Interview first published in the May/June 2022 issue of 3D ADEPT Mag. Roles, services and plans described reflect that period.
Founded in 2019, MetShape made its work public with the announcement of seed financing from AM Ventures, as the investor expanded its backing of industrial 3D printing companies.
The story goes that MetShape’s journey started at the Hochschule Pforzheim as part of a project that focused on the recycling of magnets. While the results were not what was expected, the project revealed the potential of LMM technology – the manufacturing process used within the project -for the production of high-precision metal components with very good surfaces.
In 2022, MetShape provided 3D printing services for small metal components, specialising in LMM and sintering.
The interview focuses on the process at the centre of the company’s services at the time: lithography-based metal manufacturing (LMM). LMM has been developed by Incus GmbH, a spin-off of Lithoz while MetShape is a spin-off of the Institute for Precious and Technology Metals at Pforzheim University.
“We specialize in the production of 3D printed metal components using the LMM technology and have developed ourselves as an expert in sintering. In addition to the production of prototypes and small series, we offer full-service application development and develop new materials for sinter-based AM. This qualifies us as a specialist in the industrial production of high-precision small and micro metal components”, Mike Schimmelpfennig, Business Developer at MetShape states from the outset.
Debinding and sintering are essential to this approach. Printing produces an intermediate part; turning it into a metal component then requires control of the thermal cycle and shrinkage.
LMM, an indirect AM approach
In Incus’s LMM process, metal powder is distributed in a photosensitive binder. Light selectively cures the binder, layer by layer, to form a green part. The binder is photopolymerised, not the metal.
“In the first step, the green part is printed from a photopolymeric binder system which is highly filled with metal powder. In a second step, the green part is debinded and sintered. This means the polymers, which are only needed as a temporary binder for printing purposes, are then removed either by solvent or heat and the resulting ‘brown compact’ is then sintered at high temperatures to fuse the powder particles together. The precise printing of green parts is essential for the production of a fully functional component part, but it is the sintering process that determines whether this part is dimensionally accurate and of high quality. That’s why we also place a huge focus on the sintering process and have developed ourselves as an expert in this area” Schimmelpfennig explains.
Incus compares the resulting part properties with those of metal injection moulding (MIM). Performance still depends on material, geometry and the manufacturing cycle. The below-200 g mass cited in the interview describes the offering discussed in 2022, rather than a universal guarantee of accuracy or quality.
The post-processing described by Incus removes the binder and then densifies the part by sintering. Dimensional shrinkage has to be accounted for during preparation.
“We are convinced of the possibilities and numerous advantages the LMM technology offers and therefore we see great potential for many industrial applications. Moreover, we can offer extraordinary expertise as we were actively involved in the development process of the technology within our partner network.
In the future, our unique know-how in the debinding and sintering technology, which is the core know-how in all indirect additive manufacturing processes, offers the ideal foundation for us to expand our technology portfolio for the production of precise metal components”, the company’s representative adds.
Applications enabled by LMM
The medical & research fields have been the first vertical where we discovered MetShape’s expertise. As a reminder, the company supported the research work of CIC nanoGUNE – the Basque Nanoscience Cooperative Research Center – by 3D printing a high-precision virus model.
Small, complex metal components are of interest to medical manufacturers. The figure of up to 10,000 parts per year discussed here is an indicative production scale from the interview, to be assessed for each geometry and production setup.
“The appropriate use of additive manufacturing technologies is linked to certain component characteristics and constraints which are fulfilled by a large number of medical technology products as they often have a need for complex geometries, high individualization and precision which is generally associated with low production volumes. Moreover, metal components that are used for medical technology are sometimes difficult to machine. This combination proposes a perfect field of application for the LMM technology and there are many applications that LMM is suitable for.
Sinter-based AM with the LMM technology can be further used to manufacture complex and filigree tools and instruments, individual implants and even threads can be functionally printed. Additionally, I would like to state there are several applications that cannot be produced any other way with the same quality and precision. We also print a lot of prototypes for companies developing surgical instruments, tools or even implants. The great potential and uniqueness of our technology are confirmed by the fact we were approached by several partners for the same component part because they found no other supplier that was able to produce the requested part”, Schimmelpfennigoutlines.
The prototypes, instruments and implants discussed require different levels of validation. This interview does not by itself establish compliance or clinical suitability for a particular medical device.
When asked if LMM presents more opportunities for the medical field than any other vertical industry, Schimmelpfennig recalls that the use of 3D printing naturally depends above all on how open companies are towards new technologies. Moreover, he adds that, apart from medical applications, LMM can also be a great fit for other industries such as jewellery, mobility and security as well as high-frequency technology.
What’s the next step for the company?
LMM might be the only AM process used by MetShape right now. However, moving forward, we might expect the company to leverage other AM technologies which will be based on sintering technology. “These technologies offer many possibilities and accomplish precise results that direct AM procedures aren’t able to achieve due to for example the staircase-effect. What’s great about sinter-based technologies is that they all follow the same pattern”, the speaker concludes.
This comparison expresses MetShape’s assessment. Stair-stepping depends on layer discretisation, orientation and geometry; indirect processes are not automatically free from it.
This interview has first been published in the May/June 2022 edition of 3D ADEPT Mag.
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