has had to expand - For the 3rd year
in a row!
@tpr_media_PR

FEEDBACK

Got an opinion on
anything that has
(or has not) appeared
in the magazine or
online? Let us know
what you think
Greg Corke
greg@x3dmedia.com
Facebook
/develop3d
Twitter
@develop3d
Web
develop3d.com
Linked In
DEVELOP3D group
Letters may be edited
Why did you become a designer?
Making wooden boats in
my grandad's shed at the age of
four was probably the key trigger.
I loved the endless possibilities
that a creative outlook brings, and
naturally gravitated years later to
study design.
Which designer or company do
you most admire and why?
They say you should never meet
your heroes, which may explain why
most of mine are from the past. I
have a huge level of respect for all
designers and companies who are
sacrifcing to DO great things (and
conversely less time for those who
prefer to talk about doing).

What product couldnt you live
without?
A classic wristwatch. I have a fetish
for vintage watches, the beauty,
craft and mechanical ingenuity
(from a pre-CAD era) blow my mind.
What design would you have
loved to have designed and why?
The Papa Bear chair by Hans
Wegner. It doesn't conform to
'aesthetic' conventions, so it's hard
to imagine designing it, but for
me it is beautiful, imposing, yet
incredibly comfortable (I once spent
the night in one).
Play-Doh, Meccano or Lego?
I love them all, and with four
children at home, have the pleasure
of standing on them each morning.
That said, it's hard not to favour
Lego, for staying contemporary and
reinventing their business time and
time again.
What are your weapons of choice?
At Native, we have a great range,
almost all 2D & 3D software, laser
cutters, CNCs, but fundamentally,
we use three core weapons: Brain,
Eyes, Hands.
What is missing from your
toolset?
A time machine.
What would make your design
and development process run
smoother?
We are constantly fnding ways
to streamline and optimise our
process but, whenever we do, it's
hard to notice, as we use the saving
to allow us to try and raise our level
of ambition.

What would you say is the biggest
challenge facing designers?
Digital distraction and easy wins.It
may be boring and time consuming,
but solid foundations enable you to
build great things.
Can you predict any future trends?
I hate trends as they are often
no more than short lived fads.
However, if I had to think of an
issue that will trend over the
coming years, then sustainability
is a big one. An ongoing goal of
ours at Native is to reframe it
emotionally and wed its meaning
to quality rather than guilt; be nice
to think that sustainability could
fip from being a trend to becoming
a classic.
If you were hosting a dinner party
who would you invite and why?
My brother, he's funny.
Marcus Hoggarth; Renaissance man,
Footballer, Meat Club President, Industrial
Designer. As a director of Native Design,
he has been shaping the design landscape
and receiving the odd award on the way.
If you want to take part please
contact tanya@x3dmedia.com
60 SECOnD
InTERVIEW
MaRCuS
HOGGaRTH
Launched at CES 2014,
Mother by Sen.se is
the reinvention of
a mother in gadget
form. Technology for
technology's sake?
p16_D3D_MARCH14_letters.indd 16 4/3/14 20:53:28
REALISE YOUR ENGINEERING
POTENTIAL THROUGH SIMULIA
SIMULATION FROM SSA

ssa
www.ssanalysis.co.uk/events
Abaqus Non Linear FEA Multiphysics
Please call SSA on 01608 811777 or
email info@ssanalysis.co.uk to discuss
your requirements for SIMULIA software
solutions and services.
Latest Quarter Page Advert.indd 1 23/03/2012 17:21:10
017 D3D Ads.indd 1 04/03/2014 14:00
18 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
British bicycle brand Empire Cycles recently showcased its MX6-R suspension
enduro mountain bike at the London Bike Show. The prototype turned heads
as its the rst to feature a titanium alloy frame and seat post that have been
additively manufactured in collaboration with engineering company Renishaw
VISUAL DESIGN GUIDE
EMPIRE MX6-R
HOLLOW FRAME
The MX6-R frame features hollow
structures enabling it to weigh in at just
1.4kg, 44% lighter than the standard
MX6-EVO frame
BONDING
The frame is made of nine separate
components, which were designed to fully
utilise Renishaws AM250s 300mm build
height. The parts are bonded together
using a 3M structural epoxy adhesive
WHY 3D PRINTING?
Chris Williams, MD of Empire Cycles and self proclaimed
detail-obsessed engineer, was curious about the potential of
3D printing in metal and the weight-saving benefts it could
offer. Through the process there was a genuine discovery of
the almost unlimited potential of the additive manufacturing
process and materials. The design freedom afforded is
immense and inspiring.
WHAT NExT?
The next step is to test the MX6-R frame both in the
laboratory and on the mountainside with Bureau Veritas
UK and in partnership with Swansea University. Although
making a mountain bike via additive manufacturing is not
cost-effective at the moment [the frame took 20,000 to
produce], proving out the concept will hopefully pave the
way for more cost-effciency in the future, says Williams.
SEAT POST
BRACKET
The resulting seat post, which
weighed in at 200g, was
signifcantly lighter than the
standard aluminium version of 360g
TESTING
In order to produce a
fully functioning bicycle,
the seat post bracket was
tested using the mountain
bike standard EN 14766, it
withstood 50,000 cycles of
1200 N
MATERIAL
Titanium alloys are very strong and
using additive manufacturing the
material achieves a density that is
better than casting
p18_19_D3D_MARCH14_viz design guide.indd 18 4/3/14 20:53:54
BACK TO
BASICS:
PHOTOSHOP CC
AND 3D PRINTING
Ive heard murmurings that Adobe has
added 3D printing capabilities to its
PhotoShop tool. Is this true?
The Chinese whispers are indeed true.
Adobe has added this capability to its
2014 Creative Cloud (CC) Release of
Photoshop CC.
I dont mean to be cynical but is this
a case of them jumping on the 3D
printing bandwagon?
Well, if the news coming out of Adobe is
anything to go by, this is a pretty clever
move especially when you consider how
many designers use Photoshop. It will
allow them to produce print-ready les
whereas before there has been a gap
between the content produced by CAD
(check out Als comment piece on page
58) and what 3D printers need in order
to deliver high quality results.
So, is it fairly straightforward to use?
Yup, it seems that way. I mean, youre
using familiar Photoshop tools together
with things like automatic mesh repair
and support structure generation to
ensure that the models are reliable.
Theres also the chance to preview the
design before hitting the print button.
When you say print, where will it come
out?
Well, you can set up your locally
connected 3D printer like a MakerBot
Replicator or print via online 3D print
services like Shapeways. It also supports
a range of materials including ceramics,
metals and full colour sandstone.
Can you vouch for it?
No, we havent used it yet but there
are designers that have like Veronia
De La Rosa, an industrial designer at
the product development company
FATHOM, whos used it successfully to
print o client prototypes.
I might give it a go in which case. Where
do I sign up?
Well, all the pricing and info about
setting up an Adobe Creative Cloud
membership is on the website adobe.
com/products/photoshop. Good luck
and report back.
VISUAL DESIGN GUIDE
EMPIRE MX6-R
COMPONENTS
The wheels, drive train and
components required to fnish the
prototype bike were provided by
bicycle parts manufacturer
Hope Technology
BRIEF
The brief to Renishaw was initially to optimise
and manufacture the seat post based on the
brands 6in-travel aluminium MX6 mountain bike.
However, once the seat post was successfully
manufactured, with a 44% weight saving, both
parties agreed to construct a whole frame using
additive manufacturing
empire-cycles.com
renishaw.com
SEAT POST
BRACKET
The resulting seat post, which
weighed in at 200g, was
signifcantly lighter than the
standard aluminium version of 360g
TOPOLOGICAL
OPTIMISATION
Renishaw used a technique called
topological optimisation, which means
optimising the design of a part for additive
manufacturing by removing material from
areas that dont need it to achieve a model
that is light yet very strong. This process
involves (from top):
l CAD model of seat post designed for
aluminium casting,
lTopological optimisation using Altairs
solidThinking Inspire 9.5 software
lRe-designed by Empire Cycles using the
optimised CAD model as a template
lProduced in titanium alloy on a
Renishaw AM250 laser melting system
p18_19_D3D_MARCH14_viz design guide.indd 19 4/3/14 20:53:57
20 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

PROFILE

A regional airliner
currently fying
with the 3D printed
breather pipe part
The original method of producing these parts was
injection moulding but the tooling had become damaged.
The solution, due to its quick turnaround and small batch
manufacturing capability, was 3D printing.
3D printing or using the more archaic term of rapid
prototyping is by no means a new technology and
aerospace manufacturers have been using it for decades to
produce prototype parts for testing and analysis. Its only
recently that the industry has started to consider using
this method as a means to manufacture end use products.
However, the potential barrier has been that getting a
part onto an aircraft requires a certication process, often
deemed to be complex and lengthy.
W
hen considering how many hundreds of
thousands of components are contained
within an aircraft its crazy to think that
one tiny part, a part smaller than your
little nger, could ground a plane by
causing the misting up of cabin windows. However, the BAe
146 jetliner would have been an AOG (aircraft on ground) if
spares of the obsolete cabin window breather pipe could not
be made, and quickly.
Replacing obsolete parts is something BAE Regional
Aircraft in Prestwick is experiencing more of and its not
just for its own in-service eet. As an integrated solutions
provider, it supplies parts for third party aircraft types too.
ALL ON
BOARD
Its one thing 3D printing an aerospace component for testing but
quite another getting it certied to y. Tanya Weaver talks to engineers
from BAE Systems who have managed to print, approve, certify and batch
manufacture a part that is now ying on commercial airlines
p20_21_22_24_D3D_MARCH14_BAE.indd 20 4/3/14 20:54:28
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 21
ALL ON
BOARD

Not only was there the signicant time


saving and the avoidance of the tooling
cost, but the actual parts cost 60 per
cent less than the traditional method
Philip Beard, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft

p20_21_22_24_D3D_MARCH14_BAE.indd 21 4/3/14 20:54:30


22 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
Nevertheless, Philip Beard, structures support manager at
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, and his team were keen to
pursue 3D printing especially as the tooling for the breather
pipe was no longer available and new tooling would cost
in the region of 14,000, not to mention how long it would
take to get the part manufactured thereafter.
LENDING A HAND
Although the team didnt have any 3D printing expertise in-
house, they had the resources of their colleagues over at the
BAE Systems Military Air & Information (MA&I) business
in Warton, Lancashire, who have been experimenting with
3D printing technology for many years at their Centre Of
Excellence. In fact, they had recently own a 3D printed
metal camera bracket for the rst time on board a Tornado
ghter jet during a test ight.
Having demonstrated the capabilities of its selective laser
sintering (SLS) machine, a form of 3D printing or additive
manufacturing that builds plastic objects layer-by-layer, it
was decided that this was a suitable method to produce the
breather pipe.
With time of the essence, we were at the point where we
either go down the injection moulding route of getting the
new injection tool made, approved and then for it to actually
produce a part, or 3D printing, which would take a matter
of weeks. We went for 3D printing and for something that

PROFILE

1
As much as 3D printing in
plastics is an established
technology in the
aerospace industry,
3D printing in metal,
otherwise known as metal
additive manufacturing
(AM), is rapidly advancing
and heralding changes
in how end-use parts are
manufactured.
Many aerospace
manufacturers and
suppliers, including
Boeing, BAE Systems,
Airbus and Rolls Royce,
are experimenting with
and researching metal AM
techniques. For instance,
Boeing for its larger
components is looking at
a process called electron
beam freeform fabrication,
or EBFFF. This layer
additive process uses an
electron beam and a solid
wire feedstock to fabricate
metallic structures.
Meanwhile BAE Systems,
together with researchers
at Cranfeld University, has
created one of the largest
3D printed metal parts
measuring 1.2m using
a Wire and Arc Additive
Manufacture (WAAM)
process. This titanium spar
section sits longitudinally
to form part of an aircraft
wing structure on a
military aircraft.
But whilst these and
other manufacturers are
using metal AM methods
to produce prototype parts
to perform form, ft and
function tests, there are
some that have progressed
to using it to produce
fnal products. One such
company is MTU Aero
Engines in Munich which,
as of May 2013, is using
its EOS selective laser
melting (SLM) machine
to manufacture casing
attachment parts for the
geared turbofan engines.
These components, made
of EOS NickelAlloy IN718,
are borescope bosses for
the PurePOwer PW1133G-
JM low-pressure turbine
(LPT) casing and allow
borescope inspections to
be be carried out. MTU
claim that the PW1133G-JM
LPT is the frst production
turbine to feature
borescope bosses made
using SLM.
The SLM process has
been used at MTU on a
number of technology
projects. After all, the
process holds great
promise of offering new
design options, says
Dr. Karl-Heinz Dusel,
senior manager rapid
technologies at MTU Aero
Engines.
It speeds up innovation
cycles, permits lighter
and more functional
components to be
produced, and brings
down development and
manufacturing costs. It
shortens delivery times
and allows tool reduced
production of components
with new complex designs
that are extremely
diffcult if not impossible
to manufacture using
conventional methods. The
fexibility of the process
also makes it particularly
suitable for low-volume
production and for one-off
components.
However, one company
that will be using metal
AM for high-volume
production is the global
corporation General
Electric (GE), which
announced last year that
it will mass manufacture a
fuel nozzle for its newest
jet engine, the CFM Leap,
using metal AM machines.
These critical metal-alloy
parts are due to go into
planes in late 2015 or early
2016 and will be produced
in-house at its Cincinnati
division following an
alleged $100 million dollar
investment in an additive
manufacturing facility. GE
is now boldly referring to
additive manufacturing
as the next chapter in the
industrial revolution.
The rise of meTAl ADDiTive mAnufAcTuring

1 The 3D printed
window breather
pipe for use on the
BAe 146 aircraft
p20_21_22_24_D3D_MARCH14_BAE.indd 22 4/3/14 20:54:31
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D3D 297 x 210_new_Layout 1 14/01/2014 14:28 Page 1
24 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

At the
moment our
imaginations
are 50
years
ahead of
where the
technology
is. Currently
you cant
print an
entire
aircraft
wing but it
will happen

2 A Catia drawing of the breather pipe


part, which was converted into an .stl
fle and sent to the 3D printer

3 BAE Systems managed to


manufacture the part with an EASA
Form 1 approval
aerospace industry in that weve actually got a certied
ying part that can be used on in-service aircraft.
With the part ready for batch manufacture, their Warton
colleagues introduced them to the additive manufacturing
service provider 3T RPD in Newbury, which they had
utilised in the past. Using its SLS machines, 3T produced a
batch of 300 breather pipe parts in a nylon material.
Not only was there the signicant time saving and the
avoidance of the tooling cost, but the actual parts cost 60 per
cent less than the traditional method, says Beard.
Thats the other beauty its a relatively small quantity.
To make injection moulding anywhere economic even
if you have the tool you have to be manufacturing in
thousands. So again, for an aircraft that is no longer in
production where you are looking to make small batches
this process then starts to lend itself, he adds.
TAKING STOCK
The 300 parts are now in stock at BAE Systems Regional
Aircrafts Weybridge spares warehouse and are being
shipped to customers for use on in-service aircraft.
Having gained this experience, Beard and his team are
now able to not only design or source replacement parts,
but arrange their manufacture, obtain certication and
then provide aftermarket support too. However, Beard
is cautious about lavishing too much praise on just one
technology solution amongst many and especially one that
is still developing.
This technology oers a potential solution for aircraft
parts that are prone to obsolescence, where tooling is
unavailable, for quick turn rounds and also for small batch
production. It may not be the solution for every part, but
where appropriate, it provides a faster route from design to
completed parts meaning operators get the parts cheaper
and quicker, he says.
But he does see the potential of this technology as its
capabilities continue to advance not only in printing in
plastics but especially in various metals.
At the moment our imaginations are 50 years ahead of
where the technology is. So, currently you cant print an
entire aircraft wing but it will happen. Maybe a mirror to
look at is carbon bre. If you go back 30 years people were
very comfortable making small parts in it but were not very
comfortable making large parts. But today you have entire
aircraft being made out of it, explains Beard.
I think well see something in parallel, its just the
timeframe that will be a lot less. So, the only thing now is
technology keeping up with where we want to go.
baesystems.com | 3trpd.co.uk
could have taken up to six months took just four weeks.
And now that we know the process that can be reduced ever
further in future, explains Beard.
Another spin o that we found, adds his colleague
Graham Smith, head of business development at BAE
Systems Regional Aircraft, is the administration is a lot
easier to manage. Previously, we would have had people go
down and visit the manufacturer for rst article inspections
of the mouldings but a lot of this is not necessary now
because you are just sending les electronically, which
simplies the administration eort.
Beard supplied his Warton colleagues with the CAD
drawings of the breather part as a CATIA le, who then
converted it into an .stl and sent it to the SLS machine.
Because we were involved with our MA&I colleagues,
the rst thing we did was send the le to them and have
them make a part so that we could then prove to ourselves
that this was the right technology and wed be happy to do a
certication process, says Beard.
GAINING APPROVAL
With the part in hand, they then went about obtaining
a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Form 1
certication approval. To get an aircraft part onto an
aircraft it has to go through our 21J, which is our design
oce approval, and our 21G, which is our part approval.
Having both of them allows us to then issue the part so it
can be released to get onto an aircraft, which is covered in
EASA Form 1, explains Beard.
Additionally, under the approvals that EASA has granted
us, its not just limited to our own aircraft but any xed
wing aircraft type.
Smith adds, This stands us apart from a lot of the
2
3

PROFILE

p20_21_22_24_D3D_MARCH14_BAE.indd 24 4/3/14 20:54:49
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Laser Lines Ad.indd 1 28/02/2014 13:15
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PROFILE

28 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
A 19-year career at Fender has seen Greene
traverse all its R&D departments, from
graphic and industrial design to nding his
domain among the physical model making.
From this position he has seen the
advancements in all its processes.
Now, were able to really go from sketch all
the way up to rst production units in a very,
very short amount of time.
GROWING VOLUME
Fenders growth has seen it expand from
electric guitars and basses to amps, pedals
and, now, high-end studio audio equipment,
with the complexity of the product at the
heart of the R&D turnover rate.
Over the years weve done very minor
refreshes, says James Giord , Fenders VP
of design and R&D. On the ip-side we have
projects that were doing now that are brand
new from scratch.
These full-blown design processes involve
extensive brainstorming sessions, concepts,
user observations and interviews with
consumers, repeatedly going back through
the conceptualisation process to gain extra
renement.
These major projects will probably take
the better part of a year to a year and a
half to complete before theyre actually on
the market. So theyre a little more time
consuming than a normal refresh.
A refresh can be on a guitar family that
has remained untouched for over two
decades, adding extra pressure to the design
team to keep fans happy.
All of the products begin life as sketched
concepts, whether a slight adjustment of a
classic guitar or a wholly new product.
One of our designers
here is very adept with
Keyshot and SolidWorks,
so he actually likes to use
that, says Giord.
On the ip side I have
another designer that is
really good at sketching
using the Wacom Cintiq
screen, so theres a little combination of
medium before design reviews, before we do
full 3D CAD, and the point where Shawn is
putting together physical models for us.
WOOD WORKS
As tactile products, Fenders designs need to
be physically prototyped: a digital model is
not enough to get a feel for a product, and is
unable to relay what sound it can produce.
For this reason Fender has modelshops at
all its facilities, spread around the hot and
dry southeast states one at its corporate
oces, another, along with its custom guitar
shop, at its Corona, California site where all
the American products are manufactured.
Then theres another model shop at
Fenders large manufacturing plant in
Ensenada, Mexico.
Utilising a blend of traditional and digital
cutting, Greene and his team use the main
CNC machine at the Corona facility, sending
the 3D les to California before the physical
models are shipped overnight back to
Arizona.
Weve just got a CNC machine in our model
shop too. Its a pretty small CNC, hints
Greene, But to tell you the truth, a lot of the
woodworking we do: if its a cabinet we have
table saws and all the woodworking materials
we need; if its a guitar, a
lot of times well do them
by hand.
Still, to this day, here
in the model shop some
of our guitar techs and
luthiers will still do initial
carvings with larger tools,
and then hand-shape it.
Its still old-school, and we like it that way!
Around 10 years ago Fender rst adopted 3D
printing for small prototyping jobs using a
bureau service.
At the time Fender was primarily wood
products and ampliers, a lot of wood and
vinyl, and we did what we did very well with
all of that, but as we grew we started to use
more plastic parts for dierent products like
foot pedals and drum parts.
As we acquired other companies and grew,
the need for doing really intricate moulds
and parts grew as well.
The old design process back then relied
on waiting for a quote back from the output
house, getting funding signed o for it, then
waiting on the part to be shipped a week-
long process, maybe even more, says Greene.
After four and-a-half years of working in
this way Greene and his team fully realised
the benets of 3D printing and the potential
of speeding up the process by bringing it
in-house.
The team started o with an Objet Eden,
although the limitations of having only one
print material saw them update the machine
to an Objet Connex350.
Now were able to do over moulding and
use the ABS-like material, justies Greene.
Fender relies on this single machine, but
The R&D woodwork
for Fenders guitars
is done using a blend
of traditional and
digital cutting

PROFILE


Now were able to
really go from sketch
all the way up to rst
production units in
a very, very short
amount of time

DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 29


its output as part of the workshop R&D is
already changing the way the design process
works.
If its a plastic part thats going to get
moulded in production down the road we can
do everything we need to do on that Connex
machine.
STAR GUITAR
The single machine clearly oers the team
amazing versatility, something that Greenes
enthusiasm for the subject conveys.
I can give you a hundred dierent
examples of how we use the 3D printer,
but for one example is on the guitars, he
exclaims.
Within a week I will print maybe 20 to 30
dierent pickups.
A pickup is the transducer in the electric
guitar that captures mechanical vibrations,
with dierent variations producing a
distinctive sound.
Were always trying to design new pickups,
make little changes, always working with the
sound seeing where we can go.
Were able to 3D print the pickups, put the
magnets in them, wind them [with copper
wire] and pot them [a dip coating] and get
them in the guitar within two days.
To be able to do that means we can try
multiple, multiple, multiple dierent designs
very quickly long before we have to spend a
dime on tooling, and that is invaluable.
With 3D printing a rm part of Fenders
design make up, the technology now has an
important role to play in the majority of the
projects it does.
If we can go from sketch to rst prototype
that artists can hold, or marketing can see,
without ever spending a dime on tooling or
going out of house for any part it saves us
thousands of dollars and time.
For general full production run models
Fender still relies on standard tooling.
However, with its close
anity to some of
musics greatest living
artists, 3D printed
customisation is also
being applied to the
nished product.
For some of our artists
models, or something thats going to be a
one-o, we do whats called FSRs (Factory
Short Runs) if an artist or band want its
logo on each one of the knobs, we can do that.
If they want a custom bezel that has their
name on it, or a custom inlay thats very
intricate, we can use 3D printing to do that.
Fender has expanded its product range over
the years and now produces a wide range
of pro-audio and studio equipment. These
complex products, packed full of electronic
components are a departure from the
simple design of its guitars.
Passport Studio is a good example of
something that was brand new for us, says
Giord of their latest portable recording
studio. That product is a dierent animal to
a guitar.
Youre talking a lot of plastics; thermal
issues when you have such a small enclosure
and electronics in the speaker; how the whole
thing goes together as a portable system. So
the mechanics had to be really thought out.
Whereas a lot of our guitars may be based
on a set design we wouldnt change as far
as Stratocaster and Telecaster bodies a
brand new product means we have more free
rein over what we can do, admits the VP of
design.
The freedom in the design stages of the
project continues through to the prototyping
workshop, where Greenes team is able to
push the technology available to them.
One of the cool things that happened
is that we were able to go from beginning
sketch to rst prototype, not just for looks,
t and function, but using the Objet
ABS-like material to do sound testing,
explains Greene, noting that the 3D printed
prototypes nearly matched the nished
product for sound quality.
Within a year we were ready to go, and
thats huge on a product like that, which takes
a lot of development.
NEW NOTES
As the product range
continues to grow Fender
is planning on using
more technology to
support the increasingly
complex design process.
Were really excited. Every three years we
look at reinvesting in new equipment, in
things that will make us faster and better,
says Greene.
The rst thing to catch his eye is the new
Stratasys Objet500 Connex3, a multi-material
3D printer that is able to print colour
versions of its block, exible and translucent
materials.
That speeds things up with less painting
and after work we have to do to show
marketing, explains Greene, adding that
the increased number of print heads the
Connex3 gives them would also give them
new build options.
What Im really excited about is the extra
bay and head today it takes two bays to
make the ABS-like material, having the extra
bay means being able to overmould on top of
that.
From the same machine this means the
team would be able to add various details
to the models in a single build, while also
giving the ability for producing colour tinted
lenses for lighting.
At this point, a lot of the parts that we use
on our ampliers and guitars are iconic
things that we wouldnt get rid of or try to
redesign too fast. Fender is still Fender and
were not going to change that!
But we are excited about maybe getting
the ability, as the machines get smaller, cost
eective and the speed come up a bit, and
maybe we can do more custom parts.
FENDER FOR ALL
Fender is committed to expanding its use
of new technologies, one of the key benets
being its ability to provide customisation.
Theres all dierent values and prices
of a guitar, and there is a market out there
for the people that want something really
nicely made, but that theres only one or two
hundred out there, states Greene.
However for some, nding that perfect
Strat or Tele will still come from more than
personalised trinkets.
As Je Beck, the iconic Yardbirds
guitarist, once said: Fender make so many
permutations of the same thing, but some
just t like you were born with them.
Fender.com
1 2 3

1 The prototype Passport Studio, a


portable recording/playback system, was
3D printed

2 The Objet ABS-like material was used


for acoustic as well as form and ft testing

3 Finished prototypes could then be


assessed by the marketing department
without need for any expensive tooling
30 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

PROFILE

T
urkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is
Turkeys centre of technology for the
design, development, modernisation,
manufacturing, integration and life
cycle support of integrated aerospace
systems, from xed and rotary wing
aircraft to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) systems and space systems.
TAI currently has over 1,500
engineers at its central facility in Ankara, but plans to
double that number within the next few years. User
hardware varies greatly, ranging from entry-level thin
clients with standard oce productivity applications
(e.g. Internet Explorer and Microsoft Oce) to advanced
workstations with heavy CAD applications for design and
visualisation (e.g. Siemens NX).
Each user requires dedicated graphics cardsboth for the
graphics-intensive applications on the professional-grade
workstations, and to view CAD data on thin clients and
business PCs over TAIs secure Intranet, via applications
such as Siemens PLM Viewer and Oracle AutoVue.
TAIs IT department faced signicant challenges in
supporting varying hardware setups and dozens of
dierent applications, and knew they needed to simplify
before they continued expanding. Furthermore, with its
previous 1:1 user-to-graphics card setup, TAI needed a way
to increase user density and more eciently allocate GPU
power as needed to its growing pool of engineers.
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and dynamic
allocation of GPU power to virtual machines via
vGPU became a necessity for our IT department,
explained Serdar Kaya, IT System Engineer, TAI. In this
environment where we are constantly expanding, and our
engineers require varying amounts of graphics power each
day from project to project, simply buying and maintaining
more workstations and more graphics cards became costly
and unmanageable. We needed to be able to simplify overall
and also increase our user density.
TAI had already adopted Citrixs XenDesktop and XenApp
to begin shifting to a virtualised infrastructurebut
graphics density and allotment remained hurdles.
CONNECTING UP TO THE GRID
TAI turned to Nvidia GRID, the graphics-accelerated
virtual desktop and application technology, to address its
graphics-related issues. TAI adopted servers equipped
with GRID K1 boards to enable applications for viewing
CAD models and oce productivity in a virtualised
environment; and adopted servers with GRID K2 boards
(to enable heavy CAD applications such as Siemens NX in
a virtualised environment.
Nvidias GRID vGPU (virtual GPU) Manager allows up
to eight users to simultaneously share a single GPU from
both boards, which instantly increased TAIs user density
without compromising graphics performance.
Virtual GPU sharing allowed TAI to maximise the
VIRTUAL
TAKE OFF
In order to support a growing
number of engineers and their
uctuating demands for 3D
graphics power Turkish aerospace
rm, TAI, turned to Nvidias GRID
graphics-accelerated virtual
desktop technology

I can
now give our
users a boost
of GPU power
on the y. Its
as simple as
allocating
additional
GPUs in
XenServer,
and the GPU
upgrade is
there once
the virtual
machine is
powered up
again

p30_31_D3D_MARCH14_Nvidia.indd 30 4/3/14 20:56:19


DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 31
eciency of its available resources. No longer tied to a 1:1
GPU setup, the IT department could allocate graphics
power to a wide range of simultaneous users as needed.
The availability of this technology allowed TAIs
workforce to scale up while being easily manageable for the
IT department, and without requiring additional space in
the server room.
A common problem we faced was that an engineer
would be working on Project A where he might require
additional memory or more graphics power than usual,
so we install more RAM and higher-end graphics cards
onto his workstation, explained Kaya. But then after a few
weeks this engineer would switch over to Project B, which
had lesser requirements, but its not necessarily worth
it for us to uninstall the extra RAM or extra GPU. Now
multiply that by thousands of engineers. Nvidia GRID
allows us to optimise our hardware investments so that
resources can be easily shared and transferred between
users as needed nothing goes to waste.
Nvidia GRID also eliminated latency issues, providing a
truly responsive and interactive user experience on graphics-
intensive applications. Users experienced fully optimised
graphics performance regardless of their hardwarethin
clients, workstations, and more are supported.
VDI and GRID make the job so much easier for our
IT department, because GRID supports our entire
range of usersfrom thin client hardware to advanced
workstation hardware, and from basic productivity
applications to professional design and visualisation
applications, said Kaya. GRID really streamlined our IT
support. I can now give our users a boost of GPU power
on the y. Its as simple as allocating additional GPUs in
XenServer, and the GPU upgrade is there once the virtual
machine is powered up again.
Nvidia GRID is like nitrogen for virtual desktop
infrastructure, continued Kaya. You use nitrogen in your
car engine when you require an extra boost of powerand
thats exactly what GRID has done for our virtual machines.
TAI plans to outt its Ankara facility with several more
GRID K1 and K2-equipped servers, to fully realise the
benets of virtual GPU technology for its growing user
base. And with the recent release of Citrix XenDesktop 7,
TAI can leverage new improvements for even more GRID
functionality.
Nvidia GRID is allowing TAI to expand eciently, said
Kaya. It supports our dynamic environment by optimising
our available resources and eliminating strains on IT. I am
eager to increase our number of GRID-equipped servers,
so that we can share the benets of the virtual GPU with as
many of our users as possible.
With GRID, TAI has been able to enhance IT eciency
and performance, which reduces costs and improves
productivity. This technology will help us to achieve our
goals within the global aerospace industry, concluded
Glsen Bayramusta, Manager of IT, TAI.
nvidia.com/vdi
Turkish Aerospace
engineers get fully
optimised graphics
regardless of their
client hardware
p30_31_D3D_MARCH14_Nvidia.indd 31 4/3/14 20:56:20
32 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

EDUCATION

T
hink of underprivileged children
and you probably imagine gangs of
inner city hoodlums up to no good
on street corners, no intentions of
setting themselves a path in life.
However, this is often far from the truth
and there is one initiative that wants to help
unlock the potential that lurks within every
school child.
The Elite Engineering Programme (EEP)
was spearheaded by Helsingston Foundation,
a privately funded foundation founded by
philanthropist and Oxford Alumnus, Graham
Sharp, in 2008 to enable high-performing
sixteen and seventeen year olds from state
schools and colleges to experience higher
education at its best.
The Programme has since grown and last
year partnered with the Royal Academy of
Engineers and LEGO Education, the toy
manufacturers Education arm that, for
over 30 years, has worked with teachers and
educational specialists worldwide to bring
subjects to life and make learning fun.
EEPs single aim is to boost the number of
talented young people in secondary school,
many from underprivileged backgrounds, to
consider pursuing careers in engineering.
It has chosen 25 schools to receive free
LEGO Mindstorms Education EV3 resources
to be used in the classroom.
More than just bricks, the EV3 series are
fully programmable robotics that can be
controlled and programmed in a variety of
ways, giving students the tools to conduct
exciting experiments and engineer their own
ideas.
The EEP judges prioritise schools that
would benet most from the new resources,
having set them challenges to assess the
enthusiasm of the school and its teaching
sta and how much community support has
been shown for the application.

A FIVE-YEAR PLAN
Speaking with the Helsington Foundation
it is clear that underprivileged is not a term
that carries any stigma, but which simply
implies the need to develop and eke out the
best from the raw potential.
Some schools seem to be better structured
and have a bit more funding than others,
others are in poor areas where you dont get
additional support from parent groups and
so on and so forth, says Derek Walters, a key
advisor at the Helsington Foundation on its
education projects.
They do lack resources, and EEP coming
together with LEGO have been able to put that
resource within the schools.
Hopefully the teachers will marry the kits
with subjects like maths and IT, and all the
technological elements on the curriculum
with this to help them raise standards, and
encourage [pupils] to look at engineering as a
serious career prospect.
This is the pilot scheme of a ve-year plan,
in which the scheme aims to grow to engage
some 350 schools and over 60,000 children.
One would like to think that a high
percentage of them would then specialise in
core subjects maths, physics etc. then
give them the grounding to go on and read
engineering at university, explains Walters.
HANDS-ON LEARNING
LEGO is equally committed to the cause,
although it sees itself as a tool to enable the
project to work.
Our priority is the classroom: we want
to inspire not only the students but also
the teachers, states Gareth Boldsworth,
marketing director at LEGO Education
Europe.
We have some great assets that teachers
and students can use that might inspire them
to take a career path in engineering.
When we were approached to become a
partner in this we became very interested in
what they were doing and what they wanted
to achieve we could complement that with
our resources.
Ultimately, LEGO has seen, through its
many years of working in the education
sector, that the toy often inspires children and
can trigger them to follow a path into sciences
or engineering.
Sometimes, what we tend to nd is that
LEGO resources can light a passion in a
student that you would never normally
see before because its a hands-on way of
learning, describes Boldworth.
In the search for increasing numbers of future engineers, Stephen Holmes
nds how a charity installing LEGO in schools might help reverse the drop
p32_33_D3D_MARCH14_Education.indd 32 4/3/14 20:56:46
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 33
FUTURE THINKING
All partners in the project are convinced of
the same issue, that the country needs more
engineers, that it is moving into a knowledge-
based economy and that strong sciences and
engineering skills are needed as a core for the
economy as a whole.
They always seem to be the poor relations
somehow, laments Walters. Compared to
when you go to Germany, Italy, or certainly
in the Far East, engineering has a genuine
emotional status within society, and hopefully
through projects like this well be able to
address this.
Why 350 schools? Why not 700 or 1,000
schools? Why [sponsor] only 40-50 university
places, why not 500 that are somewhat
sponsored? Were not conning our boarder
thinking and long-term objectives to certain
numbers, hopefully we can create the base.
The need for 50 per cent more engineers
is a spectre looming over all of design and
engineering, but by uncovering the hidden
talents of more children, the building blocks
are in place to reverse this decline..
legoeducation.com
eep-schools.org.uk

1 Salfords Albion Academy was one of the


schools chosen for the Elite Engineering
Programme pilot scheme

2 The LEGO Mindstorms Education EV3 are


robotics kits that can be fully programmed
by the pupils
2
1

Sometimes, what we tend to nd is that LEGO resources can light a passion in a student
that you would never normally see before because its a hands-on way of learning
Gareth Boldsworth, LEGO Education Europe

p32_33_D3D_MARCH14_Education.indd 33 4/3/14 20:56:48


SILVER SPONSORS GOLD SPONSORS PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
D
EVELOP3Ds annual
celebration of product
development is shaping
up to be the biggest ever,
with more speakers and
exhibitors than ever before.
The conference features four tracks of
speakers, hand picked by the DEVELOP3D
editorial team, with multiple exhibition
spaces, special technology break out
areas and trips to see the Warwick
Manufacturing Groups (WMG) impressive
engineering facilities. The event is free to
attend, we provide lunch and coee/tea at
regular intervals, and you hopefully leave
inspired with fresh ideas.
CONFERENCE
Focusing on innovative product design
and digital fabrication, the editorial team
has compiled a program of industry
experts and designers. Spanning many
industries: concept design, automotive,
software development, industrial design,
3D printing, robotics, virtual reality and
workstation technology.
See a full list of speakers across the page.
More details at develop3dlive.com.
PRODUCT DESIGN & ENGINEERING
This year we have an entire days worth of
designers to entertain you. Our selection
here covers: adult kick scooters, generative
design to fabrication, eco innovation, the
surfacing of Jaguars F-type and the royalty
of British industrial design, Dyson.
INDUSTRY
Software development is an important part
of our industry and the main stage will
oer insights from key developers, together
with designers. This year we welcome
some new speakers, no less the CEO of
SolidWorks and the senior VP of Autodesk
Manufacturing. With both rms promoting
new code streams and capabilities,
DEVELOP3D LIVE is the only place to see
these competitors present side by side.
DESIGN VISUALISATION
Rendering is now an essential tool for
product development, with lifelike reality-
blurring product images being used
everywhere. Weve assembled some expert
users and developers to blow your mind.
MAKE AND FABRICATION
The DEVELOP3D LIVE team are jaded
from trying to bring some perspective to
the hype that appears in the mainstream
press: how 3D printers will be in every house
soon, and how well all be printing food and
replacement body parts. We have invited a
motley crew of expert users and industry
personalities to set the record straight in a
whole day of dedicated talks. We even have
robots that bend metal like popeye.
EXHIBITION
DEVELOP3D LIVE give you an opportunity
to get hands on with product development
technology. We have expanded this year
and have over 60 companies demonstrating
the hottest design, visualisation and
fabrication tools.
Expect to see live demonstrations of 3D
modelling, 3D printing, laser scanning,
simulation, workstation hardware,
rendering, reverse engineering, Product
Data Management (PDM), Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM), manufacturing
technology and much more.
To nd out who will be exhibiting go to
develop3dlive.com/exhibitors
NEW: VIRTUAL REALITY ROOM
In our new dedicated VR room Virtalis will
be inviting visitors to get hands on with
its ActiveMove portable immersive virtual
reality system, along with the revolutionary
zSpace desktop visualisation system.
WARWICK MANUFACTURING GROUP
The WMG is onsite at the Warwick
University campus and oers UK rms the
opportunity to carry out research or assist
in solving design and production problems.
The Group has an impressive amount of
kit and this year will be showing cross-site
collaborative design.
ACCOMMODATION / DRINKS
We realise that many of you travel great
distances to attend the show. With
registration opening at 8am on April 15 and
the event starting promptly at 9.30am, we
are pleased to oer quality aordable bed
and breakfast accommodation on site for
Monday April 14. Cost is 63.60 inc VAT.
If you do stay overnight, you would be
welcome to join the editorial team for a few
drinks at the Dirty Duck on-the Warwick
campus. To book an overnight stay go to
tinyurl.com/D3Drooms
REGISTER NOW
DEVELOP3D LIVE is an intense day of
talks, activities, exhibition browsing and
networking. With the conference having
four simultaneous streams, many rms
choose to bring multiple delegates to ensure
they dont miss important sessions.
CLAIM YOUR FREE TICKET
develop3dlive.com/registration
We look forward to welcoming you to
DEVELOP3D LIVE at Warwick Arts
Centre, CV4 7AL on Tuesday April 15
p34_35_D3D_MARCH14_D3DLivearticle.indd 40 4/3/14 20:57:08
BRONZE SPONSORS SILVER SPONSORS GOLD SPONSORS
DEVELOP3D is extremely
excited to introduce
keynote speaker, Daniel
Simon, one of the most in
demand concept designers
in the world today.
Creating sophisticated
vehicle-centred dreams
for imagined futures,
pasts, and sci- worlds,
his mechanical fantasies
come to life in movies,
books, and reality,
sparking true emotions
with their detailed
believability.
Simon summarises
his creative belief as
Style for All Galaxies
and Vehicle Design
Unlimited.
Positioning his work as
a unique blend of high-
style automotive design
and everything-goes
fantasy design.
Simon started drawing
at the age of three, and
has not stopped since.
After obtaining his degree
in automotive design at
the University of Applied
Science in Pforzheim,
Germany, he spent ve
years at Volkswagens
advanced design studio.
In 2005, Simon worked
as a senior designer for
Bugatti Automobiles.
In 2007, his rst book,
Cosmic Motors, was
published, opening the
doors to Hollywood: he
became vehicle concept
designer on the feature
lm Tron: Legacy.
Simon now works in Los
Angeles, California, on a
variety of concept-design
projects for Hollywood
productions and clients
including:
Concept design for lm
Tron: Legacy
Oblivion
Captain America
Prometheus
Product design concepts
Bugatti
Volkswagen
Honda
Lotus Motorcycles
Puma
danielsimon.com
KEYNOTE
DANIEL SIMON
CONCEPT
DESIGN
HOLLYWOOD
STYLE
The event will feature four
conference streams, covering all
aspects of design and technology
Keynotes
Daniel Simon, Cosmic Motors
Al Peasland, Innity Red Bull Racing
Industry
Robert Kross, Autodesk
Bertrand Sicot, SolidWorks
Chris Randles, Spaceclaim
Karsten Haiko, Siemens
Brad Peebler, The Foundry
Hardi Maybaum, GrabCAD
Derrek Cooper, Autodesk
Hardware
Rick Thwaites, Dell
Rob Jamieson, AMD
Daniel Simon with his Bubbleship design, which
was own by Tom Cruise in the 2013 lm Oblivion
SPEAKER
LINE UP
Product Design and Engineering
Dr Caroline Simcock, Dyson
Jason Iftakhar, Swifty Scooters
Mark Shayler, Tickety Boo
Paul Duggan, Techshop
Peter Knibbs, Jaguar Landrover
Arthur Mamou-Mani, Mamou-mani
Design Visualisation
Paul Siodmok, Integer
Keith Jeffery, Taylor James
Mark Kelt, Artem
Chris Williams & Thiago Costa, Lagoa
Brad Peebler, The Foundry
Make and Fabrication
Dr Phil Reeves, Econolyst
Gregory Epps, Robofold
Jon Reilly, Inner Freak
Nicholas ODonnell-Hoare &
Matt Mulhern, Saint H
Assa Ashuach, Assa Ashuach Studio
develop3dlive.com/speakers
WIN A TRIP FOR TWO TO THE ITALIAN
GRAND PRIX, COURTESY OF DELL
Attend DEVELOP3D LIVE to be in with a chance of winning this fantastic
Formula 1 trip. Prizes are handed out in the last session of the day
As DEVELOP3D
LIVE principal
sponsor
AMD will be
giving away
workstation
class
hardware and
Gold sponsor
SolidWorks an
Apple iPad.
More prizes to
be announced
soon.
Hear Al Peasland
from Inniti Red Bull
Racing explain how the
team takes advantage
of the latest product
development technology
MORE
PRIZES
p34_35_D3D_MARCH14_D3DLivearticle.indd 41 4/3/14 20:57:11
UK-halfpage-2014.indd 1 2/3/2014 11:40:27 AM
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036 D3D Ada.indd 1 04/03/2014 07:24
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 37

PROFILE

Lift-and-drive
system connecting a
passenger boarding
bridge to an aircraft
P
assengers may take them
for granted as they walk
from the terminal onto
a plane, but passenger
boarding bridges play a
vital role within airports.
Otherwise known as
ngers, these glass and steel load-bearing
structures feature numerous tunnels to
enable comfortable boarding.
Spanish manufacturer ThyssenKrupp
Airport Systems designs and builds these
structures. To date it has installed more than
3,000 of them at airports around the world.
A crucial element of the bridges is the
drive system frame, or the bogie, that has to
support 50 metric tonnes of structure while
providing the forward, backward and lateral
movements needed to dock to the aircraft.
The bogie originally used in ThyssenKrupp
passenger boarding bridges was designed
in Germany 20 years ago using hand
calculations. The limitations of manual
design methods meant that prototypes had to
be constructed and tested in evaluating each
design iteration.
Testing identied problems with early
design iterations but provided limited
diagnostic information,so engineers had
to rely on intuition to modify the design.
The time required for physical testing
limited the number of load-case scenarios
that the engineering team could evaluate.
Historically, it took18 months to iterate to a
bogie design that met specications.
Recently, ThyssenKrupp invested in
Ansys simulation tools, specically Ansys
Workbench, Ansys DesignModeler and
Ansys Mechanical.
Workbench provides an integrated
environment to substantially reduce the
time required to prepare models for analysis,
including dening loads, constraints and
contacts. DesignModeler delivers a fully
parametric environment for dening and
editing design geometry so that design
engineers can evaluate many dierent
design variations in a short time. Ansys
Mechanical oers the ability to analyse
the wide range of physics stresses,
deformations, vibration characteristics,
reaction forces and residual strains
required to determine performance of a
passenger boarding bridge.
BRIDGING THE GAP
Using Ansys simulation tools ThyssenKrupp Airport Systems was able to improve
on previous passenger boarding bridge designs. Antonio Murias, within the
companys research and development department, explains the process
p33_34_D3D_MARCH14_Ansys.indd 37 4/3/14 20:58:03
38 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
PROFILE

1 Global displacement results for new design



2 Stress analysis results with mesh for wheel replacement
load case for new bogie design

3 Linear buckling analysis results for operatingload case


for new bogie
workfLow: NEw BoGIE DESIGN

4 Stress simulation of original bogie



5 Stress simulation for internal components of new bogie

6 Another component undergoing stress simulation
REDESIGNING THE BOGIE
Recently, the decision was made
to redesign the bogie using
simulation as an integral part of
the design method. As a rst step,
the original CAD geometry was
transferred into DesignModeler.
At the same time, physical
tests were carried out to validate material
properties and determine loads based on the
original design.
Engineers used Ansys Mechanical to
evaluate the stress behaviour of the original
part and the eects of design changes, such
as increasing the radii in high-stress areas.
Steel was chosen over cast iron as it provides
better control over material properties.
ThyssenKrupp engineers then created a
new design of the part in DesignModeler. The
model of the previous design used all solid
elements because of the complex geometry
of the cast part. It had a total of 1.3 million
nodes. The model of the new design with a
combination of shell and solid elements used
only 300,000 nodes. Running this analysis
with all solid elements would have taken
about 12 hours per load case. The use of shell
elements reduced the solution time to three
hours per load case.
Engineers added constraints and loads to
the model and simulate edits
behaviour. One of the more
complex load cases involved
jacking up the bogie to change
one wheel. When the jack rises,
the bogie exes under bending
loads, and the load is transferred
along the lift jack opening. A
nonlinear contact was used to maintain the
contact at the right location as the part exes.
Using Ansys DesignModeler, the
engineering team reproduced stiness
and other behaviours of this complicated
component while dening many load
cases and taking nonlinear material and
contacts into account. It performed stress
and buckling analyses, to determine if
interior ribs were required, then validated the
forward, backward and lateral movements of
this part. The interaction between the wheels
and the apron surface was analysed for
dierent combinations of material stiness
and contact conditions.
OPTIMISING THE DESIGN
Once the analysis identied the parts
problematic zones, engineers added and
removed material manually; they also used
the shape optimiser within Ansys Mechanical
to improve the geometry. An envelope of the
initial volume was dened to determine the
location of the xed points where the bogie
attaches to the wheels and lift. Loads and
xed supports were applied. The software
approximated the initial structure as a
large volume. Material was then reduced at
locations with low stresses, resulting in a
more optimal structure.
The resulting optimised design weighs ten
per cent less than the original design while
providing an allowable load of 80 metric tons
(88 tons), 33 per cent more than the previous-
generation design. Engineers ordered a
prototype of the new design and performed
component-level physical testing that veried
the simulation results.
Condent in the design results, rather than
prototyping just the drive system, a complete
bridge with the new bogie design was built.
Testing showed that the design worked
perfectly, so it went into production only three
months after the beginning of the design
process reducing design time by almost 89
per cent from the hand-calculation build-and-
test method used for the original design.
In just a few months, ThyssenKrupp
engineers thoroughly evaluated the bogies
behaviour under many load-case scenarios.
The result is a product that far exceeds design
specication at a manufacturing cost equal to
the previous design.
thyssenkrupp-airports.com | ansys.com

2 Triple-stand
passenger boarding
bridge (PBB) at Dubai
Airport during a
docking between a
PBB and an A380-800
aircraft

3 Lift-and-drive
system
3
2
p33_34_D3D_MARCH14_Ansys.indd 38 4/3/14 20:58:05
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D1
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
3D PRINTING
FOR THE
PROFESSIONAL
The fuTure of 3D
PrinTing:
Where are We
heading?
BuiLDing A 3D
PrinT BuSineSS:
TiPS FrOM
The PrOS
BeST PrAcTiceS &
workfLowS:
hOW TO geT The BeST
FrOM YOUr 3d daTa
3D PrinTing
MAchineS:
BreaKdOWn OF
eaCh BUiLd TYPe
incLuDing:
I
M
A
G
E

C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y

O
F

N
I
K
E

I
N
C
.
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 1 4/3/14 15:53:12
3D2 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
What drew me in was this fun,
new way to pull and twist models
into complex shapes.
David Perry
Founder & Engineer
OpenFab PDX, LLC
this document. 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 2 4/3/14 17:02:54
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D3
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
What drew me in was this fun,
new way to pull and twist models
into complex shapes.
David Perry
Founder & Engineer
OpenFab PDX, LLC
this document. 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
Producedby
DEVELOP3DMagazine
Technologyfor the
product lifecycle
DEVELOP3D, Rooms 108-109
4thFloor, 65 LondonWall
London, EC2M5TUK
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production@x3dmedia.com
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AlsoavailableontheiPhone,
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All rights reserved.
Reproductioninwholeor part
without prior permissionfrom
thepublisher is prohibited. All
trademarks acknowledged
Al Dean
Editor-in-Chief
DEVELOP3D Magazine
@alistardean
I
f theres a word thats overused these days, its revolutionary.
It ts in neatly alongside innovation, paradigm shift and
all the other biz-speak were so accustomed to. As said in one
of my favourite books, some of us hanker after a time when
revolutionary means the angry poor invading the presidential
palace, not a really small phone thats also a camera.
But if you believe the media, the magazines and the tech websites that
seem to spring up every 34 seconds on a 24 hour cycle, 3D printing is
causing a revolution. Its the next industrial revolution no less.
In the workplace, in the hackerspace, in the home and now even, in the
kitchen. Imagine that, alongside the overly complex espresso machine,
well soon all be rotting our teeth that much more quickly as Martha
Stewart sells us 3D printed sweeties... or something.
The truth is that while the industry turns itself inside out to grab the
headlines, to get Jeremy Paxman staring blankly at an Objet machine on
Newsnight or Jay Leno laser scanning a car, some of us have work to do.
And there are plenty of things afoot to assist with the process of bringing
new products to market.
So, here in this 40 page report, our aim is to bring the professional
designer and engineer up to speed. To break a few of those old
misconceptions (SLAs arent all that brittle anymore and FDM parts
arent that rough), to get you familiar with the glut of technology thats
available; whether to use in house or to outsource to a service provider.
Well also explore how new design and 3D print led businesses are
being established, how rulebooks are being torn up, and perhaps, how
new ones are being written on the back of a cigarette packet as we speak.
Flip the tarot cards. Lets go!
DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE - OR SHOULD YOU?
As 3D printing goes mainstream, many in the professional
environment are wondering where things are heading. We explore
what this heightened awareness can mean for the professional.
Also see our handy jargon buster
04
FILAMENT-BASED MACHINES 08
UV RESINS & STEREOLITHOGRAPHY 10
LASER SINTERING FOR PLASTICS 12
3D PRINTING WITH METALS 14
ALTERNATIVES & SPECIAL PURPOSE 16
MATERIALS - ADAPTING PROCESS & DESIGN
To get the most out of new materials they need to be combined
with new ways of thinking in terms of design and engineering
26
GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT & SOFTWARE
The old adage of rubbish in/rubbish out is never more true than
when 3D printing. We explore what tools are available in 3D design
tools and standalone apps and offer advice on best practice
18
NEW RULE BOOK: DESIGN FOR 3D PRINT
Freedom from design rules is the refrain from many quarters.
Whats the reality and what are the best practices you need to
keep in mind if youre looking at design for 3D printing?
22
DOES COLOUR MATTER?
2014 looks to be the year of colour 3D printing. While its nothing
new, more vendors are bringing colour machines to market in a
drive to differentiate their offerings. We explore the potential
28
WORKING WITH BUREAUX
3D printing in house isnt for everyone. Theres a wealth of
service providers out there with the capacity and know-how to
help. How do you work with them to the best effect?
30
THE FUTURE IS INDUSTRIAL
If 3D printing is to be used in production, it will be essential to
automate, manage and plan the process.
34
BUILDING A 3D BUSINESS
3D printing lets you get up and running quickly with production
but its not without its problems and challenges. We talk to four
organisations on how to build a new business around 3D printing
32
FUTURES: 3D PRINTING FOR THE PRO
In a 3D printing market thats now exploded outside of its
industrial roots, we talk to three industry folks about what the
future holds for the professional
36
WHERE DO WE GO NEXT?
The 3D print industry is on an acceleration vector. Al Dean looks
at whats coming next, potential stumbling blocks and ultimately,
where were all heading
39
VIVE LA REVOLUTION?
3D PRINTING IN THE DESIGN OFFICE?
Thinking of bringing 3D printing into the offce environment?
Here are our top three tips
24
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 3 4/3/14 17:03:19
3D4 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
Its all over the TV, the internet and newspapers, but what does the media love-in
with 3D printing mean for the professional? Al Dean explores the hype
DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE
OR SHOULD YOU?
Over the years the 3D printing industry has been rife with
legal action over patents. Patents have been fought over,
argued about and various parties taken to court at the
drop of a hat. It has also been said, particularly in the last
fve years, that the patent enforcement by the established
players in the industry has, in fact, held back developments
and more widespread adoption.
But change is happening. Adrian Bowyers RepRap project
at the University of Bath helped bring this to a head,
kickstarting a staid and tightly controlled industry into its
next evolution.
Bowyers RepRap saw the open source model applied to
3D printing, just at the point where the core patents for FDM
printing processes expired. Its open development processes
allows anyone to take the tools from that project and apply
them to their own work.
RepRap has been the driving force for almost every 3D
printer thats been launched in the last fve years. MakerBot,
Ultimaker - none of these would have existed without
Bowyer and his teams work.
Strangely, the progress of MakerBot, from its roots at
the Brooklyn NYC Resistor hackerspace, to darlings of the
next industrial revolution to its acquisition by Stratasys
last year, is a perfect case in point. MakerBot has done a
fne job of avoiding legal entanglements with Stratasys
(who own the majority of patents on the FDM process), but
this was holding it back somewhat. Many features such as a
temperature controlled build chamber and software controls
over how layers are constructed were off limits.
Now that MakerBot is part of Stratasys, well likely
see these features and many others in future MakerBot
products. But at the same time, its parent company is now
going after some of its competition in the maker/entry level
space, namely Afnia, itself a reseller of TierTimes Up! 3D
printers from China.
Were starting to see the same happen in both
Stereolithography (US patent # 4575330A) and the sintering
market (US Patent # US 4863538 A), already with new
machines on the market: see the FormLabs and BluePrinter
machines respectively.
Its fascinating to watch small, nimble companies, quite
often crowd funded through KickStarter, take a new
approach to these processes and fnd new ways to cut costs,
reduce complexity, the overall price and generally out gun
the established players in the market.
Its also interesting to watch new sub-markets open up
to support these new machines. With the wealth of FDM
machines now available, theres more material options
than you can shake a stick at. You can buy flament thats
all manner of colours, different materials (Nylon, ABS, PLA,
even a wood flament) that would never have seen the light
of day before. Despite these big advances, there are still
many 3D printing patents in effect. Whether you see them as
a right to protect your IP or a way for large corporations to
control their technology, they are certainly going to play a
major role in how the 3D printing industry evolves.
M
y rst ever 3D printing
conversation with a
layperson was with cab
driver at the tail end of
the nineties. Id been
to visit 3D Systems and
he asked what they do. I explained about how
SLA machines worked: lasers, resins, parts
appearing out of resins, as if my magic. I
used the example of him wanting a custom
steering wheel. Im not entirely sure he
believed me.
Fast forward fteen years and I nd
Im having the same conversations. The
dierence is cab drivers today have now
heard about this stu. 3D printing is
everywhere: on the TV, radio, in newspapers
and magazines.
In London recently I had much the same
chat with a driver. Hed read about 3D
printing in the newspaper that very day. Of
course, he heard about the 3D printed gun,
but wanted to know more if he could
do it himself. Hed need to learn some 3D
modelling, I explained (no, not like in Tron),
buy a machine or send the part o to be
made. So, I tell the machine what I want and
it pops out, yeah?
Im sure youve had that same conversation
yourself, made the same exhalation of breath
and thought Here we go again.
Welcome to the world of 3D printing and
the associated hype.
MYTHS VS REALITIES
In the last few years 3D printing has
broken out of the design and engineering
community and, grabbed the public, the
investment community and (seemingly) the
world, by the proverbial short and curlies.
Stock prices have rocketed up for the
established players and new entrants like. The
number of column inches and TV minutes in
all manner of media has risen sharply. And a
lot of the reporting has been inaccurate or the
truth stretched more than a little.
If you were to believe everything you read,
aerospace companies will be 3D printing
planes in the next 10 years, houses will be
extruded from concrete and well all be doing
our DIY with a 3D printed hammer. I wish I
was making these things up.
But with hype comes a burden on those
that best stand to take advantage of these
technologies, to sift through the nonsense,
the ill-thought out and misconstrued, and
nd areas of interest.
So lets start by breaking down one of the
most common myths about the technology
- that of exactly how quickly these machines
work. This is the cause of much confusion.
TIME TO PART
Many people assume that because a 2D
printer is fast, a 3D printer must be too.
Wrong. Blame the marketing bods, blame
the term Rapid Prototyping, these machines
certainly arent quick, never mind rapid. A
typical build can take anywhere from an hour
to a day or more.
When youre looking at these processes and
machines, perhaps with an eye to bringing
The 3D prinTing pATenTs piCKLe : prOTeCTiOn vs. prOgress
(Right) Figures from Chuck hulls 1984 patent (# Us
4575330 A) for stereolithography that started it all
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 4 4/3/14 17:03:48
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D5
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
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things in house, you do need to know how
quickly you can turn around components.
In the prototyping phase, being able to
quickly crank out a part, try it, see if it works
has huge benets, which are negated if it
takes a day to churn it out.
In the production cycle, when youre
looking to produce nal use components (be
those actual products or those that support
other manufacturing process - such as jigs,
xtures, mould inserts, whatever) - time is
always a commodity closely guarded.
Most manufacturers will quote you a build
speed in terms of millimeters per hour, but
its an almost meaningless metric.
Build speeds dier massively depending on
the type of geometry, how you want the part
built, the settings you use, the number of
parts, the technology and the materials.
Metals are another kettle of sh entirely.
Most vendors will quote in cubic mm/
inches per hour. The Renishaw AM 250, for
example, quotes a range of between 5 and 20
cubic centimetres per hour. This is because
of the physical properties of the dramatically
dierent metals, their inherent heating and
cooling parameters and how dense the part is
youre building.
But before you get to building the part,
youve got to prepare the data. Again, this is
an area thats often glossed over.
MODEL PREPARATION IS EASY
Model preparation directly aects time to
part - and its not a simple case of loading an
STL le and hitting print. Its not just a case
of ensuring that your model is suitable for
printing, but also ensuring that the layout of
the build platform or chamber is as optimal
as possible - bearing in mind the required
orientation of the parts to account for both
structural requirements and surface nish.
In terms of model preparation, many
3D printers will build most components,
assuming that you adhere to the design
guidelines for those specic machines and
materials.
Weve categorised some of these on page
18, but machines vary as do materials
in use. Every vendor will have a set of
guidelines available as part of the machine
and materials documentation and its worth
studying these, whether youre outsourcing
parts or building them in house.
Some processes have specic requirements
to handle their own particular foibles.
For example, if youre building parts with
internal and trapped cavities (or building
parts hollow to save material), you need to
allow the powder or resin to escape where
appropriate - the route for removal of this
excess material ideally needs to be modelled
in (rather than drilled them after the fact).
If you have specic functionality built in
the parts, then this also needs to accounted
for. Most 3D print processes and their
associated materials are anisotropic,
meaning that the materials perform better
The hYPe VS. The realiTY
#1: its going to get cheaper #2: Freedom of design #3: its quick
THE HYPE: This is perhaps the biggest driving force
behind todays growing awareness of 3D printing
technologies. Machines are cheaper so more people
can aord them.
THE REALITY: In many respects, this one is absolutely
true. Whereas an FDM machine used to cost you 20 grand
or upwards, you can now order one, online, for 500 quid.
The RepRap project rewrote the rules (and the pricebook)
and its now happening with stereolithography and soon
sintering technologies. But material costs? Not so much.
THE HYPE: This is one thats been oating around for
decades the idea that by using 3D printing youre
somehow magically set free from the constraints of
Design for Manufacture and Assembly.

THE REALITY: By using 3D printing to build end use
parts, its true that you are free from traditional DFM
constraints. Draft angles, mould locked features and
inaccessibility for cutters dont gure. Whats not widely
discussed is how theres a new set of rules, for each
build method and for each material.
THE HYPE: Blame whoever coined the turn rapid
prototyping. A common misconception, particularly
those outside the professional industry, is that these
things work as quickly as a standard inkjet.

THE REALITY: Building a part on a 3D printer is
anything but quick. The benchmark is still 1 per hour
of vertical build. And probably always will be. Theres
only so much time that you can squeeze out of curing
UV resin, laying down lament or sintering powders. Its
physics and chemistry, folks.
#4: Theyre offce friendly #5: its easy #6: aBS is aBS is aBS
THE HYPE: Whether its 3D printing in the home or in a
busy oce environment, you pull out the box, you plug in
the machine and away you go.
THE REALITY: Um. No. At the entry level, lament-
based machines can be used in the oce, but they stink
and the health eects of inhaling molten PLA or ABS
is unexplored. The other systems, those with soluble
supports need a wash station, sintering needs heavy duty
extraction. And hitting powdered titanium with a laser is
pretty much an explosion waiting to happen.
THE HYPE: Install your machine, output your data,
hit print. Its that easy. Just like your desktop
document printer

THE REALITY: There are very few machines where
this is a reality. At the entry level, platform leveling
and constant maintenance is common. As things move
higher up the ladder of complexity and sophistication,
processes become more complex. The just hit print
machine just simply doesnt exist. Things are improving,
but its a long way o just yet, folks.
THE HYPE: 3D print vendors like to make much noise
about the materials that their machines use. ABS, PLA,
Nylon, Titanium, Aluminium.

THE REALITY: Part quality and structural strength is a
combination of the raw material, the production method
and post treatment. Yes, a 3D printed part might be
technically ABS, but its not been melted, injected into
steel mould at high pressure and cooled. 3D printed
parts are inherently weaker than their traditional
counterparts, often dramatically so.
Gartners annual technology hype cycle. This differs from previous iterations as it splits out consumer printing
(top of the curve) and enterprise 3D printing (further along to the right) (Image courtesy of Gartner Research 2014)
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in one direction than another.
Good, common examples are snap ts
and living hinges. You need to look at the
orientation of the layers and ensure that these
match the requirements of the feature. If it
needs to ex, then you need the layers to run
in that ex direction. Otherwise theyll snap.
All of these things add to the time required
to get parts o your machine and back to
work.
POST PROCESSING
Build speed is one thing but you also need
to consider post processing. This can
add signicant time between the
moment you hit print and when
you have a nished part in your
hands.
Filament machines either require
manual break out of supports or
the supports need to be dissolved
(that can take a good couple of
hours, even with a wash station
tumbling them).
Machines that use UV resins
often need to be photocured post build to
harden them o. This applies to SLA, Objet,
Envisiontec or FormLabs machines.
Sintering machines need to cool down the
powder cake that contains all of the parts.
This is in the order of hours. Then the parts
need to be removed from the powder, cleaned
and the unused powder recycled.
The real question is often how integrated
these processes are and whether you need
additional equipment. Theres much talk
about printing with metals, but its not often
discussed exactly what is needed to do it,
whether its an angle grinder to remove parts
from the build plate or a furnace to harden
parts for some systems.
HYPE IS GOOD
3D printing may be in need of a serious
reality check to bring down expectations,
but hype can also be a very good thing - with
professionals in design, engineering and
manufacturing set to gain the most.
With greater exposure and awareness, 3D
print manufacturers, old and new, get more
investment, a bigger customer base and
more potential to do interesting things we
can take advantage of in the design oce or
on the shopoor.
Will we care that there are legions of
hobbyists spending their disposable income
on a 3D printer that, chances are, will sit
unused in a box in the loft, in 12 months
time? Probably not, though it will make
eBays 3D printer listing interesting reading.
Will we read poorly researched articles in
the mainstream media, answer questions
from friends and family that give us
nightmares of 3D guns exploding in
someones face, over claimed benets and
future revolutions? Almost certainly.
Will the hypes lifecycle also mean that
the diverse nature of 3D print technologies
available expands in ways that it could never
have done before things stepped outside of
the industrial world and into the limelight?
Absolutely.
Were all looking forward to lower-cost,
more reliable, more capable machines in our
design oces that dont require specialist
technicians to run. We can wait for the ability
to realise parts in metal, directly, without the
need for wasting material and scrap
with CNC, casting or forging.
There is also huge potential
to reevaluate how things are
done, to break down traditional
manufacturing processes and
explore new avenues. New avenues
for lighter weight components,
leading to products that achieve
the same or better results more
eciently.
And its the professional designer or
engineer that stands the best chance of
doing it. We have the knowledge of form,
of function, of performance and to use
that knowledge, combined with new
technologies, to reinvent what we do,
integrate it with traditional manufacturing
and try new things.
Many talk of the next and third industrial
revolution. And you know who made the
most of the rst two? Yup. Us. The designers,
the engineers and the manufacturers.
BRE: No, its not a mispelled French cheese, Bre Pettis is
the CEO of MakerBot and now worth a small fortune since
his company was acquired by Stratasys. He also has good
hair and owns a DeLorean.
BUILD VOLUME: This one is pretty simple. Its the typical
maximum size of the part (or group of parts) that you can
build in one go.
FILAMENT: Plastic, extruded into a long thin wire like form.
Used in FDM machines, it comes in a variety of materials,
diameters (1.75mm and 3mm are common) and hues.
Street price is around the 30 quid for a kilogram.
Quality varies across suppliers and youll soon fnd which
you prefer for your machine.
G-CODE: FDM machines use G-Code to defne how the
machine moves. RepRap based machines expose this.
Others dont. Oh and you cant run it on a CNC machine.
INFILL: Parts dont have to be built using a solid
block of material. Instead you can build with different
infll methods resulting in lower material use and
improvements to build speed. However, structural
strength will weaken as the in fll becomes more sparse.
POLYAMIDE: This is a good one. Some vendors like to
give their materials fancy names. Polyamide is pretty
much nylon in powdered form. And it costs 80 Euros/Kg.
PLA: Polylactic acid. While ABS had been the most
common FDM material, PLA caught on as it runs at lower
temperatures and doesnt suffer from part warping quite
so much.
Its eco-credentials are also often quoted because it can
be composted. It can, if you have industrial composting
facilities nearby (chances are, you dont). Otherwise, its
landfll like the rest of it with a half life of decades, if not
centuries.
RECOATER BLADE: Powder-based machines use a blade
to spread the fresh layer of powder across the previously
built layer. This is the recoater blade. Technicalities differ,
but they all have one. And it can snap thin walled parts
pretty easily (See our design tips on page 22 for more info).
STACKABLE BUILD: Most 3D printers only allow you to
have one layer of parts on a build platform. Powder-
based systems differ in that you can build one part on top
of another, as the powder supports the parts.
SUPPORTS: If your part has overhangs, undercuts and
complex forms, supports are a necessary evil. Built either
in the part material or a special support material, theyll
give support where needed to allow the geometry to be
constructed.
More advanced systems offer water soluble supports,
otherwise its a case of going at it with a pair of long
nosed pliers Im afraid.
STL: Named after Stereolithography, the STL format is
the de facto standard for sending data to a 3D printer.
Its tessellated in nature and pretty much ubiquitous in
support from 3D design systems.
SLICING: 3D printers work by building a parts geometry
layer by layer. To do that, it takes the STL fle and creates a
slice for each layer, indicating where to deposit material.
TIP SIZE: Pro-level FDM machines offer different tip sizes
to lay down different sizes of flament beads on each
layer. The bigger the tip size, the bigger the bead and
quicker the build. But resolution can also drop.
THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: This one is
popular with pundits that 3D printing is bringing about
the third industrial revolution. Is it? Probably not.
UV OVEN: Commonly used to harden off parts out of
stereolithography or other UV curable resin based
systems. Some have them built-in, others need a
secondary unit. Search on eBay for UV Curing Oven.
Theyre commonly used in surgery for sterilisation of
implements.
WASHSTATION: A lot of machines come with water
soluble supports these days. That means you need to
wash them out. Stratasys has a handy product but third
party units are also available.
3D PRINTING
jARGON BUSTER
As with any technology feld, 3D printing is not adverse to its own jargon and
technospeak. For the uninitiated, this can cause confusion and, probably, mild irritation.
So, heres our irreverent guide to the most commonly used and abused terms

Many talk of the next and third


industrial revolution. And you know
who made the most of the rst two?
Yup. Us. The designers, the engineers
and the manufacturers.

Real parts. Really fast.


A product development team needs parts
to meet its rapidly approaching deadline.
. . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How
Many Parts?
2510,000+
parts
125
parts
Receive a
ProtoQuote
interactive
quote.
Finalise
quote and
submit P.O.
Receive
order
conrmation
with gate
and ejector
layout.
Approve.
Mould
design
and
milling.
Part
production.
Parts
ready
for
shipping.
From 995
Parts
ready
for
shipping.
From 50
Machining
begins.
Finalise
options,
order.
Receive
FirstQuote
interactive
quote.
Its easy to work with Proto Labs. Just upload your
3D CAD model and choose the best process for your project:
CNC machining in 13 days or injection moulding in 115 days.
Real parts in real materials, in daysnot weeks. And thats the
real story. Call +44 (0) 1952 683047 or visit www.protolabs.co.uk
Check out our
video design tips!
Visit www.protolabs.co.uk/parts today to receive your FREE
copy of our comprehensive comparison of rapid prototyping
technologies. Enter source code EUD314
Upload
3D CAD le.
Rapid Prototyping Technologies
Proto Labs 2014 ISO 9001:2008 Certied
D3D 297 x 210_new_Layout 1 14/01/2014 14:28 Page 1
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Real parts. Really fast.
A product development team needs parts
to meet its rapidly approaching deadline.
. . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How
Many Parts?
2510,000+
parts
125
parts
Receive a
ProtoQuote
interactive
quote.
Finalise
quote and
submit P.O.
Receive
order
conrmation
with gate
and ejector
layout.
Approve.
Mould
design
and
milling.
Part
production.
Parts
ready
for
shipping.
From 995
Parts
ready
for
shipping.
From 50
Machining
begins.
Finalise
options,
order.
Receive
FirstQuote
interactive
quote.
Its easy to work with Proto Labs. Just upload your
3D CAD model and choose the best process for your project:
CNC machining in 13 days or injection moulding in 115 days.
Real parts in real materials, in daysnot weeks. And thats the
real story. Call +44 (0) 1952 683047 or visit www.protolabs.co.uk
Check out our
video design tips!
Visit www.protolabs.co.uk/parts today to receive your FREE
copy of our comprehensive comparison of rapid prototyping
technologies. Enter source code EUD314
Upload
3D CAD le.
Rapid Prototyping Technologies
Proto Labs 2014 ISO 9001:2008 Certied
D3D 297 x 210_new_Layout 1 14/01/2014 14:28 Page 1
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3D8 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
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If its tough, usable plastic parts you desire, then FDM has always been
the way to go. Today, the professional has more choice than ever before
FILAMENT-BASED SYSTEMS
3D Systems CubeX MakerBot Replicator (5th Gen) MarkForged Mark One Stratasys Dimension Elite Stratasys Fortus 900mc
3D Systems Cube was intended for the consumer,
but its range of CubeX printers also oer much for the
professional: large build volumes, multiple print head
options (up to three) and a range of both ABS and
PLA-based materials from a wide variety of sources.
While 3D Systems reputation has been built on
all things SLA, it has always acquired additional
technology. While the Bits2Bytes acquisition took
some by surprise, that move brought about a range of
new products in the lament-based process.
MakerBots next generation Replicator takes a leap
forward from its predecessors. The new unit oers
a slightly bigger build size (10% bigger than the
Replicator 2) combined with a smart extruder head
that detects lament running out and pauses the print
and assists with platform levelling.

Connectivity is also expanded, now with WiFi, USB
cable, ethernet as well as a USB stick, replacing the
SD card of old. Theres also a webcam built in, so you
can remotely monitor build jobs.
Most lament 3D printers use ABS or PLA (and
occasionally a high temperature variant). The
MarkForged machine does things dierently. It
combines a familiar process with one key dierence:
It combines the familiar process with the ability to
include single strand carbon bre.
The machine is currently on pre-order, but it looks
interesting, particularly when you consider how the
company is expanding the material options
(Kevlar is coming soon).
While theres plenty of action at the low-cost,
entry level into FDM, if youre looking for a more
automated, oce friendly system, then the Dimension
range from Stratasys is a winner.
The Elite oers build material options combined
with water soluble support material. When used with
the included WashStation, youre looking at a hands
o machine that performs consistently. Filament
material costs might be more costly, but you get
consistent results without too much fang around.
If youre a believer in the adage, go big or go home,
then the Fortus range from Stratasys is denitely
the one for you. While the Fortus 250 gives you a
reasonable build volume of 254 x 254 x 305mm, as
you move up the range, the envelope expands out to
reach the pinnacle of industrial-level FDM machines.
The Fortus 900mc has a build volume of nearly a
metre in X and Y and half a metre in Z. That means
that production parts using its more advanced
materials can be built in a single go.
Price 1,645 (single head) to 2,645 (triple head) $2,899 $4,999 20,960 288,345
Build Envelope 230 x 225 x 205 mm 252 x 199 x 150 mm 305 x 160 x 160 mm 203 x 203 x 305 mm 914 x 610 x 914 mm
Warranty 1 year 30 days + optional MakerCare for 1 year (US only) 30 days + optional MakerCare for 1 year (US only) 1 year 1 year
Machine Dimensions 357 x 342 x 388 mm 528 x 441 x 410 mm 490 x 320 x 530 mm 686 x 914 x 1,041 mm 2,772 x 1,683 x 2,027 mm
Layer Thickness 0.2 to 0.02mm 0.1 mm 0.254mm / 0.330 mm 0.178mm / 0.254 mm 0.178 mm / 0.254 mm / 0.33 mm
Material Options ABS + PLA + Soluble Support (non-proprietary) PLA (spool -fed, non proprietary) Nylon, PLA, Carbon Fibre, Fibre Glass, Kevlar ABSplus (with various colour options) + soluble support ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085 (high temp)
Website 3dsystems.com | cdg.uk.com makerbot.com markforged.com stratasys.com | laserlines.co.uk stratasys.com | laserlines.co.uk
THE BASICS : Fused Deposition Modelling
(FDM) or freeform layer modelling machines
use a lament of plastic to build parts. They
are arguably the most dynamic group in the
3D printing industry.
Irrespective of which machine is used, the
core concepts are the same. A heated tip is
fed with lament material. The tip heats the
material and a combination of a vertical build
platform and X and Y axis movement of the
extrusion head allows the system to build up
layer upon layer of material.
Each layer is typically outlined, then lled
in, to varying degrees of solidity enabling
material to be saved where bulky parts are
required.
THE OPTIONS : Theres a huge range
of FDM machines available to suit even
the most cost conscious budget. While
Stratasyss machines oer the greatest level
of automation, more recent entrants into the
market are catching up. Material options are
increasingly broad and expanding out from
the standard ABS and PLA.
FDM has a reputation for rough, yet durable
parts, but this has changed dramatically
since the early days. Layer sizes of 0.1mm
upwards and are variable on the machine
and, combined with dierent inll options,
mean that parts can be knocked out fast for a
quick check, then ner resolution used when
detail is required and time permits.
THE FUTURE : The FDM market is heaving
with options. Many of these are essentially
the same machine in a dierent package.
The key dierentiators, particularly for
professionals, are automation, consistency
and reliability.
Professionals dont have time to constantly
tinker with settings, level build platforms and
restart failed builds.
The vendors that oer auto-calibrating
print platforms, consistent build quality,
options for support removal and more
interesting materials will win out.
Developments such as the MarkForged
machine as well as Arburgs new FreeFormer
show that fresh thinking is still out there.
Tough durable parts and prototypes
Offce friendly
Very low cost of entry
Wide range of non-proprietary materials
Low energy requirements
Broad range of build sizes
Highly competitive market
Large build volume machines
Growing sophistication at entry level
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 8 4/3/14 17:04:32
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FILAMENT-BASED SYSTEMS
3 Pro TIPs UP AND
rUNNING WITH A
MAkerBoT rePlIcATor

It is thought that there are currently as many as 40 flament-
based printers on the market at the entry point. Many of these are
similar, performing much the same functions and capability, often
running almost the same software.
So, when a new product comes along that challenges the perception
that entry-level means a kit or a system thats going to take hours to
assembly, congure, tinker with and get up and running, it garners some
serious interest.
BeeVeryCreatives small form factor machine eschews the exposed
mechanics and plywood typical of its competition and oers a slick,
consumer product. It has a build volume on the small size at 190 x 135 x
125mm and an overall size of just 400 x 400 x 140mm all of which lets
it build with a layer size of 0.1mm.
When you consider that the Portuguese companys rst product,
BeeTheFirst, is on the market for a list price of just 1,990, it gives you
a good indication of exactly how exciting the market that surrounds the
entry-level of 3D printing is becoming.
beeverycreative.com
3D systems cubeX MakerBot replicator (5th Gen) MarkForged Mark one stratasys Dimension elite stratasys Fortus 900mc
3D Systems Cube was intended for the consumer,
but its range of CubeX printers also oer much for the
professional: large build volumes, multiple print head
options (up to three) and a range of both ABS and
PLA-based materials from a wide variety of sources.
While 3D Systems reputation has been built on
all things SLA, it has always acquired additional
technology. While the Bits2Bytes acquisition took
some by surprise, that move brought about a range of
new products in the lament-based process.
MakerBots next generation Replicator takes a leap
forward from its predecessors. The new unit oers
a slightly bigger build size (10% bigger than the
Replicator 2) combined with a smart extruder head
that detects lament running out and pauses the print
and assists with platform levelling.

Connectivity is also expanded, now with WiFi, USB
cable, ethernet as well as a USB stick, replacing the
SD card of old. Theres also a webcam built in, so you
can remotely monitor build jobs.
Most lament 3D printers use ABS or PLA (and
occasionally a high temperature variant). The
MarkForged machine does things dierently. It
combines a familiar process with one key dierence:
It combines the familiar process with the ability to
include single strand carbon bre.
The machine is currently on pre-order, but it looks
interesting, particularly when you consider how the
company is expanding the material options
(Kevlar is coming soon).
While theres plenty of action at the low-cost,
entry level into FDM, if youre looking for a more
automated, oce friendly system, then the Dimension
range from Stratasys is a winner.
The Elite oers build material options combined
with water soluble support material. When used with
the included WashStation, youre looking at a hands
o machine that performs consistently. Filament
material costs might be more costly, but you get
consistent results without too much fang around.
If youre a believer in the adage, go big or go home,
then the Fortus range from Stratasys is denitely
the one for you. While the Fortus 250 gives you a
reasonable build volume of 254 x 254 x 305mm, as
you move up the range, the envelope expands out to
reach the pinnacle of industrial-level FDM machines.
The Fortus 900mc has a build volume of nearly a
metre in X and Y and half a metre in Z. That means
that production parts using its more advanced
materials can be built in a single go.
Price 1,645 (single head) to 2,645 (triple head) $2,899 $4,999 20,960 288,345
Build envelope 230 x 225 x 205 mm 252 x 199 x 150 mm 305 x 160 x 160 mm 203 x 203 x 305 mm 914 x 610 x 914 mm
Warranty 1 year 30 days + optional MakerCare for 1 year (US only) 30 days + optional MakerCare for 1 year (US only) 1 year 1 year
Machine Dimensions 357 x 342 x 388 mm 528 x 441 x 410 mm 490 x 320 x 530 mm 686 x 914 x 1,041 mm 2,772 x 1,683 x 2,027 mm
layer Thickness 0.2 to 0.02mm 0.1 mm 0.254mm / 0.330 mm 0.178mm / 0.254 mm 0.178 mm / 0.254 mm / 0.33 mm
Material options ABS + PLA + Soluble Support (non-proprietary) PLA (spool -fed, non proprietary) Nylon, PLA, Carbon Fibre, Fibre Glass, Kevlar ABSplus (with various colour options) + soluble support ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085 (high temp)
Website 3dsystems.com | cdg.uk.com makerbot.com markforged.com stratasys.com | laserlines.co.uk stratasys.com | laserlines.co.uk
T
hough not a lament-based system
per se (it uses granular plastic feed),
the new Freeformer machine from
Arburg oers a new take on extrusion-
based systems already out there.
Developed by injection moulding
machine tool specialists, Arburg, the
Freeformer uses an extrusion process to
not only build in a single axis, but rather,
can build additional features at almost any
orientation (assuming the 5 axis module is
installed). It can orient the extrusion head
to build details onto a part without having
to conform to a single layer direction. This
means that undercut features can be built
into a model without the need for supports.
Another big win for this machine,
even at this early stage, is the ability to
use almost any plastic material from a
standard supplier - because the system
uses a granulated material feed. It can also
work with two materials, so these can be
combined.
arburg.com
ArBUrGs NeW
FreeForMer
BeeVerYcreATIVe: THe
NeW kID oN THe Block
Radius Creative (radiuscreative.co.uk) acquired a Replicator in
2013 to assist with its in house prototyping needs. Mike Willshaw,
managing director at Radius, gives us his run down on how to get the
best out of the desktop 3D printer.
#1 learning your options & settings: Take time to learn about
rafts, infll levels, shells and when to use supports. Also, use the
appropriate print resolution for the job. Standard settings only get
you so far. This might sound a bit complicated at frst but its really
not it becomes second nature and is the key factor between a
super print and a messy blob of plastic. Learn as much as you can
from failed builds
#2 Maintenance: Keep the extruder and drive gear clean and
maintained, the print bed level, new tape on the bed and dont skimp
on decent quality flament. Ignoring maintenance basics will waste
time and materials in the long run.
#3 Plan the orientation of builds: Thinking ahead before
pressing print means less or no support structures to clean up,
cleaner, stronger models and faster print times. You can preview
the output with supports, raft, material usage etc. layer by
layer as well as getting estimated print times in the makerware
software. This gives a good clue as to whether your build will
work out how you want.
BeeTheFirst:
challenges the
perception that
all entry-level
3D printers
come in a kit
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Looking for high-resolution, intricate parts with a massive range of materials?
Then Stereolithography and other UV resin based systems are the way to go
UV CURABLE RESINS & SLA
FormLabs Form1 DWS XFAB Envisiontec Ultra 3SP HD Objet500 Connex3 3D Systems ProX 950
Patents expire. When they do, someone always come
up with a cheaper alternative to the established
players in the market. Boston-based FormLabs hit the
headlines when it massively exceeded its KickStarter
goal with the Form1 the rst totally new SLA-based
machine in 10 years.
Its a small form factor machine that owes as much
to Envisiontecs build process as it does 3D Systems.
Resolution is ultra ne and the company is expanding
out its material options too.
DWS (Digital Wax Systems) mastered high
resolution printing of wax for casting of jewellery
purposes years ago. Now its turning its attention
to a more mainstream product with the XFAB
(due in June).
This sees its stereolithography know-how applied to
a much wider market with more materials options.
Its also a slick looking machine as youd expect
from a company thats grown up in the Italian
design market.
Envisiontec hit the market in the early 2000s with its
Perfactory machine. Using the UV curable resins of
SLA but eschewing laser optics for DLP chips.
Since then, the company has expanded its product
range, but also its materials options, including
all manner of castable, lled and special purpose
options. Last year the company introduced its 3SP,
which supersedes the DLP technology and brings
large build volumes and quicker build speeds. The
Ultra has a respectable build volume combined with
ever expanding material options.
Objets range of machines takes a dierent approach
to UV resin-based machines by using print head
technology to deposit UV curable materials and water
soluble supports.
With its Digital Materials, the company brought to
market the rst method of creating multiple materials
in a single build. Perfect for prototyping of over
moulded components, combined with high resolution,
it changed the game. The most recent Objet500
Connex3 brings with it colour support.
Launched at Euromold in Autumn 2013, the ProX
950 is the biggest product in 3D Systems range
of SLA machines. With its gigantic build chamber,
it allows parts up to 1.5 metres in width - which is
rare for a production SLA machine.
Of course, its specialism is very large components
(such as a dashboard) or high volumes of smaller
parts. 3D Systems also quotes high speed build as
another benet.
Price $3,299 5,000 $70,000 Around 250,000 < $1,000,000
Build Envelope 125 x 125 x 165 mm 180 180 mm 266 x 177 x 193 mm 490 390 200 mm 1,500 x 750 x 550 mm
Warranty 1 year (return to base) 1 year 1 year (on site) with extension options 1 year (on site) with extension options 1 year (on site) with extension options
Machine Dimensions 300 x 280 x 450 mm 420 x 638 x 590 mm 740 x 760 x 1,170 mm 740 x 760 x 1,170 mm 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.025 mm 0.016 mm 0.05 - 0.1 mm 0.016mm 0.05 - 0.15 mm
Material options Clear, grey and white acrylate photopolymer
Acrylate resin, ABS, polypropylene, rigid opaque,
transparent, rubber and ceramic
E-Denstone, ABS 3SP White, E-Glass 3SP (transparent)
Multiple materials via Digital Materials + engineering
plastics, elastomers + transparent materials
Accura 25 ABS like resins + casting options available
Website formlabs.com dwslab.com envisiontec.com stratasys.com 3dsystems.com
THE BASICS : Stereolithography uses laser
optics to solidify UV curable resin on a build
platform and subsequent layers, typically in a
vat of resin.
Variants exist that again use UV light, but
eschew lasers and mirrors for consumer light
projection technology (Envisiontecs DLP-
based processes). Another variant is using
ink-jet like technology to deposit droplets of
UV curable resin (Objet machines)
The benets are ultra ne layers from
0.01mm upwards, high resolution and
the ability to replicate the most intricate
of details. Theres also multiple material
options from the likes of Objet/Stratasys with
its Connex machines.
THE OPTIONS : There are two main things
to consider for this type of machine. The
materials options are broad and get into
some very specialised areas from optically
clear parts and medical grade resins, to
composites and into those suitable for
casting or plating. Pretty much anything else
you can imagine.
Post processing often centres on part
removal, UV ovens (to harden o those parts)
and an oily rag to clear up any resin spills.
The resolution of the parts often means
that no post nishing is required, but if a coat
of paint is needed, its not a problem.
SLAs are also perfect for patterns for
vacuum casting of series runs too.
THE FUTURE : Everyone knows the SLA
process as it was probably the rst many of us
experienced. And things have been moving
on apace since its launch 30 years ago.
Today, stereolithography and the other UV
resins based systems oer a wide spectrum
of build sizes and material options, from the
small scale (the ProJet 1200 is particularly
compact), through the mid-range (with the
FormLabs, Envisiontec and lower-end Objet
machines) into the mammoth.
With the gradual expiration of the patents
surrounding stereolithography, we should
see more action at the entry level that will
bring high resolution, ultra detailed part
builds to the desktop and design oce.
Typically high resolution parts
Low post processing requirements
Massive array of materials
Cost of entry is lowering
Special purpose materials available
Ultra fne layer size and resolution
Competition is growing
Extensive second user machine market
Costs likely to drop in coming years
QUICK FACTS

Typically high resolution parts

Low post processing requirements

Massive array of material options

Cost of entry is lowering rapidly

Special purpose materials available

Ultra ne layer size + resolution

Competition is growing

Extensive second user machine market

Costs likely to drop in the coming years


3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 10 4/3/14 17:04:52
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D11
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
UV CURABLE RESINS & SLA
3 Pro TIPs: UP AND
rUNNING WITH AN oBJET
CoNNEX
Iron pipeline, cover and drainage solutions, saint Gobain PAM
UK, uses its objet Eden 500V supplied by sYs systems.
We initially bought the Eden 500V to 3D print shell patterns
and prototype patterns for the foor foundry as we were making
them from wood or aluminium previously at great cost and time,
explains the companys Product Development Manager, Jonathan
McGill. However, we soon found that if we 3D printed a negative of
the pattern, called a master pattern, we could use these to produce
moulds for the DISAMATIC line again far more quickly and cheaply
than before.
The machine paid for itself in just a few weeks after Saint Gobain
PAM estimated it had returned 145,000 of savings in its frst four
months, at just 40per cent capacity.
Saint Gobain PAM can now go from the 3D printer, typically
producing a master pattern overnight, straight to the plant within a
week where it can be set to work producing 200 moulds an hour.
The company is also currently trialling a high temperature resin
that will open up even more 3D printing opportunities.
saint-gobain-pam.co.uk | sys.com
FormLabs Form1 DWs XFAB Envisiontec Ultra 3sP HD objet500 Connex3 3D systems ProX 950
Patents expire. When they do, someone always come
up with a cheaper alternative to the established
players in the market. Boston-based FormLabs hit the
headlines when it massively exceeded its KickStarter
goal with the Form1 the rst totally new SLA-based
machine in 10 years.
Its a small form factor machine that owes as much
to Envisiontecs build process as it does 3D Systems.
Resolution is ultra ne and the company is expanding
out its material options too.
DWS (Digital Wax Systems) mastered high
resolution printing of wax for casting of jewellery
purposes years ago. Now its turning its attention
to a more mainstream product with the XFAB
(due in June).
This sees its stereolithography know-how applied to
a much wider market with more materials options.
Its also a slick looking machine as youd expect
from a company thats grown up in the Italian
design market.
Envisiontec hit the market in the early 2000s with its
Perfactory machine. Using the UV curable resins of
SLA but eschewing laser optics for DLP chips.
Since then, the company has expanded its product
range, but also its materials options, including
all manner of castable, lled and special purpose
options. Last year the company introduced its 3SP,
which supersedes the DLP technology and brings
large build volumes and quicker build speeds. The
Ultra has a respectable build volume combined with
ever expanding material options.
Objets range of machines takes a dierent approach
to UV resin-based machines by using print head
technology to deposit UV curable materials and water
soluble supports.
With its Digital Materials, the company brought to
market the rst method of creating multiple materials
in a single build. Perfect for prototyping of over
moulded components, combined with high resolution,
it changed the game. The most recent Objet500
Connex3 brings with it colour support.
Launched at Euromold in Autumn 2013, the ProX
950 is the biggest product in 3D Systems range
of SLA machines. With its gigantic build chamber,
it allows parts up to 1.5 metres in width - which is
rare for a production SLA machine.
Of course, its specialism is very large components
(such as a dashboard) or high volumes of smaller
parts. 3D Systems also quotes high speed build as
another benet.
Price $3,299 5,000 $70,000 Around 250,000 < $1,000,000
Build Envelope 125 x 125 x 165 mm 180 180 mm 266 x 177 x 193 mm 490 390 200 mm 1,500 x 750 x 550 mm
Warranty 1 year (return to base) 1 year 1 year (on site) with extension options 1 year (on site) with extension options 1 year (on site) with extension options
Machine Dimensions 300 x 280 x 450 mm 420 x 638 x 590 mm 740 x 760 x 1,170 mm 740 x 760 x 1,170 mm 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.025 mm 0.016 mm 0.05 - 0.1 mm 0.016mm 0.05 - 0.15 mm
Material options Clear, grey and white acrylate photopolymer
Acrylate resin, ABS, polypropylene, rigid opaque,
transparent, rubber and ceramic
E-Denstone, ABS 3SP White, E-Glass 3SP (transparent)
Multiple materials via Digital Materials + engineering
plastics, elastomers + transparent materials
Accura 25 ABS like resins + casting options available
Website formlabs.com dwslab.com envisiontec.com stratasys.com 3dsystems.com
F
ounded as Cleveland Classics,
producing replicas of classic
golf clubs, today Cleveland Golf
is a leader in wedges using advanced
technology.
The company invested in 3D
printing during the early millennium,
and today runs an Envisiontec Ultra in
its R&D facility.
Using Siemens NX to design the
prototype, they run the le through
Magics to print. Once happy with the
model the part is sent on to a vendor
who then makes the nal cast.
We use a model mainly to verify a
lot of the designs. We try to use it to
prototype the actual part itself, too,
to make it castable, explains Dan
Nivanh, research and development
engineer at Cleveland Golf.
Cleveland Golf chose the Ultra
for the quality of the nished parts
in addition to feeling comfortable
diagnosing any mechanical issues.
I guess once the user
understands the function of the
printer theyre able to diagnose the
problem itself on-site, so [the Ultra]
by not having multiple moving parts
it tends not to break as often.
With the Ultra were able to verify
certain features that [the U.S. Patent
Oce would check or verify]. By just
opening up an STL le, the Patent
Oce cant really understand the
functionality of the part itself.
When they have that print, and they
are able to have it in hand, they have a
clear understanding of the benet.
envisiontec.com
CLEVELAND GoLF: UsING 3D PrINT For
DEsIGN AND VErIFICATIoN oF CLUBs
MoULD MAKING WITH
rETUrN oN INVEsTMENT
No 3D printing machine is plug and play. Here, Gary Miller, head of
3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping at IPF Rapid Prototyping
(ipf.co.uk) gives his tips for a Connex machine. He should know, he
runs the UKs largest Connex facility.
#1 Cheapest isnt always the best: Slapping your parts on the bed
in the quickest build time isnt always best. Think about how the
part is going to be used and orientate it to suit. Flexible parts with
a glossy surface often perform better but sometimes mean a longer
print time.
#2 Clean your prints properly: Traces of support resin you think
you cleaned away can cause issues later if youre vac casting or
electro-plating Objet parts. If you clean the parts thoroughly and
dont cut corners youll keep clients and suppliers happy in one hit.
#3 Look after your investment: When printing in multiple materials
its not uncommon to fnd traces of the wrong material where they
shouldnt be. Contamination isnt the printers fault its yours for not
looking after it properly! High-end kit needs daily maintenance. All
three of IPFs Connexs printers each get 15/20 minutes of TLC a day
and in return we get hours upon hours of reliability.
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 11 4/3/14 17:05:02
3D12 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
Sintering is the build method thats driving acceptance of 3D printing outside
of its traditional market. Now with patents expiring, its primed for growth
SINTERING FOR PLASTICS
BluePrinter EOS Formiga P110 3D Systems sPro 60 SD 3D Systems ProX 500 EOS EOSINT 760
BluePrinter is the rst in a new wave of lower cost
machines. Based on thermal print head technology
(rather than laser optics), the BluePrinter has been
developed in Denmark. Unlike most other sintering
machines it is desktop /workshop friendly as it
doesnt need special extraction facilities or an inert
atmosphere to build parts in.
Costing almost one tenth of the price of its nearest
competitor, it should be highly attractive to those with
signicant budgets for outsourcing sintering.
Electro Optical Systems (or EOS for short) has been
mastering the plastics sintering process for a good
two decades. Its machines are well respected, the
entire process (from powder loading to build to
post processing and recycling) is well thought out
and established.
The Formiga P110 is EOSs entry level oering into its
product range and brings with it a smaller form factor
machine that will suit the smaller facility that requires
advanced level plastics sintering.
Since 3D Systems acquired SinterStation
manufacturer DTM back in the day and has always
had sintering products available. Many bureaux still
run DTM SinterStations, albeit often with upgrades.
The sPro 60 is the entry point into 3D Systems
sintering product range. Unlike many of the other
systems available, which focus on a core set of
materials, 3D Systems sinterers have the ability to
work with plastics as well as other materials such as
sand and polystyrene.
In terms of build size the 3D Systems ProX 500 is
on par with other machines in the range (though
larger machines are available). However, the recently
launched machine stands out because it oers much
faster build times.
Whereas comparative systems in the companys
range boast around 0.8 litres per hour, the ProX 500
ramps this up to twice that amount and promises
ner resolution and better surface nishes with its
DuraForm ProX material.
If youve ordered a sintered part from a service
provider in the last few years, the chances are it was
built with one of the larger EOS P700 series machines.
With a huge build chamber and automated processes
for recycling of material and breakout, this is the
machine of choice for many. Material choices abound,
from the undoubtedly familiar Polyamide (Nylon
to you and me), through glass and carbon lled
variants and, more recently, into the realms of high
temperature resistant powders.
Price 15,995 146,000 (including install + training) On Application On Application 644,000 (including install + training)
Build Envelope 200 x 160 x 140 mm 200 x 250 x 330 mm 381 x 330 x 437 mm 381 x 330 x 457 mm 700 x 380 x 580 mm
Warranty 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options)
Machine Dimensions 1,220 x 505 x 570 mm 1,320 x 1,067 x 2,204 mm Not available Not available 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.1 mm 0.06 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.12 mm (Material dependent) 0.08 0.15 mm 0.08 0.15 mm 0.05 mm
Material options Proprietary thermoplastic Nylon materials including glass and carbon lled
Variety of nylon powders inc. heat resistant and glass +
carbon lled options + exible DuraForm Flex
DuraForm ProX Extra strong and durable
engineered production plastic
ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085
(high temp and FST rated)
Website blueprinter.dk eos.info 3dsystems.com 3dsystems.com eos.info
THE BASICS : Sintering has its roots in the
ceramics industry, where it is described as
the process of creating objects from powders
using heat to bind together, at the atomic level,
just below the melting point of the material.
In the context of 3D printing, a heat source
(typically a powered laser, whose movement
is controlled by optics) is used to bind
together each layer of powder in the form
required.
A fresh layer of powder is then placed on
top of the previous and the same process
repeated, fusing together the new and
preceding layers. This has the benet of
tough parts that represent form well as well
as potential for using more exotic powders.
THE OPTIONS : Theres been huge growth
in the adoption of sintering in recent
years. Its ability to work quickly, with large,
stackable build chambers, has seen it become
a favourite of the service provider and user
alike. More recent advances are seeing
machine sizes grow and some interesting
materials become available. While some
are special purpose, 3D Systems machines
oer the ability to work with more than a
single category of material. The companys
SinterStations have, for a long time, been
able to process not only engineering plastics,
but also sand and polystyrene. 2013 also saw
a price hike in powder following a re at one
of two factories.
THE FUTURE : BluePrinter is the rst
sintering device to oer an alternative to EOS
and 3D Systems machines (at a tenth of the
cost) and its thermal print head technology is
patented and protected.
With the fundamental patent expiring in
2013 (US patent number US5597589), many
are predicting a wealth of entrants into the
market as has happened with FDM machines,
but we think this is unlikely. Sintering is
an inherently more complex exercise with
issues surrounding the handling of powder,
the heat required to sinter materials together
and the reuse of excess material. That said,
BluePrinter has shown theres scope to do
something new, rather than copy.
Tough, resistant parts
Advanced composite + flled materials
UV resistant
High materials costs
Stackable build chambers
Machine costs starting to drop
Large build volumes
Materials offerings growing
Finishing & painting can be troublesome
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 12 4/3/14 17:05:09
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D13
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SINTERING FOR PLASTICS
3 Pro TIPs UP AND
rUNNING WITH AN Eos
ForMIGA P100
Headquartered in Denmark, oticon is one of the worlds leading
providers of hearing care solutions. During the development of
new hearing care solutions, oticon produces many prototypes
to evaluate the design for wiring and assembly. These normally
consist of up to 10 parts per new assembly design.
The parts are often scaled up to make the process of discussion
easier with regards to routing of cables and assembly, but also to use
the prototypes for educational purposes.
Oticon previously printed these prototypes at an external service
provider using a laser-based sintering technology but has recently
acquired one of the frst production sintering machines from
BluePrinter.
With Blueprinter, Oticon can now produce the prototypes in-house
keeping the design process secure and at a fraction of the price.
We have been using Blueprinter since November 2013 and are
very happy with the output. We have been printing both entire
hearing care solutions as well as single components to be ftted into
bigger solutions says Lars Lund Jrgensen, Task manager in AM
technology, Oticon.
blueprinter.dk
BluePrinter Eos Formiga P110 3D systems sPro 60 sD 3D systems ProX 500 Eos EosINT 760
BluePrinter is the rst in a new wave of lower cost
machines. Based on thermal print head technology
(rather than laser optics), the BluePrinter has been
developed in Denmark. Unlike most other sintering
machines it is desktop /workshop friendly as it
doesnt need special extraction facilities or an inert
atmosphere to build parts in.
Costing almost one tenth of the price of its nearest
competitor, it should be highly attractive to those with
signicant budgets for outsourcing sintering.
Electro Optical Systems (or EOS for short) has been
mastering the plastics sintering process for a good
two decades. Its machines are well respected, the
entire process (from powder loading to build to
post processing and recycling) is well thought out
and established.
The Formiga P110 is EOSs entry level oering into its
product range and brings with it a smaller form factor
machine that will suit the smaller facility that requires
advanced level plastics sintering.
Since 3D Systems acquired SinterStation
manufacturer DTM back in the day and has always
had sintering products available. Many bureaux still
run DTM SinterStations, albeit often with upgrades.
The sPro 60 is the entry point into 3D Systems
sintering product range. Unlike many of the other
systems available, which focus on a core set of
materials, 3D Systems sinterers have the ability to
work with plastics as well as other materials such as
sand and polystyrene.
In terms of build size the 3D Systems ProX 500 is
on par with other machines in the range (though
larger machines are available). However, the recently
launched machine stands out because it oers much
faster build times.
Whereas comparative systems in the companys
range boast around 0.8 litres per hour, the ProX 500
ramps this up to twice that amount and promises
ner resolution and better surface nishes with its
DuraForm ProX material.
If youve ordered a sintered part from a service
provider in the last few years, the chances are it was
built with one of the larger EOS P700 series machines.
With a huge build chamber and automated processes
for recycling of material and breakout, this is the
machine of choice for many. Material choices abound,
from the undoubtedly familiar Polyamide (Nylon
to you and me), through glass and carbon lled
variants and, more recently, into the realms of high
temperature resistant powders.
Price 15,995 146,000 (including install + training) On Application On Application 644,000 (including install + training)
Build Envelope 200 x 160 x 140 mm 200 x 250 x 330 mm 381 x 330 x 437 mm 381 x 330 x 457 mm 700 x 380 x 580 mm
Warranty 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options) 1 year on-site (with extension options)
Machine Dimensions 1,220 x 505 x 570 mm 1,320 x 1,067 x 2,204 mm Not available Not available 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.1 mm 0.06 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.12 mm (Material dependent) 0.08 0.15 mm 0.08 0.15 mm 0.05 mm
Material options Proprietary thermoplastic Nylon materials including glass and carbon lled
Variety of nylon powders inc. heat resistant and glass +
carbon lled options + exible DuraForm Flex
DuraForm ProX Extra strong and durable
engineered production plastic
ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085
(high temp and FST rated)
Website blueprinter.dk eos.info 3dsystems.com 3dsystems.com eos.info
C
ase New Holland acquired its rst
sintering machine in 1998 the
Vanguard si2 (now sold as the sPro
60 SD). Since then, the company has been
using it to churn out sand casting patterns.
In addition to sand casting patterns,
CNH also uses its SLS system to produce
sturdy prototypes as well as patterns for
investment purposes.
Our main goal was to nd a system that
would help us streamline the creation of
sand casting patterns, says Luke Nolt,
casting specialist at CNH. We also wanted
a system that we could use for a variety of
other applications.
Most of CNHs sand cast parts are made
of grey and ductile cast iron; others are
made with cast steel.
CNH also has used its SLS system to
produce DuraForm prototypes of items
such as electronic enclosures, control
handles and other simulated moulded
plastic parts.
3dsystems.com
CAsE NEW HoLLAND
& sLs FLEXIBILITY
oTICoN & BLUEPrINTEr
sINTErING IN HoUsE
Having acquired an EOS Formiga P100 Nick Allen at 3DPrintUk
(3dprint-uk.co.uk) established 3DPrint UK in 2011. The company
provides a 3D print service right out of its central London facility.
Here Nick gives us the top three tips for those looking to get into the
sintering game for the frst time.
#1 Dont think you can start with sLs: SLS is like an F1 car,
correctly set up by fully trained, experienced professionals and
youll get to the end of the race quickly and well. But if you buy the
kit and try to learn as you go it will be a very long process. Even
with two solid years of 3D printing experience before I bought the
SLS machine, it took two to three months before we were printing
consistently.
#2 Whatever you think its going to cost, double it:
You also need to buy a compressor (circa 10-20k), an explosion
proof ATEX rated hoover (circa 2k), a breakout station (circa 15k),
blast cabinet (1-5k), proper ventilation, a separate room for the
printer, two heavy duty 3 Phase connections and specialist rigging to
get it in the room.
#3 The dust: The goddam dust. It gets everywhere. Make sure that
you have a separate room for the machine and that it has a some
serious ventilation.
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 13 4/3/14 17:05:21
3D14 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
If you desire tough, usable plastic parts Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) has
always been the way to go. Now the professional has more choice than ever
PRINTING WITH METALS
Mlab Cusing R SLM 280HL Renishaw AM250 EOS M SINT 400 DMG LASERTEC 65 AM
The Mlab Cusing R is at the entry-level of Concept
Lasers metals machines range. It has a small build
platform that allows you to process a range of
materials at very high resolution. This makes it ideal
for small components in the medical or jewellery
industry (especially when combined with its support
for precious metals such as gold and silver).
It has multiple sized build chambers available, runs o
single phase power, has no extraction requirements
and will t through a standard door
The SLM (Selective Laser Melting) 280HL oers a
good sized build chamber with options to upgrade the
optics. Installing two lasers means that the system
can build ne details on the exterior of parts with one,
then ll in the internal parts of a layer with the other.
Build capability can get down to 0.2 mm in terms of
wall thickness and feature detail and can process
a wide range of materials, from steels through to
the more dicult metals such as aluminium and
titanium. There are also options available to automate
materials handling.
Renishaw is well known name in the world of
manufacturing. Its AM125 and AM250 machines
are recent entrants into the metals printing world
and oer two usable build envelopes in single,
integrated units. This means that no additional
stations are required for material recycling (unused
powder is automatically reintroduced into the
system while its running).
The option to extend the build envelope from 300mm
to 360mm also gives additional options for those with
larger component requirements.
EOSs M Sint machines have been on the market for
a decade or more now and the M SINT 400 is the
current state of the art, large frame machine.
With its 400 x 400 x 400 mm build chamber, it
combines larger capacity with a higher-speed 1 kW
laser for building metal components from an ever
expanding set of materials. Together with EOS
mastery of the complete process, from materials
handling, recycling and post processing, this is the
true state of the art.
DMG Mori Seiki will soon be launching this beast of
a machine, which combines metal deposition with a
3- and 5-axis CNC machining capability.
The machine uses what is essentially a CNC driven
weld bead to make the initial form. The part is then
allowed to cool and the system then machines the
exact form to the required tolerances. For those
working at the outer reaches of aerospace and
autosport, this could be very interesting indeed
(see box out top right for more info)
Price 180,000 350K to 400K depending on nal specication On Application On Application On Application
Build Envelope 50 x 50 x 80 mm 90 x 90 x 80 mm 280mm x 280mm x 350mm 250 x 250 x 300 mm (Z axis extendable to 360 mm) 400 x 400 x 400 mm 650/650/560 mm (CNC) | 500 x 350 mm (3D print)
Warranty 1 year (on-site with extension options) 2 years (with extension options) 1 year 1 year 1 year
Machine Dimensions 705 x 1,848 x 1,220 mm 1,800 x 1,900 x 1,000 mm 1,700 x 800 x 2,025 mm 4,181 mm x 1,613 mm x 2,355 mm 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.015 - 0.025 mm 0.2 mm 0.02 - 0.1mm 0.016 mm Not applicable
Material options
Golds (various colours), silver, bronze, stainless steel,
titanium and cobalt chrome
Titanium and aluminium alloys and also high
temperature materials including nickel and steel alloys
Stainless steel 316L and 17-4PH, H13 tool steel,
aluminium Al-Si-12, titanium CP, Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-
7Nb, cobalt-chrome (ASTM75), inconel 718 and 625
Aluminum, colbalt chrome, stainless steel,
titanium and nickel alloy
Stainless steels, tooling steels, non-ferrous alloys,
super alloys, precious metals, alumina
Website concept-laser.de | estechnology.co.uk slm-solutions.com | laserlines.co.uk renishaw.com eos.info dmgmori.com
THE BASICS : While were all familiar with
the 3D printing of plastics, metals is perhaps
where the action is. Irrespective of the
exact process, the principles are the same.
A powdered metal is hit with a heat source
(laser, electron beam, name your choice),
brought to near melting point and fused
together layer by layer.
Theres much debate over sintering (just
before melt point) vs. melting (obviously, at
the point of melt), but most machines can
handle both by tweaking settings.
Its a question of control vs speed vs
resolution and will vary greatly between
the machines and materials theyre
processing to build parts.
THE OPTIONS : While most powdered
materials represent a re/explosion hazard,
powdered metals (in particular, titanium)
doubly so. As a result, many machines use
inert gas lled build chambers and require
heavy ancillary equipment. These range from
explosion proof material asks, heavy duty
recycling equipment and inert gas supplies.
Theres also the process of removing the
parts from the build platform.
Youll need three phase electricity supply
to feed those powerful lasers. And then
theres material costs. The Mlab machine, for
example, can be tted with a 90 x 90 x 80 mm
build chamber, but that needs 8 to 10kg of
powdered gold to ll it (at 35,000/kg).
THE FUTURE : Metal printing is one to
watch for the future. The ability to create
complex forms from a wide variety of
materials, is key.
Whether its lattice structures for medical,
conformal cooling channels in tooling or just
plain unmachinable or uncastable shapes.
There are also reports of the 3D printing
process bringing new and interesting after
eects (similar to heat treatment) in the more
exotic alloys.
The DMG Mori Lasertec machine shows
that theres also potential to take a dierent
approach, without the need for a powder bed
and to integrate it with CNC machining in a
single unit.
Its metals not plastics
Powdered metal is widely available
Rich and established post processing
Inert gas is often needed
Tough resilient components
Material costs fuctuate with market
New competition in market
Low waste/scrap compared to NC
Defnitely one for the shopfoor
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 14 4/3/14 17:05:31
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PRINTING WITH METALS
3 Pro TIPs UP AND
rUNNING WITH 3D
PrINTING IN METALs

If there is a challenge in the world of printing with metals, its
the need to be able to machine parts after build. While 3D print
techniques can get you close, theres always going to be a need to
fnish those components to closer tolerances.
Japanese machine tool specialist, DMG Mori Seiki has set-up a
subsidiary company, Sauer Lasertec, to explore the potential for
combining 3D deposition of metals (using laser cladding) with CNC
machining in a single unit. Due for launch later this year, the Lasertec
65 AM (Additive Manufacturing) looks to be the frst result of this work.
It combines a 2Kw laser that can form materials from powdered metals
and then automatically fnish the part with 5-axis CNC machining.
The machine can be used to generate near net shape forms !
(fgure

1 ) or to add additional details (fgures

3 ) that would be
diffcult to achieve using powder-bed techniques.
Once the near net shape component is ready, the 5-axis cutting
capability of the machine takes over and can use the companys
experience in machining to fnish and post machine those rougher
forms (fgure

4 ).
The company believes this can give up to 20x speed improvements
on existing technologies and can save 95% of material waste compared
to machining from billet. Engineering metals supported include steel,
nickel and cobalt alloys, brass and titanium.
dmgmori.com
Mlab Cusing r sLM 280HL renishaw AM250 Eos M sINT 400 DMG LAsErTEC 65 AM
The Mlab Cusing R is at the entry-level of Concept
Lasers metals machines range. It has a small build
platform that allows you to process a range of
materials at very high resolution. This makes it ideal
for small components in the medical or jewellery
industry (especially when combined with its support
for precious metals such as gold and silver).
It has multiple sized build chambers available, runs o
single phase power, has no extraction requirements
and will t through a standard door
The SLM (Selective Laser Melting) 280HL oers a
good sized build chamber with options to upgrade the
optics. Installing two lasers means that the system
can build ne details on the exterior of parts with one,
then ll in the internal parts of a layer with the other.
Build capability can get down to 0.2 mm in terms of
wall thickness and feature detail and can process
a wide range of materials, from steels through to
the more dicult metals such as aluminium and
titanium. There are also options available to automate
materials handling.
Renishaw is well known name in the world of
manufacturing. Its AM125 and AM250 machines
are recent entrants into the metals printing world
and oer two usable build envelopes in single,
integrated units. This means that no additional
stations are required for material recycling (unused
powder is automatically reintroduced into the
system while its running).
The option to extend the build envelope from 300mm
to 360mm also gives additional options for those with
larger component requirements.
EOSs M Sint machines have been on the market for
a decade or more now and the M SINT 400 is the
current state of the art, large frame machine.
With its 400 x 400 x 400 mm build chamber, it
combines larger capacity with a higher-speed 1 kW
laser for building metal components from an ever
expanding set of materials. Together with EOS
mastery of the complete process, from materials
handling, recycling and post processing, this is the
true state of the art.
DMG Mori Seiki will soon be launching this beast of
a machine, which combines metal deposition with a
3- and 5-axis CNC machining capability.
The machine uses what is essentially a CNC driven
weld bead to make the initial form. The part is then
allowed to cool and the system then machines the
exact form to the required tolerances. For those
working at the outer reaches of aerospace and
autosport, this could be very interesting indeed
(see box out top right for more info)
Price 180,000 350K to 400K depending on nal specication On Application On Application On Application
Build Envelope 50 x 50 x 80 mm 90 x 90 x 80 mm 280mm x 280mm x 350mm 250 x 250 x 300 mm (Z axis extendable to 360 mm) 400 x 400 x 400 mm 650/650/560 mm (CNC) | 500 x 350 mm (3D print)
Warranty 1 year (on-site with extension options) 2 years (with extension options) 1 year 1 year 1 year
Machine Dimensions 705 x 1,848 x 1,220 mm 1,800 x 1,900 x 1,000 mm 1,700 x 800 x 2,025 mm 4,181 mm x 1,613 mm x 2,355 mm 2,200 x 1,600 x 2260 mm
Layer Thickness 0.015 - 0.025 mm 0.2 mm 0.02 - 0.1mm 0.016 mm Not applicable
Material options
Golds (various colours), silver, bronze, stainless steel,
titanium and cobalt chrome
Titanium and aluminium alloys and also high
temperature materials including nickel and steel alloys
Stainless steel 316L and 17-4PH, H13 tool steel,
aluminium Al-Si-12, titanium CP, Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-6Al-
7Nb, cobalt-chrome (ASTM75), inconel 718 and 625
Aluminum, colbalt chrome, stainless steel,
titanium and nickel alloy
Stainless steels, tooling steels, non-ferrous alloys,
super alloys, precious metals, alumina
Website concept-laser.de | estechnology.co.uk slm-solutions.com | laserlines.co.uk renishaw.com eos.info dmgmori.com
R
enishaw has collaborated with
a British bicycle design and
manufacturing company to
create the worlds rst 3D printed metal
bike frame. Empire Cycles designed
the mountain bike to take advantage
of Renishaws additive manufacturing
technology, allowing them to create a
titanium frame that would be both strong
and light using topological optimisation.
The new frame is some 33% lighter than
the original.
The projects aim was to produce a
fully functioning bicycle, so the seat post
bracket was tested using the mountain bike
standard EN 14766; it withstood 50,000
cycles of 1 200 N. Testing continued to
six times the standard without failure.
Additional benets included the ability to
integrate internal strengthening features
that couldnt be manufactured using
traditional approaches and the ability to
optimise design right up to production
renishaw.com/empire
EMPIrE CYCLEs BUILDs FIrsT 3D
PrINTED FrAME WITH rENIsHAW
CoMBINING 3D PrINTED
METAL WITH 5-AxIs CNC
Jeremy Pullin is Rapid Manufacturing Manager at Renishaw (renishaw.
com) and runs one of the UKs most advanced prototyping centres to
support the companys own design, engineering and manufacturing
facilities. Here, he gives us 3 tips for printing in metals.
#1 You cant stack parts: 3D printing in metal powder isnt like
printing in plastic powders. Unlike plastic SLS, you cant stack the
build, as metal powder systems need supports so once the 2D
dimensions of your table is full of parts you can ft any more on.
#2 Never underestimate the importance of supports. The need
for supports has several far reaching implications. Metal supports
need to be mechanically removed which means you have to be able
to access them with your removal tools or leave them in place. If your
supports are stronger than your part features then your part may
well be damaged when you are doing support removal.
#3 Dont shortcut on health and safety: We all do the odd thing,
like stroking a dog that we dont know, when the paranoid health
and safety police arent looking, but with metal systems you need
to do it all by the book because these dogs can bite. Wear all of the
correct gear and control access to the area when youre working
with powders. Make sure that the environment is correctly set up for
ventilation and electrical requirements. Most importantly of all make
sure that the people using the correct kit are properly trained.
1 2
3 4
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Not every 3D printer can be compartmentalised as neatly as others. Here, we
explore some of the alternatives, either for pure originality or their speciality
ALTERNATIVES & SPECIALS
Mcor Technology Iris 3D Systems ProJet 1200 CeraFab 7500 VoxelJet VX500 ExOne S-PRINT
Mcors Iris machine uses the companys paper-based
3D printing to produce tough prototypes in full colour
(theyre layered paper).
The machine is a two stage process. Each sheet
(it uses A4 or Letter sized oce paper) is printed
with the colour requirements, then loaded into the
machine. This takes each layer, positions it with
remarkably accuracy and the prole is cut, along with
scoring to assist with break out of the model. Each
layer is then bonded to the previous.
SLA is perfectly suited to the building of small
scale, high resolution waxes for investment casting.
Whether in medical or jewellery or any other eld,
the combination of specialised materials and high
detail, means that its found a signicant home
in many organisations. The release of the Form1
from Formlabs meant that 3D Systems had serious
competition at the entry level. The ProJet 1200 is its
answer and combining a small form factor machine
with a low cost, its a good one.
Based on long-term research at the TU Wien (Vienna
University of Technology), Lithoz developed the
patented Lithography based Ceramic Manufacturing
(LCM)-process. This uses LED technology to build
directly in a number of ceramic materials.
The high resolution combined with unique materials
(including a bone like material called LithaBone)
means that the CeraFab is pretty unique on the
market, though competition is growing
VoxelJets range of machine have a unique trick up
their sleeves their powder-based processes can
work with both plastic and sand for both prototypes
and forms for casting/foundry work.
The VX500 sits in the middle of the product range
and oers the best price/performance/build size
for those looking to build substantial parts. Having
both capabilities is perfect for those with foundry
capability in house and the need for prototyping
components
The S-Print processes industry-standard casting
sand to create complex mould cores and patterns
for the foundry industry. Featuring a massive build
chamber and a level of automation that is both
rare and perfectly suited to the high demands of
industry practices, it is nding homes in foundries
that are pushing the boundaries of whats possible.
Production rates are high and the ancillary
equipment allows foundries to integrate it into their
more traditional processes and workows.
Primary Purpose Colour prints + Paper models Stereolithography for casting waxes Ceramics Plastic parts + Sand cores for foundry industry Sand cores/moulds for foundry industry
Price 30,600 $4,900 220,000 278,000 On Application
Build Envelope 275 x 265 x 240 mm 43 x 27 x 180mm 76 mm x 43 mm x 150 mm 500 x 400 x 300 mm 800 x 500 x 400 mm
Warranty 1 year 1 year Not available 1 year (on site with extension options) 5 year limited
Machine Dimensions 950 x 700 x 800 mm 228 x 228 x 358 mm 1,200 x 600 x 1,800 mm 1,800 x 1,800 x 1,700 mm 3,270 x 2,540 x 2,860 mm
Layer Thickness 0.075 mm 0.03 mm 0.025 - 0.1 mm 0.08 / 0.15 mm 0.254 / 0.33 mm
Material options
A4 + letter paper and proprietary CMYK ink +
PVA adhesive
VisiJet FTX Green material Aluminiumoxide + zirconiumoxide + LithaBone
ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085 (high temp
and FST rated)
Furan, Phenol and Silicate materials available
Website mcortechnologies.com 3dsystems.com lithoz.com voxeljet.com exone.com
THE BASICS : In terms of technology there
are many 3D printers that dont fall into a
specic category.
Some are developed for special purposes
to support specic materials or industry
practices. Others oer an entirely dierent
approach to producing parts or prototypes.
Here we take a look at what other machines
are out there and what they can do. We run
the whole gamut from paper-based full
colour models to machines specically
designed for wax models. There are also
machines that build exotic ceramics to
patterns and cores for sand casting purposes.
THE OPTIONS : 3D printing, as an industry,
has always been adept at taking mainstream,
mass appeal (relatively speaking)
technologies and adapting them to suit the
needs of specic industries or processes.
While weve covered only ve machines
to show the spread of options out there,
its worth spending time to nd out whats
available for your particular industry.
Chances are theres something thats a close
match and could provide an interesting edge
for new products or workows. Its also often
worth considering products perceived as
special purpose outside of their core focus.
THE FUTURE : Specialisation is not a new
thing in 3D print but it may well represent
an interesting take on its future. As the
technology becomes more mainstream,
investment grows and more organisations
will look to take lessons learned and apply
them to solve specic problems, bottlenecks
or provide new solutions. Just as the hearing
aid and dental industries took to both metal
sintering and stereolithography and special
purpose machines came to market as a
result, so will others in the near future. As
it stands, special purpose wont be massive
volumes of sales but, in niches, will thrive.
Broad range of alternatives
Ability to piggie back on other industries
Growing range of specialisation
Special purpose materials development
Lower costs of entry
Greater industry process support
Novel approaches to part building
Large build volume machines
Growing acceptance of entry level
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ALTERNATIVES & SPECIALS
3 Pro TIPs: sAND CorEs
WITH AN EXoNE s-PrINT

The schmolz + Bickenbach Guss Gruppe has been using voxeljets
3D print technology for the production of lost wax models from
small complex components to larger automotive castings for
wheels and gearboxes.
Thomas Peipp, Investment Casting Manager at Schmolz+Bickenbach
Guss GmbH in Ennepetal says: The problem is the cumbersome
production of the necessary wax models. This requires expensive
injection molding tools and wax presses. Tool costs can become
prohibitively expensive when used for small series production, as they
result in very high unit prices.
Using voxeljets Augsburg-based provider can produce plastic
models quickly, precisely and cost-effective. These PMMA models can
completely replace traditional wax models. And the most important
part: The production of the plastic models using 3D printing is very
simple. No tools are required, as the digital printing process is based
on the CAD data for the part. The 3D printer builds the model layer by
layer using the digital data.
The downstream process for digitally printed parts is the same as for
those parts produced conventionally by injecting wax into a metal tool.
Whether prototype, individual part or small series3D printing
technology makes it possible to produce highly complex design and
investment casting models quickly, easily and cost-effectively. Thats an
enormous advantage for investment casting specialists, and especially
our customers, concludes Thomas Peipp
voxeljet.com
Mcor Technology Iris 3D systems ProJet 1200 CeraFab 7500 VoxelJet VX500 Exone s-PrINT
Mcors Iris machine uses the companys paper-based
3D printing to produce tough prototypes in full colour
(theyre layered paper).
The machine is a two stage process. Each sheet
(it uses A4 or Letter sized oce paper) is printed
with the colour requirements, then loaded into the
machine. This takes each layer, positions it with
remarkably accuracy and the prole is cut, along with
scoring to assist with break out of the model. Each
layer is then bonded to the previous.
SLA is perfectly suited to the building of small
scale, high resolution waxes for investment casting.
Whether in medical or jewellery or any other eld,
the combination of specialised materials and high
detail, means that its found a signicant home
in many organisations. The release of the Form1
from Formlabs meant that 3D Systems had serious
competition at the entry level. The ProJet 1200 is its
answer and combining a small form factor machine
with a low cost, its a good one.
Based on long-term research at the TU Wien (Vienna
University of Technology), Lithoz developed the
patented Lithography based Ceramic Manufacturing
(LCM)-process. This uses LED technology to build
directly in a number of ceramic materials.
The high resolution combined with unique materials
(including a bone like material called LithaBone)
means that the CeraFab is pretty unique on the
market, though competition is growing
VoxelJets range of machine have a unique trick up
their sleeves their powder-based processes can
work with both plastic and sand for both prototypes
and forms for casting/foundry work.
The VX500 sits in the middle of the product range
and oers the best price/performance/build size
for those looking to build substantial parts. Having
both capabilities is perfect for those with foundry
capability in house and the need for prototyping
components
The S-Print processes industry-standard casting
sand to create complex mould cores and patterns
for the foundry industry. Featuring a massive build
chamber and a level of automation that is both
rare and perfectly suited to the high demands of
industry practices, it is nding homes in foundries
that are pushing the boundaries of whats possible.
Production rates are high and the ancillary
equipment allows foundries to integrate it into their
more traditional processes and workows.
Primary Purpose Colour prints + Paper models Stereolithography for casting waxes Ceramics Plastic parts + Sand cores for foundry industry Sand cores/moulds for foundry industry
Price 30,600 $4,900 220,000 278,000 On Application
Build Envelope 275 x 265 x 240 mm 43 x 27 x 180mm 76 mm x 43 mm x 150 mm 500 x 400 x 300 mm 800 x 500 x 400 mm
Warranty 1 year 1 year Not available 1 year (on site with extension options) 5 year limited
Machine Dimensions 950 x 700 x 800 mm 228 x 228 x 358 mm 1,200 x 600 x 1,800 mm 1,800 x 1,800 x 1,700 mm 3,270 x 2,540 x 2,860 mm
Layer Thickness 0.075 mm 0.03 mm 0.025 - 0.1 mm 0.08 / 0.15 mm 0.254 / 0.33 mm
Material options
ABS + PLA (Proprietary cartridge) + 3 colour build
options available
VisiJet FTX Green material Aluminiumoxide + zirconiumoxide + LithaBone
ABS, Nylon, PC, PC/ABS, PPSF, Ultem 9085 (high temp
and FST rated)
Furan, Phenol and Silicate materials available
Website mcortechnologies.com 3dsystems.com lithoz.com voxeljet.com exone.com
E
lster Aeroteh is Romanias main
producer of equipment for gas
measurement and regulation.
When it set out to produce a new, simpler
pressure regulator model especially for the
Romanian industry, it was important that it
be developed and manufactured locally.
The company initially attempted to build
CNC prototypes, but found it hard to obtain
the level of detail required to get a true
picture of the products performance. Thats
when they went to LogiCAD Solutions, a
Romanian CAD/CAM service provider.
LogiCAD was able to accurately cast
aluminium alloy prototypes for this
particular piece by making wax patterns on
a 3D Systems ProJet 3510 CPX 3D running
the RealWax material for high resolution
investment casting. In 12 days four wax
test pieces were printed, casted using
aluminium and machined.
3Dsystems.com
WAX CAsTING For
GAs rEGULATors
CAsTING THE CoMPLEX
WITH VoXELJET PATTErNs
Advanced automotive casting expert, Grainger and Worrall !
(gwcast.com) recently acquired one of ExOnes S-Print machines.
Here, Antony Middleton, manager for the facility, gives us a run down
of what theyve learned.
#1 Foundries not included: Having a sand printer on site has
been a fantastic beneft to our productivity and reaction time to
customers. However, this system is an INDIRECT digital manufacture
method. Once we have produced the sand moulds, they still have to
be poured with metal (aluminium, iron, steel etc.) to achieve your
fnal metal part.
#2 Big parts, big space. The S-Print has an 800 x 500 x 400 mm
build area and can print this in a little over 10 hours (depending on
layer thickness). This equates to over 500kg of sand being produced
a day. Typically, we can produce 2 tonnes of moulds and cores per
week. That requires a lot of space for raw materials, cleaning, part
storage. We also split our setup into 2 areas (one for printing and one
for post processing and storage).
#3 Big parts, bigger savings: Unlike most RP technologies, the raw
materials are relatively cheap. Looking at a standard powder based
printer, the powder costs around 700 per 15kg. The S-Print sand
(powder) costs 300 per tonne and any unbound sand can be reused.
Aside from our sand moulds, we are starting to work with companies
looking at other uses such as large composite moulds (GRP and
carbon fbre), art sculptures and building applications. 3D printed
house bricks, closer than you think!
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GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT
3D printers can only replicate the data you give them. Al Dean looks at
the tools available, some emerging trends and the best practice to get it right
T
he process of sending data to a
3D printer is often fraught with
problems. The most common
mistakes are often the most
basic after all, these are the
most easily overlooked.
Our goal here is to look at some of the best
practices for making sure the prints you get
out of the machine or back from a bureau
in a styrofoam and bubble wrap packed box
are just as your design skills and 3D design
system intended.
FORMAT? STL... OF COURSE
While theres much talk about direct
integration between CAD systems and 3D
printers (well discuss that shortly), unless
youre running one of a very small number of
machines, the chances are your process will
be like this: get your CAD data then Save As
or Export as an STL le. Job done, right? Not
so fast, buster.
STL is a format rst developed by 3D
Systems back in the 1980s as a means of
taking analytic surfaces and solids from
3D CAD tools and getting them into the
stereolithography machines of the day. That
format, due to its simple nature and relative
ease of adding support into the software,
gained traction and it has been the de facto
standard ever since.
Essentially, STL is a tessellated le format
and is about as basic as it gets. Itll take your
nice clean CAD geometry and convert it
into a mesh comprising of hundreds, if not
thousands, of triangles.
Whats interesting is how varied the
support for such a basic le format can be
in dierent CAD systems. And, in order to
get the best results, it is essential that, when
exporting this data, you understand the best
approach, the best settings for each. After all,
if youre going to spend eight hours building
a part overnight, you dont want to come
into work the following morning and nd a
blocky, facetted representation of the design
work youve just spent four days working on.
TESSELLATION SETTINGS
The rst part of the process is to get to grips
with tessellation and the controls. While we
dont have space to detail every CAD systems
particular settings and options, we should
be able to give you enough information to
interpret into your workhorse tool.
Resolution: Most design systems work with
presets for exporting STL les, which give
you specic values for a couple of settings.
Whether its referred to as chord height,
triangle edge length or something else, you
need to master these to control the triangle
size. As you can see in gures A to C above,
taking a simple sphere and creating an STL
le with dierent settings, gives you very
dierent results.
If we then do the same with a more
complex example of a part, in gures D to
F youll see the impact of using too low a
resolution. In gure E, the portions of the
model that are based on cylindrical forms
are facetted, the grips are the same around
the lower feature set. The end result of this
will be a model that, while the same basic
shape of your starting point, will need hand
nishing if its to be of real use.
As shown in gure F, using a higher
resolution tessellation setting will give you a
much cleaner result. The part will come out
of the printer without much need for sanding
or post processing. Itll also give you a much
better t with the components that surround
it (particularly where holes and parts that t
into them are concerned).
It is worth noting that most CAD systems
give you access to the advanced settings
for tessellation. Take time to explore these,
particularly if youre working with highly
complex parts: those with small features in
larger overall geometry sets. It may be that
you need to wind down the settings and up
the resolution to get the best results across a
complex part.
ASSEMBLIES
Another option available in most systems
thats worth exploring is the ability to work
with assembly models. Its uncommon to
be working with a single part, on its own,
and every CAD system lets you work with
multiple parts in a single le. The STL
export options in most systems allow you to
output STL data from assemblies in one of
two modes.

A Simple sphere - described with a surface model

B Low-res tessellation

C High-res tessellation

D Nice clean surfaces

E Low-res that will require hand fnishing

F High-res means no hand fnishing


D E F
A B C
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One STL per part: The rst ,and most useful,
is the ability to take a multi-part assembly and
have the system export a separate STL for each
part in that assembly. If you have a relatively
small assembly, this will be pretty manageable.
If you have a larger assembly with over 20
parts, for instance, youll nd that the data
grows. Its also worth noting that most systems
dont retain any information about instances or
multiple copies of the same geometry.
So, if you export an assembly with ve
instances of one component, youll end up
with ve separate parts. When ordering from
a service provider this is ideal, as youll get
back the same number of parts you need.
If youre building them in-house, it also
has benets, but a more intelligent solution
might be to use just one of those STLs and
copy them in the build software (which is a
common capability).
Its also worth noting that any fasteners
might also be exported and not necessarily
be needed or appropriate for the task unless
youve hard modelled threads and the like.
All parts in a single STL: Im sure most of
us have seen demonstration pieces from
3D print vendors that show a complex
arrangement of parts, built in a single build.
Whether its a wrench that opens up with the
ick of a worm gear or a series of spheres
inside another sphere. These might be
fascinating examples, but the reality is that
the instances where this would be useful in a
design oce, are few and far between.
As a result, the ability of most CAD systems
to give you a single STL le of all the parts in
an assembly is almost useless and best to be
avoided. It can cause problems where faces
intersect one another; it can cause problems
with the integrity of the data and importing
it into the setup software at all. And unless
youve accounted for t, for expansion
and contraction in the build process, the
chances are the mechanism wont work.
ALTERNATIVES TO STL?
While STL is the standard, theres also talk
of a couple of other 3D formats that might
be competitive. One is the AMF format,
that gives software the ability to retain
information about colour, material and many
other things.
The problem is that none of the software
companies at the data creation end of
the spectrum appear to be even vaguely
interested in it. A more popular route,
it would seem, is to link the generating
software directly to the machines themselves.
CAD TO PRINT - DIRECT
In the last 12 months, theres been an
interesting trend of 3D CAD vendors to sit up
and take notice of the 3D printing industry.
Whether it was Microsofts announcement
about adding 3D print support to Windows
8.1, to get on the growing hype bandwagon
or something else, the fact is that things are
changing.
Autodesk was rst out of the blocks with its
3D print utility. This connects to MakerBots
as well as two Objet/Stratasys machines. It
runs through le check, repair and support
generation where needed then sends the data
out to the set-up software for the machine.
SolidWorks, on the other hand,
announced that it was riding o the back of
the Windows-level integration and looking
to introduce tools into SolidWorks 2015
that will let you print directly from the
software, without an intermediary export/
import step.
SpaceClaim has also launched a plug-in
for its direct modeller that takes a dierent
approach. It collects together some existing
tools and some basic editing tools tuned for
common 3D print workows (such as part
splitting and auto-generation of features to
reassemble the components after build).
Interestingly, it works with both solid
geometry and imported mesh data.
SPECIALISED TOOLS
Alongside the tools in our workhorse design
systems, theres a breed of specialised tools
that are laser targeted on 3D printing.
Whats interesting is that functionality-
restricted versions of these tools are often
available for free, for pure viewing or simple
repair. Both NetFabb and Deskartes oer
free versions of their software and include
a range of x tools, from simply reversal of
normals, through watertightness checks
and export.
As you step up the cost curve, you get
more tools and more advanced options. For
example, Materialises Magics runs from le
repair and xing, through preparation, pre
processing for complex supports as well as
editing tools to assist with 3D print specic
workows. The same is true of Deskartes and
NetFabbs paid for oerings although neither
extend into production support.
CONCLUSION
A year ago, we asked the 3D design system
vendors their intentions with regards 3D
printing and support for some of the newer
le formats out there.
At the time, most were nonplussed and
most dismissed it out of hand. Fast forward
twelve months and were starting to see
3D design tool vendors integrating more
advanced tools than just Export STL.
Some are clear attempts to jump on the 3D
printing hype bandwagon, others are direct
integrations. The problem with this approach
is that unless you have those machines in
house (and from reading this guide you know
theres far more out there than a MakerBot),
theyre almost useless.
Ironically, its the introduction of 3D
print support into Windows that holds the
most potential, assuming that the machine
vendors also get on board. Otherwise, its
just another set of tools that are of use to a
limited number of users.
SpaceClaim has
launched a new 3D
Print Preparation
module for its 3D
direct modelling tool

Were starting to see


3D design tool vendors
integrating more advanced
tools than just Export STL.
Some are clear attempts
to jump on the 3D printing
hype bandwagon, others are
direct integrations

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Developed by Belgian
3D printing specialist,
Materialise, Magics is
perhaps one of the most
widely used special purpose
systems in the 3D printing
industry by users and
bureaux alike. Features
include le import and
repair, editing, pre processing, volume layout, support design, sinter
chamber nesting and optimisation. It also oers direct control of a
wide range of machines for a production environment. Magics pretty
much does it all.
While theres a free Magics Mini version available for everyone (it
makes a useful STL viewer), the system is modular in nature and
costs can ramp up as you add capabilities. To learn more, check out
our review of Magics 18 at tinyurl.com/D3Dmagics.
materialise.com/magics
MATERIALISE MAGICS
For some time now,
Autodesk has been taking
its professional market
knowledge and adapting it
to the maker space. It has a
range of tools under
the 123D banner that
support design for laser
cutters, mesh manipulation
and remixing and now, following its link up with MakerBot (it
resells the Replicator devices), 3D printing.
The latest example is MeshMixer, which combines polygon
modelling with a set of tools to help prepare data for 3D print and
get the best results from your model and machine from shelling
to support generation. This wont be the last of its eorts and many
other vendors are playing catch up.
meshmixer.com
AUTODESK MESHMIXER
If youve done any 3D
printing youre probably
familiar with NetFabb.
The Finnish organisation
has been developing its
NetFabb products for a few
years. Starting with the
NetFabb Basic, a free version
that includes basics STL
manipulation and data repair, its pretty widely used. What might not
be so widely known is the Professional version.
Priced at 1,499, it adds in a number of features for handling more
complex tasks. From part slicing (to get a large part into a smaller
build volume), more repair tools, part editing (with some interesting
booleans for meshes) as well as downstream tools to process slices
for the printer. Another benet is that it has a wide range of data
support outside of STL from CAD geometry to CT scan data.
netfabb.com
NETFABB NETFABB PRO
Deskartes product range
starts with a basic and
free le viewer with a few
geometry xes and basic
export options, then ramps
up to include all manner
of repair and editing tools.
From cutting and splitting of
large parts (with automated
location feature creation), through booleans (ideal for adding in
holes to allow powder/resin to escape internal voids) and into osets,
shelling and other operations. Interestingly, it also includes the
option for direct read of CAD geometry from a variety of standard
and native formats, so tessellation can be performed in a single
environment. The paid for versions start at around 900 and move
upwards from there as you add more functionality.
deskartes.f
DESKARTES 3DATA EXPERT
ADOBE ENTERS THE 3D PRINTING FRAY wITH PHOTOSHOP UPDATE
If theres one tool thats
ubiquitous in the design
world, its Adobes
Photoshop we all have
a license in some form or
another kicking around.
while Adobe has had
an on/off relationship
with 3D geometry over
the years, the latest
(14.5) release saw the
company introduce
some interesting tools
to support 3D printing
explicitly.
We caught up with
Adobes Principal Solutions
Consultant for Digital
Imaging, Richard Curtis, to
fnd out a little more about
what the update brings.
The goal is to make it
easier for those already on
the Photoshop bandwagon
to use the existing tools to
design, texture and output
geometry for 3D printing.
Whats interesting is that
this past year has already
seen a lot more activity on
the colour front (as youll
learn more about on page
28). With three machine
vendors now selling full
colour machines, the ability
to effciently handle colour
defnition is going to be
more interesting to a wider
proportion of the design
and engineering crowd.
Photoshop, as you would
expect, includes a tonne of
tools to help either build
models from scratch, use
the included integration
with Cinema4D, or import
geometry using a number
of formats (including STL,
OBJ and Collada to name a
few) and then work with it.
Texture and paint processes
can be applied with the
familiar Photoshop tools.
But whats really
interesting is how far
the company is taking
its support for the entire
process.
Of course, you can
export an OBJ fle (which
will contain colour
information), but a more
effective method is to use
the built-in pre processing
tools. These use some
newly developed processes
that allow the Photoshop
user to bring in a model,
add some edits, then
build any additional data
required. A large part of
it centres on new tools
that allow more effcient
support structures to
be built directly inside
Photoshop.
These create more
material effcient support
structures to help the build
process, but do so in a
highly effcient manner. The
machine software typically
includes these types of
tools (predominantly used
for flament machines) but
do so in a comprehensive
manner - wasting material
and build time.
Photoshops support
generation tools look to
be much more material
and build effcient, placing
supports that take into
account post processing
and break-out of supports.
While the full integration
is, by default, with
MakerBot machines (as well
as the Mcor Iris), an open
approach is allowing other
machine vendors to add the
build parameters of their
machines.
adobe.com
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DESIGN FOR 3D PRINTING:
TIME FOR A NEw RuLEBOOk?
The myth that 3D printing can free you from the rules of design for
manufacture is perpetuated across the whole industry. We explore the reality
D
esign for manufacturing is
dead. If you believe the press
articles and other hyperbole,
youd think that 3D printing
will mean an end to
designers having to worry
about how a part is designed for production.
The reality is that although the use of 3D
printing for the manufacture of end use
components does shift the focus away from
the traditional set of rules for design for
manufacturing, it brings a whole new set of
guidelines. Its also worth bearing in mind
many of these rules are just as applicable to
producing prototypes.
While the ideal is to mimic the production
intent as close as is humanly possible,
achieving a combination of mechanical
performance, surface nish and detail
representation often isnt possible. So you
end up having to choose a process thats the
best trade o of all three and slightly adapt
your model to suit it.
The dierence is that while traditional
design for manufacture guidelines centre
on generalised production processes and
materials, this new breed are much more
dicult to tie down and formalise. And,
at least for the foreseeable future, they are
constantly changing.
Each 3D print machine has dierent
boundaries in terms of what can and cant
be achieved. Then you start to add in factors
such as materials variation.
Over the page, with the help of some kind
folks that run these machines day in, day out,
weve broken down some of the processes.
The aim is to give you an idea of what they are
capable of and what you need to bear in mind
when designing parts for each.
In researching this article it quickly became
clear that this information isnt immediately
and readily accessible. Theres no single
place to pull up a reference. A good starting
point can be the guidelines provided by
machine and material vendors.
If youre outsourcing parts for production,
a good service provider should be able to give
you the basics, if indeed, this information is
not already on its website.
If youre looking to build in-house, the
machine vendor should have common
guidelines and point you in the right direction.
Its also worth getting your Google on
and with a quick session youll get hold of
common guidelines for most processes,
from a wide variety of sources.
Then its a case of looking at what youre
trying to achieve, matching the best process
to t (in terms of mechanical and chemical
performance, surface nish and all the other
engineering inputs and outputs you need)
and working to those rules.
Then you need to break them! And this
is absolutely key to understanding the true
potential. After all, 3D printing, particularly
when youre looking at using the processes for
end-use components, rather than prototypes,
is highly suited to experimentation.
Because theres little in the way of set-up
and tooling, 3D printing represents an
interesting way to experiment with form that
couldnt be possible using traditional means.
Whether thats the combination of
multiple parts into a single, multi-functional
component, exploring new forms that
couldnt be moulded or machined or trying
new methods. Theres plenty of potential.
EADS Innovation Works (IW), the
aerospace and defence groups research and
technology organisation, is always on the
look-out for new manufacturing methods.
A recent target for evaluation was EOSs
DMLS (Direct Metal Laser-Sintering) additive
manufacturing process.
It is being used by EADS IW to
manufacture demonstration parts to
explore the benefts of optimised design
and production sustainability. Protection
of the environment is a key driver, while
a reduction in the costs of manufacturing
and operating its aerospace products also
underlies the groups research.
The results from the initial joint study
were evaluated in terms of CO
2

emissions,
energy and raw material effciency
and recycling. When analysing energy
consumption, the companys investigation
included not only the production phase,
but also the sourcing and transportation of
raw materials, argon consumption for the
atomisation of the DMLS metal powder, and
overall waste from atomisation.
An assessment by EADS IW highlighted,
amongst other things, the potential cost and
sustainability benefts of DMLS during the
operational phase in the redesign of Airbus
A320 nacelle hinge brackets. The data was
backed up by test results from EOS and, in
an additional step, by test results from a
raw material (powder) supplier.
In the frst instance, cast steel nacelle
hinge brackets were compared to an
additively manufactured (AM) bracket of
optimised titanium design by measuring
the energy consumption over the whole life
cycle. The technology turned out to be a
good ft for the design optimisation, as for
this application the operational phase is
typically 100 times more important than the
static phases (e.g. manufacturing the part).
A comparison was made between
manufacturing the optimised titanium
component by rapid investment casting and
on an EOS platform. Energy consumption
for the lifecycle of the bracket, including
raw material manufacture, the production
process and the end-of-life phase, is slightly
smaller on the EOS platform compared
with rapid investment casting. The main
advantage of the EOS technology, however,
is that the additive process uses only the
amount of material for manufacture that is
in the product itself. Thus consumption of
raw material can be reduced by up to 75%.
The study focused on the comparison
between DMLS and rapid investment
casting of a single part and did not take into
account the question of scalability, which
has yet to be addressed. However, some
impressive results were documented.
The optimised design of the nacelle
hinge bracket allowed EADS and EOS to
demonstrate the potential to reduce the
weight per aircraft by approximately
10kg a signifcant amount in aviation.
CO
2
emissions, as a result of the
brackets, were reduced by almost
40 per cent over their life cycle by
optimising the design, despite
the fact that the EOS process
technology uses signifcantly
more energy during
manufacture.
airbus-group.com
eos.info
REDESIGN FOR LIGHTWEIGHTING AND EFFIcIENcy
WITH SINTERED METALS IN AEROSPAcE
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Multi-materials: When supplying
CAD data for a multi-material print on
the Connex ensure it is saved out in the
same, positive space.
This assists with ensuring that
different material settings (using the
Connex Digital Materials) and colours
can be applied.
Wall thickness: For Vero materials
the minimum wall thickness is 0.6mm
but for the fexible materials its a
minimum of 1mm.
Flexible parts: To improve the
durability of the fexible material
always try to print the part with a
glossy surface and angle it so its not
parallel to the head block.
Flexible & fat: The build mechanism
includes a roller. If you hit the wall of a
fat, fexible component, it can cause
problems. Orient fat components
in fexible materials at around 45
degrees to the print heads movement.
tips by IPF ltd (ipf.co.uk)
OBJET COnnEx
MACHInEs
Wall thickness: This can be as small
as 0.5mm for most materials. High
temperature materials require at
least 1mm, though this may be more
with some parts, depending on
geometry and material selection.
Part distortion: Although common
in lower-end FDM machines, pro
level FDM parts should not distort
or warp either during or post-build.
Lower temperature materials can
be removed immediately, whilst
for higher temperature materials a
cool down option on the machine is
sometimes required.
Porosity: All FDM parts have a level
of porosity. To ensure parts are
non-porous, various post fnishing
methods can be applied.
Feature detail: The minimum slice
height for FDM is 0.127mm. Fine
feature detail, such as fne threads
and small lettering, can be diffcult.
For smoother surfaces, curved
geometry should be orientated in the
Z-axis to avoid stair-stepping on parts.
Rapid manufacturing: The use of the
bespoke Insight software on Fortus
systems allows the user full control
of material tool-paths and editing
support structure.
tips by Laser Lines (laserlines.co.uk)
Wall thickness: The minimum wall is
1mm. Whats less known is that maximum
wall is around 10mm (can go thicker but
this is geometry dependent).
Thermal process: Sintering is a thermal
process and requires cool down after
build. Parts also shrink during this time
so have to be scaled up prior to build.
Flat panels: Large,
fat, panels can distort
due to stresses built
up during the process.
Anything larger than
150mm in either
direction has the possibility of distorting
Trapped powder: After build, un-
sintered, loose powder has to be removed
from the parts. Where parts are hollowed
they will contain loose, un-sintered
powder. They need an exit feature.
Text details: Use basic fonts. Minimum
suggested size 16pt (5mm letter height).
This can be embossed or debossed,
minimum 0.6mm.
tips by 3T RPD (3trpd.co.uk)
Orientation: Avoid surfaces built
parallel to the recoater blade.
Large holes: Avoid holes larger than
6mm (if required, can a rain drop be
incorporated? - as above). It is best to
machine blind holes in after build.
Angle to horizontal: Avoid any
angles less than 45 degrees to the
horizontal.
Downward facing surfaces: Avoid
having key surfaces downwards, as
supports cause issues with fnish
surface fnish: Surface roughness
differs between materials from 4
to 12Ra with Titanium having the
smoothest result.
sharp edges/point: Avoid knife
edges and points and add in fllets/
rounds to as many edges on the
component as possible
Height to Wall: The height of a
cylinder should not exceed ten times
the wall thickness
tips by 3T RPD (3trpd.co.uk)
One of the most interesting areas of
research and development in the feld of
3D printing is the ability to use lattice
structures in product design. Typically, these
forms would be diffcult to manufacture
using traditional means unless there was
an economic reason to do so (think of the
margins available in the jewellery industry,
where it traditionally makes sense).
3D printing technology means that
intermediary stages arent really required
and if the structure can be designed, it
can be built (within the parameters of the
process and material).
The lattice like structures could be
decorative but, more importantly, theres
the potential to save material, weight and
to provide a more effcient solution to a
problem. There is also potential in the
medical feld in terms of implants.
The key problem is that theres little in
the way of software to support these types
of lightweight structures in the design
process. One of the only systems out there
is Materialises 3-matic system. Heres the
basics of how it works.
materialise.com
BUILDInG LIGHTWEIGHT sTRUCTUREs WITH MATERIALIsE 3-MATIC
45

A Inside 3-matic,
import (or create)
the solid geometry
for the product
youre working on,
with separate bodies
representing the
space envelope for
the lattice structure
to be built within

B 3-matic then
creates a graph.
This is a wireframe
representation of
each element, to
which a thickness is
applied. The system
has a large number of
presets, but the user
has complete control

C Once complete,
tested (using FEA)
and fnalised, the
part can be output
directly to Magics
software or to sTL
for building. The fnal
end result built in
titanium can be see
to the right
FDM BAsED
MACHInEs
sInTERInG
WITH PLAsTICs
3D PRInTInG
WITH METALs
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BRINGING 3D PRINTING TO
THE DESIGN OFFICE
If you are thinking of bringing 3D printing into your design oce here are
three things to consider that might not be immediately obvious
Y
ouve looked at the options, youve
looked at your budgets, youve
worked out that having 3D printing
in house would be benecial to your
business and youve chosen your process. So
what are your next steps? Here are three of
our top tips you should think about before
signing o that purchase order.
#1 THE USE CASE
This might sound obvious, but its one that
needs to be properly thought through. Are
you looking to cut-back on outsourcing
and do the same work in house? Or are you
looking to have more immediate feedback
in your design process? Theres a subtle
dierence between the two.
Having a 3D printer in your oce,
available when you need it, is incredibly
powerful. As you have the equipment to
hand, you can experiment more and test out
ideas without having to wait for delivery,
handle budgets and approvals.
If youre purely looking to replace
outsourced work, some thought needs to
be given to the volume of work and how
much of an existing team members time
that is going to take up. All of this needs to
factored into your budget.
#2 THE SPACE AND ENVIRONMENT
Some printers are labelled oce friendly
but even these have peculiarities that
need to be taken into account. Some FDM
machines require manual break out of
supports but if the supports are soluble, you
will need facilities to remove them.
Automated solutions are available, but
while these might appear oce friendly,
there can be noise and smell implications.
As you get into more complex processes,
the complexity of the post processing
requirements typically increase as well. You
need to look at the whole process, rather
than just the build portion.
Most materials typically have special storage
requirements and these need to be adhered
to, otherwise you end up wasting cash on
unusable or sub-part materials and youll end
up with crappy builds out of your machine.
#3 TOTAL BUDGET
Its easy to get carried away with the
excitement of bringing 3D printing in
house. Even with entry-level machines,
the total costs are masked quite well
particularly when it comes to consumables.
And lets be clear, were not just talking
about raw materials (whether thats resin,
lament or powder).
Most machines have components that
need to be swapped out or maintained
regularly to keep your machine in good
working order. Whether its consumables
for build plates, cleaning agents, extrusion
tips for lament machines, solvents for
cleaning resin parts or a new set of pliers
every now and then.
You need to look at the total cost of these
parts, bearing in mind that, in most cases, the
more you use the machine (which is clearly a
good thing for productivity), the more youll
need to replace parts and maintain it.
You then have additional costs in terms of
leaving these machines running over night,
when everyone has cleared out and you need
a set of parts for the next day.
With electricity prices constantly on the
rise, energy consumption can become
an issue, particularly as you move up the
complexity ladder.
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MATERIALS: ADAPTING
PROCESSES & DESIGN
To get the most out of new materials they need to be combined with new
ways of thinking in terms of design and engineering, writes Al Dean
M
aterials are arguably
the biggest area of
research for 3D printing
at present. While the
core build processes
have been established
for some time (UV curable resins, laments
and sintering of both metals and
plastics), its the materials science
thats going to bring us new advances
in both the short and long term.
At the moment theres a huge
range of materials available for
all manner of 3D print methods
and these are worth exploring and
getting up to speed with.
FILAMENT MATERIALS
With its exponential growth in the
last few years the lament market is seeing
some serious activity and much of this has
come from the less established players.
Stratasys has always had a strong range
of materials for its printers, but these have
often been restricted to higher-end models.
If you want to build in more exotic
materials (whether thats PC-BS, Nylon or its
heat resistant materials), then youd need to
look at the more costly machines. Otherwise
its ABS.
Now the rise of lower-cost lament-based
machines is giving greater freedom to run
the materials you want, on the machine you
want. For those capable of working without
non-proprietary materials, theres now
nylon, transparent materials, wood lled
laments all manner of things.
Check out companies such as TaulMan3D
(taulman3d.com) who are doing very
interesting things to not only test the
potential but also to ne tune settings which
gain the best results.
RESINS AND POWDERS
UV resin and sintering powder processes
have always been more open. Part of this is
enabled by the nature of the beast. If youre
loading a machine with powder or resin,
its much harder to control whose materials
youre using than if youre loading a material
cartridge.
Sintering masters EOS and
3D Systems both have a good
range of materials available, from
standard nylons through to more
exotic materials lled with glass,
aluminium and carbon. There are
also special purpose materials -
whether its exible components or
elastomer replication.
There are other providers as well.
Italian rm Windform (windform.eu)
oers a range of materials focussing on glass
and carbon lled powders.
On the UV curable resins front, Objet /
Stratasys has been doing interesting things
with its Connex3 machine and users are
reporting that the new ABS mimic material
performs very nicely as a competitor to FDM
(in terms of toughness of parts) but has the
EXPLORING NEW SINTERING MATERIALS AT PARKER RAPID
A good place to start when researching 3D print
materials is to fnd an organisation thats been pushing
the boundaries of what can be achieved in a production
environment.
We caught up with 18 year veteran of 3D printing, Paul
Gray, Manager of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies at
Parker Rapid (Parker Fluidic Solutions Division) to fnd out
what gets him excited and to gain some insight into how
best to use some more advanced materials.
Parker runs several 3D print processes and has done so for
13 years, but its mainstay is a brace of 3D Systems sintering
machines running a variety of materials.
Our philosophy has always been to embrace these new
materials, as a result we have a wealth of experience in
this area, says Gray. We have always strived for quality
over quantity and all of our materials are used in Rapid
Manufacturing within Parker.
Two of the most interesting materials hes fnding success
with are DuraForm Flex for fexible components and a Nylon
derivative called Duraform EX both from 3D Systems.
Standard materials such as standard Nylon 12-based
material and its variants are well established in the
additive manufacturing world and have been for 15 years
or so, says Gray. New materials have come along during
that time which have proved very useful to designers. The
issue with these materials is that they have proved more
diffcult to process with consistent results.
DuraForm Flex: This is a rubber mimic that can be run
on a 3D Systems Sinterstation. It produces strong rubber
like parts that can be used in real applications as well as
for prototypes. Processing is diffcult but Parker Rapid
has developed methodologies that enable the company to
satisfy its demanding customer base.
When designing for this material its limitations must be
considered, says Gray. For instance, I would not use it in a
situation where surface porosity is critical, although it can
be made airtight, its surface will attract and retain particles.
Over the years we have been able to get good results,
even down to 1mm thick sections, which can be useful in
certain design applications.
DuraForm EX: This is a Nylon 11 derivative and has many
useful properties over and above standard PA. It is great
for semi ridged parts or live hinges. Available in black
and white this is a particularly tough and durable Nylon 11
derivative that is good in thin sections. When designing live
hinges, consideration needs to be given to the alignment
of the hinge and the strata of the build. Other design
constrictions also exist but in general it is a reliable material
when processed correctly.
Parker Rapid provides services to many of its
sister divisions, but the companys services are also
available to anyone thats in need of them.
+44 (0) 1908 561515 | paul.gray@parker.com

Only through an open approach to


materials will we truly be able to push
the boundaries of whats possible in
prototyping and manufacture

DuraForm Flex,
a rubber mimic
material
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benet of high resolution builds.
Finally there has always been a healthy
range of third party SLA materials available
from a number of sources.
MATERIALS + DESIGN
Materials advances and machine
improvements is one thing, but only through
new thinking in design and engineering can
these materials be put to good use.
Its truly a case of chicken and egg. If
a new material isnt tried out, its never
heard of and its application never explored.
Conversely, if a new application isnt tried
and tested, the material requirement isnt
necessarily identied.
Development from designers and
engineers is a given, but academics are
also at the heart of this research. After all,
when you have a technology with such a
groundswell of awareness and interest,
its much easier to apply for and receive
funding than if youre experimenting with
CNC technologies or other production
methods. And the vendors like it because
new machines and materials are usually
sold near list price once the research grant
is given.
Hobbyists are also playing an increasingly
important role thanks to the lowering cost of
3D print technologies
Whether its a father developing an
assistive device to help his son overcome
dexterity problems with an articial hand,
or a team developing an open source violin,
built using 3D printers, boundaries continue
to be pushed from all areas.
OPEN VS CLOSED
3D printer manufacturers typically fall into
one of two camps: those that close out their
machines and restrict the use of materials
and those that dont.
By taking the closed route manufacturers
can laser-target materials to their own 3D
print technology, helping ensure customers
get the most appropriate material for the
production method. And this is important
if you want repeatable prints and consistent
part quality.
But does that mean they should stie
experimentation and give users the freedom
to see what else their machines can do?
Just as you wouldnt expect an injection
mould machine tool vendor to lock you down
in terms of what plastic granules you feed
into the hopper, I believe the same should
also be true in the 3D print world.
Materials are going to be the future of
3D printing, for both prototyping and
manufacture of end use components and
only through an open approach to materials
will we truly be able to push the boundaries
of whats possible.
SuStainability & 3D PRintinG: MytHS anD REalitiES
in recent years there has been a lot of talk about
sustainability in 3D printing. This has ranged from claims
about the recyclability of PLA used in entry-level machines
to how by manufacturing components locally reduces the
need for transportation.
With the current emphasis in design and engineering to
create products with a lower environmental impact, close
attention should be paid to 3D printing.
The problem is that many of the claims are either
inaccurately reported, over exaggerated or simply just not
true. So lets look at some of the most common myths and
realities surrounding sustainability and 3D printing.
Polylactic acid or Pla is compostable: PLA, as a material,
is compostable. That doesnt mean that itll break down if
you throw it in your compost bin at the end of the garden.
To break down in a couple of months, PLA needs
industrial composting facilities, which are few and far
between in most countries. You also have the issue of
getting your 3D prints and waste to those facilities. It
can take years to break down in household composting
facilities.
The upsides are two fold. Firstly, when PLA does
breakdown, itll break down safely into water and carbon-
dioxide. The second is that the production process to
produce PLA is less energy intensive than many other
common 3D print materials.
3D printing uses less energy: 3D printers are, for the most
part, energy intensive beasts. Whether its heating a build
chamber and a hot extruder to 270 degrees for 15 hours or
running a laser and optics system to melt titanium 0.2mm
layer by layer energy is consumed and rather heavily.
Its also often a much slower process compared to more
traditional manufacturing processes. More active time
typically means more energy use.
build local: Yes. Building products closer to their point of
use is good practice. The reality is that the transportation
of the product is, typically speaking, a small fraction of its
total energy consumption and environmental impact over
its lifetime.
life time energy use: This one is massive and a reason
for much of the research being conducted in both the
automotive and aerospace felds. While the 3D print
processes used in these more demanding industries are no
doubt higher than traditional machining from billet or near-
net shape cast forms, they do have a huge beneft in terms
of geometry freedom.
What this means is that geometry of components can be
tailored to specifc applications and performance criteria.
If a structure can be manufactured that uses less material,
theres an obvious beneft.
Where it really hits the sweet spot is over the lifetime
of the component. With the desire to reduce the fuel
consumption in the aerospace industry, lighter structures
means less fuel. Ultimately, less fuel use over an aircrafts
20 year + lifecycle, means less impact. And with in use
impacts being the big hitter, everyone wins.
Mass customisation means better products means less
inventory: This is a slightly nebulous one. The concept is
that if you can tailor a product to a customers needs, then
youre ending mass production. The problem is that most
customers dont care about the products they use. And if
they do, theyll typically prefer a product designed by a
professional. In the medical feld, this could be a winner,
however, as patient specifc implants, orthoses and other
devices, are proven to improve recovery and success rates.
Further reading
This is an area thats going to see much more research
over the coming years (After all, sustainability + 3D
printing = academic grants).
In the meantime, Id strongly suggest a read of the
report by Jeremy Faludi on the subject of 3D printings
eco-credentials on the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop
blog (sustainabilityworkshop.autodesk.com).
The team at 3D print analyst, Econolyst, have also
recently introduced an online software tool called
WillIt3DPrint (willit3dprint.com).
the Rowenta division of appliance maker SEB is
proud of the Made in Germany branding its ironing
products carry. However manufacturing in a high-labour
cost location such as Europe means making full use of
automated production technologies as well as novel
designs to reduce costs and to deliver products that
consumers want to buy.
The average buyer makes an initial choice based on
appearance. If they like something, they pick it up so for
us the handle is a key element of the iron, says Rowenta
project engineer Klaus Maier. If it feels substantial in
your hand, thats the mark of a good iron.
Rowenta carries out its moulding in-house and uses
conformal cooling, where cooling channels follow the
form of the mould to give more even cooling properties
than drilled channels. This is used in the most critical
parts of the tools including sections with complex ribs or
where space is restricted.
The company uses 3D printed conformal cooling tool
inserts (produced using the LaserCusing technology) and
integrates these into conventionally built and tempered
moulds. The technique allows cooling channels to be
placed close to the mould surface and to follow the
surface contour conformal.
Typically, cooling channels of around 5mm diameter are
used and are placed between 2-3mm of the surface.
The key beneft is the lack of distortion. It accounts for
the positive assembly characteristics, that is, the excellent
dimensional accuracy of all the different mandrels and
metal tubes that have to ft perfectly, says Maier. He also
explains that start-up is much faster, with the required
dimensional accuracy achieved very quickly.
rowenta.com
COnFORMal COOlinG
at ROWEnta
Prosthetic hand, built
using ExOnes metal
printing process
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DOES COLOUR MATTER?
Al Dean takes a look at the growing trend for colour-capable 3D printers,
delving into colour accuracy and the potential for the design oce
C
olour has always been the
missing link in the 3D printing
industry. From the earliest days
to the present day, weve pretty
much been stuck with colour
options that are directly linked
to the build material.
With an FDM machine, the lament
dictates the colour, regardless of whether
youre building with one, two or three heads.
With a powder-based process, colour comes
from the powdered nylon, unless you get
involved in dying components.
As a result, many of us have become used
to the practice of priming, prepping and
painting a 3D print if we want to accurately
represent colour in a prototype.
For many years the only exception was
Z Corp. Its machines were the only real
option if you wanted to print in more than
a couple of colours and show items such as
labels directly without any post processing
Now assimilated into the 3D Systems empire,
Z Corps ZPrinter is gone, but the ProJet 460,
660 and 860 reign on
REBIRTH OF INTEREST
In the last year everything has changed and
theres now an emerging set of machines that
support colour printing in various guises and
build methods.
Mcors paper-based Iris machines take a
dierent approach to most. Theyre essentially
an oset printer (the paper is printed
separately from the trimming process), applied
to 3D. Once the stack of colour layers are ready,
theyre fed into the machine and each is cut,
glued and assembled to the one below it. The
parts are solid and tough (theyre essentially
laminated wood) and the colour representation
is excellent just as you would expect from an
inkjet printer.
Stratasyss Objet 500 Connex3 takes the
companys polymer jetting technology that
allows it to vary hardness of materials and adds
the ability to print with coloured materials.
Objets method allows the printed material
to be controlled at the near-particle level, so
colours can be mixed and dierent shades
acquired. The machines are not cheap though
and weigh in at over a couple of hundred
grand. Meanwhile, 3D Systems is expanding
its colour 3D print range with the CubeJet.
Details are still sparse but the machine looks
very interesting and is claimed to oer full
colour printing for around $5,000.
A DIFFERENT WORKFLOW
With colour comes a new challenge of model
preparation. While many designers and
engineers will know how to create STL les
from their workhorse 3D design system,
few are familiar with exporting data that
contains colour and texture information as
well as geometry.
Most colour systems rely on le formats
that are capable of holding colour and texture
information, whether its OBJ, a variant of
STL or, God forbid, the VRML (.WRL) format.
Then theres a fair bit of manual tinkering
in the set-up software. Mcors ColorIT
system lets you take standard STL data and
apply textures and labels where you need
them. Adobes recent updates to Photoshop
introduce a range of tools for not only
painting, texturing and editing 3D models,
but also communicating directly with a
growing range of 3D printers.
BUT WHAT USE, COLOUR?
From a technical standpoint, full colour 3D
printing is certainly interesting, but how
useful is it really in the design oce?
From talking with our community the
general consensus is that faster, cheaper
machines are more desirable than full colour
prototypes. However, the biggest interest in
full colour capable machines comes at the
conceptual design stage. Here, a colour print
is ideal when a quick model is required, and
time and cost constraints dont allow for full
model making, post processing, primer and
a paint job.
It can allow non-technical folks to get
the whole picture of a design, rather than
evaluating it in, as one reader describe it,
grubby white sintered nylon.
So why arent we all printing in colour?
One reason is cost, but theres also the issue
of colour accuracy. Apart from the Mcor Iris,
most systems struggle with this. Printing in
colour, with a range of materials, is always
going to be a big challenge.
But as processes improve and costs drop
colour-capable 3D printers are sure to gain
traction. Anyone else remember a time when
we printed colour documents on dot matrix
printers through a multi coloured ribbon?
Resolution
x, y & z axis: 12, 12, 100
(0.0004in, 0.0004in, 0.004in)
Colour
1 million+ colours (CYMK
4 cartridges including black)
x, y & z axis: 5760 x 1440 x 508dpi
Build Size
A4 Paper: 256 x 169 x 150mm
Letter Paper: 9.39 x 6.89 x 5.9in
Build Material
A4 Standard Ofce Paper 80gsm
(160gsm ply colour only)
US Letter Standard Paper 20lb
(43lb ply colour only)
Layer Thickness
0.1 mm (0.004 in) and 0.19mm
(0.007in ply colour only)
Recyclable Parts/Materials
www.mcortechnologies.com
Orange is just one of
the million colours you
can bring to life.
lowst cost
eco-friendly
tru colour
ourabl parts
MCOR TECHNOLOGIES IRIS
The Mcor Iris is a curious beast. It essentially takes the
offset printing process and applies it to 3D printing with
some rather fabulous technology.
The colour is printed at full depth (1 million+ colours)
onto each sheet of A4 paper. Sheets are then cut,
trimmed and glued to a very high degree of accuracy.
You end up with a precut block of paper, from which the
model is broken out.
Mcor operates on a
rental basis, so once
youve paid up, youre
looking at the cost of the
CMYK inks and reams of
office paper.
It doesnt get much
more cost effective for
producing robust parts.
mcortechnologies.com
3D SYSTEMS PROJET & CUBEJET
When Z Corp was acquired by 3D Systems, the companys
colour-capable ZPrinters were absorbed into 3D Systems
ProJet family. The products have been evolving ever since.
3D Systems ProJet 460plus, 660Pro, 860Pro and the
mammoth new ProJet 4500 use a combination of powder
and a coloured binding agent to make colour models.
They give good results for aesthetic evaluation, but
suffer from brittleness.
3D Systems is now
introducing the CubeJet.
Details are scarce but it
looks like concepts from
the powder-based ProJet
machines are being
applied to a smaller form
factor machine perfect for
the desktop.
3Dsystems.com
STRATASYS OBJET 500 CONNEX 3
Stratasys/Objet has been doing interesting things with
its PolyJet materials, resulting in mixed hardness 3D
printed parts, such as over-moulded components. The
company has now added colour into the mix meaning the
new Connex3 machine offers an extremely versatile set of
materials in a single build.
If theres a downside, it relates to how the machine mixes
colours. Although quoted as being full colour, it only gives
access to specifc palettes
of colours and you can
only use those colours on
in a single build. If the two
you want are on separate
palettes, youre out of
luck and will need to fnd
the closest match to your
intent.
stratasys.com
Whos GoT CoLoUR?
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Resolution
x, y & z axis: 12, 12, 100
(0.0004in, 0.0004in, 0.004in)
Colour
1 million+ colours (CYMK
4 cartridges including black)
x, y & z axis: 5760 x 1440 x 508dpi
Build Size
A4 Paper: 256 x 169 x 150mm
Letter Paper: 9.39 x 6.89 x 5.9in
Build Material
A4 Standard Ofce Paper 80gsm
(160gsm ply colour only)
US Letter Standard Paper 20lb
(43lb ply colour only)
Layer Thickness
0.1 mm (0.004 in) and 0.19mm
(0.007in ply colour only)
Recyclable Parts/Materials
www.mcortechnologies.com
Orange is just one of
the million colours you
can bring to life.
lowst cost
eco-friendly
tru colour
ourabl parts
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WORKING WITH
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Stephen Holmes and Al Dean consider best practice for outsourcing
and give three tips on how to work best with a 3D print bureau
B
ringing the benets of
3D printing in-house is
increasingly attractive
and aordable, yet many
organisations will still benet
from outsourcing much of
their 3D print work to service providers.
GO PRO OR GO HOME
The huge increase in awareness of 3D
printing has led to a slew of new service
providers, but you need to ensure your
chosen partner is geared up for working with
professionals.
Look for case studies and previous projects
and dont be afraid to contact other customers
to ask what they thought of the parts and
service they received.
To borrow a quote from legendary bomb
disposer and oil well re ghter, Red Adair, If
you think its expensive to hire a professional
to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.
Weve seen service providers start
up in their bedroom because theyve
scrabbled together enough cash to
buy a MakerBot.
You need to question if these
people are accustomed to working
under NDA and have security in
place to protect your data. Do they
understand the tolerances you need
and how to build your parts so you
get the functionality you need?
A WORKING RELATIONSHIP
Working with an established reputable rm
certainly minimises your risks but there are
still many things to consider before you send
o your model to be printed.
A good service provider will be able to advise
you on all aspects of the 3D printing process
from model preparation and materials to
limitations and shortcuts.
To get some expect advice we spoke to the
teams at three of the UKs leading service
providers 3T RPD, IPF and Laserlines
to nd out what some of the most common
mistakes and errors customers make and how
to avoid them. Below is a summary.
#1 - UNITS, UNITS, UNITS
Units. Theyre a pain in the arse, to be frank.
STL is the main method for communicating
your geometry but it doesnt allow you to
store the units that were used to generate
the mesh data (the AMF format does). This
means you need to ensure you know what
unit base is used to export the data, and then
communicate that to your service provider.
If youre using an automated delivery
provider, such as Shapeways, you can add that
information in. If dealing with real people,
then you need to let them know.
Problems arise when this is not clear inside
your 3D design system; some are explicit, but
with others you need to have a dig around to
nd out if its imperial or metric. Some even
output in centimetres (God knows why).
Which leads nicely on to
#2 - DOUBLE CHECK YOUR DATA
Would you send a manufacturer a drawing
without any dimensions on it and without
anyone checking it? No, you wouldnt.
The same applies to sending 3D data. While
3D CAD systems typically include a preview
of your resultant mesh during the export
process, this shouldnt be relied upon.
Theres also the question of water-tightness:
crappy models create crappy prints.
Prime culprits are hobbyist 3D modelling
systems where parts are knocked together
using multiple bodies (according to those
in the know Google SketchUp is absolutely
evil in this regard as are surface-based
models constructed with poor modelling
practices).
Other common problems from professional-
level solid modelling tools include the export
of multiple parts or bodies, some of which
were hidden during the export process.
There can also be issues with how systems
preview the resultant mesh. Due to their
graphical wizardry they can often mask the
fact that your resolution settings are too low.
To share a bitter personal experience, a nice,
cylindrical face on a casting pattern can turn
out to be a 9-sided polygon thats going to
need drilling out.
The good news is there are a tools out
there to check and x les and some of
them are free. Download some and try them
out. Theyll nd errors and x any issues in
either how youve exported the part or how
the system has generated the data in the
rst place.
#3 - KNOW THE PROCESS & MATERIALS
Ten years ago, 3D print methods could be
categorised in one of two ways: strong and a
bit rough or high delity and brittle. Today,
with so many options available, everything
has changed.
A good service provider will be able to
advise you on which build process and
material will give you the best result for
what you want to achieve.
Its crucial that we try to educate
all our clients in which materials
and technologies best suit each
of their projects, even if it does
occasionally mean they place
orders elsewhere, explains Gary
Miller, head of 3D printing and
rapid prototyping at IPF Rapid
Prototyping.
If we help clients better
understand what IPF can provide it
saves everyone time, it also means the client
becomes part of the process and nds further
uses for the technology.
Dont dismiss a particular build process or
material because you had a bad experience
in the past. With 3D print technology things
can change very quickly so its important to
keep up to date. Materials in particular, are
developing at a frantic pace.
Keeping abreast of all the materials,
machines and performance of outputs can
be a tough task, so by using a bureau you
already have a professional that can handle
all this for you.
Add to this having someone to check,
adjust and generally take the pain out of the
process and it makes the cost of third-party
production far more palatable for those
holding the purse strings.

To borrow a quote from legendary


bomb disposer and oil well re ghter,
Red Adair, If you think its expensive
to hire a professional to do the job, wait
until you hire an amateur.

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BUILDING A BUSINESS
WITH 3D PRINTING
M
akieLab was established
in 2011 with the goal of
bringing the rst 3D printed,
toy-safe doll to market.
The small team has mastered
mass-customisation and gamication,
oering customers the ability to
customise their own doll, experiment
with how it looks and, combined with
a number of accessory options, give
them the exact product they want.
No tooling, no lengthy supply chain battles direct out of the
machine. Never before has a company managed to combine the world
of digital play, 3D printing and product customisation to this level.
With the likes of David Cameron, Prince William, Rob Brydon
and Jessie J bringing their own brands of organic exposure (and
their own custom dolls) to a larger market, recent retail adventures
with Selfridges agship London store, the company is just in the
latter stages of launching its second iOS app.
MakieLab uses laser sintered nylon to build its products which
are a mix of standard parts across the whole range, along with the
customised parts that each user designs. It has also mastered the
art of dying sintered nylon to provide more options to customers.
Products are then packaged and dispatched from its headquarters
in Shoreditch, London.
makielab.com
ALICE TAYLOR
CEO, MAKIELAB
KOTA NEzu DESIGNER & CREATIVE
COMMuNICATOR, zNuG DESIGN
WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
We launched with a 10 high doll, the same size as Barbie. That set
the benchmark for the production costs and has meant that while
were in alpha, prot margins are slim. A smaller doll would have
been lower cost.
WHAT DID YOU NOT FORESEE?
We knew sintering was going out of patent, so machine prices would
come down. We also thought powdered nylon costs would come down,
but, in fact, they went up. We also didnt expect how long it would take
us to get into retail, but I suspect thats down to our experience in
software development, rather than the traditional toy market.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE FUTURE?
Cheaper machines for sintering. Id also like the App Stores to have
a better discovery system. We have online and mobile. Its hard to
compete. Theres 2,500 apps being uploaded to the Apple App Store
every day. How do you compete in that and get noticed?
TIPS FOR THOSE INTERESTED?
Its messy. Theres lots of tinkering. Readers
of the report and your magazine wont
mind, but Joe Bloggs might have second
thoughts. Also, do your spreadsheets rst.
Its expensive, and somewhat unpredictable!
Lastly, get stuck in. Its a ton of fun.
T
okyo-based znug design, is
a creative communication
agency that providers industrial
and product design services to both
individuals and large companies.
The company is headed up by chief
design and creative communicator, Kota
Nezu, who recently launched zecOO,
a radical new electric motorcycle,
collaborating with a team of specialists
in the elds of engineering and electric
transportation.
zecOO is a mix of futurist styling, raw performance and
sustainable transportation with a serious edge. With each
vehicle adapted to individual customer requirements, wishes and
desires, zecOO has been making use of 3D printing to validate the
custom designs.
znug has also been conducting research to laser scan customers
and to present them with a scale 3D printed replica and/or toy
before production begins.
znug.com | zecoomotor.com
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN ELECTRIC VEHICLE DESIGN?
In terms of design challenges, being able to have rapidly charging
batteries will give designers and engineers more freedom in design.
Also, having electric charging points in cities will enable these
vehicles to become more popular and see greater adoption.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE FUTURE?
Im interested in the 3D printing of metal but this is underway
already. Alongside this, Im interested in systems that enable the
manufacture of products using multiple materials in dierent
combinations
TIPS FOR THOSE INTERESTED?
Do not try to force the use of 3D printing in your projects and
products. Ask yourself whether you need to use the 3D printer, then
consider what you want to do actually do. There may be another way.
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3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 32 4/3/14 17:14:45
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D33
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
We asked four 3D printing pioneers from a range of industry sectors how they use
3D printing to benet their business, how they did it and what theyve learned
DAVID PERRY FounDER AnD
EngInEER, oPEnFAB PDX
mIchIEl coRnElIssEn
InDustRIAl DEsIgnER
F
ormed in early 2013,
OpenFab PDX is exploring
useful applications of low-
cost digital design and fabrication
tools with a focus on 3D printing.
Founder, David Perry, became
infatuated with hobbyist 3D
printing at the 2012 Open Source
Hardware Summit in New York
City. Enthusiastic about the
capabilities of inexpensive 3D
printers, but a little disappointed by the common applications, David
bought a machine and got to work.
OpenFab instigates open source projects and produces products
straight o the printer such as the Fused Filament Fiddle, or
F-F-Fiddle, an open source 3D printed electric violin that can be
printed without support material using hobbyist equipment. David is
experimenting with a variety of services and inexpensive CAD tools,
scanners, and fabrication tools allow him to oer mechanical design
services that are aordable for individuals.
He is also pursuing youth and community engagement at libraries,
schools, and 3D printing themed birthday parties..
openfabpdx.com
B
y his own admission, Michiel
has been a designer for a
while.Lets just say I remember
drawing boards, he says. Most of the
rst part of his career was about design
and creative direction of consumer
products and professional systems for a
large electronics company.
A couple of years ago, Michiel
couldnt control the itch to strike out
on his own anymore, so he quit his job
and started his own studio. Right around that time, he bumped into
3D printing as a means to manufacture products (as opposed to
prototypes, for which hed been using it already). It took him about
ve seconds to catch the bug. Michiel says hes been very lucky to
have created the right product at the right time, like the Happy Bird
jewellery or his Apple accessories, so hes been able to reach quite a
few people, retailers and media with those.
michielcornelissen.com
WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
Ive been a little bit in denial about my attraction to 3D printing, so
Ive probably only spent about 30% of time on it, up until recently. I
sometimes think I should have dropped everything 4 or
5 years ago and spent 100% of my time on 3D
printing; although I realise its still not an easy
area for a designer to make a living, so another
part of me is pretty happy about the industrial
design work Ive been able to do for clients.
WHAT DID YOU NOT FORESEE?
How my view on aesthetics would evolve by seeing whats possible
in 3D printing, and the subsequent need for dierent design tools
such as Rhinos Grasshopper (which is now a passion in its own
right). How cool it is to have your own printer, given the technical
limitations of FDM printers compared to industrial printers. Its
just very liberating to be able to manufacture your own stu.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE FUTURE?
I want the 3D print providers to realise their sales potential with
regular folks. Theyre good at providing services for hobbyists and
professionals, but suck at creating a satisfying shopping experience
for normal customers.
TIPS FOR THOSE INTERESTED?
I see a big gap between what many people create with 3D printing,
and what most people need. So if youre coming in from the
technical 3D printing side of things: study design, marketing, study
people in general to learn how to make creations that are more
than a novelty, but truly relevant. Designers with a background in
traditional manufacturing should realise that translating their ideas
into 3D printing is a totally dierent game, in terms of geometric
possibilities, limitations, economics, and distribution.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
When you look closely at the F-F-Fiddle, the dierent elements
of the instrument are very contrasting, and it lacks an underlying
intention that ties the form together. I would like to have taken
more time at the front end to establish that intention and reect it
with the design. Were working on that now.
WHAT DID YOU NOT FORESEE?
I found the F-F-Fiddle project incredibly compelling, but I never
expected others to feel the same way. The reaction from the design
and 3D printing community has been extremely validating and
exciting! I hope to use the project and the experience to show
others that they can make things that are impactful.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THE FUTURE?
Theres a huge wealth of innovation that remains largely
untapped. We are all users of something: instruments, toys,
books, transportation and its our user knowledge that lets
us create relevant and innovative solutions. Im very excited to
further democratise innovation by way of new business models
and tools (like 3D printing).
TIPS FOR THOSE INTERESTED?
Just get started! Find something that you think is really exciting
and do it. Whether that means printing things from thingiverse,
exploring new materials, or designing something new try not
to worry about whether or not its any good or if anyone else will
like it. Do things that you feel driven to do, then do them over and
over again until theyre awesome.
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 33 4/3/14 17:14:55
3D34 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
THE FUTURE IS INDUSTRIAL
If 3D printing is to be used in production, it will be essential to automate,
manage and plan the process. Al Dean explores what the future holds
T
heres much talk of how
3D printing or additive
manufacturing is going to
revolutionise manufacturing.
The concept of manufacturing
components directly, using mass
customisation as a driver, is entirely valid
and companies have been doing exactly this
for many years under the radar.
What is rarely discussed are the heavy
requirements for both process planning and
the sheer scale of the facilities.
Take the sintering of plastics, for example.
This is perhaps the most widely-used process
for end use parts and there are requirements
to make those machines work and deliver
consistently. Theres also a lot of ancillary
equipment required to support it powder
load, part breakout, clean up and nishing,
powder recycling and reuse.
If you want to talk metals, then you can
add in heavyweight equipment to withstand
explosions (or at least, stop them). After all,
powdered titanium, other than being used to
print kick ass metal parts, is also a core part
of most reworks. Compared to traditional
manufacturing techniques, this area is more
underdeveloped than many might think.
One company that has been working on
solving this for sometime is Electro Optical
Systems (EOS). Due to the popularity of
its sintering machines in an industrial
setting (both within service providers and
engineering companies), its Integrated
Process Chain Management is perhaps the
most well developed of all vendors.
Materialise also got into the automation
and process control game very early on. And,
as youd expect from Europes largest service
provider, it has nailed the process required to
ramp up 3D printed part production.
Harnessing the software development
experience it has from its Magics and 3-matic
products, Materialise has built Streamics, one
of the rst software platforms to assist those
looking to truly automate 3D printing in a
production like environment. It provides an
integrated business process, from quotation to
production management, rather than a series
of explicit and disconnected steps, and covers
le acquisition and repair (with integration
with Magics), customer and job management,
reporting, machine control, planning as well as
quality control and traceability.
CONCLUSION
For an industry thats 30 years old, 3D
printing is not keeping up in terms of
industrialisation. Where other methods of
production are receiving greater levels of
automation and being infused with more
and more intelligence, 3D print, for all its
promises to revolutionise the manufacturing
world, is falling behind.
That said, there are hints that a more
industrialised future is coming. Expect to see
more automated processes, more automated
equipment (EOS and ExOne are perhaps
the leading exponents in this at present).
Only then will we really see the factory of the
future that the hype is promising.
EOS Integrated Process
Chain Management
covers the end to end
workfow, from powder
to parts to recycling
LOOK FOR THE ENABLING SERVICES & FuTuRE BuSINESS SuPPORT
Alongside the frenetic pace of
developments on the machines
and market side of 3D printing,
theres also an interesting
trend in new organisations
bringing products, services and
technologies that enable further
experimentation.
There is a stream of online sales
channels opening up and exploiting
the growing interest in mass
customisation and 3D printing.
Founded in the Netherlands
after being spun out of a
Philips incubator, Shapeways
(shapeways.com) is building a
community and economy that
centres on two things: providing
3D build services (and a huge
range of materials) and enabling
its community to sell items
directly to customers.
Michiel Cornelissen and Joshua
Harker are two prime examples.
Both have made their names
and a healthy revenue stream
by developing products that are
handled purely by Shapeways. We
talk to them later on in this report.
Digital Forming is also doing
interesting things in the same
space (digitalforming.com).
Designers create a base product,
then customers can interact with,
manipulate and order their own
custom variants.
Another interesting movement is
the provision of components that
support the development of 3D
printed products.
A perfect example is Eyewearkit
(eyewearkit.com), recently
launched in the Netherlands.
This frm provides pre-cut lenses
that can be built into 3D printed
custom built spectacle frames. The
companys web-site also includes
geometry templates for the various
items, design tips and such.
While good examples are
currently few and far between,
we predict this area of industry
will explode in the coming years.
As people experiment more with
production of plastic components
(in particular), its natural that
they will want to replicate
traditionally manufactured items
and the additional components
and specialist functionality
required. Then, when ready,
places to sell them.
Custom
frames from
Eyewearkit
Streamics, your AM automation & control system
For more information:
software.materialise.com/streamics-robot-develop3d
Or contact us:
UK: software@materialise.co.uk
US: software@materialise.com
Global: software@materialise.be
Efcient, Consistent and Easy
Automated part operations: conversion,
xing, minimal Z-orientation, property
extraction and preview generation
Integration through API with website,
Streamics Control System or
3
rd
party system
Instant Quoting
Powered by Streamics
TM
Robot
SAM advertentie A4 [print-ready].indd 1 28/02/14 09:40
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 34 4/3/14 17:15:03
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 3D35
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
Streamics, your AM automation & control system
For more information:
software.materialise.com/streamics-robot-develop3d
Or contact us:
UK: software@materialise.co.uk
US: software@materialise.com
Global: software@materialise.be
Efcient, Consistent and Easy
Automated part operations: conversion,
xing, minimal Z-orientation, property
extraction and preview generation
Integration through API with website,
Streamics Control System or
3
rd
party system
Instant Quoting
Powered by Streamics
TM
Robot
SAM advertentie A4 [print-ready].indd 1 28/02/14 09:40
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 35 4/3/14 17:15:11
3D36 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE
HOLD FOR THE PRO?
E
ngineers and
manufacturers have
always had familiarity
with 3D printing in the forms
of Rapid Prototyping and
Additive Manufacturing (AM).
Some manufacturers and early
adopters have been using 3D
printing technology to their
advantage since its inception.
Many invested later down the
line. Others tested it in the early
days and decided to wait until
the technology matured. While
the AM market was growing
healthily, until the mid-2000s it
still remained a niche within the
industrial engineering world.
In 2009, the term 3D printing
started to become more widely
recognised as media attention
focused on the potential the
technology oered and 3D
printers for consumers became
available. This ignited a renewed
wave of interest in industrial 3D
printing. Inspired by the idea
that AM might have progressed,
many manufacturers started to
actively research the technology,
and started to invest in it more
heavily.
Industrial 3D printing is
not the Rapid Prototyping
that you used to know. With
seven core technologies at
3D Systems, almost any
manufacturing requirement can
be met, with accuracy of build,
resolution, full colour, robust
and lightweight materials and
condensed processes that drive
manufacturers towards new
levels of productivity.
With 3D printing, you can
quickly create end-use parts
without having to invest in the
time and expense of tooling,
or use signicant short cuts to
creating tooling, should you
need it.
3D printing not only provides
alternatives to traditional
manufacturing methods, but
brings with it a developing
paradigm shift in the way parts
are designed and the materials
are used.
For example, multiple parts
can be more easily combined
into a single part, enabled by the
printing of complex geometries
not possible with traditional
manufacturing. In addition,
using new, lightweight polymers
in place of sheet or cast metal
parts decreases weight, without
reducing mechanical properties.
3D printing also allows for
parts that were previously
considered impossible, or at
least restrictively expensive,
to become real, incorporating
complex assemblies and cavities
in a single build.
As this paradigm shift occurs,
manufacturers are investing
heavily in on-site research,
teaching engineers new
approaches to design for 3D
printing and comprehensive
testing of new materials.
Those manufacturers who
successfully exploit new ways
to build products, in lighter
materials, with more ecient
(but previously impossible)
designs, will be the ones who will
deliver the most exciting, cost-
eective and innovative products.
A
wareness of 3D printing
by the masses is a
double edged sword.
The most obvious advantage for
professional service providers
is that if more people are aware
of 3D printing, then more will
want more things 3D printed.
Some of these things will, of
course, be things that they would
previously have made by other
means such as CNC machining.
But also, in some cases, it relates
to things that they would not
have had made at all.
The proliferation of
personalised items also creates
its own demand by creating
a mindset that says I want
personalised things because I
can have personalised things.
So, generally speaking, demand
is created through awareness
and (sometimes) by people and
organisations genuinely taking
advantage of 3D printings
capabilities. So far then, all
seems lovely but then we have
to take a look at the downside.
The technology itself is full
of opportunities and increased
capabilities but unfortunately,
these can never match the
inated expectations created by
poorly informed commentators,
journalists and questionable
marketing practices. This causes
problems for professionals when
customers expect them to deliver
on these incorrect claims and
false promises. It only takes a few
marketing executives (or CEOs)
to use phrases like colouring
book simplicity and complexity
for free or the only limit is your
imagination to bring the entire
industry into disrepute. Such
claims are all too frequently
written about and preached.
As people see through these
for being the nonsense that they
are (and those who dont already
will do so at some point) the
professional service providers
have to bear the weight of the
industrys damaged reputation.
Regardless of whether using 3D
printers for in-house use or as a
sub-contractor, you want to meet
your customers expectations.
The last thing you want to do
is to keep telling your customer
things like I know that you have
been told that this can be done
but it cant so we wont be able
to do it. From a professional
manufacturing point of view
the miseducation of the masses
can mean that 3D printing is
used where it really shouldnt
be as people choose turn to
what they are told is a panacea
of manufacturing capabilities
rather than selecting a far more
suitable form of manufacturing.
3D printing does indeed bring
new and amazing capabilities to
the manufacturing table. These
capabilities are being expanded
on all the time. If irresponsible
marketing and poorly researched
articles can educate the masses
about the true nature of 3D
printing (warts and all) then
the positives outlined in my
rst paragraph can be realised
without the negatives outlined
in the second paragraph and this
will be good for professionals
and customers alike.
Kevin McAleA chief iMpAct
Officer, 3D SySteMS
JereMy pUllin MAnAger, rApiD
MAnUfActUring, reniShAW
3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 36 4/3/14 17:15:19
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3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
SPONSORED BY:
3D PRINTING FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
In terms of public awareness 3D printing is at a point of inection,
but how is this shift changing things for the professional? We asked an industry
executive, a hardcore professional and an analyst for their opinions.
I
f you read the same
thing over and over again
in dierent respected
publications, even the most
illogical claims start to appear
factual. If we believe everything
we read, we are entering the era
of a new industrial revolution,
where, before long, disease and
disgurement will be eradicated
by 3D printed organs and limbs.
Aircraft will be ultra-ecient;
burning almost no fuel due
to lightweight topologically
optimised fuselages and highly
optimised jet engines. Whats
more, transport and logistics
infrastructure will become
obsolete along with the classical
supply chain, as consumer goods,
clothes and even food are printed
in our homes and communities.
Worryingly, these are all claims
reported in the popular media,
and to a greater or lesser degree
form the basis of the information
now being used by senior
managers and C-suite executives
to gauge the future importance
and impact of 3D printing on
organisations around the globe.
So are we really on the cusp of
something revolutionary, or is
it now time for designers and
engineers to become the gate
keepers of business reality and
to apply a sanity check to the
aspirations of top oor executives.
There is no doubt that there is a
buzz around low cost consumer
3D printers and online printing
services but these will, for the
foreseeable future, be limited to
low cost and low status product
manufacture. Against this back
drop of bobble-heads, mini-mes
and avatar characters there is
without doubt a growing use of
additive technology in mainstream
manufacture. But, the pace of
industry adoption and the pace of
technology development remain
relatively slow and conservative
compared to the whirlwind of the
consumer 3D printing domain.
The industrial Additive
Manufacturing (AM) market is
growing at a steady and healthy
30% each year, compared to a
consumer 3D printing sector
experiencing growth nearer to
150% (hence, the media frenzy).
Some might see this disparity in
growth as a failure on the part
of industrial AM machine and
materials vendors to simulate
adoption, or the lack of credible
design & simulation software
needed to enable the front end of
the AM process chain. However,
given the critical applications in
which AM makes the most sense
(aerospace, medical implants,
pharmaceuticals and defence), a
conservative approach should be
welcomed not disparaged.
So can we expect the future to be
as slow as the past?
Undoubtedly not, as estimates
put the current public & private
sector investment in AM related
R&D at some $350-million per
annum globally, a gure that
has tripled in the last 5-years.
This investment is enabling
concerted research eorts to
improve productivity, increasing
material choice and ensuring
better part quality and repeatability
all critical factors that will
undoubtedly accelerate technology
adoption in the future. But this will
be a gradual acceleration, based
on technology evolution, rather
than an industrial revolution
based solely on the world waking
up to 3D printing, after all the
technologies are largely the same
as they were 20-years ago!
In this new world order the role
of designers and engineers will
be paramount, as they will be
the champions of realism, with
the skills and knowledge to truly
understand the impact that AM
will have to a business along with
the technological limitations to
adoption. To make AM work,
engineers must understand the
production economics of making
parts layer by layer, the benets of
using powders and liquids rather
than solids and the variances
encountered using lasers and
optics rather than spindles and
cutting tools. In short there is a
lot to learn, but learn we will.
In any business hierarchy
looking towards 3D Printing
and AM it is therefore critical to
put the views of engineers and
design professionals above those
of futurists, technology scouts,
marketers or the media.
Remember, if something seems
implausible, it probably is just
ask an engineer.
So what should be the simple
take-away for the guys in the
C-suites up there on the top oor?
In the world of AM, the smart
money is on the tortoise, not the
hare. Think long term business
sustainability not short term
marketing gain. And dont
worry about missing the boat
another bigger, faster, shinier
one will be along shortly, with
better navigation aids, better life
vests and less chance of hitting
an iceberg.
PHIL REEVES ManagIng
dIREctoR, EconoLYSt

Dont worry about


missing the boat
another bigger,
faster, shinier
one will be along
shortly, with better
navigation aids,
better life vests and
less chance of hitting
an iceberg

3D PRINTING FOR PROFESSIONALS.indd 37 4/3/14 17:15:26


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Specialists
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company/product names are trademarks of their
Release your True Potential
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A
fter youve cut through
all the 3D printing hype,
there is still plenty for the
professional to get excited
about in the future. Whether
its further developments for
prototyping and testing or use in production
alongside more traditional manufacturing
process, things are changing quickly.
It goes without saying that the future will
bring more, better, cheaper. But its also
about how to use that same core technology to
do new, novel and interesting things. To qualify
that, lets talk it through, starting with some of
the new machines coming on board soon.
HARDWARE A-GO-GO
Filament machines are advancing and the
introduction of the MarkForg3D carbon bre
3D printer is particularly interesting.
While Im not convinced that youll get
parts analogous to production carbon bre
thats been through an autoclave, it does oer
something exciting. The rst is that it should
be possible to build stier and stronger parts
(stiness is denitely the greater benet).
The second is the ability to combine a carbon
core with a nylon, ABS or PLA outer.
The machine has a eminently usable
build chamber and, for the pro, it looks
like MakerBot will have some interesting
competition at the entry level.
Next theres the sintering and
stereolithography market. The BluePrinter
oers a more oce friendly alternative to
traditional sintering machines. Its smaller,
its cheaper (by 10x) and the parts look
excellent. By dropping the price barrier, those
organisations that already outsource sintered
parts might look to shift some of that budget
to an in house machine (it wouldnt be hard to
justify if the build size suits).
Elsewhere, Stereolithography looks to be
going through a renaissance. The FormLabs
machine kicked things o again, but has
a relatively small build size. Now DWS, an
organisation already well experienced with
pro -level 3D printing for with its Digital Wax
machines, is getting in on the action. Its new
stereolithography machine has a more usable
build chamber and a broader spectrum of
material options. It promises high-res parts
in a wide range of materials, without huge
investment. This is exciting.
It also looks like the old-guard of the
industry are nally starting to take notice. 3D
Systems has a range of pro-suitable machines
at a lower cost (the ProJet 1500 is one such
example, as is the CubeX) and of course,
Stratasys side stepped the whole issue by
acquiring MakerBot last year.
Whats interesting is that two of these new
machines (the MarkForg3D and the Xfab) will
both have a list price in the region of $5,000.
The BluePrinter, at 16k, also represents a
serious drop in what the sintering market
typically expects in terms of entry-level.
IS THERE A WEAK LINK?
So, if we have new machines, new material
combinations and new ways of processing
them, whats the missing link? What needs to
change to take advantage of all these tools?
If I had to make a call on what might let the
side down, its the CAD software industry. If
you look at how the developers of 3D design
software have reacted to the hype of 3D
printing, most have ignored it or given it lip
service at best.
Autodesk is one exception and has made a
good job of not only supporting the growing
maker community, but also designers and
engineers by building in 3D print tools to its
pro applications. SpaceClaim is also getting
in on the action and it wont be the last.
SolidWorks is doing the same in its 2015
product release and with Microsoft adding
support for 3D printers at an OS level other
vendors should sit up and take notice.
PRODUCTION INTEGRATION
Ultimately, where the real excitement lies is
in the production environment - the world of
Additive Manufacturing.
However, forget the hype: we wont be 3D
printing everything. Rather, using 3D printing
where appropriate, tested and proven. In
most cases alongside more traditional
manufacturing techniques.
A perfect example is Nike. The Oregon
giant is introducing products that feature
a 3D printed component. This combines a
specialised element of design to improve
an athletes performance along with Nikes
research into production and materials. In
fact, the company was recently awarded a
couple of patents relating to its adaptation of
technology.
3D printing stands to become a greater part
of our design and engineering future not
replacing traditional tools and processes, but
enhancing them, wherever suitable. It may not
be the future being sold by the mainstream
media but its already real and just as exciting.
WHERE DO WE GO NExT?
The 3D print industry is on an acceleration vector. Al Dean looks at whats
coming next, potential stumbling blocks and ultimately, where were all heading
The Nike Vapor Laser Talon
uses custom 3D printed parts
to augment traditional
manufacturing
Workstation
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+44 (0) 800 180 4801 sales@wksmail.com www.workstationspecialists.com
(C) Copyright Workstation Specialists Acecad Software Ltd. E & OE - Prices exc. VAT + Delivery and are subject to change without notice. All rights reserved. Logos, images &
company/product names are trademarks of their
Release your True Potential
@WSpecialists
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DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 39
T
ry and run 3D CAD software on a
consumer laptop and youll most likely
have a disappointing experience.
Mobile workstations, on the other
hand, are purpose built for 3D CAD.
They offer the same workstation-class technologies
youd expect to fnd in desktop counterparts and
many are tested and certifed to run a whole
range of CAD applications. Whether youre looking
for a workstation-class ultrabook or a desktop
replacement here are some of the most important
things to consider for CAD on the go.
MOBILITY
Mobile workstations, by their defnition, should
be mobile, but fnding the right balance between
performance, screen size and portability can be hard.
Machines typically come in two sizes, governed
by the size of the display. 15-inch models weigh
anywhere between 2.5kg and 3.0kg, while 17-inch
models range from 3.5kg to 4.0kg.
The laptop itself is one thing but you also need
to take the power adapter into account. These are
much larger for mobile workstations than they are
for standard laptops due to the power hungry GPUs.
Complete with cables, adapters typically weigh 0.7kg
for a 15-inch machine and 1kg for a 17-inch machine.
This not only adds to the overall weight, but can also
make it hard to pack everything into a laptop bag.
17-inch models, often called desktop replacements,
might be fne for the back seat of the car, but can be
hernia-inducing if you take one on an overseas trip.
15-inch machines offer slightly better portability, but
are still not much fun to carry around for the day.
For those who like to travel light theres a new
class of ultra portable mobile workstations. Thin
and light, weighing between 1.6kg and 1.9kg, they
are available with 14-inch and 15-inch screens.
DISPLAY
HD (1,920 x 1,080 resolution) used to be a luxury
but is now becoming quite common on 14-inch,
15-inch and 17-inch mobile workstations. 1,600 x
900 resolution is also available, as is 1,366 x 768 on
some 14-inch and 15-inch models.
Of course, theres also a growing trend in ultra
high-resolution displays, typically found on 15-inch
models. The two common resolutions here are
QHD+ (3,200 x 1,880) and 2,880 x 1,620.
Higher resolution displays are stunning and
deliver exceptionally fne line detail, which is great
for CAD. However, there are downsides.
Icons, menus, dialogue boxes and general text can
be hard to read, even with Windows settings ramped
up. 3D performance can also take a signifcant hit.
At a resolution of 3,200 x 1,880 there are three
times as many pixels to push around compared
to standard HD (1,920 x 1,080). This puts a much
Mobile workstations
for CAD: a buyers guide
From ultrabook to desktop replacement, theres a mobile workstation for every
designer and engineer. Greg Corke delves deep into the CAD-class laptop

MOBILE WORKSTATION BUYERS GUIDE

Mobile workstations.indd 39 4/3/14 19:26:30
40 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
bigger load on the GPU. The drop in performance
will depend on the application, dataset and viewing
mode but can be as much as 30%.
In terms of image quality, there can be a lot
of difference. IPS displays generally offer better
colour reproduction and better viewing angles than
standard TN displays. You may also have a personal
preference for a glossy or matte fnish.
Screens with a higher colour gamut are able
to display more colours from a specifed range.
This can be very useful for colour-critical design,
but you will need to calibrate your screen with a
separate piece of hardware. The Lenovo ThinkPad
W540 is the exception as it has an X-Rite colour
calibrator built in.
PROCESSOR
Mobile workstations come with dedicated mobile
Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors. Two or four
CPU cores are standard, with four more suited
to accelerating multi-threaded simulation and
rendering applications. Clock speeds are essential
for CAD and range from 2.1GHz (with 3.3GHz Turbo
Boost) to 2.9GHz (with 3.9GHz Turbo Boost).
Intel Turbo Boost works by increasing the
processors frequency whenever you need it, as
long as there is thermal and power headroom.
Power saving is also important and when
running off the mobile workstations battery Intel
SpeedStep technology switches both voltage and
frequency down to conserve power.
The level by which the processor slows down
varies between different mobile workstation
manufacturers. It can be as little as 5% or as much
as 75%! Throttling the processor is great if you
want to prolong battery power but not so good if
you want to run your CAD program at full speed.
Some mobile workstation manufacturers,
including Dell and Lenovo, allow you to switch off
Intel SpeedStep so the CPU is not throttled when
running on battery power. However, this can only
be done in the BIOS and not inside Windows, so
its a bit of a pain. Other manufacturers, including
Scan, Workstation Specialists and Schenker, dont
give you this option so your processor is always
throttled when your machine is not plugged in.
GRAPHICS
For professional 3D CAD there are only really two
serious graphics options - Nvidia Quadro or AMD
FirePro. Mobile workstations also include Intel
graphics and can automatically switch between the
two to extend battery life when not using 3D CAD
applications that demand 3D performance.
To conserve battery life GPUs can be automatically
throttled or GPU cores switched off. The amount by
which the GPU slows down varies between mobile
workstation manufacturers. GPUs run at full power
when the machine is plugged into the mains.
Nvidia has the lions share of the mobile
workstation market and offers a massive choice
seven options in total ranging from the Quadro
K510M (1GB GDDR5) for 2D and entry-level 3D CAD
right up to the high-end Quadro K5100M (8GB
GDDR5) for high-end 3D visualisation.
With 3D performance approaching that of the
desktop cards power comes into play. The low-end
Quadro GPUs consume up to 30W while the high-end
Quadro GPUs can eat through up to 100W, more than
twice as much as a typical mobile Intel Core i7 CPU.
AMD concentrates on the entry-level to mid-range
with the FirePro M4100, M5100 and M6100, all
featuring up to 2GB GDDR5 memory. AMD does not
quote max power consumption.
If you have an ultra high-res screen, such as 3,200
x 1,880 or 2,880 x 1,620, you may need to consider
investing in a high-end GPU to get the right level
of 3D performance. Having to render signifcantly
more pixels puts a greater load on the GPU so it may
become harder to manipulate 3D models smoothly.
This is dependent on application and datasets.
MEMORY
For CAD/CAM/CAE and design visualisation,
memory is king, but with a maximum of four DIMM
slots you cant get the same capacities as you can
with a desktop workstation.
32GB (4 x 8GB) is the maximum for most 15-inch
and 17-inch models, with 16GB (2 x 8GB) all you can
squeeze into an ultra mobile workstation, still a
whole lot more than youll fnd in a standard laptop.
STORAGE
Solid State Drives (SSDs) are perfect for mobile
workstations. Theyre fast, responsive and, because
there are no moving parts, use less energy and will
not break when dropped.
Whats not to like? Well, the price per GB is high
and capacities peak at 500GB 1TB so traditional
mechanical drives still have an important role to
play in storing CAD datasets.
The good news is most mobile workstations can
accommodate multiple drives, so you can mix
and match technologies: a lower capacity SSD for
operating system and applications and a high-
capacity mechanical drive for data.
There are two main storage form factors in a
mobile workstation: traditional 2.5-inch (for SSD and
mechanical drives) and the smaller mSATA (51 x 30
x 0.8mm), which is just for SSDs. Some machines
support the M.2 form factor, which is even smaller.
Ultra mobile workstations typically support two
drives (1 x 2.5-inch + 1 x mSATA); 15-inch machines
three drives (2.5-inch + 2 x mSATA) and 17-inch
four drives (2 x 2.5-inch + 2 x mSATA).
Its also possible to create RAID arrays so you
can optimise your drive for speed or redundancy.
For ultimate performance consider striping two
drives in a RAID 0 array. However, if youre on
the road a lot and theres a long time between
backups, keep your data safe by mirroring two
drives in a RAID 1 array. Should one drive fail then
you can continue to work uninterrupted.
DVD or Blu-ray drives are common, but omitted
on the ultra mobile workstations to keep down
size and weight. This could be an issue if you back
up data or like to watch flms. But with software
increasingly downloaded or even coming on USB
sticks, its less of an issue instead, buy a USB DVD
drive or map to another drive over the network.
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
Mobile workstations typically have two types of
keyboards: standard and chiclet. Standard keys
have slanted edges and sit close to each other while
chiclet or island are fat and have clear space
between them. Everyone has a personal preference.
Numeric keypads, which sit to the right of the
main keyboard, are extremely useful for precise
input for design and engineering. They are standard
on 17-inch models and most 15-inch models.
TrackPads vary greatly in size and surface
texture. Everyone has a personal preference but
we like a large TrackPad with a smooth fnish
and buttons with a small but defnite click. Some
machines also have a Pointstick that sits in the
middle of the keyboard. Many users fnd these hard
to use, but there are defnitely some fans out there.
Of course, whenever possible, we recommend you
use an external mouse wired or BlueTooth.
BATTERY
With big screens and high performance CPUs
and GPUs, mobile workstations can eat power,
which is bad news for transatlantic fights or long
commutes. If youre on the road a lot consider
buying a spare battery.
Some machines offer a choice of batteries
typically 6, 8 or 9 cells. Generally speaking the more
cells, the longer the battery life, but batteries are
also rated by Watt Hours (Wh). Other machines, like
the HP ZBook 14, support a battery slice, a slimline
secondary battery that clips underneath the base.
Battery life is obviously governed by what you
do with your mobile workstation. Hammering both
CPU and GPU when modelling in a 3D CAD package
is always going to drain power more quickly than
writing a Word doc. When processors heat up you
also get the double whammy on battery life as fans
kick in to cool everything down. Keeping fans and
grilles free from fuff can help improve cooling
effciency and save power.
To help maximise battery life (and because its
not always possible for the battery to deliver the
same amount of power that it can when plugged
into the mains) the CPU and GPU are often
throttled automatically.
The way this throttling is done varies by
manufacturer. For example, in the Lenovo ThinkPad
W540 the CPU automatically runs at 25% speed
when on battery power, though this throttling can
be turned off in the BIOS.
With the Schenker W503, Scan 3XS MGW-10
and Workstation Specialists, the CPU always
runs at 50% when running on battery. In the Dell
Precision M6800 its 95%, but the GPU is clocked
Currently, two of
the most popular
processors for mobile
workstations are the
Intel Core i7-4700MQ
(2.40GHz up to
3.40GHz) and the
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to
3.70GHz) both with 4
cores and 8 threads.
The Intel Core
i7-4900MQ (2.80GHz
up to 3.80GHz) and
Intel Core i7-4930MX
Processor Extreme
Edition (3.0GHz up
to 3.9GHz) are also
available in some
machines though
expect to pay a hefty
premium.
Ultra mobile
workstations use low
powered processors,
such as the Intel Core
i7 4600U (2.10GHz up
to 3.30GHz) (2 cores,
4 threads), which
draws a maximum of
15W compared to the
37W or 47W common
in most other mobile
processors.
Keep an eye out for
the new Intel Core
i7 4610M (3.0GHz
to 3.7GHz) (2 cores,
4 threads), Core i7
4810MQ (2.80GHz to
3.80GHz) (4 cores, 8
threads) and Core i7
4910MQ (2.90GHz to
3.90GHz) (4 cores,
8 threads). These
should be making
their way into mobile
workstations soon.
Choosing a
Mobile ProCessor

MOBILE WORKSTATION BUYERS GUIDE

Mobile workstations.indd 40 4/3/14 19:29:42
Workstation
Specialists
+44 (0) 800 180 4801 sales@wksmail.com www.workstationspecialists.com
(C) Copyright Workstation Specialists Acecad Software Ltd. E & OE - Prices exc. VAT + Delivery and are subject to change without notice. All rights reserved. Logos, images &
company/product names are trademarks of their
@WSpecialists
Release your True Potential
Remove Limitations and Optimise Your Workfow with Uncompromising Performance
WS Ad.indd 1 28/02/2014 15:51
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uk.insight.com
Tel: 0844 846 3333
Scan Computers
www.scan.co.uk
Tel: 0871 472 4747
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2013 PNY Technologies. The PNY Technologies logo is a registered trademark of PNY Technologies. 2013 NVIDIA Corporation. NVIDIA, the
NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA Quadro are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation.
All rights reserved. All company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are as-
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To learn more visit www.pny.eu/quadro or http://pny.quadrok-selector.com/
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DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 43
down much more dramatically.
The quality of batteries can vary greatly and,
over time, some lose their ability to hold charge
faster than others. Some manufacturers exclude
batteries from their warranties or reduce the term
so read the small print.
Battery charge times vary which can be
frustrating if youre about to embark on a long
haul fight. Dell Precision mobile workstations
support ExpressCharge, which allows a completely
discharged battery to charge to 80% in about 1
hour, though using this feature regularly could
have a negative impact on long-term battery life.
HP offers something similar and its Fast Charge
technology recharges batteries up to 90% within
90 minutes when the system is off.
PORTS
Three to fve USB ports are typical, which should
be plenty for most users. Some machines offer
a mix of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 so learn which are
which. This is particularly important when reading
/ writing CAD datasets to external drives where
high-bandwidth USB 3.0 is a must.
Also keep an eye out for always on USB
ports, which are extremely useful for charging
SmartPhones and other devices when the mobile
workstation is off.
Taking data transfer speeds up to a whole new
level HP and Lenovo boast support for Thunderbolt
defnitely nice to have if you need to read / write
huge datasets to external storage.
Other machines include IEEE 1394a (FireWire),
which is more of a legacy standard now, and eSATA,
which usually doubles as a USB port.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet is essential if you want
to move large CAD fles over the network. This is
standard on most machines, but the Dell Precision
M3800 uses a USB to Ethernet adapter rather
than the standard RJ45 connector.
Memory card readers are standard but check
out which formats are supported as these vary
from machine to machine. ExpressCard slots are
less common, but allow you expand your machine
adding new or legacy wireless and wired standards.
WIRELESS
WiFi is now taken for granted on mobile
workstations but most vendors offer a choice of
two or three modules. Standard 802.11 a/b/g/n
should be fne for mainstream use, but for moving
hefty CAD fles around or extending the range
consider Dual Band 802.11ac.
In theory 802.11ac is two to three times quicker
than 802.11n and approaches the speed of Gigabit
Ethernet. However, as wireless speeds drop
off over distance, and due to interference and
physical obstacles, wed always recommend a
physical connection.
For CAD on the go, some manufacturers offer an
optional mobile broadband module. You slip in a
SIM card and then you can connect to the Internet
wherever you can get a 3G or 4G signal. This is a nice
feature to have but you can achieve similar results
by tethering to your SmartPhone. However, built in
mobile broadband can have the added beneft of
being able to track your machine in case of theft.
Bluetooth is standard and useful for connecting
peripherals such as keyboards, SmartPhones
and mice. However, if you choose a SpaceMouse
Wireless 3D mouse, which features 3Dconnexions
own optimised 2.4GHz wireless technology, youll
need a spare USB port to plug in the receiver.
SECURITY
When you have company critical information stored
on your machine, security is essential. Laptop theft
is prevalent and thats without giving criminals a
head start by leaving your bag in the pub, airport
or on the train.
Drive encryption is vital if you want to prevent
unauthorised access to data. This can be done in
software or hardware.
BitLocker is available in the Enterprise and
Ultimate editions of Windows 7 or the Pro or
Enterprise editions of Windows 8 and provides
software-based encryption for the entire volume.
Hardware-based encryption is generally
considered to be more secure and, because all
of the processing is done on the disk, is less
susceptible to loss of performance. This can be
done with Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) and can be
set at the BIOS level.
To add another level of security, smart card
readers or fngerprint scanners are available on
most mobile workstations.
Fingerprint sensors are usually located in front
of the keyboard or between the trackpads buttons.
Simply place your fnger on the device to log onto
Windows or to web sites. The related software
automatically flls in your user name and password.
DOCKING
Docking stations are extremely useful if you
frequently move your mobile workstation to and
from your desk. They allow you to keep keyboard,
mouse, display, Ethernet and other peripherals
permanently connected to the dock meaning your
dont have to mess about with cables.
The best support comes from corporate-focused
mobile workstations, such as the Dell Precision
M4800, HP ZBook 15 and Lenovo ThinkPad W540.
A dedicated port on the underside of the machine
allows you to snap on each machine to its
custom dock in seconds.
The ZBook 14s docking port is on the side,
compatible with a HP UltraSlim Docking Station,
while the Dell Precision M3800 connects to Dell
D3000 dock via USB 3.0. Other manufacturers rely
on universal USB docking stations.
SERVICING
Serviceability has become a big focus in workstations
over the past few years and many manufacturers are
now bringing this to mobile workstation.
HP leads the market with its ZBook family, all of
which feature the HP Easy Access Door so users
dont have to fddle around with tiny screws.
Simply slide the catch and the back panel pops
off, making it easy to upgrade or replace memory,
hard drives and mini cards. Getting inside the Dell
Precision M4800 or M6800 is also easy - simply
remove two screws and the back panel slides off.
The Lenovo ThinkPad W540, Scan 3XS
MGW-10, Workstation Specialists WS-M1760 and
Schenker W503 all feature separate panels for
hard drive, memory, mini cards, etc. This can be
a pain and a case of trial and error if you dont
know whats behind each panel. The Dell Precision
M3800 needs a specialist Torx T5 screwdriver, the
type you never have when you need one.
WARRANTY AND SUPPORT
Most mobile workstations come with a 2 or 3 year
warranty, but these can often be extended for an
additional cost. Some are collect and return, others
are next business day on site.
Think about how long you can afford to be without
your machine. If you have to send it to a repair
centre it can take days or even weeks to get it back.
Check the small print as some warranties only cover
screens or batteries for 12 months.
If you carry your mobile workstation all the time,
consider accidental damage cover. And if you travel
overseas think about how youd deal with a tech
support query or hardware failure. Some warranties
include Next Business Day on site service even when
you are abroad. This can mean great peace of mind if
youre a frequent fyer.
Fingerprint sensors
might be a standard
feature on mobile
workstations but Fujitsu
takes security up a notch
offering palm vein pattern
recognition technology
on its new Celsius H730
mobile workstation.
Simply hovver your
hand over the sensor and
it authenticates it due to
the unique pattern of the
veins in the palm.
Fujitsu claims it is more
reliable and more secure
than fngerprint sensors
and blood has to be fowing
in the hand so theres no
scope for a gruesome
Tarantino plotline ending
in the loss of your frms
valuable IP.
Look out for a full review
of the Celsius H730 in the
April edition of DEVELOP3D
Gimme Five Palm vein
authentication
mSata is a compact
alternative to the
traditional 2.5-inch
hard drive. Primarily
designed for storage
in highly mobile
devices, these tiny
cards are also having
a major impact in
mobile workstations
Measuring a mere
51 x 30 x 0.8mm,
machines that
previously were
restricted to a single
hard drive can now
support two or three.
The drives are very
easy to ft: simply
remove the laptops
rear panel and secure
with two screws.
mSATA SSDs are
typically seen in
mobile workstations
in 128GB or 256GB
capacities, delivering
fast storage for OS
and applications.
However, Samsungs
recently released
840 EVO mSATA SSD
comes in 500GB and
1TB as well as 120GB
or 250GB capacities
so you can also store
big CAD datasets.
Performance is
top notch. The 1TB
model delivers very
high random and
sequential read and
write speeds.
All models feature
Self-Encrypting Drive
security technology
to keep data safe.
The 840 EVO
mSATA SSD also
features TurboWrite
technology and
a RAPID (Real-
time Accelerated
Processing of I/O
Data) mode, both of
which are explained
in our detailed
review of the 2.5-inch
840 EVO SSD.
tinyurl.com/SSDevo
GooD thinGS come
in Small PackaGeS

MOBILE WORKSTATION BUYERS GUIDE

Mobile workstations.indd 43 4/3/14 19:30:14
44 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
HP ZBook 14 Dell Precision M3800 Schenker W503 HP ZBook 15 Dell Precision M4800 Lenovo ThinkPad W540 Scan 3XS MGW-10 Dell Precision M6800
Workstation Specialists
WS-M1760
Class Ultra portable 14-inch Ultra portable 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch High-end 17-inch High-end 17-inch High-end 17-inch
Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i7 4600U
(2.10GHz up to 3.30GHz)
(2 cores, 4 threads)
Intel Core i7 4702HQ
(2.20GHz up to 3.20GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4700MQ
(2.40GHz up to 3.4GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4700MQ
(2.40GHz up to 3.4GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Memory (RAM)
8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3L
SDRAM, 1600MHz
16GB (2 x 8GB)
DDR3L 1,600MHz
16GB (2 x 8GB) SO-DIMM DDR3L
RAM 1,600MHz Crucial
8GB (1 x 8GB) 1,600 MHz
DDR3L SDRAM
8GB (2 x 4GB)
DDR3L 1600MHz
8 GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz
32GB (4 x 8GB) Corsair DDR3
Vengeance RAM 1,600MHz
16GB (4 x 4GB)
1,600MHz DDR3
32GB (4 x 8GB)
PC3-1600MHz High
Speed DDR-3
Graphics (GPU)
AMD FirePro M4100
(1GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K1100M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M
(4GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K2100M
(2GB GDDR5)
AMD FirePro M5100 Mobility Pro
(2GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K2100M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3000M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M
(4GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K5100M
(8GB GDDR5)
Graphics driver 13.101.1 326.8 327.41 312.65 12.104.2 332.21 332.21 327.62 331.82
Screen
14 LED-backlit FHD UWVA
IPS eDP anti-glare + PSR
(1,920 x 1,080)
15.6 inch LED Backlit Touch Display
with Truelife and QHD+ resolution
(3,200 x 1,880)
15.6 FHD
(1,920x1,080)
95% colour gamut panel
15.6 RGB LED-backlit HD
DreamColor UWVA eDP anti-glare
(1,920 x 1,080)
15.6 Dell UltraSharp (1,920 x 1,080)
wide view, anti-glare, LED-backlit
15.5 3K (2,880 x 1,620) IPS display
with built in Pantone colour
calibrator
17.3 HD
1,920 x 1,080 backlit
LED display
17.3 UltraSharp HD (1,920 x 1,080)
Wide View Anti-Glare
LED-backlit
17.3 HD
1,920 x 1,080 backlit
LED display
Drives
256GB SATA
Solid State Drive
with SED technology
256GB Solid State Drive Full Mini
Card + 500GB 5,400RPM Solid State
Hybrid Hard Drive
500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD +
DVD Multi recorder
750GB 7,200 RPM HDD +
32 GB mSATA SSD (cache drive using
Intel Smart Response Technology) +
DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL
500GB Hybrid 2.5-inch, 6Gb/s SATA
with 8GB Flash Drive + 8X DVD+/-RW
Drive Slot Load
256GB Samsung SSD
DVD Multiburner
250GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD +
1TB Hitachi Travelstar 7K10000 +
Samsung DVD writer
750GB 2.5inch SATA (7,200RPM)
Hard Drive +
Slot load DVD+/-RW
240GB Intel 525 Series mSATA SSD +
750GB 7,200RPM high-performance
SATA drive + 8x DVD-RW Drive
Keyboard / Mouse
Spill resistant keyboard.
Multi gesture TouchPad with three
buttons and Pointstick with three
additional buttons
Backlit full size keyboard
(no numeric keypad); Gesture
enabled multi-touch touchpad
with two buttons
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Spill resistant keyboard.
Multi gesture TouchPad with three
buttons and Pointstick with three
additional buttons
Full size keyboard with number pad
Multi-touch touchpad
with three buttons
Track stick with three buttons
Spill-resistant, ergonomic keyboard
with numeric keypad. TrackPoint
pointing device and TrackPad with
5-point click integration
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Full size keyboard with number pad
Multi-touch touchpad
with three buttons
Track stick with three buttons
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Battery
HP Long Life 3-cell (50 WHr)
polymer/prismatic battery
Dell 61 WHr 6-Cell
Lithium-Ion Battery
8-cell 77Wh Lithium
Ion battery
HP Long Life 8-cell (75 WHr)
Li-Ion battery
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery
with ExpressCharge
6-cell (56 Wh) battery
(optional 9-cell)
8-cell (77Wh) Lithium
Ion battery
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery
with ExpressCharge
8-cell 77Wh Lithium
Ion battery
Wireless
Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260NB
802.11a/b/g/n (2x2) WiFi
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
+ Bluetooth 4.0
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
(with Bluetooth)
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235
802.11a/b/g/n and
Bluetooth 4.0 Combo
Dell Wireless 1550 2X2 802.11ac +
Bluetooth 4.0
Intel Dual Band
AC 7260 WiFi
Ericson N5321GW WWAN:
Bluetooth
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235,
300Mbps & Bluetooth
Dell Wireless 1550 2X2 802.11ac
+ Bluetooth 4.0 Optional mobile
broadband mini card
Intel 300MB/Sec N Wireless
Network Card +
Integrated Bluetooth 3.0
Ports
4 x USB 3.0 (1 charging)
Secondary battery connector
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
3 x USB 3.0 and 1 x USB 2.0
(all with PowerShare)
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
3 x USB 3.0
(1 charging) 1 x USB 2.0.
Thunderbolt
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
4 x USB 3.0 (1 with PowerShare)
1 eSATA / USB 2.0
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
2 x USB 2.0 + 2 x USB 3.0
Thunderbolt
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
4 x USB 3.0.
1 x eSATA / USB 2.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet. -
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
Expansion / security
Memory card reader
Smart Card reader
Fingerprint reader
3-in-1 media
card reader
9-in-1 memory
card reader
ExpressCard/54
Secure Digital
Smart Card Reader
9-in-1 media card reader
SmartCard reader
54mm ExpressCard slot
4-in-1 card reader
Express Card (SmartCard)
9-in-1 memory
card reader
9-in-1 media card reader.
54mm ExpressCard slot.
9-in-1 memory
card reader
Display outputs VGA, DisplayPort HDMI, mini DisplayPort DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi VGA, DisplayPort HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort VGA, DisplayPort, Mini DP DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi
Docking Side docking port No dedicated docking port No dedicated docking port Docking port underneath Docking port underneath Docking port underneath No dedicated docking port Docking port underneath No dedicated docking port
Size (W x D x H) 339 x 237 x 21mm 372 x 254 x 8-18mm 376 x 256 x 35-43mm 381 x 257 x 31mm 376 x 256 x 36-40mm 377 x 248 x 28mm 412 x 276 x 45-42mm 40 x 417 x 271mm 412 x 276 x 45-42mm
Weight (machine + power adapter) Starting at 1.62kg + 0.38kg Starting at 1.88kg Starting at 3.1Kg + 1.05kg Starting at 2.82 kg + 0.95kg Starting at 2.88kg + 0.81kg Starting at 2.53kg + 0.72kg Starting at 3.9kg + 1.1kg Starting at 3.57kg + 1.03kg Starting at 3.9kg + 1.1kg
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8.1
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Warranty
3-year limited warranty for carry-in
service. 3-year warranty
on HP Long Life battery
1-year Next Business Day
On Site Service
(optional 3, 4 or 5 year)
24 Month Collect & Return (inc parts,
labour, support, shipping)
3-year limited warranty for carry-in
service. 1-year battery warranty
Standard 3-year Next Business
Day On Site Service after Remote
Diagnosis
3 Year On-site
2 Years Collect and Return
(screen 1st year only)
Standard 3-year Next Business Day
On Site Service
36 Months Standard Hardware
Warranty with NBD Engineer
Response
Website hp.com dell.co.uk/precision mysn.co.uk hp.com dell.co.uk/precision lenovo.com/UK 3xs.scan.co.uk dell.co.uk/precision workstationspecialists.com
CPU benchmarks (smaller is better)
CAM (Delcam PowerMill 2010) (i) 315 (ii) 611 (iii) 883 (i) 220 (ii) 336 (iii) 458 (i) 179 (ii) 272 (iii) 375 (i) 183 (ii) 285 (iii) 400 (i) 171 (ii) 275 (iii) 399 (i) 176 (ii) 284 (iii) 412 (i) 169 (ii) 266 (iii) 376 (i) 173 (ii) 277 (iii) 396 (i) 171 (ii) 266 (iii) 374
Rendering (3ds Max Design 2011) 551 299 238 258 243 285 237 244 236
Graphics benchmarks (bigger is
better)

CAD (SolidWorks 2013) 2.07 Benchmark does not run on Windows 8 5.30 4.58 4.55 2.58 4.75 5.35 6.32
CAD (PTC Creo 2.0) 2.48 4.32 6.15 4.92 4.39 4.77 5.31 6.13 7.56
Price (excl VAT) 1,857 1,499 1,531 1,996 1,152 2,349 1,553 1,659 2,835
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MoBiLe
WorkSTaTion
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Mobile workstations.indd 44 4/3/14 19:30:53
DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 45
HP ZBook 14 Dell Precision M3800 Schenker W503 HP ZBook 15 Dell Precision M4800 Lenovo ThinkPad W540 Scan 3XS MGW-10 Dell Precision M6800
Workstation Specialists
WS-M1760
Class Ultra portable 14-inch Ultra portable 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch Mid range 15-inch High-end 17-inch High-end 17-inch High-end 17-inch
Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i7 4600U
(2.10GHz up to 3.30GHz)
(2 cores, 4 threads)
Intel Core i7 4702HQ
(2.20GHz up to 3.20GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4700MQ
(2.40GHz up to 3.4GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4700MQ
(2.40GHz up to 3.4GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Intel Core i7-4800MQ
(2.70GHz up to 3.7GHz)
(4 cores, 8 threads)
Memory (RAM)
8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3L
SDRAM, 1600MHz
16GB (2 x 8GB)
DDR3L 1,600MHz
16GB (2 x 8GB) SO-DIMM DDR3L
RAM 1,600MHz Crucial
8GB (1 x 8GB) 1,600 MHz
DDR3L SDRAM
8GB (2 x 4GB)
DDR3L 1600MHz
8 GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3 1600MHz
32GB (4 x 8GB) Corsair DDR3
Vengeance RAM 1,600MHz
16GB (4 x 4GB)
1,600MHz DDR3
32GB (4 x 8GB)
PC3-1600MHz High
Speed DDR-3
Graphics (GPU)
AMD FirePro M4100
(1GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K1100M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M
(4GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K2100M
(2GB GDDR5)
AMD FirePro M5100 Mobility Pro
(2GB GDDR5)
Nvidia Quadro K2100M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3000M
(2GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M
(4GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA Quadro K5100M
(8GB GDDR5)
Graphics driver 13.101.1 326.8 327.41 312.65 12.104.2 332.21 332.21 327.62 331.82
Screen
14 LED-backlit FHD UWVA
IPS eDP anti-glare + PSR
(1,920 x 1,080)
15.6 inch LED Backlit Touch Display
with Truelife and QHD+ resolution
(3,200 x 1,880)
15.6 FHD
(1,920x1,080)
95% colour gamut panel
15.6 RGB LED-backlit HD
DreamColor UWVA eDP anti-glare
(1,920 x 1,080)
15.6 Dell UltraSharp (1,920 x 1,080)
wide view, anti-glare, LED-backlit
15.5 3K (2,880 x 1,620) IPS display
with built in Pantone colour
calibrator
17.3 HD
1,920 x 1,080 backlit
LED display
17.3 UltraSharp HD (1,920 x 1,080)
Wide View Anti-Glare
LED-backlit
17.3 HD
1,920 x 1,080 backlit
LED display
Drives
256GB SATA
Solid State Drive
with SED technology
256GB Solid State Drive Full Mini
Card + 500GB 5,400RPM Solid State
Hybrid Hard Drive
500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD +
DVD Multi recorder
750GB 7,200 RPM HDD +
32 GB mSATA SSD (cache drive using
Intel Smart Response Technology) +
DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL
500GB Hybrid 2.5-inch, 6Gb/s SATA
with 8GB Flash Drive + 8X DVD+/-RW
Drive Slot Load
256GB Samsung SSD
DVD Multiburner
250GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD +
1TB Hitachi Travelstar 7K10000 +
Samsung DVD writer
750GB 2.5inch SATA (7,200RPM)
Hard Drive +
Slot load DVD+/-RW
240GB Intel 525 Series mSATA SSD +
750GB 7,200RPM high-performance
SATA drive + 8x DVD-RW Drive
Keyboard / Mouse
Spill resistant keyboard.
Multi gesture TouchPad with three
buttons and Pointstick with three
additional buttons
Backlit full size keyboard
(no numeric keypad); Gesture
enabled multi-touch touchpad
with two buttons
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Spill resistant keyboard.
Multi gesture TouchPad with three
buttons and Pointstick with three
additional buttons
Full size keyboard with number pad
Multi-touch touchpad
with three buttons
Track stick with three buttons
Spill-resistant, ergonomic keyboard
with numeric keypad. TrackPoint
pointing device and TrackPad with
5-point click integration
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Full size keyboard with number pad
Multi-touch touchpad
with three buttons
Track stick with three buttons
Full size keyboard with
numeric keypad
Touch pad with multi-gesture
and scrolling
Battery
HP Long Life 3-cell (50 WHr)
polymer/prismatic battery
Dell 61 WHr 6-Cell
Lithium-Ion Battery
8-cell 77Wh Lithium
Ion battery
HP Long Life 8-cell (75 WHr)
Li-Ion battery
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery
with ExpressCharge
6-cell (56 Wh) battery
(optional 9-cell)
8-cell (77Wh) Lithium
Ion battery
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery
with ExpressCharge
8-cell 77Wh Lithium
Ion battery
Wireless
Intel Dual Band Wireless-N 7260NB
802.11a/b/g/n (2x2) WiFi
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
+ Bluetooth 4.0
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
(with Bluetooth)
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235
802.11a/b/g/n and
Bluetooth 4.0 Combo
Dell Wireless 1550 2X2 802.11ac +
Bluetooth 4.0
Intel Dual Band
AC 7260 WiFi
Ericson N5321GW WWAN:
Bluetooth
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235,
300Mbps & Bluetooth
Dell Wireless 1550 2X2 802.11ac
+ Bluetooth 4.0 Optional mobile
broadband mini card
Intel 300MB/Sec N Wireless
Network Card +
Integrated Bluetooth 3.0
Ports
4 x USB 3.0 (1 charging)
Secondary battery connector
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
3 x USB 3.0 and 1 x USB 2.0
(all with PowerShare)
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
3 x USB 3.0
(1 charging) 1 x USB 2.0.
Thunderbolt
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
4 x USB 3.0 (1 with PowerShare)
1 eSATA / USB 2.0
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
2 x USB 2.0 + 2 x USB 3.0
Thunderbolt
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
4 x USB 3.0.
1 x eSATA / USB 2.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet. -
2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0
1 x eSATA / USB 3.0.
RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet.
Mini Firewire
Expansion / security
Memory card reader
Smart Card reader
Fingerprint reader
3-in-1 media
card reader
9-in-1 memory
card reader
ExpressCard/54
Secure Digital
Smart Card Reader
9-in-1 media card reader
SmartCard reader
54mm ExpressCard slot
4-in-1 card reader
Express Card (SmartCard)
9-in-1 memory
card reader
9-in-1 media card reader.
54mm ExpressCard slot.
9-in-1 memory
card reader
Display outputs VGA, DisplayPort HDMI, mini DisplayPort DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi VGA, DisplayPort HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort VGA, DisplayPort, Mini DP DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort DisplayPort, Mini DP, HDMi
Docking Side docking port No dedicated docking port No dedicated docking port Docking port underneath Docking port underneath Docking port underneath No dedicated docking port Docking port underneath No dedicated docking port
Size (W x D x H) 339 x 237 x 21mm 372 x 254 x 8-18mm 376 x 256 x 35-43mm 381 x 257 x 31mm 376 x 256 x 36-40mm 377 x 248 x 28mm 412 x 276 x 45-42mm 40 x 417 x 271mm 412 x 276 x 45-42mm
Weight (machine + power adapter) Starting at 1.62kg + 0.38kg Starting at 1.88kg Starting at 3.1Kg + 1.05kg Starting at 2.82 kg + 0.95kg Starting at 2.88kg + 0.81kg Starting at 2.53kg + 0.72kg Starting at 3.9kg + 1.1kg Starting at 3.57kg + 1.03kg Starting at 3.9kg + 1.1kg
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 8.1
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Microsoft Windows 7
Professional 64-bit
Warranty
3-year limited warranty for carry-in
service. 3-year warranty
on HP Long Life battery
1-year Next Business Day
On Site Service
(optional 3, 4 or 5 year)
24 Month Collect & Return (inc parts,
labour, support, shipping)
3-year limited warranty for carry-in
service. 1-year battery warranty
Standard 3-year Next Business
Day On Site Service after Remote
Diagnosis
3 Year On-site
2 Years Collect and Return
(screen 1st year only)
Standard 3-year Next Business Day
On Site Service
36 Months Standard Hardware
Warranty with NBD Engineer
Response
Website hp.com dell.co.uk/precision mysn.co.uk hp.com dell.co.uk/precision lenovo.com/UK 3xs.scan.co.uk dell.co.uk/precision workstationspecialists.com
CPU benchmarks (smaller is better)
CAM (Delcam PowerMill 2010) (i) 315 (ii) 611 (iii) 883 (i) 220 (ii) 336 (iii) 458 (i) 179 (ii) 272 (iii) 375 (i) 183 (ii) 285 (iii) 400 (i) 171 (ii) 275 (iii) 399 (i) 176 (ii) 284 (iii) 412 (i) 169 (ii) 266 (iii) 376 (i) 173 (ii) 277 (iii) 396 (i) 171 (ii) 266 (iii) 374
Rendering (3ds Max Design 2011) 551 299 238 258 243 285 237 244 236
Graphics benchmarks (bigger is
better)

CAD (SolidWorks 2013) 2.07 Benchmark does not run on Windows 8 5.30 4.58 4.55 2.58 4.75 5.35 6.32
CAD (PTC Creo 2.0) 2.48 4.32 6.15 4.92 4.39 4.77 5.31 6.13 7.56
Price (excl VAT) 1,857 1,499 1,531 1,996 1,152 2,349 1,553 1,659 2,835

MOBILE WORKSTATION BUYERS GUIDE

Mobile workstations.indd 45 4/3/14 19:31:21
46 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
D
ells new lightweight
laptop may be a dead
ringer for an Apple
MacBook Pro, but
its an entirely different beast
a dedicated 3D CAD mobile
workstation, certifed for a wide
range of applications including NX,
Inventor, Catia, SolidWorks & Creo.
As far as mobile workstations
go, the slimline Precision M3800
certainly stands out from the crowd.
Starting at 1.88kg and boasting an
incredible 15.6-inch QHD+ display
no other mid-sized CAD laptop
can compete on portability. Its
aluminium frame, lightweight carbon
fbre base, island style keyboard and
spacious touchpad all contribute to
what is a refned, well built machine.
There is a downside to the elegant
design. The Intel Core i7-4702HQ CPU
and Nvidia Quadro K1100M (2GB)
GPU, standard on all models, are a
few notches below what youd fnd on
a typical 15-inch mobile workstation.
Theres also a maximum of 16GB RAM
so CAD models cant get too hefty.
In our CPU-intensive tests we found
the M3800 to be around 20-25%
slower than a comparative Intel Core
i7-4800MQ-based machine. Graphics
also takes a hit, partly due to the
processing power of the entry-level
to mid-range Nvidia GPU, but also
because of the stunning QHD+
(3,200 x 1,800) resolution screen.
With three times as many pixels to
push around as FHD (1,920 x 1,080),
most users will probably experience
some slow down in 3D performance.
This will vary according to
application, datasets and how you
view your models (e.g. plain shaded
with edges or realistic materials),
but the Quadro K1100M should still
be perfectly adequate for small to
medium CAD assemblies.
The 15.6-inch QHD+ display may put
an additional load on the GPU, but
the image quality is exceptional. CAD
models are incredibly crisp with fne
lines and vibrant colours. The glossy
Gorilla glass display is 5-fnger multi-
touch enabled, a nice feature that
works best with Windows 8.1.
Our test machine came with a
256GB mSATA SSD for operating
system and apps and a 512GB
SSHD for data, but there are plenty
of others options. The machine
boots in a mere 10 seconds, but
this is probably mostly down to
effciencies in Windows 8.1.
There are some downsides: theres
no DVD drive, numeric keypad or
RJ45 Ethernet port though a USB
to Ethernet cable is included. And
because the M3800 is based on a
consumer chassis (Dell XPS 15) it
misses out on business features such
as a fngerprint reader and docking
port (though a Dell D3000 USB 3.0
Docking Station is supported). The
warranty is also consumer focused:
1-year compared to the three offered
on other Precisions, though upgrades
are available.
Under heavy loading fans are
also more noticeable than they
are standard 15-inch mobile
workstations. Some may fnd the
noise annoying but the processors
did appear to keep running at full
speed even under long term loading.
These compromises may be
deal-breakers for some, but for a
machine that offers such impressive
portability in a stylish minimal
package, the Dell Precision M3800
is simply in a class of its own.

Oering impressive
portability in a
stylish package, the
Dell Precision M3800
is in a class of its own

W
eve seen 14-inch
mobile workstations
come and go over
the years, but none
can touch the HP ZBook 14 when it
comes to mobility.
Pitched as the worlds frst
workstation Ultrabook, HPs little
beauty is a mere 21mm thick,
weighing a touch over 1.6kg. Even
with the 65W power adapter the
whole package comes in at 2kg. This
is a mobile workstation like no other.
Of course, the tradeoff for mobility
is performance. The AMD FirePro
M4100 GPU is very much entry 3D
and while most mobile workstations
have headroom for a 37W CPU, the
ZBook sets its limits at 17W.
The clock speed of 2.1GHz - 3.3GHz
on our test machines Intel Core
i7-4600U CPU may be impressive for
such a low powered chip, but with
only 2 CPU cores, there will likely be
bottlenecks in everyday use.
Windows, drivers and software
all fght for CPU cores, and multi-
threaded 3D software will suffer.
But to pull up this machine on
performance would be missing the
point. Cranking down key components
(and ommitting a DVD drive) are the
very reasons the ZBook 14 is so light.
And it is an exceptional piece of
design. The island style keyboard is
a pleasure to use, the Touchpad silky
smooth and the mouse buttons have
a good amount of give. Theres even
a Pointstick should you prefer.
Because of the 14-inch form factor
theres no dedicated numeric keypad,
but pressing fn and num lk together
turns the centre of the keyboard into
a pseudo numeric keypad.
Even with its slender body, HP has
still managed to include a standard
RJ45 port. This ingenious design has
a spring-loaded hinge that expands
the port to its full width when you
plug in an Ethernet cable. VGA
and DisplayPort v1.2 ports allow
connection to external displays.
Unlike most mobile workstations,
all four ports are USB 3.0. One is
always on for charging, denoted by
a miniscule lightning symbol, which is
very hard to see. Its a real shame this
port isnt colour-coded. HP isnt the
only manufacturer to miss this trick.
WiFi on our test machine supports
802.11a/b/g/n (2x2), but you can
upgrade to 802.11ac (2x2) to boost
transfer rates. Mobile broadband
modules are optional.
The display in our test machine is
impressive a 14-inch full HD IPS
panel, which delivers crisp lines
and vivid colours. There are other
options available from a 1,600 x
900 touchscreen down to a more
standard 1,366 x 768 display.
Despite its tiny chassis, the ZBook 14
still offers exceptional serviceability.
Slide a catch on the underside and
the HP Easy Access Door simply clips
off. Now you have direct access to
battery, memory, hard drive and mini-
cards making it exceptionally easy
to upgrade or replace components.
Theres hardly a screw in sight.
For power the three cell 50WHr
battery can be supplemented with
a secondary 6-cell (60 Whr) slice
battery, which connects via a port
on the underside of the machine.
Enterprise-users are catered for
through a dedicated docking port (on
the side rather than underneath), a
smart card reader and a fngerprint
reader to the right of the touchpad.
To add another layer of security
the 2.5-inch 256GB SSD in our test
machine features Self Encrypting
Drive (SED) technology. There are
plenty of other storage options and
if you want to double up on drives
theres an optional 120GB M.2 SSD.
The ZBook 14 is a great little
machine, well built with exceptional
serviceability. Its ideal for truly
mobile CAD but limited to small
assembly modelling. Considering the
core spec its a little expensive, but
its hard to put a price on mobility.
HP Zbook 14
Dell Precision M3800
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Mobile workstations.indd 46 4/3/14 19:31:39
047 D3D Ads.indd 1 04/03/2014 09:33
48 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
T
his latest update to
Lenovos ThinkPad family
is a specialist piece of kit.
With an exceptional 15.5-
inch 2,880 x 1,620 display and an
X-Rite Pantone colour calibrator
built in, its ideal for colour-
critical workfows. Simply choose
a profle, close the lid and it does
the rest, making a few re-assuring
beeps along the way.
The IPS panel is stunning: colours
are vivid and jagged edges on
wireframe CAD models almost
invisible. Unfortunately, the cost of
having so many pixels on screen is a
drop in performance. We experienced
a 35% and 15% respective slow
down in SolidWorks and Creo when
going from 2,880 x 1,620 to standard
HD. This will vary according to
applications and models and it may
have no impact on some workfows.
However, if it is an issue, you can
always downgrade to an HD display.
Storage is fast, provided by a single
256GB Samsung SSD. Theres also
room for a second 2.5-inch drive but,
surprisingly, no mSATA.
The machine is optimised for
mobile workers. It has fast Intel
Dual Band AC 7260 WiFi and mobile
broadband built in so you can
send/receive data wherever you
can get a 3G/4G signal. Lenovo also
places a big emphasis on battery
life, automatically clocking down
the Intel Core i7-4800MQ CPU by
75% when not plugged in, though
this can be changed in the BIOS to
give priority to performance.
Overall, we had mixed feelings
about the W540. We loved the
display and colour calibrator,
but the touchpad can be
hugely frustrating, so use
an external mouse
whenever possible.
Lenovo ThinkPad W540
T
his mainstream 15.6-inch
delivers far more grunt
than its lightweight
sibling, the ZBook 14. It
can handle a high-end CPU (up
to the Intel Core i7-4900MQ), a
mid-range GPU (up to the Nvidia
Quadro K2100M) an ideal
combination for mid-range CAD.
Internal access is a breeze thanks
to the superb HP Easy Access Door.
Simply fip a switch and the back
panel pops off. No tools required.
Everything is beautifully laid out
inside. RAM slots are marked clearly
meaning upgrades can be done in
seconds. The 2.5-inch hard drive,
secured by a couple of screws, is
eased out with a green lever. No other
mobile workstation gets close to the
ZBook 15 in terms of its serviceability.
Its also a joy to use. The island
keyboard and trackpad are superb.
Wireless and sound can be switched
on/off instantly using two buttons
located above the numeric keypad.
Our test machines HP DreamColor
panel is also superb, by far the
best HD display on test this month.
Colours are vivid and dont drop off
at wider viewing angles, but you
pay a premium for this high-quality
IPS panel. There are some lower-
cost options, all of them HD.
Kitted out with an Core i7-4700MQ
CPU and Nvidia Quadro K2100M GPU
our test machine delivered solid if
not spectacular performance. Its
8GB of RAM is a touch light for most
workfows, but with capacity for
32GB this can be easily remedied.
Storage takes the middle ground
between SSD and HDD, courtesy of
a 2.5-inch 750GB hard drive and a
32GB mSATA SSD, which acts as a
cache drive. There are plenty of other
options including a 128GB mSATA.
Theres also scope for expansion
by swapping out the DVD/RW for
a drive upgrade bay to house a
second 2.5-inch drive.
There are 4 x USB ports, three
of them USB 3.0, but the machine
also comes with Thunderbolt for
exceptional transfer rates.
Overall, the ZBook 15 is an
impressive machine, well built with
exceptional serviceability. But quality
like this doesnt come cheap. Our test
machine will set you back the best
part of 2,000 and while this includes
the superb DreamColor display some
will fnd it hard to justify for a mid-
range mobile workstation for CAD.
D
ell has an impressive
pedigree when it comes
to mobile workstations
and its latest 15-inch
offering picks up where the
Precision M4700 left off.
The aluminium and magnesium
alloy chassis feels solid and built to
last; the keyboard, numeric keypad
and trackpad are all excellent and
theres a reassuring click when
closing the lid on the HD display. The
days of Dell using a cheap consumer
chassis for its mobile workstations
are long gone.
Despite this feeling of quality, our
test machine is not expensive. But
even with its budget 1,152 price
tag you get a top notch Intel Core
i7-4800MQ CPU, ideal for 3D CAD.
The AMD FirePro M5100 is an
excellent choice for Creo and
SolidWorks, standing shoulder to
shoulder with the Nvidia Quadro
K2100M and delivering solid scores
in our benchmarks.
You do get more bang for your
buck by going down the AMD route.
An equivalent spec M4800 with an
Nvidia GPU will set you back 1,189
and this will only secure you the
slightly less powerful Quadro 1100M.
The rest of our test machines
components are much more entry-
level. 8GB (2 x 4GB) RAM and a
500GB hybrid drive hardly inspire,
but with room for 32GB RAM
(4 x 8GB) and three drives there
are plenty of options.
Maxing out the storage means
swapping out the slot load DVD
drive for a second 2.5 drive (HDD,
SSD, or hybrid). The third drive is an
mSATA SSD, available in capacities
up to 512GB. This is signifcantly
larger than those offered by HP and
Lenovo in equivalent machines.
Providing you have the right
combination of drives, you can
boost drive performance or security
by confguring with RAID 0 or 1 (two
drives) or RAID 5 (three drives).
To keep costs down, theres no
optional fngerprint reader in our
test machine, so security is left to
the Smart Card Reader.
Overall, Dell has delivered
another solid mobile workstation
and one that is priced extremely
competitively. For mainstream 3D
CAD our test M4800 may be a little
unbalanced, but add an SSD into
the mix and top up the RAM and
you wont be disappointed.
HP Zbook 15 Dell Precision M4800

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DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 51
T
o get the kind of 3D
performance on offer in
this 15-inch from German
frm Schenker youd
normally have to invest in a hefty
17-inch machine. 15-inch models
from the major manufacturers
max out at the Quadro K2100M,
but Schenkers W503 takes the GPU
up a notch to a Quadro K3100M.
In SolidWorks and Creo this extra
GPU horsepower is refected in some
elevated benchmark scores. In the
real world it means youll be able to
push up the quality settings in your
real-time renderer and still maintain
those all important frame rates.
The Intel Core i7-4700MQ CPU may
not be the fastest, but the excellent
500GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD gives
it a boost in our multithreaded
CAM and rendering tests. Its ability
to fetch data quickly means the CPU
can get to work much earlier.
As a smaller manufacturer,
Schenker is quick to respond to new
tech and is already offering the Intel
Core i7-4940MX (3.1GHz to 4.0GHz)
CPU and 1TB Samsung 840 Evo SSDs
in 2.5-inch and mSATA form factors.
Indeed, if high performance
storage is your obsession, the W503
is well equipped. Theres space for a
whopping 4TB thanks to two mSATAs
(which can be striped or mirrored in
RAID 0/1) and two 2.5-inch bays (one
replaces the DVD).
The downside of having 17-inch class
features in a 15-inch chassis is it does
feel slightly chunkier than its peers
and the power adapter is heavier.
From a design perspective, its also
less refned, though the keyboard and
touchpad are perfectly adequate.
The HD screen, despite boasting
a 95% colour gamut, doesnt excite
out of the box like the HP ZBook 15
or Lenovo ThinkPad W540. Investing
in a colour calibration tool might
change this. But then one mustnt
forget that to get your hands on
this 15-inch powerhouse
will only set
you back
1,531.
Schenker W503 Dell Precision M6800
C
onsidering the amount
of technology on offer in
this 17-inch model from
Scan, 3XS MGW-10 wins
hands down on value for money.
With an Intel Core i7-4800MQ CPU,
Nvidia Quadro K3000M GPU and
32GB RAM, it has a spec to rival a
mid-range desktop workstation.
A 250GB Samsung 840 Evo mSATA
SSD provides fast storage for OS and
apps, while a 2.5-inch 1TB Hitachi
Travelstar HDD will hold the bulk of
your CAD data. With room

for an additional 2.5-inch and mSATA
drive theres plenty scope to expand.
RAID 0/1 is supported in pairs.
The Clevo P170SM chassis (also
used by Workstation Specialists in its
WS-M1760) is plasticky in places and,
compared to the Dell Precision M6800
or HP ZBook 17, a little uninspiring.
Thats not to say it isnt well-
built, but when one can customise
the backlit keyboard with fashing
colours, its obvious Clevo only has
one eye on the professional user.
The Quadro K3000M is of a slightly
older generation of GPUs than the
K3100M and didnt reach the same
heights as Schenkers W503. Scan says
this is down to supplier availability
rather than cost, so its probably
worth waiting for the newer GPU to
come online, which should be soon
Overall, the machine offers solid
performance, good expandability
and great value for money,
making it a cost-
effective altern-
ative to a
mainstream
desktop CAD
workstation.
T
his 17-inch monster from
Derby-based Workstation
Specialists is by far the
most expensive mobile
workstation on test this month,
but its in a completely different
class in terms of its spec.
The high-end 8GB Quadro K5100M
GPU makes light work of throwing
texture-heavy design viz datasets
around the HD display. And, with
1,536 CUDA cores, it can also double
up as a powerful general-purpose
processor. This will be of interest to
users of CUDA-compatible ray trace
renderers or simulation solvers,
where the GPU can be used to
augment the Intel Core i7-4800MQ
CPU. And theres plenty of memory
to support such complex datasets:
the machine is maxed out with 32GB
PC3-1600MHz High Speed DDR-3.
To serve up the OS and apps
theres a 240GB Intel mSATA SSD
with a 750GB HDD for data. If
you need a more powerful
storage system, you
can double
up on both
mSATA and
2.5-inch drives.
The WS-M1760 uses the same Clevo
P170SM chassis as the Scan 3XS
MGW-10 so theres no docking port
or SmartCard reader, but you do get
a fngerprint reader, powered by
Truesuite keepsafe.
The HD display is a bit lacklustre.
Lines are sharp, but fre up a CAD
render and the colours appear a
little dull. The good news is there are
plenty of digital outputs to connect
to an external display, including
HDMi, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort,
which will be helpful to get the best
out of the high-end GPU.
Scan 3XS MGW-10
F
rom the outside the
17-inch Dell Precision
M6800 looks just like a
bigger version of the Dell
Precision M4800. And in many
ways it is. It features the same
trademark Dell styling, solid
chassis and easy maintenance
of its 15-inch sibling. The big
difference is whats inside.
The M6800 places a big emphasis
on high-performance graphics and
only has options for mid-range or
high-end GPUs. Our test machines
Quadro K3100M should be perfect
for power CAD users, but you can
take this all the way up to the
K5100M should you so desire.
The 4GB GPU is partnered with an
Intel Core i7-4800MQ CPU and 16GB
of RAM, which comes in 4 x 4GB
DIMMs. Unfortunately, this means
theres no room to upgrade to the
maximum 32GB without swapping
out memory.
Its criminal for a machine of
this class to be kitted out with
such prosaic storage but our
M6800s 750GB Hard Drive
is crying out for an SSD to
take the strain in day to
day operations.
And its not as if the
M6800 cant handle it. With
support for one solid state Mini-Card
and three 2.5-inch drives (one in the
optical bay caddy), there are plenty
of options. Drives can be confgured
in pairs for RAID 0 or 1 and, unlike
the WS and Scan, you can also
make a three drive RAID 5 array for
performance and redundancy.
The 17.3-inch UltraSharp HD display
is impressive, boasting crisp lines and
well-balanced colours. Unfortunately,
theres no upgrade to QHD+, which
is a shame as the M6800 is more
equipped than most to throw around
ultra hi-res models without unduly
impacting performance.
Its clear our test machine needs
some tweaks to get the most out of
the M6800, but it certainly has the
foundations for a solid, enterprise-
class desktop replacement.
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Mobile workstations.indd 51 4/3/14 19:32:26
52 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM
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JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 53
Welcome to DEVELOP3Ds jobs section.
Every issue we will bring you the latest product development
jobs to help you kick start your career.
In partnership with CADjobhunter.com we also have a dynamic
jobs website where you can nd your dream job by searching by location,
keyword or CAD/CAM/CAE software.
Alternatively upload your CV to help your future employer nd you.
Register your details at
jobs.develop3d.com
To advertise on the website or
inside the magazine contact
Matt Wells
matt@x3dmedia.com
+44 (0) 1252 414007
DEVELOP3DJOBS

To adverTise ConTaCT MaTT Wells | MaTT@x3dMedia.CoM | +44 (0) 1252 414007
More deTails aT hTTp://goo.gl/dKxvQT
Mechanical Design Engineer
Peterborough
Olympus Automation is an engineering company of experienced, enthusiastic and motivated people.The company has been
trading since 1993 and has grown based on its track record of best in class process and automation solutions in the food and
beverage industry.
We are currently looking for a Mechanical Design Engineer to tackle the design and support of the delivery of capital contracts on
time and to or below budget in a range of food processing technologies.
THE JOB (Main Duties):
To provide design assistance, support and advice to other engineers during contract execution.
Support the management of contracts, both in the UK and overseas.
Be part of teams dealing with specific responsibilities for delivering projects
Liaise internally to support the delivery of profitable contracts on time and to or below budget.
Support the iternal sales tendering process and manage the transition from enquiry into contract.
Manage effectively the transition internally from order into contract, minimising commercial and technical risks.
To specify and requisition key technologies.
Prepare engineering equipment drawings and plant layouts using Solidworks drawing package.
CANDIDATE PROFILE:
A highly motivated, confident and dedicated professional.
An experienced engineer with an analytical approach to problem solving.
Able to understand equipment and process designs using the appropriate analytical tools.
Experience using Solidworks drawing package.
Able to work alone or as a member or the leader of a project team.
Able to travel both within the UK and throughout the world.
INTERESTED?
Send your CV and covering letter to
jobs@olympus-automation.co.uk
p53_54_55_56_57_D3D_MARCH14_jobs.indd 53 4/3/14 20:47:08
54 MARCH 2014 JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM

JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM

To adverTise ConTaCT MaTT Wells | MaTT@x3dMedia.CoM | +44 (0) 1252 414007
More deTails aT hTTp://goo.gl/7fb2C
p53_54_55_56_57_D3D_MARCH14_jobs.indd 54 4/3/14 20:47:09
JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 55 To adverTise ConTaCT MaTT Wells | MaTT@x3dMedia.CoM | +44 (0) 1252 414007

JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM

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Where next?
Wherever you take us.
Whats next for Dyson? You tell us. Actually, you wont just tell us, youll show us. Because well give you
the freedom to invent, to pursue your ideas and to push technological boundaries.
Great things are happening here. Not only are we working on some incredible new projects, but were
continuing to invest heavily in our UK Research, Design and Development (RDD) centre. Which tells you
two things. Firstly, that were doing fantastically well as a global business. Secondly, just how vitally
important engineers are to us. In many ways, engineers are Dyson. Thats why were looking for more
like minds to join us and create the technology of the future.
So if youre unafraid to take risks and ready to turn conventional thinking on its head, we need to hear
from you. Your background could be mechanical engineering, technology, science.... were open to
ideas. Find out more at www.careers.dyson.com
DESIGN, MECHANICAL AND RESEARCH ENGINEERS
COMPETITIVE | WILTSHIRE, UK
p53_54_55_56_57_D3D_MARCH14_jobs.indd 55 4/3/14 20:47:09
56 MARCH 2014 JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM To adverTise ConTaCT MaTT Wells | MaTT@x3dMedia.CoM | +44 (0) 1252 414007

JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM

More deTails aT hTTp://goo.gl/gpeseo
mechanical design engineer
andover, hampshire
3form Design is a well-established design consultancy with a passion and rep-
utation for creative designs that are engineered beautifully. We work from initial
strategy and concept design, engineering development and design detailing for
production, and if required, through to manufacturing on behalf of our clients
too. We have an operation in China.
3form Design is looking for a motivated Mechanical Design Engineer to join our
fast moving design consultancy. The role will be based in Andover, Hampshire.
Successful applicants will work on a huge scope of products: medical, consum-
er, industrial, architectural, structural.
You will be:
Passionate and enthusiastic
An experienced user of SolidWorks (or similar)
Have a strong understanding of engineering, mechanisms and manufacturing
processes
Able to develop a concept through to manufacture
Able to create engineering drawings
Able to provide technical assistance
Have at least 4 years experience in industry
How to Apply
If you think you have what it takes, please email through your CV and portfolio
to ally@3formdesign.com with a subject header Mechanical Design
Engineer or call (+44) 01264 326306.
www.3formdesign.com
p53_54_55_56_57_D3D_MARCH14_jobs.indd 56 4/3/14 20:47:09
JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM MARCH 2014 57 To adverTise ConTaCT MaTT Wells | MaTT@x3dMedia.CoM | +44 (0) 1252 414007

JOBS.DEVELOP3D.COM

More deTails aT hTTp://goo.gl/jvr830
p53_54_55_56_57_D3D_MARCH14_jobs.indd 57 4/3/14 20:47:09
I
t only seems right that we nish
o our 3D printing issue with a
back page article that addresses
one of the major issues thats
facing the industry at present.
The issue that most of the software
out there is crap at supporting this
fascinating technology to build parts
out of, guratively speaking, nothing
at all.
Lets face it. 3D printing is over hyped of
that, theres very little doubt. But its also
incredibly useful for professional designers
and engineers. A fact that most of us have
been aware of for the last two decades or
more.
What Ive noticed in the last year or so is
that more 3D software vendors are talking
about it. Its begun inltrating user events
and press conferences, and is starting to pop
up in webinars and case studies. 3D printing
is a hot topic and the software vendors are
trying to make the most of it.
Whats interesting is that the vast majority
have, until recently, completely ignored it.
When it was an output process from their
3D design systems, they treated it as pretty
much that. If they supported a half decent
STL output that wasnt 20 per cent ipped
triangles or an over bloated, plain text ASCII
le, then they were happy. Job done.
Of course, now the tables have been
turned. The 3D print industry is getting the
headlines and headlines that the software
vendors are, in some cases, downright
jealous of. When did you last see the CEO of
a 3D design software company on the cover
of Wired magazine? When did you last see
Jeremy Paxman staring ba ed at a NURBS
model on Newsnight?
EASY NOW TIGER
From the perspective of the user and one
with a decent amount of experience, I can
understand why theyre so keen to jump on
the bandwagon. If you can associate your
products with a technology thats hitting
the mainstream outside of your traditional
community, then you stand a better chance
of reaching those that youve not before.
My issue with this activity is that there
doesnt seem to be a lot of substance to
much of it. Yes, the 3D tools are essential
to build the geometry thats to be printed.
That much we all know. But when a company
58 MARCH 2014 DEVELOP3D.COM

THE LAST WORD

is linking that, but without following up on
providing better tools, more support and
understanding the workow and issues that
surround the professional user, you cant
help but think its all a bit of a con. The good
news is that things are starting to change.
LIP SERVICE vs REAL TOOLS
In the last year or so, weve seen the
mainstream 3D software vendors start to
add in tools that better support the process
of 3D printing. Anyone thats played with
one of these machines will know that its not
simply a case of loading up your 3D part and
hitting print.
Theres a layer of preparation involved.
You need to orient the model, ensure that
the features youre trying to build are
appropriate for the machine or process
youre building on. Yes, in many respects,
the ultimate is the ability to hit print and get
a geometrically exact replica of whats on
screen.
The reality is that its a more involved
process. Each machine and material has its
own requirements in terms of geometry.
When you then factor in aspects such as
shrinkage, post processing, resizing of
holes, adding support to tap holes some
adaptation is always needed.
This has typically been the preserve of the
set-up software for each machine. Sizing and
orientation are typically handled with ease
on a part level. If you then need to look at
adding support for thin walls, for resizing
of holes and such, then its down to the
generating software i.e. your CAD system.
Its been a pain in the arse and something
that comes with experience.
MORE INTELLIGENT TOOLS
Now were seeing tools to support these
processes and more introduced into our 3D
design systems. SpaceClaim has a whole
module that covers some of the basics,
Autodesk has recently updated its free
MeshMixer tool to bring in not only sizing
and orientation tools based on real machine
proles, but also support optimisation and
generation. Theres also talk of greater
support coming in SolidWorks 2015.
Alongside this, theres a range of
specialised tools that also have these type
of tools. These have been long adopted by
users in the know. One of the leading lights
Al still needs a bigger shed. But hes about done
writing about 3D printing... for a couple of
months, at least. al@x3dmedia.com
Get o the bandwagon and put down the
handbook sang Arctic Monkeys. Their
singer hit the headlines for his speech
at the Brits, but Al Dean thinks 3D tool
vendors should pay more attention
when it comes to 3D printing
1
is Magics, by Materialise. This system has
such mastery of the whole process that its a
thing to behold. Will these specialist vendors
leverage the hype in the same way or bring
out more economically viable tools for the
average user rather than the hardcore user?
I do hope so.
If were to put up with the hype and the
endlessly entertaining questions from
friends and family, then we might as well get
some benet on a professional basis at the
same time. The hype. Its annoying. But can
be benecial after all.

1 Materialise Magics
is a killer App for 3D
printing but it costs

2 SpaceClaims 3D
Print Prep module
brings new tools

1 Autodesk
MeshMixer solid
tools, for free
2
3
p58_D3D_MARCH14_Al..indd 58 4/3/14 20:58:32
17181920
JUNE 2014
LYON EUREXPO
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