Selective Laser Melting for Promatrix

Introduction to the case and technology 

This blog will be about the possibility of additive manufacturing within the process of mold-making of Promatrix from an industrial engineering point of view. This view is ‘a multi-disciplinary of the supply chain, engineering, production, and maintenance processes as business processes with technical and human-related activities’ (Dirne, n.d.). Firstly, the technical specifications of the current mold-making technique (CNC-milling) of Promatrix will be described after which the additive manufacturing method will be described with the consequences of using that new technique. After this general analysis, the industrial engineering disciplines mentioned before will be analysed. The knowledge of all these different internal disciplines is gathered in the final blog post and converted into a strategy that takes the external environment into account.

Figure 1: Selective laser melting process (Zhang, Song, Wei, Bourell, & Shi, 2019)

The current manufacturing method used by Promatrix is CNC milling. Promatrix buys a block of aluminium which it mills into the correct form by a CNC milling machine (Promatrix, 2022). This technique is widely used in the mold-manufacturing market because of its accuracy. Tolerances as tight as 0,025 mm are feasible (Kals, 2018). But there are limitations to milling such as the fact it cannot mill curved holes, straight internal edges and walls thinner than 0,5 mm (Misnikov, 2021).

The alternative manufacturing technology is additive manufacturing, in specific selective laser melting (SLM), as can be seen in figure 1. This technique uses heating to melt powders together to create an even surface. It is done layer by layer which gives high flexibility to the design of the mold, as can will be discussed in the blog about engineering. A disadvantage by this technique is there are instabilities within the melt pool and the relatively long time it takes to build (Bartolo et al., 2012).

There are two different types of materials that can be used to build a mold with SLM. The first is to use polycarbonate as the material that to create the mold, because it has a relatively high maximum temperature of 121 degrees Celsius. After this process, it can be powder coated with titanium to make sure it can withstand high temperatures of 650 degrees Celsius (Oxytech, 2022). This way it can handle relatively high temperatures compared to other plastics. It also has the benefact that polycarbonate is a strong and durable material (Simplify3D Software, 2019). The second type is to use aluminium to create the mold with SLM. Promatrix produces only aluminium molds, this is thus in line with their current strategy. The use of aluminium is a very new technology that is still developing rapidly. There are currently some aluminium alloys that can be printed but these are not as perfect as milled aluminium. The best aluminium alloy is Al-Cu-Mg because it is heat treatable, has high strength, and has good heat resistance. It is chosen to focus on the aluminium alloy as material for the SLM process because of the fact that Promatrix is already producing aluminium molds, it does not need an extra process of powder coating and the high maximum temperature it can be exposed to (Zhang, Song, Wei, Bourell, & Shi, 2019). The consequences of the use of aluminium with SLM are discussed in the coming blogs.

Source list:

·        3D Printed Aluminum: Everything You Need to Know. (54114, February 19). Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://www.wevolver.com/article/3d-printed-aluminum-everything-you-need-to-know

·        Kals, H. J. J. (2018). Industriële productie: het voortbrengen van mechanische producten. Den Haag, Nederland: Boom Lemma.

·        Oxytech. (2022). Oxytech. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://www.oxytech.com.au/hi-temp-muffler-titanium

·        Promatrix. (2022). Promatrix. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://promatrix.nl/matrijzenbouw/

·        Zhang, J., Song, B., Wei, Q., Bourell, D., & Shi, Y. (2019). A review of selective laser melting of aluminum alloys: Processing, microstructure, property and developing trends. Journal of Materials Science &Amp; Technology, 35(2), 270–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2018.09.004

·        Dirne, C. (n.d.). IE View on TE v220917.pdf [Slide show] [Powerpoint]. Retrieved from https://canvas.fontys.nl/courses/10282/pages/program-t-and-e?module_item_id=263455

·        Misnikov, E. (2021, September 15). CNC Milling: All you Need to Know. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://xometry.eu/en/cnc-milling-all-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=14798262219&utm_content=&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7KqZBhCBARIsAI-fTKLYNqSlhRaz05l_Xo28iP-9X7sDjHU_lxY7M3Tt5uJSGzGCQTmgWScaAtMeEALw_wcB

·        Bartolo, P., Kruth, J. P., Silva, J., Levy, G., Malshe, A., Rajurkar, K., . . . Leu, M. (2012). Biomedical production of implants by additive electro-chemical and physical processes. CIRP Annals, 61(2), 635–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2012.05.005

·        Simplify3D Software. (2019, May 30). Ultimate 3D Printing Material Properties Table. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.simplify3d.com/support/materials-guide/properties-table/