A number of “key developments” in the industry culminating in 2017 are expected to lead to a boost for the technology.
An article on 3DPrint.com by Brian Krassenstein says that one of the important factors is “HP’s entrance into the 3D printing arena via the launch of their first Multi Jet Fusion machines”, which are expected to launch near the end of 2016, so they are forecast to begin to take off by the middle of 2017. The news site also predicts that during 2017 the OEM will introduce “new materials as well as new printer models” that utilise the technology, aimed at large and small businesses.
Current industry leaders such as 3D Systems and Stratasys will look to counter HP’s entrance as it happens, giving “both companies as well as other smaller players within the industry over two years to play catch-up”. Krassenstein believes “all of these companies” will be increasing their R&D budgets to bring a competing product to market by late 2016 or early 2017. The Recycler recently reported on the addition of a 3D scanner to HP’s immersive printing programme, providing users “a simple, quick and affordable way to create 3D content”.
Another technology due to reach fruition in two year’s time is High Speed HSS 3D printing technology, which facilitates “rapid manufacturing of multiple parts via [a] sintering process”, differing from the normal laser technique. It combines the powder-bed fusion process with the inkjet system, first printing carbon black on top of a powder on the print bed, which an infrared lamp then passes over, sintering the powder coated in the carbon black. Entire layers of an object can be sintered within seconds, producing print rates potentially 10 to 100 times as fast as current technologies.
The first HSS machine will come onto the market in 2017, as developers negotiate with numerous partners to license the technology for use. 3D printing company Voxeljet already plans to utilise this technology in a new machine, and other companies are in discussions with the developers. Krassenstein says the technology “has the potential to revolutionise mass manufacturing”, as companies could manage large-scale production while being able to to “rapidly repurpose a machine” without the need for resupplying.
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The third factor in the predicted growth is Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology, the brainchild of Carbon3D, a startup group that has already accrued $50 million (€44 million) in investment capital. The technology uses light and oxygen to cure, and inhibit the curing of, a photosensitive resin, enabling the printing of objects at speeds from 25 to 100 times that of current 3D printers on the market. The first CLIP machines should be launched around the beginning or middle of 2016.
Carbon3D has “throw[n] a curve ball into the market”, according to Krassenstein, but within six weeks of the emergence of the technology other companies and makers had begun using similar technologies. The writer predicts “we will see numerous companies using similar SLA printing processes, each spurring the other to up their game”.
Krassenstein notes that “none of the companies behind any of these technologies are established players within the industry”, and that 3D Systems, Stratasys, Voxeljet and ExOne are also preparing for a new wave of innovation, working on new innovations or developing old techniques to remain competitive. 3D Systems is working on a mass-manufacturing enabled machine, base on racetrack architecture, that can run 50 times faster than current machines, although it has been reticent about when it will come online.
Voxeljet is also mentioned, as it “seems to be looking towards HSS technology for their future”, while Stratasys and ExOne are expected to be working on new technologies that will affect “not only the manufacturing industry, but the entire economy as a whole”.
A British university recently secured funding for a 3D research lab which will feature “state-of-the-art equipment […] to refine the process of multi-functional 3D printing, working with research organizations and industry partners to make 3D printed electronics, pharmaceuticals, and conductive materials a safe, viable, and cost-effective reality.”