Studio System. From left to right: Console, Printer and, Furnace.

Studio System. From left to right: Console, Printer and, Furnace. (Credit: Desktop Metal)

Sometimes the hype before the reality is well founded.  Burlington, Mass. company Desktop Metal,  is preparing to revolutionize manufacturing with 3D metal printing systems that address the unfulfilled challenges of speed, cost, and quality.  Metal 3D printing, often referred to as additive manufacturing, has failed to deliver on the expectation that it would dramatically change the way products are manufactured. For now, practically all 3D printing is done with cheap plastic extrusion materials, because 3D printing with laser-melted metal printing, is very expensive and slow.  However,  the latest market intelligence report from IDTechEx Research, 3D Printing Metals 2018-2028: Technology and Market Analysis projects that metal printer manufacturers and materials suppliers are going to grow 3D metal printing into a $12B market by 2028.

Desktop Metal (DM) is bringing to market two systems: a studio system called DM Studio System targeting engineering groups, offering rapid, relatively inexpensive metal prototyping and a production system called DM Production System for mass manufacture.

Desktop Metal’s Studio System as mentioned is meant for rapid prototyping, built on a cloud-based software architecture, that allows an engineer to go immediately from CAD 3-D model to part production. The target market for this product is mechanical engineers using it for prototyping and printing a small number of parts at corporate offices rather than factories. The metals for the system come in rod form, instead of hazardous, volatile metal powders used in commercial laser-based additive systems. The wide range of metals that DM offers are melted by a user-friendly sintering furnace that reaches a top temperature of 1400º C.  The DM Studio System was designed to provide an automated and managed workflow controlled and monitored from the cloud, by sophisticated software.  Studio System begins shipping this year, starting at $120,000 and is 10 times cheaper than modern laser-based additive systems.

The DM Production System uses a new technology called Single Pass Jetting, to build metal parts 100x faster (up to 500 cubic inches per hour) and up to 20 times less expensive at a still hefty price of $360,000, than today’s fastest metal, laser-based additive systems.  Material costs will also be up to 20 times lower, as they use regular, low-cost, easily available MIM powders

Video Transcript:

0:10
metal 3d printing could change much of
0:12
the world around us if it was fast
0:14
enough and cheap enough for mass
0:16
production
0:17
introducing the production system
0:19
powered by single pass jetting add up to
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100 times faster than laser based
0:24
systems it’s the first metal 3d printing
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solution for mass production
0:30
it works by combining two powder
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spreaders and one print unit into a
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single pass system to both spread metal
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powder and print unlike existing metal
0:41
3d printing
0:42
there is no wasted motion with single
0:45
pass jetting a single pass starts in the
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powder spreader where a metering system
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deposits metal powder and a compacting
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system forms a layer as thin as a human
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hair the print bar follows jetting
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droplets of a binding agent millions are
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jetted per second binding metal powder
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to form high resolution layers anti
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sintering agents are then deposited
1:10
making it possible for supports to fall
1:12
off after centering saving hours of
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post-processing
1:18
once the layer is dried the process
1:22
repeats itself
1:26
single-pass jetting is bi-directional we
1:30
combined all the necessary steps for
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printing into a single pass so that
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whenever there is movement there is
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printing this makes it possible to print
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parts and minutes instead of hours
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[Music]
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once printed the brown parts identified
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in a microwave enhanced furnace it
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combines conventional heating with
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microwaves to speed up sintering a
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closed-loop thermal control system
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regulates temperatures in real time at
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parts are heated to just below their
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melting point binder is removed and
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metal particles are fused to form a
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dense solid
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the production system is cloud-connected
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sophisticated software manages the
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entire workflow with profiles that are
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tuned to every build and material from
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the printer to the furnace delivering
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dense metal parts
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the result is sheer throughput in the
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time it takes laser based processes to
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produce just twelve impellers desktop
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metal single pass jetting technology
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would have produced over 500 to date
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metal 3d printing has been too expensive
2:45
and too slow to change the world around
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us add up to 100 times faster than
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existing technologies the production
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system unlocks the cost per part needed
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for mass production for the first time
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it’s possible to go to market with metal
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3d printing