b'Look-AheadPRINT LARGE PARTS IN ONE PIECE By Ken SchnepfT he next-generation Sapphire industrial 3D metal printer can print up to 1 m (3.3\') in height. Avail-able in the fourth quarter of this year, the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing system by Velo3D Inc. of Campbell, California, includes a 315 mm (12.4") dia. buildThe Sapphire plate, dual 1-kW lasers and in situ(left) can print optical calibration. The 1-m-tall ma- up to 1 m in chine targets a variety of industries,height. The such as aerospace and energy. printer made I think theres a lot of differentthis diffuser.applications where the geometries that customers are looking for at the end of the day can be very difficult to machine, said Zach Murphree, vice president of technical partner-ships. And a lot of that has to do with access limitations. So if you think about parts that are manifolds or shrouded impellers or piecesVelo3Dthat have kind of internal flow paths, these are generally difficult to gettimes may be reduced becauseVelo3Dto with a machining toolor theyfewer steps are demanded to pro-can be depending on the geometry.duce parts. operator can hit a button on the And thats one of the places whereYou can be a really good ma- screen and the machine can cal- we see the technology, 3D metalchine shop and add this to youribrate itself. It can measure how specifically, being very, very useful. toolkit without needing to create ahealthy its optical components are For example, he said a 12.7 mmcenter of excellence and hire peo- and how accurately the lasers are (0.5") dia. gundrilled hole that isple who went to school only forpointing at different places on the 762 mm (30") long and needs toadditive manufacturing, he said.plate, how much is building, how maintain a certain tolerance di- There is calibration and metrol- accurate the lasers are relative to mensionally in terms of straight- ogy built in to the machine, so theeach other and do this all without ness and where it is in relation torequiring a field service engineer. the other surfaces of a part can beAnd so the system that we built is challenging to machine. Or per- about the authorreally completely focused on being haps a part requires machining asa production technology that can separate components before beingKen Schnepf is alive on a shop floor next to a five-assembled. freelance writeraxis mill and kind of have the same With the Sapphire, Murphree saidbased in themode of operation.CTEmuch complexity can be incorpo- Chicago area. HeFor more information about Velo-can be reached rated into a part from the begin- at kjsgbp1@aol. 3D, call 408-610-3915 or visit www.ning. Costs, lead times and cyclecom. velo3d.com.80AUGUST 2020LookAhead.indd 80 7/21/20 1:32 PM'