This article has been updated on April 25th to reflect what we can expect from the Forum AM Science and the Forum Aviation.
Last week, we announced that over 70 experts from Audi to Zeiss will present the latest AM applications and practical examples across nine different forums at Rapid.Tech3D. As a reminder, the forums include Forum Mobility, Forum Innovations in AM, Forum AM Science, Forum Chemistry & Process Engineering, Forum Software & Processes, Forum Medical, Forum Design, Forum Aviation as well as Forum Post Processing & Quality Assurance.
While some forums are dedicated to specific vertical industries, others will provide key knowledge about some of the most challenging steps of the manufacturing value chain.
In the manufacturing value chain
Forum AM Science
Germany is an innovation driver in additive manufacturing, as proven by the number of patents registered annually. All of this is built on the intensive research activities undertaken at universities and companies.
This 19th edition of Rapid.Tech 3D will feature twelve high-quality presentation submissions which highlight new developments in metal and plastic 3D printing as well as sustainability and new applications.
Key topics include AM potential for energy and mobility transition, waste converted into AM material, applications made from AM plastics, as well as new applications in construction and medicine.
Among the speakers who will give presentations in this forum, one notes: Michael Haase from Paderborn University who will present a laser melting process to reduce eddy currents in electrical machines, Maria Isabelle Maiwald from Hamburg University of Technology who will report on investigations into the design of supporting structures, using high-strength titanium alloys as an example; Dr Bernd Baufeld from pro-beam additive who will shed light on wire electron beam additive manufacturing (WEBAM); Andreas Walter from Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe who will present a process that can be used to obtain metal powder for powder bed laser melting from by-products of the steel industry such as iron oxide powder. Leif Micke and Katja Bauer from Freiberg University of Mining and Technology will discuss topics on waste converted into AM material while Philip Obst from BMW, Joseph Hofmann from the Technical University of Munich and Simon Cholewa from the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, will explore applications made from AM plastics. Last but not least, in construction, Christiane Richter from Munich University of Applied Sciences will present a way to produce printed concrete components with the required mechanical properties using selective cement activation.
Forum Design
Design for AM remains abstract for a lot of designers who need to work with AM. The challenge goes beyond the fact that designers are used to working with conventional manufacturing rules – therefore have difficulty breaking out of their current mind-set – to encompass the need for automating design processes and the growing use of machine learning to create processes with repeatability.
Furthermore, companies today face the challenge of developing increasingly complex, higher-performance products in ever-shorter innovation cycles. This results in high staff costs which can be addressed with intelligent digital assistance systems.
Key topics of the Forum Design will therefore focus on algorithmic design (discussed by Bradley R. Rothenberg, nTopology’s founder and CEO), automating design processes with digital assistance systems (discussed by Dr Stephan Ziegler, chief engineer in the DAP department at RWTH Aachen University) as well as the interaction between product design and sustainability (discussed by Alexander Herking from aPriori Technologies).
Spotlight on vertical industries adopting AM
Forum Aviation
As more and more countries are planning missions to the moon, Mars and other planets, as well as new space stations, technology and space companies are continuously exploring technologies that will help them achieve this goal.
Industry insiders who will share insights into this field of activity will focus on reusable engines, the fast track to the first hydrogen-powered long-haul air taxi with AM as well as a cheaper and more sustainable route into space with Nyx.
Apart from keynotes from Ariane, Diehl, Ferrari, Rinspeed and Shell, attendees of this track will also learn from Stephan Keil, Managing Director of The Aviation AM Centre, Dr Marco Mulser, Technology Coordinator at OHB System AG or even Johannes Garbino-Anton, CTO and co-founder of NEX Aero GmbH.
Forum Medical and Forum Chemistry & Process Engineering
Rapid.Tech 3D will shed light on some of the vertical industries that drive the adoption of AM technologies. While it is not surprising to see a spotlight on the Medical Industry, visitors will be surprised to discover how the Chemistry & Process Engineering industry can rely on AM.
“3D printing is seeing increasing use in high-risk areas, such as the individual reconstruction of blood vessels. For example, the technology provides a better and faster way of treating life-threatening situations, such as those that can arise in cardiovascular diseases. This aspect is one of many on the agenda at this year’s Rapid.Tech 3D Medicine Forum. In short, we will show how 3D printing technology supports diagnostics and therapy from head to toe, and is increasingly moving from outside the body to inside,” says Dr Özlem Weiss, managing director of life sciences consultancy Expertants.
Speaking of the chemical industry, he adds: “the chemical industry is very important for additive manufacturing – whether it’s supplying an increasingly powerful range of materials or benefiting from the potential of this technology for plant engineering and production technology” – and that’s a topic that has mostly flown under the radar until now.
Dr. Weiss is overseeing the contents for these two forums.
The chemical industry occupies a dominant position in the value chain in general, with the sector providing the raw materials for around 90 per cent of all manufactured products. Key topics across this sector will focus on catalysts as the starting point of chemical process chains and their role in sensor technology and renewable energy technology. Alongside catalysts, the role of reactors will also be discussed as fundamental component in chemical and technical processes.
Last but not least, a presentation from Götz Erhardt, will discuss the renaissance of additive manufacturing in the chemical industry and how it leads to new materials and new business models.
Stay tuned as this article will be updated as soon as new topics for the forums will be announced.
More information on how to take part in the event is available at: www.rapidtech-3d.de/konferenz/tickets/
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