Article by: Cerathai Co., Ltd. & MEGA Tech
In this Metal Cut column, MEGA Tech is honored to present 3D Printer from Cerathai Company Limited, who has recognized the importance of rapid changes in the present, which resulted in the development of technology in the industrial factories. The 3D Printer is another technology that presents channels for growth and potentials and is highly crucial to the industry. Markforged, the leader of 3D Printer for a long period of time, is the machine we believe that will meet the manufacture demands of customers with the highest efficiency.
When thinking of 3D Printer, several people would have the same image of it, which is printing only the prototype, where its application to the reality is unavailable, and is a technology that has been used for several decades. This is due to a wide spectrum of reasons, including the quality of workpieces, durability, accuracy, and the limited options of materials. However, as a result of rapid development of technology, this idea is thus not the presentation of the reality. The trend of 3D Printer usage for end-use parts is led by companies such as Markforged, importing carbon fiber and metals from the United States of America, and is focused on development of solutions for industrial applications. On the other hand, the majority of 3D Printer companies focus on Rapid Prototyping market, which is considered disruptor of the industry and brings the 3D Printing industry into a new era.
3D Printer market is considered an industry with high growth rate, which is accompanied by the occurred events in the past 2-3 years into account, such as the pandemic, inflation, war, price of the materials, and the Zero Covid policy in China. This especially was the accelerator for the manufacturers to find new solutions to manufacturing workpieces. Certainly, 3D Printer is unable to manufacture everything yet; despite that, its manufacture methodology highly meets the demands if it is used in a correct manner. This explains why we not only sell the 3D Printers, but also develop the complete solutions called Digital Forge or digital factory consisting of the printer, materials, software, and service to enable customers to maximize the quality in manufacturing anywhere at any time. This increases flexibility and efficiency, as interaction with suppliers is no longer necessary, significantly decreasing the problems of supply chain. In the present, whoever did not make technological investments would be at a disadvantage compared to the competitors.
As explained previously, the problem that most users experience while using 3D Printer is the low durability of workpieces. Several companies invested millions on printers, which resulted in the production of fragile and brittle workpieces. In the end, the metal still requires grinding by CNC. Therefore, Markforged developed a new 3D printing technology called Composite Fiber Reinforcement (CFR), printing polymers such as carbon fiber, Keviar, and fiberglass. The logic is equivalent to concrete casting, where it requires rebar reinforcement to increase structural durability. This results in a higher strength of workpieces done by ordinary 3D Printers, which print only plastic materials, such as ABS and PLA. These can be a replacement of aluminum workpieces, which meets the demand of manufacturing in several aspects, for instance, prototype of Jigs & Fixtures, grippers, spare parts, and other machinery parts.
Carbon Fiber is a high-quality engineering material with a durability higher than metals and a weight lighter than plastic. Its utilization has been implemented across automotive and aerospace industry, such as the electric car body of BMW in some models and the structure of the new model of Boeing aircraft, consisting of up to 50% of carbon fibers. As a result, Markforged developed 3D printing technology using carbon fibers. In the present, there are more than 15,000 users worldwide. Workpieces manufactured from printers by Markforged have been used in factories manufacturing automotive and electronic workpieces; additionally, it can also be used in outer space at International Space Station.
In addition, Markforged is also the leader of the market of Metal 3D Printer, metal FFF type (metal fused filament fabrication). This uses materials in a form of wire and place the workpieces into sintering furnace at the completion of printing. This process of printing metals is different from Powder Bed Fusion printing machine, which uses electron beam to form metal powder. The process is complicated and costly compared to metal printing machines from Markforged, which have been designed for easy accessibility, safe for users, high stability, and at a more affordable price by 5 – 10 times. It also supports stainless steel materials, such as bronze, Inconel, and other grades of tool steel.
Markforged, while offering 3D Printers, also functions as a software company. We are the first to develop Cloud Software system to give commands to 3D Printers, making it possible for customers to print at any location, whether at home or in the factory. We are also the first company to manufacture 3D Printer that has been certified by ISO 27001, building confidence in customers regarding safety of the information storage system. In addition to this, artificial intelligence (AI) can be brought to be used with the inspection system of automatic workpieces in some models of printing machines. The more the customer manufactures, the more the machine will learn, and eventually it will become smarter and can perform printing in an accurate manner progressively. Recently, with a software called ‘Simulation’, prediction and trial and error would no longer be necessary, as it helps simulate the durability of workpieces. This software can be used for confirmation prior to printing, reducing the cost of materials and time in trial and error.
